¹“Keep silent before me , islands,

and let the peoples renew their strength .

Let them come near ,

then let them speak .

Let’s meet together for judgement.

²Who has raised up one from the east ?

Who called him to his feet in righteousness ?

He hands over nations to him

and makes him rule over kings .

He gives them like the dust to his sword ,

like the driven stubble to his bow .

³He pursues them

and passes by safely ,

even by a way that he had not gone with his feet .

⁴Who has worked and done it ,

calling the generations from the beginning ?

I , the LORD , the first , and with the last , I am he .”

⁵The islands have seen , and fear .

The ends of the earth tremble .

They approach , and come .

⁶Everyone helps his neighbour .

They say to their brothers, “Be strong !”

⁷So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith .

He who smooths with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil ,

saying of the soldering , “It is good ;”

and he fastens it with nails , that it might not totter .

⁸“But you , Israel , my servant ,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham my friend,

⁹you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth,

and called from its corners ,

and said to you , ‘You are my servant . I have chosen you and have not cast you away .’

¹⁰Don’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 .

¹¹Behold , all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded .

Those who strive with you will be like nothing , and shall perish.

¹²You will seek them , and won’t find them ,

even those who contend with you .

Those who war against you will be as nothing ,

as a nonexistent thing.

¹³For I , the LORD your God , will hold your right hand ,

saying to you , ‘Don’t be afraid .

I will help you .’

¹⁴Don’t be afraid , you worm Jacob ,

and you men of Israel .

I will help you ,” says the LORD .

“Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel .

¹⁵Behold , I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth .

You will thresh the mountains ,

and beat them small ,

and will make the hills like chaff .

¹⁶You will winnow them ,

and the wind will carry them away ,

and the whirlwind will scatter them .

You will rejoice in the LORD .

You will glory in the Holy One of Israel .

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water , and there is none .

Their tongue fails for thirst .

I , the LORD , will answer them .

I , the God of Israel , will not forsake them .

¹⁸I will open rivers on the bare heights ,

and springs in the middle of the valleys .

I will make the wilderness a pool of water ,

and the dry land springs of water .

¹⁹I will put cedar, acacia , myrtle , and oil trees in the wilderness .

I will set cypress trees , pine , and box trees together in the desert ;

²⁰that they may see , know , consider , and understand together ,

that the LORD ’s hand has done this ,

and the Holy One of Israel has created it .

²¹Produce your cause ,” says the LORD .

“Bring out your strong reasons!” says the King of Jacob .

²²“Let them announce and declare to us what will happen !

Declare the former things , what they are ,

that we may consider them , and know the latter end of them ;

or show us things to come .

²³Declare 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 .

²⁴Behold , you are nothing,

and your work is nothing.

He who chooses you is an abomination .

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 .

²⁶Who has declared it from the beginning , that we may know ?

and before , that we may say, ‘He is right ’?

Surely , there is no one who declares .

Surely , there is no one who shows.

Surely , there is no one who hears your words.

²⁷I am the first to say to Zion , ‘Behold , look at them ;’

and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem .

²⁸When I look , there is no man ,

even amongst them there is no counsellor who , when I ask , can answer a word .

²⁹Behold , all of their deeds are vanity and nothing .

Their molten images are wind and confusion .