ISAIAH 41-42

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Israel Encouraged41:1 “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,

And let the peoples gain new strength;

Let them come forward, then let them speak;

Let us come together for judgment.

2 “Who has aroused one from the east

Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?

He delivers up nations before him

And subdues kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,

By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

4 “Who has performed and accomplished it,

Calling forth the generations from the beginning?

‘I, the LORD, 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 neighbor

And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter,

And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,

Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;

And he fastens it with nails,

So that it will not totter.

8 “But you, Israel, My servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

Descendant of Abraham My friend,

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,

And called from its remotest parts

And 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 strengthen you, 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 the LORD your God, who upholds 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 the LORD, “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 pulverize them,

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 the LORD,

You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,

And their tongue is parched with thirst;

I, the LORD, will answer them Myself,

As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

18 “I will open rivers on the bare heights

And springs in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water

And the dry land fountains of water.

19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,

The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;

I will place the juniper in the desert

Together with the box tree and the cypress,

20 That they may see and recognize,

And consider and gain insight as well,

That the hand of the LORD has done this,

And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 “Present your case,” the LORD says.

“Bring forward your strong arguments,”

The King of Jacob says.

22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;

As for the former events, declare what they were,

That we may consider them and know their outcome.

Or announce to us what is coming;

23 Declare the things that are going 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 of no account,

And your work amounts to nothing;

He who chooses you is an abomination.

25 “I have aroused 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 rulers as upon mortar,

Even as the potter treads clay.”

26 Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?

Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?

Surely there was no one who declared,

Surely there was no one who proclaimed,

Surely there was no one who heard your words.

27 “Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’

And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

28 “But when I look, there is no one,

And there is no counselor among them

Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

29 “Behold, all of them are false;

Their works are worthless,

Their molten images are wind and emptiness.

God’s Promise concerning His Servant42:1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul delights.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

3 “A bruised reed He will not break

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

    5 Thus says God the LORD,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,

Who spread out the earth and its offspring,

Who gives breath to the people on it

And spirit to those who walk in it,

6 “I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness,

I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,

And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the nations,

7 To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the dungeon

And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

8 “I am the LORD, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass,

Now I declare new things;

Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

10 Sing to the LORD a new song,

Sing His praise from the end of the earth!

You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it.

You islands, and those who dwell on them.

11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,

The settlements where Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,

Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory to the LORD

And declare His praise in the coastlands.

13 The LORD will go forth like a warrior,

He will arouse His zeal like a man of war.

He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry.

He will prevail against His enemies.

The Blindness of the People14 “I have kept silent for a long time,

I have kept still and restrained Myself.

Now like a woman in labor I will groan,

I will both gasp and pant.

15 “I will lay waste the mountains and hills

And wither all their vegetation;

I will make the rivers into coastlands

And dry up the ponds.

16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,

In paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will make darkness into light before them

And rugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do,

And I will not leave them undone.”

17 They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,

Who trust in idols,

Who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

18 Hear, you deaf!

And look, you blind, that you may see.

19 Who is blind but My servant,

Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?

Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me,

Or so blind as the servant of the LORD?

20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;

Your ears are open, but none hears.

21 The LORD was pleased for His righteousness’ sake

To make the law great and glorious.

22 But this is a people plundered and despoiled;

All of them are trapped in caves,

Or are hidden away in prisons;

They have become a prey with none to deliver them,

And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”

23 Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will give heed and listen hereafter?

24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?

Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,

And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,

And whose law they did not obey?

25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger

And the fierceness of battle;

And it set him aflame all around,

Yet he did not recognize it;

And it burned him, but he paid no attention.

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