Isaiah 41

The Lord Will Help Israel

1 The Lord says, “Faraway countries, listen to me. Let the nations become strong.
Come to me and speak; we will meet together to decide who is right.

2 “Who caused the one to come from the east? Who gives him victories everywhere he goes?
The one who brought him gives nations over to him and defeats kings.
He uses his sword, and kings become like dust. He uses his bow, and they are blown away like chaff.

3 He chases them and is never hurt, going places he has never been before.

4 Who caused this to happen? Who has controlled history since the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the one. I was here at the beginning, and I will be here when all things are finished.”

5 All you faraway places, look and be afraid; all you places far away on the earth, shake with fear.
Come close and listen to me.

6 The workers help each other and say to each other, “Be strong!”

7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and the workman who smooths the metal with a hammer encourages the one who shapes the metal.
He says, “This metal work is good.” He nails the statue to a base so it can’t fall over.

Only the Lord Can Save Us

8 The Lord says, “People of Israel, you are my servants. People of Jacob, I chose you. You are from the family of my friend Abraham.

9 I took you from places far away on the earth and called you from a faraway country.
I said, ‘You are my servants.’ I have chosen you and have not turned against you.

10 So don’t worry, because I am with you. Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you.

11 “All those people who are angry with you will be ashamed and disgraced.
Those who are against you will disappear and be lost.

12 You will look for your enemies, but you will not find them.
Those who fought against you will vanish completely.

13 I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand,
and I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’

14 You few people of Israel who are left, do not be afraid even though you are weak as a worm.
I myself will help you,” says the Lord. “The one who saves you is the Holy One of Israel.

15 Look, I have made you like a new threshing board with many sharp teeth.
So you will walk on mountains and crush them; you will make the hills like chaff.

16 You will throw them into the air, and the wind will carry them away; a windstorm will scatter them.
Then you will be happy in the Lord; you will be proud of the Holy One of Israel.

17 “The poor and needy people look for water, but they can’t find any. Their tongues are dry with thirst.
But I, the Lord, will answer their prayers; I, the God of Israel, will not leave them to die.

18 I will make rivers flow on the dry hills and springs flow through the valleys.
I will change the desert into a lake of water and the dry land into fountains of water.

19 I will make trees grow in the desert— cedars, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
I will put pine, fir, and cypress trees growing together in the desert.

20 People will see these things and understand; they will think carefully about these things and learn
that the Lord’s power did this, that the Holy One of Israel made these things.”

The Lord Challenges False Gods

21 The Lord says, “Present your case.” The King of Jacob says, “Tell me your arguments.

22 Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen.
Have them tell us what happened in the beginning. Then we will think about these things, and we will know how they will turn out.
Or tell us what will happen in the future.

23 Tell us what is coming next so we will believe that you are gods.
Do something, whether it is good or bad, and make us afraid.

24 You gods are less than nothing; you can’t do anything. Those who worship you should be hated.
25 “I have brought someone to come out of the north 

26 Who told us about this before it happened? Who told us ahead of time so we could say, ‘He was right’?
None of you told us anything; none of you told us before it happened; no one heard you tell about it.

27 I, the Lord, was the first one to tell Jerusalem that the people were coming home. I sent a messenger to Jerusalem with the good news.

28 I look at the idols, but there is not one that can answer. None of them can give advice; none of them can answer my questions.
29 Look, all these idols are false. They cannot do anything; they are worth nothing.

Isaiah 41

1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.2 Who hath raised up one from the east, whom he calleth in righteousness to his foot? he giveth nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; he giveth them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.3 He pursueth them, and passeth on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.5 The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come.6 They help every one his neighbor; and every one saith to his brother, Be of good courage.7 So the carpenter encourageth the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it should not be moved.8 But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,9 thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away;10 Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.11 Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.13 For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.15 Behold, I have made thee to be a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.16 Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I, Jehovah, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together:20 that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.21 Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.22 Let them bring forth, and declare unto us what shall happen: declare ye the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.23 Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.25 I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name: and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.26 Who hath declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is right? yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.27 I am the first that saith unto Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.28 And when I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counsellor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word.29 Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nought; their molten images are wind and confusion.