Isaiah 41:21-42:17
GOD’S WORD Translation
21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
“Bring forward your best arguments,” says Jacob’s king.
22 “Bring ⌞your idols⌟ so they can tell us what’s going to happen.
Explain past events that your idols told you about
so that we may consider them
and know what their outcome will be.
Tell us about future events.
23 Tell us what’s going to happen
so that we may know that you are gods.
Yes, do something, good or evil,
to intimidate us and make us afraid.
24 You are nothing!
You can’t do anything!
Whoever chooses you is disgusting.
25 “I have raised up someone from the north, and he has come.
He will call on my name from the east.
He will attack rulers as if they were mud,
as if he were treading on clay like a potter.
26 Who revealed this from the beginning so that we could know it?
Who revealed this from the past so that we could say that he was right?
No one revealed it.
No one announced it.
No one heard your words.
27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are.’
I gave Jerusalem a messenger with the good news.
28 When I look, there is no one.
There is no one to advise them.
When I ask them a question,
will they give an answer?
29 All of them are nothing.[a]
They can’t do anything.
Their statues are nothing but air.”
The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Righteousness to the World
42 Here is my servant, whom I support.
Here is my chosen one, with whom I am pleased.
I have put my Spirit on him.
He will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry out or raise ⌞his voice⌟.
He will not make his voice heard in the streets.
3 He will not break off a damaged cattail.
He will not even put out a smoking wick.
He will faithfully bring about justice.
4 He will not be discouraged or crushed
until he has set up justice on the earth.
The coastlands will wait for his teachings.
5 The Lord God created the heavens and stretched them out.
He shaped the earth and all that comes from it.
He gave life to the people who are on it
and breath to those who walk on it.
This is what the Lord God says:
6 I, the Lord, have called you to do what is right.
I will take hold of your hand.
I will protect you.
I will appoint you as my promise [b] to the people,
as my light to the nations.
7 You will give sight to the blind,
bring prisoners out of prisons,
and bring those who live in darkness out of dungeons.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name.
I will not give my glory to anyone else
or the praise I deserve to idols.
9 What I said in the past has come true.
I will reveal new things before they happen.
A Song about the Lord, the Warrior
10 Sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing his praise from the ends of the earth,
you people who sail on the seas
and all the creatures that live in them,
you coastlands and all who live on them.
11 Let those who live in the desert and its cities raise their voices.
Let those who live in the settlements of Kedar praise him.
Let those who live in Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and announce his praise on the coastlands.
13 The Lord marches out like a warrior.
He prepares himself for battle like a soldier.
He shouts, gives the battle cry, and overpowers his enemies.
14 I have been silent for a long time.
I kept quiet and held myself back.
But like a woman in childbirth I will cry out.
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste to mountains and hills.
I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into islands.
I will dry up ponds.
16 I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads.
I will lead them on unfamiliar paths.
I will turn darkness into light in front of them.
I will make rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do for them,
and I will never abandon them.
17 Then those who trust idols
and those who say to statues,
“You are our gods” will be turned away and put to shame.
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