Isaiah 41
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Israel Assured of God’s Help
41 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.(A)
2 Who has roused a victor from the east,
summoned him to his service?
He delivers up nations to him
and tramples kings under foot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.(B)
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
scarcely touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am first
and will be with the last.(C)
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.(D)
6 Each one helps the other,
saying to one another, “Take courage!”(E)
7 The artisan encourages the goldsmith,
and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good,”
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.(F)
8 But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;(G)
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant;
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;(H)
10 do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.(I)
11 All who are incensed against you
shall be ashamed and disgraced;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.(J)
12 You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.(K)
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,
I will help you.”(L)
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot[a] Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.(M)
15 I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff.(N)
16 You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
Then you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.(O)
17 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.(P)
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
and the dry land springs of water.(Q)
19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 so that all may see and know,
all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.(R)
The Futility of Idols
21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.(S)
22 Let them bring them and tell us
what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they were,
so that we may consider them
and that we may know their outcome
or declare to us the things to come.(T)
23 Tell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
do good, or do harm,
that we may be afraid and terrified.(U)
24 You, indeed, are nothing,
and your work is nothing at all;
whoever chooses you is an abomination.(V)
25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.[b]
He shall trample[c] on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.(W)
26 Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know,
and beforehand, so that we might say, “He is right”?
There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.(X)
27 I first have declared it to Zion,[d]
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.(Y)
28 But when I look there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.(Z)
29 No, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their images are empty wind.(AA)
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.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.