1 Do Not Fear, for I Am with You “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,And let the peoples gain new power;Let them come forward, then let them speak;Let us draw near together for judgment.
2 “Who has awakened one from the eastWhom He calls in righteousness to His 41:2 Lit foot feet?He gives up nations before himAnd 41:2 Or subdues has dominion over kings.He makes them like dust with his sword,As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.
3 “He pursues them, passing on in peace,By a way he had not 41:3 Lit coming come with his feet.
4 “Who has worked and doneit,Calling forth the generations from the beginning?‘I, Yahweh, am the first; and with the last, I am He.’ ”
5 ¶The coastlands have seen and are afraid;The ends of the earth tremble;They have drawn near and have come.
6 Each one helps his neighborAnd says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the craftsman strengthens the smelter,Andhe who smoothsmetalwith the hammerstrengthenshim who beats the anvil,Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;And he strengthens it with nails,So thatit will not be shaken.
8 “But you, Israel, My servant,Jacob whom I have chosen,Seed of Abraham My friend,
9 You whom I have 41:9Normally taken hold of, but cf.41:7 strongly taken hold of from the ends of the earth,And called from its remotest partsAnd said to you, ‘You are My servant,I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.I will make you mighty, surely I will help you;Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “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.
13 “For I am Yahweh your God, who 41:13Normally takes hold of, but cf.41:7 strongly takes hold of your right hand,Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;I will help you,” declares Yahweh, “ 41:14Or even your Redeemer, the Holy One and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;You will thresh the mountains and pulverizethem,And will make the hills like chaff.
16 “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,And the storm will scatter them;But you will rejoice in Yahweh;You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 ¶“The 41:17Or poor afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,And their tongue is parched with thirst;I, Yahweh, will answer them Myself,Asthe God of Israel I will not forsake them.
18 “I will open rivers on the bare heightsAnd springs in the midst of the valleys;I will make the wilderness a pool of waterAnd the dry land fountains of water.
19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,The acacia and the myrtle and the 41:19Or oleaster olive tree;I will place the juniper in the desertTogether with the box tree and the cypress,
20 That they may see and know,And establish and gain insight as well,That the hand of Yahweh has done this,And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 ¶“Bring near your case,” Yahweh says.“Bring forward your mightyarguments,”The King of Jacob says.
22 Let them bringitforth and declare to us what is going to take place;As for the formerevents, declare what theywere,That we may establish our heart on them and know their outcome.Or cause us to hear of what is coming;
23 Declare the things that are to come afterward,That we may know that you are gods;Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24 Behold, you are nothing,And your work is non-existent;He who chooses you is an abomination.
25 ¶“I have awakened one from the north, and he has come;From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;And he will come upon officials asuponmortar,Even as the potter treads clay.”
26 Who has declaredthisfrom the beginning, that we might know?Or from former times, that we may say, “He isright!”?Surely there was no one who declared;Surely there was no one who causedthose wordsto be heard;Surely there was no one who heard your words.
27 “FormerlyI saidto Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’
28 “But I look, and there is no one,And there is no counselor 41:28Lit out of those among themWho, if I ask, can respondwitha word.
29 “Behold, all of them are 41:29Or nothing false;Their works are non-existent;Their molten images are wind andutterformlessness.