Isa.41
[1] Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then
let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
[2] Who raised up the righteous man from the
east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them
as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
[3] He pursued them, and passed safely; even
by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
[4] Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations
from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
[5] The isles saw it, and feared; the
ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
[6] They helped every one his neighbour; and every
one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
[7] So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he
that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he
fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
[8] But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I
have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
[9] Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee,
and not cast thee away.
[10] Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
[11]
Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as
nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
[12] Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them,
even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of
nought.
[13] For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
[14]
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel.
[15] Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou
shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
[16] Thou shalt fan
them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice
in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
[17] When the poor and needy seek water, and
there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not
forsake them.
[18] I will open rivers in high places, 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 shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine,
and the box tree together:
[20] That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
[21] Produce your
cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
[22] Let them bring them
forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider
them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
[23] Shew the things that are to
come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed,
and behold it together.
[24] Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that
chooseth you.
[25] I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun
shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth
clay.
[26] Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say,
He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none
that heareth your words.
[27] The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem
one that bringeth good tidings.
[28] For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there
was no counseller, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
[29] Behold, they are all vanity; their
works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
Isa.42
[1] Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon
him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
[2] He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to
be heard in the street.
[3] A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he
shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
[4] He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in
the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
[5] Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens,
and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth
breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
[6] I the LORD have called thee in