Isaiah 41

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