Isaiah 41
1Keep silence before me, O islands; 1 And let the people renew their strength: 1 Let them come near; then let them speak: 1 Let us come near together to judgment. 1
2Who raised up the righteous man from the east, 1 Called him to his foot, 1 Gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? 1 He gave them as the dust to his sword, 1 And as driven stubble to his bow. 1
3He pursued them, and passed safely; 1 Even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. 1
4Who hath wrought and done it, 1 Calling the generations from the beginning? 1 I the Lord, the first, 1 And with the last; I am he. 1
5The isles saw it, and feared; 1 The ends of the earth were afraid, 1 Drew near, and came. 1
6They helped every one his neighbour; 1 And every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. 1
7So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, 1 And he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, 1 Saying, It is ready for the sodering: 1 And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 1
8But thou, Israel, art my servant, 1 Jacob whom I have chosen, 1 The seed of Abraham my friend. 1
9Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, 1 And called thee from the chief men thereof, 1 And said unto thee, Thou art my servant; 1 I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 1
10Fear thou not; for I am with thee: 1 Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: 1 I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; 1 Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 1
11Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: 1 They shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 1
12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: 1 They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 1
13For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, 1 Saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 1
14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; 1 I will help thee, saith the Lord, 1 And thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 1
15Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: 1 Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, 1 And shalt make the hills as chaff. 1
16Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, 1 And the whirlwind shall scatter them: 1 And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, 1 And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 1
17When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, 1 And their tongue faileth for thirst, 1 I the Lord will hear them, 1 I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 1
18I will open rivers in high places, 1 And fountains in the midst of the valleys: 1 I will make the wilderness a pool of water, 1 And the dry land springs of water. 1
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; 1 I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: 1
20That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, 1 That the hand of the Lord hath done this, 1 And the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 1
21Produce your cause, saith the Lord; 1 Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. 1
22Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: 1 Let them shew the former things, what they be, 1 That we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; 1 Or declare us things for to come. 1
23Shew the things that are to come hereafter, 1 That we may know that ye are gods: 1 Yea, do good, or do evil, 1 That we may be dismayed, and behold it together. 1
24Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: 1 An abomination is he that chooseth you. 1
25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: 1 From the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: 1 And he shall come upon princes as upon morter, 1 And as the potter treadeth clay. 1
26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? 1 And beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? 1 Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, 1 Yea, there is none that heareth your words. 1
27The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: 1 And I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. 1
28For I beheld, and there was no man; 1 Even amongst them, and there was no counseller, 1 That, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 1
29Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: 1 Their molten images are wind and confusion.