Isaiah 41
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Summons to Judgment
41
Prepare to present your case to me,[a] you coastlands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them come near. Yes, let them say,
“We will gather together for the verdict.”
A Mystery Man Is Summoned From the East
2 Who has aroused this one from the east?
In righteousness he summons him to his feet.
He gives nations to him
and causes him to rule over kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes by safely.
His feet do not touch the ground.[b]
4 Who accomplished this and carried it out
by summoning generations from the beginning?
The Lord Controls History
I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the very end I will still be the one.
5 The coastlands see and fear.
The ends of the earth tremble.
They draw near. They come.
The Idol Makers Appear
6 Each one assists his neighbor,
and to his brother he says, “Be strong.”
7 The craftsman strengthens the refiner.
The one who flattens with the hammer
strengthens the one who strikes the anvil.
Concerning the soldering he says, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
The Lord Is Your Defender
8 But you, O Israel, my servant,
O Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring[c] of Abraham, whom I love,
9 whom I have snatched from the ends of the earth,
whom I have called from its corners—
I have said to you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Do not fear, for I am with you.
Do not be overwhelmed,[d] for I am your God.
I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 Just watch, they will be ashamed and humiliated—
all those who are angry with you.
They will become nothing and perish—
those men who oppose you.
12 You will look for them, but you will not find them—
those men who contend against you.
They will become absolutely nothing, less than nothing—
those men who battle against you.
13 For I am the Lord your God.
I am the one who is holding on to your right hand.
I am the one who says to you, “Do not fear. I myself am helping you.”
14 Do not fear, you worm, Jacob, you few men of Israel.[e]
I myself am helping you, declares the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Look, I am making you into a sharp, new threshing sledge
with double-edged blades.
You will thresh mountains and crush them.
You will turn hills into chaff.
16 You will winnow them,
and a wind will lift them up.
A strong wind will scatter them.
But you, you will rejoice in the Lord.
In the Holy One of Israel you will be confident.
17 The afflicted and the poor seek water, but there is none.
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, I myself will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights.
In the middle of valleys there will be springs.
I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water,
and the dry land will pour out water.
19 In the wilderness I will place cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
In the wasteland I will plant fir, maple, and pines together,
20 so that they may see and know,
and pay attention and perceive this all together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Idols Are Placed on Trial
21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
“Set forth your strongest points,” says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them present and declare to us what is going to occur.
What were the first things you predicted?
Tell us, so that we can ponder them,
so that we can know their outcome.
Or, announce to us the coming things.
23 Declare to us the things that are still coming in the distant future.
Then we will know that you are gods.
In fact, just do something, do anything—good or evil,
so that we may be overwhelmed and terrified together.
24 Look, you are less than nothing,
and your work is less than zero.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
The Man From the North
25 I have stirred up someone from the north,
and he is coming from the rising of the sun.
He will call upon my name.
He will walk over rulers as if they were mud,
the way a potter tramples clay.
26 Who declared this from the beginning so that we could know it,
and ahead of time so that we could say, “He is right”?
In fact, not one of them declares this.
In fact, not one of them makes this known.
In fact, no one hears you say anything.
27 I was first to announce to Zion, “Look, here they are,”
and I sent a herald of good news to Jerusalem.
28 When I looked, there was no one.
None of them could give advice,
even when I kept asking them to respond.
29 Look, all of them are useless.
Their works are nothing.
Their images are empty wind.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:1 Or be silent before me. The Hebrew root used here does often mean be silent, but the context seems to require a preparation for legal action. There is a Hebrew homonym that means fabricate. This meaning fits the context. The Greek Old Testament and the parallelism also support this meaning.
- Isaiah 41:3 Literally he does not enter a path with his feet. This seems to mean that he moves so fast that his feet don’t touch the ground, or that he goes in new paths where he has never gone before, or that he quickly gains new territory.
- Isaiah 41:8 Literally the seed
- Isaiah 41:10 Or dismayed
- Isaiah 41:14 Or you insect, Israel. The Isaiah Dead Sea Scroll reads dead ones.
Isaiah 41
Revised Geneva Translation
41 “Keep silent before me, O islands, and let the people renew strength. Let them come near. And let them speak. Let us come together into judgment.
2 “Who raised up justice from the East and called him to His Foot, gave the nations before him and subdued the kings? He gave them as dust to his sword, as scattered stubble to his bow.
3 “He pursued them and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 “Who has wrought and done it? He Who calls the generations from the beginning. I, the LORD, am the first. And with the last I am the same.
5 “The isles saw it and feared. The ends of the Earth were afraid, drew near and came.
6 “Every man helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, ‘Be strong.’
7 “So the workman comforted the refiner (he who struck with the hammer, and who struck the anvil) saying, ‘It is ready for soldering.’ And he fastened it with nails, so that it would not be moved.
8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, you, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend.
9 “For I have taken you from the ends of the Earth and called you before its chief and said to you, ‘You are My servant. I have chosen you and not cast you away.
10 ‘Fear not. For I am with you. Do not be afraid. For I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and will sustain you with the right hand of My justice.’
11 “Behold, all those who provoke you shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be as nothing. And those who strive with you shall perish.
12 “You shall seek them and shall not find them. The men of your strife, they shall be as nothing, and the men who war against you as a non-existent thing.
13 “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Do not fear. I will help you.
14 ‘Do not fear, worm Jacob, you men of Israel. I will help you,’ says the LORD, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, I will make you a thresher, and a new threshing sled having teeth. You shall thresh the mountains and bring them to powder, and shall make the hills as chaff.
16 “You shall fan them and the wind shall carry them away and the whirlwind shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD, shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “When the poor and the needy seek water and there is none (their tongue fails for thirst), I the LORD will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 “I will open rivers on the tops of the hills, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness as a pool of water, and the wasteland as springs of water.
19 “I will set the cedar in the wilderness, the Shittah, and the myrtle tree, and the pine tree. I will set the fir tree in the wilderness, the elm and the box tree, together.
20 “Therefore, let them see and know. And let them consider and understand together that the Hand of the LORD has done this. And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 “‘Stand to your cause,’ says the LORD, ‘Bring forth your strong reasons,’ says the King of Jacob.
22 “Let them bring them forth. And let them tell us what shall come. Let them show the former things, what they were, so that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them. Or declare to us things to come.
23 “Show the things that are to come hereafter, so that we may know that you are gods. Yea, do good or do evil, so that we may see it and look away together.
24 “Behold, you are of no value. And you are made nothing, having chosen an abomination by them.
25 “I have raised up from the North, and he shall come. From the East Sun shall he call upon My Name, and shall come upon princes as upon clay, and as the potter treads mire underfoot.
26 “Who has declared from the beginning, so that we may know, or before time, so that we may say, ‘He is righteous’? Surely there is no one who shows. Surely there is no one who declares. Surely there is no one who hears your words.
27 “I am the First, Who says to Zion, ‘Look! Look at them!’ And I will give to Jerusalem one who shall bring good tidings.
28 “But when I looked, there was no one. And when I inquired of them, there was no counselor. And when I demanded of them, they did not answer a word.
29 “Behold, they are all wickedness. Their work is nothing. Their images are wind and confusion.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
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