Isaiah 41:17-29

New International Version

¹⁷ “The poor and needy search for water,^(A)
    but there is none;
    their tongues are parched with thirst.^(B)
But I the Lord will answer^(C) them;
    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake^(D) them.
¹⁸ I will make rivers flow^(E) on barren heights,
    and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert^(F) into pools of water,^(G)
    and the parched ground into springs.^(H)
19 I will put in the desert^(I)
    the cedar and the acacia,^(J) the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers^(K) in the wasteland,
    the fir and the cypress^(L) together,^(M)
20 so that people may see and know,^(N)
    may consider and understand,^(O)
that the hand^(P) of the Lord has done this,
    that the Holy One^(Q) of Israel has created^(R) it.

²¹ “Present your case,^(S)” says the Lord.
    “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.^(T)
22 “Tell us, you idols,
    what is going to happen.^(U)
Tell us what the former things^(V) were,
    so that we may consider them
    and know their final outcome.
Or declare to us the things to come,^(W)
23     tell us what the future holds,
    so we may know^(X) that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,^(Y)
    so that we will be dismayed^(Z) and filled with fear.
²⁴ But you are less than nothing^(AA)
    and your works are utterly worthless;^(AB)
    whoever chooses you is detestable.^(AC)

²⁵ “I have stirred^(AD) up one from the north,^(AE) and he comes—
    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.
He treads^(AF) on rulers as if they were mortar,
    as if he were a potter treading the clay.
²⁶ Who told of this from the beginning,^(AG) so we could know,
    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?
No one told of this,
    no one foretold^(AH) it,
    no one heard any words^(AI) from you.
²⁷ I was the first to tell^(AJ) Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.^(AK)
28 I look but there is no one^(AL)—
    no one among the gods to give counsel,^(AM)
    no one to give answer^(AN) when I ask them.
²⁹ See, they are all false!
    Their deeds amount to nothing;^(AO)
    their images^(AP) are but wind^(AQ) and confusion.