41
1 Keep silence, and hear me, ye distant lands. Ye nations, gather your strength! Let them come near; then let them speak; Let us go together into judgment. 2 Who hath raised up from the region of the East Him whom victory meeteth in his march? Who hath subdued nations before him, And given him dominion over kings? Who made their swords like dust, And their bows like driven stubble? 3 He pursued them, and passed in safety, By a path which his foot had never trodden. 4 Who hath wrought and done it? I, who have called the generations from the beginning, I, Jehovah, the first; And with the last also am I. 5 Distant nations saw it, and were afraid; The ends of the earth, and trembled; They drew near, and came together. 6 One helped another, And said to him, “Be of good courage!” 7 The carpenter encouraged the smith, He that smoothed with the hammer him that smote on the anvil, And said, “The soldering is good,” And he fastened it with nails that it might not fall. 8 But thou, O Israel, my servant, Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Offspring of Abraham, my friend! 9 Thou, whom I have led by the hand from the ends of the earth, And called from the extremities thereof, And said to thee, “Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away!” 10 Fear not, for I am with thee; Faint not, for I, thy God, will strengthen thee; I will help thee, and sustain thee, with my right hand of salvation! 11 Behold, all who are enraged against thee Shall be ashamed and confounded; All that contend with thee Shall come to nothing and perish. 12 Thou shalt seek and not find Them that contend with thee; They shall come to nothing, and be no more, Who make war against thee. 13 For I, Jehovah, am thy God, that holdeth thee by the right hand, That saith to thee, “Fear not, I am thy helper!” 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, thou feeble people of Israel! I am thy helper, saith Jehovah; Thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a thrashing-wain, sharp and new, With double edges; Thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, And make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them. But thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, And glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst, I, Jehovah, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers upon the bare hills, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia, The myrtle and the olive-tree; I will place in the desert the cypress, The plane-tree and the larch together. 20 That they may see, and know, And consider, and understand together, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And that the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 21 Bring forward your cause, saith Jehovah; Produce your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob. 22 Let them produce them, and show us what shall happen! Tell us what ye have predicted in times past, That we may consider, and know its fulfilment! Or declare to us things that are to come! 23 Let us hear what shall happen in future times, That we may know whether ye are gods; Do something, be it good or evil, That we may be astonished, and see it together! 24 Behold, ye are less than nothing, And your work is less than naught; An abomination is he that chooseth you! 25 I have raised up one from the north, and he cometh; From the rising of the sun he calleth upon my name; He trampleth upon princes as upon mortar; As the potter treadeth down the clay. 26 Who hath declared this from the beginning, that we might know it, And long ago, that we might say, It is true? There was not one that foretold it, not one that declared it, Not one that heard your words. 27 I first said to Zion, Behold! behold them! And I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings. 28 I looked, but there was no man; Even among them, but there was none that gave counsel; I inquired of them that they might give an answer; 29 But behold, they are all vanity; Their works are nothing; Wind and emptiness are their molten images.