UST GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

ISA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66

UST ISA Chapter 41

◄ ISA 41 ► ║ ═ ©

41 Yahweh says, “You people throughout the world,

be silent in front of me while I ask you some questions!

Then be brave and come forward and speak with me.

We will meet together and decide which one of us is right.

2 Who has summoned this king from the east to serve him

and enabled him to be so victorious?

Whoever has done this enables him to defeat nations

and depose their kings.

His armies use their weapons to destroy opposing armies

so that they scatter and flee

as if they were dust or straw that the wind was blowing away.

3 His armies chase their enemies,

and the enemies do not harm them.

They travel so fast that it seems as if their feet are not touching the ground.

4 Who has made this happen?

Who has determined what each generation would do throughout history?

I, Yahweh, am the one who has made this happen!

I was present when the first thing happened,

and I will be present when the last things happen.”

5 People throughout the world see what is happening,

and they tremble with fear.

So they gather together.

6 They encourage one other and say to each other,

‘Be strong!’

7 The worker who made an idol encourages another worker who will cover it with gold.

That other worker flattens the gold by hitting it with a hammer on an anvil.

Then he attaches the gold to the idol,

and the first worker tells him, “That should hold together.”

Then they carefully nail down the idol so that it will not topple over!

8 But Yahweh says, “You Israelites are my servants.

I chose you descendants of Jacob to be my people.

You are descendants of Abraham, who was my friend.

9 You are the ones I am bringing back from places throughout the world.

I have told you that I want you to be my servants.

I have chosen you,

and I will not reject you.

10 I will be with you,

so do not be afraid.

I am your God,

so do not be anxious.

I will make you strong, and I will help you.

Indeed, I will protect you with the great power by which I always win victories.

11 Listen! I am going to shame and humiliate

all the people who were angry with you.

I am going to destroy completely

those who opposed you.

12 Then, even if you search for the people who had a dispute with you,

you will not find them.

Those people who attacked you

will not exist at all anymore.

13 I will protect you in this way because I, Yahweh, am your God.

I am strengthening you,

and I am telling you, ‘Do not be afraid,

because I will help you.’

14 Even though you Israelites, who are descendants of Jacob, seem insignificant,

do not be afraid,

because I will help you!”

This is what Yahweh declares.

He is the holy God of the Israelites, and he rescues them.

15 Yahweh says, “Listen! I am going to enable you to defeat your enemies

as if they were grain and you were a new threshing sledge

with many sharp objects on the bottom of it.

Even if your enemies are large and powerful

like mountains and hills,

it will be as if they are grain you are crushing

to separate out the chaff.

16 It will be as if you toss them up into the air

and a strong wind blows them away as it does chaff.

But as for you, you will be very happy about what I, Yahweh have done for you.

You will praise me, the holy God of you Israelites.

17 When poor people need water but have no water,

and their tongues are dry because they are so thirsty,

I, Yahweh, will come and help them.

I am the God of the Israelites, and I will never abandon them.

18 I will make rivers flow for them on hills where no plants are growing.

I will make fountains flow in the valleys.

I will make springs flow in dry areas

so that there are many pools of water in those areas.

19 I will make trees grow in the desert.

They will be cedar trees, acacia trees, myrtle trees, olive trees,

cypress trees, plane trees, and box trees. All those trees will be there.

20 I will do this so that everyone who sees it will think about it carefully

and they will all understand

that I, Yahweh, have done this by my power.

Yes, they will know that I, the holy God of the Israelites, have created it.”

21 Yahweh, the King of the descendants of Jacob, says,

“Present your case! Make your best arguments!

22 Have your idols come and tell us what will happen!

Have them tell us what happened in the past

so we may think about those things

and learn whether what they predicted really happened.

Or have them tell us about the future

so that we see whether that happens.

23 Those idols should tell us what signs

indicate what is going to happen in the future.

If they do that, then we will know that they really are gods.

Tell them to do anything at all

that will amaze and frighten all of us.

24 But the gods whom those idols represent do not do anything,

so it is clear that they really do not exist at all.

So anyone who decides to worship them is doing something that I detest.

25 I have empowered a man to come from the north as a conqueror.

He is originally from the east,

and he is loyal to me.

He defeats other rulers as easily as someone squashes mud

or a potter treads on clay.

26 No idol announced this ahead of time so that we knew it would happen.

No one can say, ‘An idol predicted that, and it happened!’

Indeed, no idol ever predicted anything

No one ever heard one say anything at all.

27 I was the first one to tell the people who live on Mount Zion,

‘Listen, your exiles are coming back!’

I sent a messenger to bring this good news to Jerusalem.

28 I looked among the idols, but none of them could say anything

or give any advice.

When I asked them questions, none of them answered.

29 It is clear that the gods whom those idols represent

do not really exist. They can not do anything.

Those metal images represent beings that are not real at all.