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1“Listen to me in silence, you coastlands![#tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV, CEV); TEV “distant lands”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”]
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate!
2Who stirs up this one from the east?[#sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).]
Who officially commissions him for service?
He hands nations over to him,
and enables him to subdue kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow.
3He pursues them and passes by unharmed;[#tn Heb “[in] peace”; KJV, ASV “safely”; NASB “in safety”; NIV “unscathed.”]
he advances with great speed.
4Who acts and carries out decrees?[#tn Heb “Who acts and accomplishes?”; NASB “Who has performed and accomplished it.”]
Who summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord , am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end – I am the one.
5The coastlands see and are afraid;[#tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”]
the whole earth trembles;
they approach and come.
6They help one another;[#tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”]
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
7The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
8“You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,
9you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities,[#tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”]
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God!
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!
11Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries will be reduced to nothing and perish.
12When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them;[#tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”]
your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
13For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
14Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,[#tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.]
men of Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord ,
your protector, the Holy One of Israel.
15“Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge,[#tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”]
new and double-edged.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw.
16You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord ;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord , will respond to their prayers;
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
19I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
20I will do this so people will observe and recognize,[#tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”; #tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”]
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord ’s power has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”
21“Present your argument,” says the Lord .
“Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king.
22“Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,
so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled.
Or decree for us some future events!
23Predict how future events will turn out,[#tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”]
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe.
24Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.
25I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances,[#sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.]
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name.
He steps on rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
26Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
27I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’[#tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.]
I sent a herald to Jerusalem.
28I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
29Look, all of them are nothing,[#tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.]
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance.