25 “I have stirred(A) up one from the north,(B) and he comes—
    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.
He treads(C) on rulers as if they were mortar,
    as if he were a potter treading the clay.
26 Who told of this from the beginning,(D) so we could know,
    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?
No one told of this,
    no one foretold(E) it,
    no one heard any words(F) from you.
27 I was the first to tell(G) Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.(H)
28 I look but there is no one(I)
    no one among the gods to give counsel,(J)
    no one to give answer(K) when I ask them.
29 See, they are all false!
    Their deeds amount to nothing;(L)
    their images(M) are but wind(N) and confusion.

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25 I stirred up one from the north,
    and he has come from the rising of the sun.

He shall call on my name,

and he shall come on officials as on mortar,
    and as the potter[a] treads clay.
26 Who declared it from the beginning[b] so that[c] we might know,
    and beforehand[d] so that[e] we might say, “He is right!”[f]
Indeed, there was no one who declared it;
    Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it.
        Indeed there was no one who heard your words.

27 First to Zion, look! Look at them!

And I give a herald[g] of good tidings to Jerusalem.

28 But[h] I look and there is no man,
    and I look among these and there is no counselor,
        that[i] I might ask them and they might answer a word.
29 Look! All of them are deception;
    their works are nothing;
        their images are wind and emptiness.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 41:25 Literally “creator”
  2. Isaiah 41:26 Literally “head”
  3. Isaiah 41:26 Or “and”
  4. Isaiah 41:26 Literally “from before faces”
  5. Isaiah 41:26 Or “and”
  6. Isaiah 41:26 Literally “righteous”
  7. Isaiah 41:27 Or “bringer”
  8. Isaiah 41:28 Or “And”
  9. Isaiah 41:28 Or “and”