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ISAIAH INSTITUTE TRANSLATION

  Isaiah

41

Isaiah 41

Jehovah’s righteous servant, who hails from the east, leads Jacob/Israel’s returnees in a new conquest.

1 Be silent before me, O isles;become still, you peoples!Let them come forward and state their case;let us stand trial together.
2 Who has raised up Righteousness from the east,calling him to the place of his foot?Who has delivered nations to him,
toppled their rulers,rendering them as dust to his sword,as driven stubble to his bow?
3 He puts them to flight, passing on unhinderedby paths his feet have never trod.
4 Who is at work accomplishing this,foreordaining dynasties?I, Jehovah, first and last, am he.
5 The isles look on in fear;the ends of the earth are in trembling.They flock togetheraand come   6 to one another’s aid, saying, each to his fellow, Courage!
7 See: 40:19 Verse appears out of sequence in text.
8 But you, O Israel, my servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen,offspring of Abraham my beloved friend, 9 you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,called from its farthest limits—to you I say, You are my servant;I have accepted you and not rejected you. 10 Be not fearful, for I am with you;be not dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you; I will also succor youand uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 See, all who are enraged at youshall earn shame and disgrace;your adversaries shall come to nought, and perish. 12 Should you look for those who contend with you,you shall not find them;whoever wars against youshall be reduced to nothing. 13 For I, Jehovah your God,hold you by the right hand and say to you,Have no fear; I will help you.
14 Be not afraid, you worms of Jacob;O men of Israel, [be not dismayed]:bI am your help, says Jehovah;your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15 I will make of you a sharp-toothed threshing sledgeof new design, full of spikes:you shall thresh mountains to dustand make chaff of hills. 16 As you winnow them, a wind shall take them away,a tempest dispel them.Then will you rejoice in Jehovahand glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy require water,and there is none,and their tongue becomes parched with thirst,I Jehovah will answer their want;I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open up streams in barren hill country,springs in the midst of the plains;I will turn the desert into lakes,parched lands into fountains of water. 19 I will bring cedars and acacias,myrtles and oleasters in the wilderness;I will place cypresses,elms and box trees in the steppes— 20 that all may see it and know, consider it,and perceive that Jehovah’s hand did this,that the Holy One of Israel created it.
21 Present your case, says Jehovah;submit your evidence, says the King of Jacob. 22 Let them come forward and recount to ustheir prophecies of events heretofore.What were they? Tell us,that we may examine themand know whether they were fulfilled.Or predict the future for us: 23 Tell us of events to come hereafter,so that we may know you are gods.Perform something good or evilat which we will be dazzled and all stand in awe. 24 It is clear you are of no account,that your works camount to nothing;cwhoever accepts you is himself an abomination.
25 I have raised up one from the northwho calls on my name,who shall come from the direction of sunrise.He shall come upon dignitaries as on mud,tread them as clay like a potter.
26 Who announced this beforehand, so we would know,declared it ahead of time,that we might say, dHe was right?dIndeed, not one could foretell it,not one make it known;no one has heard from youany [prophetic]e utterance. 27 But to Zion, he shall be its harbinger;fI will appoint him asa herald of good tidings to Jerusalem.
28 For when I looked there was no one,not one who could offer counsel,or when I questioned them,who could answer a word. 29 Surely they are all iniquitous,their works worthless;their outpourings are but wind and emptiness.

  • a5 So 1QIsaa; term not in MT.
  • b14 A reconstruction based on meter and parallelism; compare verse 10.
  • c24 Hebrew ᵓāpaᶜ (unknown) emended to ᵓāpes.
  • d26 Literally, The righteous one, a pun on the subject of verses 2, 25.
  • e26 Hebrew riᵓšôn, a probable corruption (compare plural riᵓšōnôt, v 22; mērᵓōš, v 26), included in the present verse; the term commences verse 27 in MT.
  • f27 Hebrew hannōmeh (compare Arabic); so 1QIsaa. MT hinnām, behold them/here they are.


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