1 Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew their
strength: let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together
to judgment. 2 Who has raised up one from the east, whom he calls in
righteousness to his foot? he gives nations before him, and makes him rule
over kings; he gives them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to
his bow. 3 He pursues them, and passes on safely, even by a way that he
had not gone with his feet. 4 Who has worked and done it, calling the
generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last, I am
he. 5 The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they
draw near, and come. 6 They help everyone his neighbor; and every
one says to his brother, Be of good courage. 7 So the carpenter
encourages the goldsmith, and he who smoothes with the hammer him who
strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fastens it
with nails, that is should not be moved. 8 But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, 9 you whom I have
taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners of it,
and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;
10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you; don’t be dismayed, for I am
your God; I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you
with the right hand of my righteousness. 11 Behold, all those who are
incensed against you shall be disappointed and confounded: those who strive
with you shall be as nothing, and shall perish. 12 You shall seek them,
and shall not find them, even those who contend with you: those who war
against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing. 13 For I,
Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Don’t be afraid; I
will help you. 14 Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of
Israel; I will help you, says Yahweh, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of
Israel. 15 Behold, I have made you to be a new sharp threshing
instrument having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small,
and shall make the hills as chaff. 16 You shall winnow them, and the wind
shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and you shall
rejoice in Yahweh, you shall glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 The poor
and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst;
I, Yahweh, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, 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 springs
of water. 19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the
myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine,
and the box tree together: 20 that they may see, and know, and consider,
and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy
One of Israel has created it. 21 Produce your cause, says Yahweh; bring
forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. 22 Let them bring
forth, and declare to us what shall happen: declare you the former
things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of
them; or show us things to come. 23 Declare the things that are to come
hereafter, that we may know that you are gods: yes, do good, or do evil,
that we may be dismayed, and see it together. 24 Behold, you are of
nothing, and your work is of nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising
of the sun one who calls on my name: and he shall come on rulers as on
mortar, and as the potter treads clay. 26 Who has declared it from the
beginning, that we may know? and before, that we may say, He is
right? yes, there is none who declares, yes, there is none who shows, yes,
there is none who hears your words. 27 I am the first who
says to Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one who
brings good news. 28 When I look, there is no man: even among them there
is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word. 29 Behold, all
of them, their works are vanity and nothing; their molten images are
wind and confusion.
World English Bible - Public Domain |
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