Isaiah 41

41 ¹ Listen to me in silence, coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near and speak; let us together draw near for judgment.

² Who stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to follow him? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him; he turns them to dust with his sword, to wind-driven stubble with his bow. ³ He pursues them and passes on safely, by a path his feet have never traveled. ⁴ Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I am the Father — the first, and with the last; I am he.

⁵ The coastlands have seen it and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near and come. ⁶ Each one helps his neighbor and says to his brother, "Take courage!" ⁷ The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good"; and they fasten it with nails so it cannot be moved.

⁸ But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend— ^a a v8 Israel is named here as our Father's servant; the distinct figure of the Servant in Isaiah's later songs (Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52–53) is Jesus, the true Israel who fulfills the calling. ⁹ you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant; I have chosen you and not rejected you"— ¹⁰ Fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your Father. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ^b b v10 "I am your Father" renders the Hebrew covenant formula "I am your God" — our Father binds himself to his people not as a distant deity but as a Father.

¹¹ See, all who rage against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you shall be as nothing and perish. ¹² You will look for those who war against you, but you will not find them; those who battle against you shall be as nothing at all. ¹³ For I, your Father, take hold of your right hand; I am the one who says to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you." ¹⁴ Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares our Father; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel — your Father. ^c c v14 "The Holy One of Israel" is Isaiah's signature title for our Father — the holy one who has bound himself in covenant to a people he calls his own. ¹⁵ See, I make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and make the hills like chaff. ¹⁶ You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in our Father; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

¹⁷ When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I, your Father, will answer them; I, the Father of Israel, will not forsake them. ¹⁸ I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains 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 plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane, and the pine together, ²⁰ that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that my hand has done this, that I, the Holy One of Israel, have created it.

²¹ Set forth your case, says our Father; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. ²² Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they were, that we may consider them and know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. ²³ Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and filled with fear together. ²⁴ Look, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; whoever chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵ I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun one who calls on my name; he tramples rulers like mortar, like a potter treading clay. ²⁶ Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, "He is right"? There was no one who declared it, no one who proclaimed, no one who heard your words. ²⁷ I was the first to say to Zion, "Look, here they are!" and I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news. ²⁸ But when I look, there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, when I ask, can give an answer. ²⁹ See, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their cast idols are empty wind.