Isaiah 41:8-42:9

Good News Translation

⁸^(A)“But you, Israel my servant,
    you are the people that I have chosen,
    the descendants of Abraham, my friend.
⁹I brought you from the ends of the earth;
    I called you from its farthest corners
    and said to you, ‘You are my servant.’
I did not reject you, but chose you.
¹⁰Do not be afraid—I am with you!
    I am your God—let nothing terrify you!
I will make you strong and help you;
    I will protect you and save you.

¹¹“Those who are angry with you
    will know the shame of defeat.
Those who fight against you will die
¹²    and will disappear from the earth.
¹³I am the Lord your God;
    I strengthen you and tell you,
    ‘Do not be afraid; I will help you.’”

¹⁴The Lord says,

“Small and weak as you are, Israel,
    don't be afraid; I will help you.
I, the holy God of Israel, am the one who saves you.
¹⁵I will make you like a threshing board,
    with spikes that are new and sharp.
You will thresh mountains and destroy them;
    hills will crumble into dust.
¹⁶You will toss them in the air;
    the wind will carry them off,
    and they will be scattered by the storm.
Then you will be happy because I am your God;
    you will praise me, the holy God of Israel.

¹⁷“When my people in their need look for water,
    when their throats are dry with thirst,
then I, the Lord, will answer their prayer;
    I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.
¹⁸I will make rivers flow among barren hills
    and springs of water run in the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water
    and the dry land into flowing springs.
¹⁹I will make cedars grow in the desert,
    and acacias and myrtles and olive trees.
Forests will grow in barren land,
    forests of pine and juniper and cypress.
²⁰People will see this and know
    that I, the Lord, have done it.
They will come to understand
    that Israel's holy God has made it happen.”

The Lord's Challenge to False Gods

²¹The Lord, the king of Israel, has this to say:

“You gods of the nations, present your case.
    Bring the best arguments you have!
²²Come here and predict what will happen,
    so that we will know it when it takes place.
Explain to the court the events of the past,
    and tell us what they mean.
²³Tell us what the future holds—
    then we will know that you are gods!
Do something good or bring some disaster;
    fill us with fear and awe!
²⁴You and all you do are nothing;
    those who worship you are disgusting!

²⁵“I have chosen a man who lives in the east;^[a]
    I will bring him to attack from the north.
He tramples on rulers as if they were mud,
    like a potter trampling clay.
²⁶Which of you predicted that this would happen,
    so that we could say that you were right?
None of you said a word about it;
    no one heard you say a thing!
²⁷I, the Lord, was the first to tell Zion the news;
    I sent a messenger to Jerusalem to say,
    ‘Your people are coming! They are coming home!’^[b]
²⁸When I looked among the gods,
    none of them had a thing to say;
    not one could answer the questions I asked.
²⁹All these gods are useless;
    they can do nothing at all—
    these idols are weak and powerless.”

The Lord's Servant

42 ^(B)The Lord says,

“Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—
    the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased.
I have filled him with my Spirit,
    and he will bring justice to every nation.
²He will not shout or raise his voice
    or make loud speeches in the streets.
³He will not break off a bent reed
    nor put out a flickering lamp.
He will bring lasting justice to all.
⁴He will not lose hope or courage;
    he will establish justice on the earth.
    Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching.”

⁵^(C)God created the heavens and stretched them out;
    he fashioned the earth and all that lives there;
    he gave life and breath to all its people.
And now the Lord God says to his servant,
⁶^(D)“I, the Lord, have called you and given you power
    to see that justice is done on earth.
Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples;
    through you I will bring light to the nations.
⁷You will open the eyes of the blind
    and set free those who sit in dark prisons.

⁸“I alone am the Lord your God.
    No other god may share my glory;
    I will not let idols share my praise.
⁹The things I predicted have now come true.
Now I will tell you of new things
    even before they begin to happen.”