Isaiah 41
English Standard Version Anglicised
Fear Not, For I Am with You
41 (A)Listen to me in silence,
(B)O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgement.
2 (C)Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every (D)step?[a]
(E)He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
(F)like driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 (G)Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
(H)I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5 (I)The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbour
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 (J)The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails (K)so that it cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, (L)my servant,
Jacob, (M)whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, (N)my friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called (O)from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are (P)my servant,
(Q)I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with (R)my righteous right hand.
11 (S)Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
12 (T)You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
(U)those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
14 Fear not, you (V)worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your (W)Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 (X)Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh (Y)the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 (Z)you shall winnow them, and (AA)the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
(AB)And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17 (AC)When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 (AD)I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
(AE)I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19 (AF)I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert (AG)the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that (AH)the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them, and (AI)tell us
what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they are,
that we may consider them,
that we may know their outcome;
or declare to us the things to come.
23 (AJ)Tell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
(AK)do good, or do harm,
that we may be dismayed and terrified.[b]
24 Behold, (AL)you are nothing,
and your work is less than nothing;
an abomination is he who chooses you.
25 (AM)I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
(AN)from the rising of the sun, (AO)and he shall call upon my name;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.
26 (AP)Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.
27 (AQ)I was the first to say[c] to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”
and (AR)I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
28 (AS)But when I look, there is no one;
among these there is no counsellor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
29 (AT)Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their metal images are empty wind.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:2 Or whom righteousness calls to follow?
- Isaiah 41:23 Or that we may both be dismayed and see
- Isaiah 41:27 Or Formerly I said
Isaiah 41
Amplified Bible
Israel Encouraged
41 “Listen to Me in silence, you islands and coastlands,
And let the nations gain their strength;
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment [and decide the issue between us concerning the enemy from the east].
2
“Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great]
Whom He calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step?
The Lord turns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
Like wind-driven chaff with his bow.(A)
3
“He (Cyrus) pursues them and passes along safely,
By a way his feet had not traveled before.
4
“Who has performed and done this,
Calling forth [and guiding the destinies of] the generations [of the nations] from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord—the first, and with the last [existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God]—I am He.’”
5
The islands and coastlands have seen and they fear;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
6
They each help his neighbor
And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”
7
So the craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
And he who smooths metal with the smith’s hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering (welding), “That is good”;
And he fastens the idol with nails,
So that it will not totter nor be moved.
8
“But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The offspring of Abraham My friend,(B)
9
You whom I [the Lord] have [a]taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not rejected you [even though you are exiled].
10
‘Do not fear [anything], for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you;
I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].’(C)
11
“Indeed, all those who are angry with you will be put to shame and humiliated;
Those who strive against you will be as nothing and will perish.
12
“You shall search for those who quarrel with you, but will not find them;
They who war against you will be as nothing, as nothing at all.
13
“For I the Lord your God keep hold of your right hand; [I am the Lord],
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
14
“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15
“In fact, I have made of you a new, sharp [b]threshing implement with sharp edges;
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
And make the hills like chaff.
16
“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And a high wind will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17
“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none;
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them Myself;
I, the God of Israel, will not neglect them.
18
“I will open rivers on the barren heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a reed-pool of water
And the dry land springs of water.
19
“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
20
So that they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
That the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21
“Present your case [for idols made by men’s hands],” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence [of divinity],”
Says the king of Jacob.
22
Let them bring forward [their evidence] and tell us what is going to happen.
Regarding the former events, tell what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome;
Or announce to us the things that are going to come.
23
Tell us the things that are to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, you should do something good or do evil, [c]that we may be afraid and fear [you] together [as we observe the miracle].
24
Hear this! You [idols] are less than nothing,
And your work is worthless;
The worshiper who chooses you [as a god] is repulsive.(D)
25
“I have stirred up and put into action [d]one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].
And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,
Even as a potter treads clay.”(E)
26
Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know?
Or from earlier times, so that we could say, “He is [unquestionably] right!”?
In fact, there was no one who declared it,
Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it;
There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].
27
“I was first to say to Zion, ‘Listen carefully, here they are [the Jews who will be restored to their own land].’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will provide a messenger (Isaiah) to bring the good news [[e]that Cyrus will be stirred up and put into action to save them].’(F)
28
“But when I look [on the pagan prophets and priests], there is no one [who could predict these events],
And there is no counselor [f]among them,
Who, if I ask, can give an answer.
29
“In fact, all of these [pagan prophets and priests] are false;
Their works are worthless,
Their cast images are [merely] wind and emptiness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:9 Lit seized.
- Isaiah 41:15 A heavy flat wooden sledge composed of several thick boards with sharp pieces of flint or metal embedded on one side. It was dragged over harvested stalks of grain to separate the kernels from the straw.
- Isaiah 41:23 Lit and let us be.
- Isaiah 41:25 Cyrus originally came from the east (Is 41:2), but defeated a number of kingdoms north of Babylon early in his reign.
- Isaiah 41:27 This prophecy was declared about a hundred and fifty years before it occurred.
- Isaiah 41:28 Lit out of those.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
