Isaiah 41
Legacy Standard Bible
Do Not Fear, for I Am with You
41 “(A)Coastlands, listen to Me (B)in silence,
And let the peoples (C)gain new power;
(D)Let them come forward, then let them speak;
(E)Let us draw near together for judgment.
2 (F)Who has awakened one from the east
Whom He (G)calls in righteousness to His [a]feet?
He (H)gives up nations before him
And [b]has dominion over kings.
He makes them like (I)dust with his sword,
As the wind-driven (J)chaff with his bow.
3 He pursues them, passing on in peace,
By a way he had not [c]come with his feet.
4 (K)Who has worked and done it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘(L)I, Yahweh, am the first; and with the last, (M)I am He.’”
5 The (N)coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The (O)ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
6 Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the (P)craftsman strengthens the (Q)smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer strengthens him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he strengthens it with nails,
(R)So that it will not be shaken.
8 “But you, Israel, (S)My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Seed of (T)Abraham My (U)friend,
9 You whom I have [d](V)strongly taken hold of from the ends of the earth,
And called from its (W)remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are (X)My servant,
I have (Y)chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Do not (Z)fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will make you mighty, surely (AA)I will help you;
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous (AB)right hand.’
11 Behold, (AC)all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
(AD)Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 (AE)You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 For I am Yahweh your God, (AF)who [e]strongly takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘(AG)Do not fear, I will help you.’
14 Do not fear, you (AH)worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares Yahweh, “[f]and (AI)your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
(AJ)You will thresh the (AK)mountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.
16 You will (AL)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will (AM)rejoice in Yahweh;
You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The [g]afflicted and needy are seeking (AN)water, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, Yahweh, (AO)will answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I (AP)will not forsake them.
18 I will open (AQ)rivers on the bare heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make (AR)the wilderness a pool of water
And the dry land fountains of water.
19 I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia and the (AS)myrtle and the [h]olive tree;
I will place the (AT)juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
20 That (AU)they may see and know,
And establish and gain insight as well,
That the (AV)hand of Yahweh has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 “Bring near your case,” Yahweh says.
“Bring forward your mighty arguments,”
The (AW)King of Jacob says.
22 (AX)Let them bring it forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the (AY)former events, declare what they were,
That we may establish our heart on them and know their outcome.
Or cause us to hear of what is coming;
23 (AZ)Declare the things that are to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, (BA)do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24 Behold, (BB)you are nothing,
And (BC)your work is non-existent;
He who chooses you is an (BD)abomination.
25 “I have awakened (BE)one from the north, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon officials as upon (BF)mortar,
Even as the potter treads clay.”
26 Who has (BG)declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
Surely there was (BH)no one who declared;
Surely there was no one who caused those words to be heard;
Surely there was no one who heard your words.
27 “(BI)Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a (BJ)messenger of good news.’
28 But (BK)I look, and there is no one,
And there is no (BL)counselor [i]among them
Who, if I ask, can (BM)respond with a word.
29 Behold, all of them are [j]false;
Their (BN)works are (BO)non-existent;
Their molten images are (BP)wind and utter formlessness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:2 Lit foot
- Isaiah 41:2 Or subdues
- Isaiah 41:3 Lit coming
- Isaiah 41:9 Normally taken hold of, but cf. 41:7
- Isaiah 41:13 Normally takes hold of, but cf. 41:7
- Isaiah 41:14 Or even your Redeemer, the Holy One
- Isaiah 41:17 Or poor
- Isaiah 41:19 Or oleaster
- Isaiah 41:28 Lit out of those
- Isaiah 41:29 Or nothing
Isaiah 41
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Lord versus the Nations’ Gods
41 “Be silent before Me, islands!(A)
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them testify;
let us come together for the trial.
2 Who has stirred him up from the east?(B)
He calls righteousness to his feet.[a](C)
The Lord hands nations over to him,(D)
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, am the first,
and with the last(E)—I am He.”(F)
5 The islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.(G)
They approach and arrive.
6 Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage!”
7 The craftsman encourages the metalworker;(H)
the one who flattens with the hammer
supports the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.(I)
8 But you, Israel, My servant,(J)
Jacob, whom I have chosen,(K)
descendant of Abraham, My friend(L)—
9 I brought[b] you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are My servant;
I have chosen you and not rejected you.(M)
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;(N)
do not be afraid, for I am your God.(O)
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.(P)
11 Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;(Q)
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12 You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13 For I, Yahweh your God,(R)
hold your right hand
and say to you: Do not fear,
I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,(S)
you men[c] of Israel:
I will help you—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer(T) is the Holy One of Israel.(U)
15 See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.(V)
16 You will winnow them(W)
and a wind will carry them away,
a gale will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them;(X)
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights,(Y)
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and dry land into springs of water.(Z)
19 I will plant cedars in the desert,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.(AA)
I will put juniper trees in the desert,
elms and cypress trees together,
20 so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,(AB)
the Holy One of Israel has created(AC) it.
21 “Submit your case,” says the Lord.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
22 “Let them come and tell us
what will happen.(AD)
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
23 Tell us the coming events,(AE)
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe[d] and perceive.
24 Look, you are nothing(AF)
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25 “I have raised up one from the north,(AG) and he has come,
one from the east(AH) who invokes My[e] name.(AI)
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
26 Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say: He is right?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
27 I was the first to say to Zion:[f]
Look! Here they are!
And I gave a herald of good news to Jerusalem.(AJ)
28 When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say.(AK)
29 Look, all of them are a delusion;[g]
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:2 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 41:9 Or seized
- Isaiah 41:14 LXX reads small number; DSS read dead ones
- Isaiah 41:23 DSS read we may hear
- Isaiah 41:25 DSS read his
- Isaiah 41:27 Lit First to Zion
- Isaiah 41:29 DSS, Syr read are nothing
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