Isaiah 41:1-16 ▼

1 |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 has summoned it to his service, and has handed over nations to him? Who brings down kings, and turns them into dust with his sword, into windblown stubble with his bow?

3 And who pursues them and moves on unscathed by a path that his feet don't know?

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!|

5 |The coastlands have looked and are afraid; the ends of the earth have drawn near together and come forward.

6 Each helps his neighbor, saying to each other, 'Be strong!'

7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and the hammersmith encourages the one who strikes the anvil. He says about the welding, 'It's good!' and he reinforces it with nails so that it won't topple.|

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.|

11 |Look! All who are enraged at you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who contend with you will all die.

12 Those who quarrel with you will be as nothing; those who fight you like nothing at all!|

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 you insects of Israel! I myself will help you,' declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.|

15 |See, I'm making you 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 you'll make your boast in the Holy One of Israel.|