Isaiah 41

New American Standard Bible

Israel Encouraged

41 “^(A)Listen to Me ^(B)in silence, you coastlands,
And let the peoples ^(C)gain new strength;
^(D)Let them come forward, then let them speak;
^(E)Let’s come together for judgment.
²^(F)Who has stirred one from the east
Whom He ^(G)calls in righteousness to His ^[a]feet?
He ^(H)turns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like ^(I)dust with his sword,
Like the wind-driven ^(J)chaff with his bow.
³He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been ^[b]traversing with his feet.
⁴^(K)Who has performed and accomplished it,
Summoning the generations from the beginning?
‘^(L)I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. ^(M)I am He.’”

⁵The ^(N)coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ^(O)ends of the earth tremble;
They have approached and have come.
⁶Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
⁷So the ^(P)craftsman encourages the ^(Q)smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
^(R)So that it will not totter.
⁸“But you, Israel, ^(S)My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of ^(T)Abraham My ^(U)friend,
⁹You whom I have ^[c]^(V)taken 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 have not rejected you.
¹⁰Do not ^(Z)fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, ^(AA)I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous ^(AB)right hand.’
¹¹Behold, ^(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.
¹³For I am the Lord your God ^(AF)who takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘^(AG)Do not fear, I will help you.’
¹⁴Do not fear, you ^(AH)worm Jacob, you people of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and ^(AI)your ^[d]Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
^(AJ)You will thresh the ^(AK)mountains and pulverize them,
And make the hills like chaff.
¹⁶You will ^(AL)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will ^(AM)rejoice in the Lord,
You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy are seeking ^(AN)water, but there is none,
And their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, ^(AO)will answer them Myself;
As the God of Israel I ^(AP)will not abandon them.
¹⁸I 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.
¹⁹I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the ^(AS)myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will place the ^(AT)juniper in the desert,
Together with the elm tree and the cypress,
²⁰So that ^(AU)they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the ^(AV)hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹“^[e]Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your evidence,”
The ^(AW)King of Jacob says.
²²^(AX)Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the ^(AY)former events, declare what they were,
So that we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
²³^(AZ)Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
So that we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, ^(BA)do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.
²⁴Behold, ^(BB)you are less than nothing,
And ^(BC)your work is less than nothing!
He who chooses you is an ^(BD)abomination.

²⁵“I have put ^(BE)one from the north into motion, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon ^[f]^(BF)mortar,
As the potter treads on clay.”
²⁶Who has ^(BG)declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
There was ^(BH)no one at all who declared,
There was no one at all who proclaimed,
There was no one at all who heard your words.
²⁷“^(BI)Previously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a ^(BJ)messenger of good news.’
²⁸But ^(BK)when I look, there is no one,
And there is no ^(BL)counselor ^[g]among them
Who, if I ask, can ^(BM)give an answer.
²⁹Behold, all of them are ^[h]false;
Their ^(BN)works are ^(BO)nothing,
Their cast metal images are ^(BP)wind and emptiness.