VerseAI

NIV

Isaiah 41

  1. 1<pb/><t>“Be silent before me, you islands!</t> <t>Let the nations renew their strength!</t> <t>Let them come forward and speak;</t> <t>let us meet together at the place of judgment. <pb/></t>
  2. 2<t>“Who has stirred up one from the east,</t> <t>calling him in righteousness to his service<f>[81]</f>?</t> <t>He hands nations over to him</t> <t>and subdues kings before him.</t> <t>He turns them to dust with his sword,</t> <t>to windblown chaff with his bow.</t>
  3. 3<t>He pursues them and moves on unscathed,</t> <t>by a path his feet have not traveled before.</t>
  4. 4<t>Who has done this and carried it through,</t> <t>calling forth the generations from the beginning?</t> <t>I, the LORD—with the first of them</t> <t>and with the last—I am he.” <pb/></t>
  5. 5<t>The islands have seen it and fear;</t> <t>the ends of the earth tremble.</t> <t>They approach and come forward;</t>
  6. 6<t>they help each other</t> <t>and say to their companions, “Be strong!”</t>
  7. 7<t>The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,</t> <t>and the one who smooths with the hammer</t> <t>spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.</t> <t>One says of the welding, “It is good.”</t> <t>The other nails down the idol so it will not topple. <pb/></t>
  8. 8<t>“But you, Israel, my servant,</t> <t>Jacob, whom I have chosen,</t> <t>you descendants of Abraham my friend,</t>
  9. 9<t>I took you from the ends of the earth,</t> <t>from its farthest corners I called you.</t> <t>I said, ‘You are my servant’;</t> <t>I have chosen you and have not rejected you.</t>
  10. 10<t>So do not fear, for I am with you;</t> <t>do not be dismayed, for I am your God.</t> <t>I will strengthen you and help you;</t> <t>I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. <pb/></t>
  11. 11<t>“All who rage against you</t> <t>will surely be ashamed and disgraced;</t> <t>those who oppose you</t> <t>will be as nothing and perish.</t>
  12. 12<t>Though you search for your enemies,</t> <t>you will not find them.</t> <t>Those who wage war against you</t> <t>will be as nothing at all.</t>
  13. 13<t>For I am the LORD your God</t> <t>who takes hold of your right hand</t> <t>and says to you, Do not fear;</t> <t>I will help you.</t>
  14. 14<t>Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,</t> <t>little Israel, do not fear,</t> <t>for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,</t> <t>your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.</t>
  15. 15<t>“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,</t> <t>new and sharp, with many teeth.</t> <t>You will thresh the mountains and crush them,</t> <t>and reduce the hills to chaff.</t>
  16. 16<t>You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,</t> <t>and a gale will blow them away.</t> <t>But you will rejoice in the LORD</t> <t>and glory in the Holy One of Israel. <pb/></t>
  17. 17<t>“The poor and needy search for water,</t> <t>but there is none;</t> <t>their tongues are parched with thirst.</t> <t>But I the LORD will answer them;</t> <t>I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.</t>
  18. 18<t>I will make rivers flow on barren heights,</t> <t>and springs within the valleys.</t> <t>I will turn the desert into pools of water,</t> <t>and the parched ground into springs.</t>
  19. 19<t>I will put in the desert</t> <t>the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.</t> <t>I will set junipers in the wasteland,</t> <t>the fir and the cypress together,</t>
  20. 20<t>so that people may see and know,</t> <t>may consider and understand,</t> <t>that the hand of the LORD has done this,</t> <t>that the Holy One of Israel has created it. <pb/></t>
  21. 21<t>“Present your case,” says the LORD.</t> <t>“Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.</t>
  22. 22<t>“Tell us, you idols,</t> <t>what is going to happen.</t> <t>Tell us what the former things were,</t> <t>so that we may consider them</t> <t>and know their final outcome.</t> <t>Or declare to us the things to come,</t>
  23. 23<t>tell us what the future holds,</t> <t>so we may know that you are gods.</t> <t>Do something, whether good or bad,</t> <t>so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.</t>
  24. 24<t>But you are less than nothing</t> <t>and your works are utterly worthless;</t> <t>whoever chooses you is detestable. <pb/></t>
  25. 25<t>“I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes—</t> <t>one from the rising sun who calls on my name.</t> <t>He treads on rulers as if they were mortar,</t> <t>as if he were a potter treading the clay.</t>
  26. 26<t>Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know,</t> <t>or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?</t> <t>No one told of this,</t> <t>no one foretold it,</t> <t>no one heard any words from you.</t>
  27. 27<t>I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’</t> <t>I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.</t>
  28. 28<t>I look but there is no one—</t> <t>no one among the gods to give counsel,</t> <t>no one to give answer when I ask them.</t>
  29. 29<t>See, they are all false!</t> <t>Their deeds amount to nothing;</t> <t>their images are but wind and confusion.</t>