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Isaiah 41 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
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align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../isaiah/40.htm" title="Isaiah 40">◄</a> Isaiah 41 <a href="../isaiah/42.htm" title="Isaiah 42">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="text-html"> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Israel Assured of God’s Help</span></h3><div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span class="chapter-2"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">1</span>Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">let the peoples renew their strength;</span></span><br /><span class="text">let them approach, then let them speak;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">let us together draw near for judgment.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">2</span>Who has roused a victor from the east,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">summoned him to his service?</span></span><br /><span class="text">He delivers up nations to him,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and tramples kings under foot;</span></span><br /><span class="text">he makes them like dust with his sword,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">like driven stubble with his bow.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">3</span>He pursues them and passes on safely,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">scarcely touching the path with his feet.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">4</span>Who has performed and done this,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">calling the generations from the beginning?</span></span><br /><span class="text">I, the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, am first,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and will be with the last.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">5</span>The coastlands have seen and are afraid,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the ends of the earth tremble;</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they have drawn near and come.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">6</span>Each one helps the other,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">saying to one another, “Take courage!”</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">7</span>The artisan encourages the goldsmith,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,</span></span><br /><span class="text">saying of the soldering, “It is good”;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">8</span>But you, Israel, my servant,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Jacob, whom I have chosen,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the offspring of Abraham, my friend;</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">9</span>you whom I took from the ends of the earth,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and called from its farthest corners,</span></span><br /><span class="text">saying to you, “You are my servant,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I have chosen you and not cast you off”;</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">10</span>do not fear, for I am with you,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">do not be afraid, for I am your God;</span></span><br /><span class="text">I will strengthen you, I will help you,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">11</span>Yes, all who are incensed against you</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">shall be ashamed and disgraced;</span></span><br /><span class="text">those who strive against you</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">shall be as nothing and shall perish.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">12</span>You shall seek those who contend with you,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">but you shall not find them;</span></span><br /><span class="text">those who war against you</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">shall be as nothing at all.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">13</span>For I, the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">hold your right hand;</span></span><br /><span class="text">it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I will help you.”</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">14</span>Do not fear, you worm Jacob,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you insect<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-22352a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> Israel!</span></span><br /><span class="text">I will help you, says the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">15</span>Now, I will make of you a threshing sledge,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">sharp, new, and having teeth;</span></span><br /><span class="text">you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and you shall make the hills like chaff.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">16</span>You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the tempest shall scatter them.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Then you shall rejoice in the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">17</span>When the poor and needy seek water,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and there is none,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and their tongue is parched with thirst,</span></span><br /><span class="text">I the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> will answer them,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I the God of Israel will not forsake them.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">18</span>I will open rivers on the bare heights,<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-22356b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote b">b</a>]</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and fountains in the midst of the valleys;</span></span><br /><span class="text">I will make the wilderness a pool of water,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the dry land springs of water.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">19</span>I will put in the wilderness the cedar,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;</span></span><br /><span class="text">I will set in the desert the cypress,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the plane and the pine together,</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">20</span>so that all may see and know,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">all may consider and understand,</span></span><br /><span class="text">that the hand of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> has done this,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the Holy One of Israel has created it.</span></span></p></div> <h3><span id="en" class="text">The Futility of Idols</span></h3><div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">21</span>Set forth your case, says the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">22</span>Let them bring them, and tell us</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">what is to happen.</span></span><br /><span class="text">Tell us the former things, what they are,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">so that we may consider them,</span></span><br /><span class="text">and that we may know their outcome;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">or declare to us the things to come.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">23</span>Tell us what is to come hereafter,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">that we may know that you are gods;</span></span><br /><span class="text">do good, or do harm,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">that we may be afraid and terrified.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">24</span>You, indeed, are nothing</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and your work is nothing at all;</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">whoever chooses you is an abomination.</span></span></p></div> <div class="poetry top-1"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">25</span>I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-22363c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote c">c</a>]</span></span></span><br /><span class="text">He shall trample<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-22363d" title="See footnote d">d</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote d">d</a>]</span> on rulers as on mortar,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">as the potter treads clay.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">26</span>Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and beforehand, so that we might say, “He is right”?</span></span><br /><span class="text">There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">none who heard your words.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">27</span>I first have declared it to Zion,<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-22365e" title="See footnote e">e</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote e">e</a>]</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">28</span>But when I look there is no one;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">among these there is no counselor</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">who, when I ask, gives an answer.</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">29</span>No, they are all a delusion;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">their works are nothing;</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">their images are empty wind.</span></span></p></div> <A name="fen"></a><div class="footnotes"><h4>Footnotes</h4><ol><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Isaiah 41:14">Isaiah 41:14</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Syr: Heb <i>men of</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Isaiah 41:18">Isaiah 41:18</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Or <i>trails</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Isaiah 41:25">Isaiah 41:25</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Cn Compare Q Ms Gk: MT <i>and he shall call on my name</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Isaiah 41:25">Isaiah 41:25</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Cn: Heb <i>come</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Isaiah 41:27">Isaiah 41:27</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Cn: Heb <i>First to Zion—Behold, behold them</i></span></li></ol></div> <!--end of footnotes--></div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 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