Isaiah 41:5-10
New English Translation
5 The coastlands[a] see and are afraid;
the whole earth[b] trembles;
they approach and come.
6 They help one another;[c]
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages[d] the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,[e]
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.
The Lord Encourages His People
8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,[f]
9 you whom I am bringing back[g] from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions—
I told you, ‘You are my servant.’
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God![h]
I strengthen you—
yes, I help you—
yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand![i]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:5 tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”
- Isaiah 41:5 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
- Isaiah 41:6 tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”
- Isaiah 41:7 tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
- Isaiah 41:7 tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”
- Isaiah 41:8 tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).
- Isaiah 41:9 tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”
- Isaiah 41:10 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishtaʿ) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (shaʿah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (shaʿah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”). Its attestation in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yareʾ, “fear”).
- Isaiah 41:10 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
Isaiah 41:5-10
International Standard Version
Idolaters Encourage Each Other
5 “The coastlands have looked and are afraid;
the ends of the earth have drawn near together[a]
and come forward.
6 Each helps his neighbor,
saying[b] to each other, ‘Be strong!’
7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and the hammersmith[c] encourages the one who strikes the anvil.
He says[d] about the welding, ‘It’s good!’
and he reinforces it with nails so that it won’t topple.”
The Lord Encourages Israel
8 “But as for you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I’ve chosen,
the offspring of my friend Abraham—
9 you whom I encouraged from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corners,
and told you, ‘You’re my servant,
I’ve chosen you
and haven’t cast you aside.’
10 Don’t be afraid,
because I’m with you;
don’t be anxious,
because I am your God.
I keep on strengthening you;
I’m truly helping you.
I’m surely upholding you
with my victorious right hand.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:5 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads earth tremble
- Isaiah 41:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read and saying; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 41:7 Lit. he who smoothes with the hammer
- Isaiah 41:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads saying
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