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1“You lands of the sea, stand silent before me![#41:1 Or “hold a feast to me” (LXX).]
Let the people renew their strength!
Let them approach me and state their case.
Let’s come together to decide who is right.
2Who raised up the conqueror from the east?[#41:2 See Isa. 46:11.]
Who commissioned him for his righteous purpose?
The Lord hands nations over to him
to trample kings under his feet,
to make them like dust with his sword
and like windblown chaff with his bow.
3Swiftly he pursues them and advances unscathed
as he passes over unfamiliar land.
4Who achieved all this and made it happen?
Who guides the destiny of each generation
from the first until now ?
I am the one! I am Yahweh , the first,
the unchanging one who will be there in the end!”
5The islands see it and panic;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they approach and draw near.
6The idol-makers all bolster one another up,
saying, “Take courage!”
7The woodworker encourages the metalsmith;
the one who flattens with the hammer
spurs on the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the welding, “Looks good!”
They nail down the idol so it won’t topple.
8“But you—my servant, Israel,[#41:8–20 sings three poems of comfort in this chapter: to his chosen servant, Israel (vv. 8–13), to his redeemed warrior-bride (vv. 14–16), and to the poor and needy (vv. 17–20).]
Jacob, whom I’ve chosen,
seed of my beloved friend Abraham —
9I drew you to myself from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corner.
I say to you:
‘You are my servant; I have chosen you.
I have not rejected you!
10Do not yield to fear, for I am always near.
Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God.
I will infuse you with my strength
and help you in every situation.
I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.’
11“All who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced.
All who contend with you will perish and disappear.
12You will look for your enemies in vain;
those who war against you will vanish without a trace!
13I am Yahweh , your mighty God!
I grip your right hand and won’t let you go !
I whisper to you:
‘Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you!’
14“Jacob, although you feel like a grub worm, have no fear![#41:14 David used this term to prophetically point to Jesus as he was being crucified. See Ps. 22:6. The Hebrew word is tola , which is a species of worm found in the Middle East ( Coccus ilicus ) that reproduces itself when the female fastens herself to a tree and lays eggs between her body and the tree. When the eggs hatch, the baby worms feed on her living body. When the eggs emerge, the blood remains on the tree as a crimson stain. When Jesus died on the cross (tree), his blood left a crimson stain, and he gave birth to the church. He nourishes us and sustains us with his body and blood.]
O men of Israel, I am here to help you!
I am your Kinsman-Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel!
15I am making you into a powerful threshing instrument,[#41:15 Or “a threshing sledge,” a board with iron studs like teeth that is driven over wheat to grind the chaff off the grain, which is then winnowed.]
with teeth new and sharp!
You will reduce hills to chaff and crush mountains into dust!
16You will winnow them, and the stormy wind will blow them away!
Then you will spin and dance with rejoicing in Yahweh ,
boasting with admiration in the Holy One of Israel!
17“I, Yahweh , will respond to the cry of the poor and needy
when they are thirsty and their tongues are parched with thirst!
When they seek a drink of water but there is none,
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18I will open up refreshing streams on the barren hills[#41:18 See John 7:37–39.]
and springing fountains in the valleys.
I will make the desert a pleasant pool
and the dry land springs of water.
19I will plant in the treeless desert cedars and acacias,[#41:19 Acacia wood was used extensively in the tabernacle and was used to form the ark of the covenant.]
myrtle and olive trees.
I will set in the wilderness evergreens,
together with many elms and cypresses.
20Everyone will see
and know that I, Yahweh , with my mighty hands have done this.
They will consider and comprehend
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
21Yahweh says, “Present your case.”
“Let’s hear your arguments,” says the King of Jacob’s tribes.
22“Come, you idols, and let’s hear your prophecy for the future.
Tell us, tell us about your former prophecies
so we can test them and see if they were fulfilled,
or decree some future event for us.
23Prophesy what the future holds
to prove to us that you are gods.
Do something—anything!
Frighten us or put us in awe!
24But you are nothing at all! What have you ever accomplished?
Whoever chooses to worship you is disgusting!
25“I stirred up one from the north,
who comes from the rising of the sun.
He will call on my name.
He will trample rulers into the mud as a potter treads clay.
26Which of you foretold this from the start?
Who prophesied it from long ago that we can say, ‘He is right’?
None of you prophesied it!
None of you announced it ahead of time!
No one heard you say a thing about it!
27I was the first to decree to Zion, ‘Look, this is what’s about to happen!’[#41:27 Fulfilled prophecy is one of many evidences that God is real and powerful and that he knows all things.]
I am bringing a messenger to Jerusalem with good news.
28But when I look, I find no one who is capable to counsel me!
There is no one who can respond to me with the right answer!
Who could I even ask?
29Look, all these gods are nothingness!
What have they ever accomplished?
Their metal images are nothing but empty wind and confusion!