| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1“Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments. Come now and speak. The court is ready for your case. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2“Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he.” |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6The idol makers encourage one another, saying to each other, “Be strong!” |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7The carver encourages the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. “Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8“But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend, |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11“See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12You will look in vain for those who tried to conquer you. Those who attack you will come to nothing. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13For I hold you by your right hand— I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob, don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you. I am the LORD, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.’ |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16You will toss them into the air, and the wind will blow them all away; a whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will rejoice in the LORD. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means— that it is the LORD who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21“Present the case for your idols,” says the LORD. “Let them show what they can do,” says the King of Israel. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22“Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence. Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know what’s going to happen. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods. In fact, do anything—good or bad! Do something that will amaze and frighten us. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Those who choose you pollute themselves. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25“But I have stirred up a leader who will approach from the north. From the east he will call on my name. I will give him victory over kings and princes. He will trample them as a potter treads on clay. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26“Who told you from the beginning that this would happen? Who predicted this, making you admit that he was right? No one said a word! |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look! Help is on the way!’ I will send Jerusalem a messenger with good news. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29See, they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are as empty as the wind. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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