| Chapter 41 | |||
| 1 | Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew [ their ] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. | ||
| 2 | Who raised up the righteous [ man ] from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made [ him ] rule over kings? he gave [ them ] as the dust to his sword, [ and ] as driven stubble to his bow. | ||
| 3 | He pursued them, [ and ] passed safely; [ even ] by the way [ that ] he had not gone with his feet. | ||
| 4 | Who hath wrought and done [ it, ] calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I [ am ] he. | ||
| 5 | The isles saw [ it, ] and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. | ||
| 6 | They helped every one his neighbour; and [ every one ] said to his brother, Be of good courage. | ||
| 7 | So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, [ and ] he that smootheth [ with ] the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, [ that ] it should not be moved. | ||
| 8 | But thou, Israel, [ art ] my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. | ||
| 9 | [ Thou ] whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men 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 were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. | ||
| 12 | Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, [ even ] them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. | ||
| 13 | For I the LORD 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 the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. | ||
| 15 | Behold, I will make thee 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 fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, [ and ] shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. | ||
| 17 | [ When ] the poor and needy seek water, and [ there is ] none, [ and ] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, [ I [ the God of Israel will not forsake them. | ||
| 18 | I will open rivers in high places, 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 plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, [ and ] the pine, and the box tree together: | ||
| 20 | That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. | ||
| 21 | Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong [ reasons, ] saith the King of Jacob. | ||
| 22 | Let them bring [ them ] forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they [ be, ] that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. | ||
| 23 | Shew 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 of nought: an abomination [ is he that ] chooseth you. | ||
| 25 | I have raised up [ one ] from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as [ upon ] morter, and as the potter treadeth clay. | ||
| 26 | Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, [ He is ] righteous? yea, [ there is ] none that sheweth, yea, [ there is ] none that declareth, yea, [ there is ] none that heareth your words. | ||
| 27 | The first [ shall say ] to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. | ||
| 28 | For I beheld, and [ there was ] no man; even among them, and [ there was ] no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. | ||
| 29 | Behold, they [ are ] all vanity; their works [ are ] nothing: their molten images [ are ] wind and confusion. | ||