Isaiah 41New King James Version
Israel Assured of God’s Help
41 “Keep(A)silence before Me, O coastlands,
And let the people renewtheirstrength!
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us(B)come near together for judgment.
2 “Who raised up one(C)from the east?
Who in righteousness called him to His feet?
Who(D)gave the nations before him,
And madehimrule over kings?
Who gavethemas the dusttohis sword,
As driven stubble to his bow?
3 Who pursued them,andpassed[a]safely
By the waythathe had not gone with his feet?
4 (E)Who has performed and doneit,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
‘I, theLord, am(F)the first;
And with the last Iam(G)He.’ ”
5 The coastlands sawitand feared,
The ends of the earth were afraid;
They drew near and came.
6 (H)Everyone helped his neighbor,
And said to his brother,
[b]“Be of good courage!”
7 (I)So the craftsman encouraged the(J)goldsmith;[c]
He who smoothswiththe hammerinspiredhim who strikes the anvil,
Saying,[d]“Itisready for the soldering”;
Then he fastened it with pegs,
(K)Thatit might not totter.
8 “But you, Israel,areMy servant,
Jacob whom I have(L)chosen,
The descendants of Abraham My(M)friend.
9 Youwhom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘YouareMy servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10 (N)Fear not,(O)for Iamwith you;
Be not dismayed, for Iamyour God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you
Shall be(P)ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing,
And those who strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them and not find them—
[e]Those who contended with you.
Those who war against you
Shall be as nothing,
As a nonexistent thing.
13 For I, theLordyour God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
14 “Fear not, you(Q)worm Jacob,
You men of Israel!
I will help you,” says theLord
And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold,(R)I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beatthemsmall,
And make the hills like chaff.
16 You shall(S)winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in theLord,
And(T)glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The poor and needy seek water, butthere isnone,
Their tongues fail for thirst.
I, theLord, will hear them;
I,the God of Israel, will not(U)forsake them.
18 I will open(V)rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the(W)wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the(X)desert the cypress treeandthe pine
And the box tree together,
20 (Y)That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of theLordhas done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
21 “Present your case,” says theLord.
“Bring forth your strongreasons,” says the(Z)King of Jacob.
22 “Let(AA)them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the(AB)former things, what theywere,
That we may[f]consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.
23 (AC)Show the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that youaregods;
Yes,(AD)do good or do evil,
That we may be dismayed and seeittogether.
24 Indeed(AE)youarenothing,
And your workisnothing;
He whochooses youisan abomination.
25 “I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the[g]rising of the sun(AF)he shall call on My name;
(AG)And he shall come against princes asthoughmortar,
As the potter treads clay.
26 (AH)Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say, ‘He isrighteous’?
Surelythere isno one who shows,
Surelythere isno one who declares,
Surelythere isno one who hears your words.
27 (AI)The first time(AJ)I saidto Zion,
‘Look, there they are!’
And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.
28 (AK)For I looked, andthere wasno man;
I looked among them, butthere wasno counselor,
Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 (AL)Indeed theyareall[h]worthless;
Their worksarenothing;
Their molded imagesarewind and confusion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:3Lit.in peace
- Isaiah 41:6Lit.Be strong
- Isaiah 41:7refiner
- Isaiah 41:7OrThe soldering is good
- Isaiah 41:12Lit.Men of your strife
- Isaiah 41:22Lit.set our heart on them
- Isaiah 41:25East
- Isaiah 41:29So with MT, Vg.; DSS, Syr., Tg.nothing;LXX omits first line
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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