Isaiah 41 - International Standard Version (ISV)

The Lord Comes as Judge

41 “Be silent before me, you coastlands,
and let the people renew their strength!
Let them come forward,
then let them speak together—
let’s draw near for a ruling.
² Who has aroused victory from the east,
and^[a] has summoned it to his service,
and^[b] has handed over nations to him?
Who brings down kings,
and^[c] turns them into dust with his sword,
into windblown stubble with his bow?
³ And^[d] who pursues them
and^[e] moves on unscathed
by a path that his feet don’t know?^[f]
4 Who has performed and carried this out,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—the first
and will be with the last
—I am the One!”

Idolaters Encourage Each Other

⁵ “The coastlands have looked and are afraid;
the ends of the earth have drawn near together^[g]
and come forward.
⁶ Each helps his neighbor,
saying^[h] to each other, ‘Be strong!’
⁷ The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and the hammersmith^[i] encourages the one who strikes the anvil.
He says^[j] 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.”

The Coming Defeat of God’s Enemies

¹¹ “Look! All who are enraged at you
will be put to shame and disgraced;
those who contend with you
will all die.^[k]
12 Those who quarrel with you^[l]
will be as nothing;
those who fight you
like nothing at all!”

A Call to Courage

¹³ “For I am the Lord your God,
who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid.
I’ll help you.
¹⁴ Don’t be afraid, you little worm Jacob,
and^[m] you insects of Israel!
I myself will help you,’^[n] declares the Lord,
your^[o] Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

A Promise of Victory

¹⁵ “See, I’m making you^[p] into
a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge.
You’ll thresh and crush the mountains,
and make the hills like chaff.
¹⁶ You’ll winnow them, and the wind will lift them up,
and a tempest will blow them away.
Then you’ll rejoice in the Lord,
and^[q] you’ll make your boast in the Holy One of Israel.”

¹⁷ “As for the poor, the needy, those seeking^[r] water—
when there is none
and their tongues are parched from thirst—
I, the Lord, will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, won’t abandon them.
¹⁸ I’ll open up rivers on the barren heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I’ll turn the^[s] desert into a pool of water,
and the parched land into springs of water.
¹⁹ I’ll put cedar trees in the wilderness,
along with acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
I’ll plant cypresses in the desert—
box^[t] trees, and pine trees together—
²⁰ all so that people may see and recognize,
perceive,^[u] consider, and comprehend at the same time,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Can God’s Enemies Predict the Future?

²¹ “Put forward your case!” says the Lord.
“Submit your arguments!” says Jacob’s King.
²² Let them approach and ask us,
‘What will happen?
As to the former things, what were they?
Tell us, so that we may consider them and know.
Or^[v] the latter things or the things to come—
let us hear.
²³ Tell us what the future holds,
so we may know that you are gods!
Yes, do something good or something bad,
so we may hear^[w] and gaze at it together.’”

²⁴ “Look! You and your work are less than nothing;^[x]
whoever finds you pleasing is disgusting.”

²⁵ “You are stirring up^[y] one from the north,
and they are coming^[z] from the rising of the sun;
and^[aa] he will be called by his^[ab] name.
Rulers will arrive like mud;^[ac]
just^[ad] like a potter, he will trample the clay.
²⁶ Who told of this from the beginning,
so we could know,
or beforehand, so we could ask,
‘Is it right?’^[ae]
Indeed, no one told of this,
no one made an announcement,
and no one heard your words:
²⁷ First, to Zion: “There is slumber.”^[af]
And to Jerusalem: “I’ll send a messenger with good news.”
²⁸ But when I look, there is no one—
among them there’s no one to give counsel,
no one to give an answer when I ask them.
²⁹ See, none of them exist, and their deeds are nothing.^[ag]
Their metal images are only wind and confusion.’”

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 41:2 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack and
2. Isaiah 41:2 So 1QIsa^a; the Heb. lacks and
3. Isaiah 41:2 So 1QIsa^a; the Heb. lacks and
4. Isaiah 41:3 So 1QIsa^a LXX; the Heb. lacks and
5. Isaiah 41:3 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack and
6. Isaiah 41:3 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads travel
7. Isaiah 41:5 So 1QIsa^a LXX; MT reads earth tremble
8. Isaiah 41:6 So 1QIsa^a; 1QIsa^b MT read and saying; cf. LXX
9. Isaiah 41:7 Lit. he who smoothes with the hammer
10. Isaiah 41:7 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads saying
11. Isaiah 41:11 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads will become nothing and die; cf. LXX
12. Isaiah 41:12 So 1QIsa^a; 1QIsa^b MT LXX read You will seek them and not find those who quarrel with you
13. Isaiah 41:14 So 1QIsa^a; the Heb. lacks and
14. Isaiah 41:14 1QIsa^a is masculine; MT is feminine
15. Isaiah 41:14 1QIsa^a is masculine; MT is feminine
16. Isaiah 41:15 1QIsa^a is masculine; MT is feminine
17. Isaiah 41:16 So 1QIsa^a; the Heb. lacks and
18. Isaiah 41:17 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read poor and the needy seeking
19. Isaiah 41:18 So 1QIsa^a; MT implies the
20. Isaiah 41:19 Or elm
21. Isaiah 41:20 So 1QIsa^a; 1QIsa^a corrector MT LXX read to consider
22. Isaiah 41:22 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads them. And we may know
23. Isaiah 41:23 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads stare at one another; cf. LXX
24. Isaiah 41:24 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads you are nothing, and your work means nothing
25. Isaiah 41:25 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read I am raising
26. Isaiah 41:25 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads I am raising
27. Isaiah 41:25 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack and
28. Isaiah 41:25 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read my
29. Isaiah 41:25 I.e. like an overflowing river; so 1QIsa^a LXX; MT reads He will come, rulers like mud
30. Isaiah 41:25 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads and
31. Isaiah 41:26 So 1QIsa^a LXX; MT reads He was right
32. Isaiah 41:27 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads look, there they are
33. Isaiah 41:29 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads all of their works are utterly nothing