1 “ Coastlands, listen to Me in silence, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak; Let us come together for judgment.

¶ Listen unto me, O islands; and let the peoples strengthen themselves; let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.

2 “ Who has aroused one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He delivers up nations before him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

Who raised up righteousness from the east, called him that he might follow him, gave the Gentiles 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 pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

He pursued them and passed in peace by the way that his feet had never entered.

4 “ Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘ I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”

Who has wrought and done it? Who calls the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and I, myself am with those who are last.

5 T he coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ends of the earth tremble; They have drawn near and have come.

The isles saw it and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid; they congregated and came.

6 E ach one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

Each one helped his neighbour; and each one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

7 S o the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, “It is good”; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter.

So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is well joined and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

8 “ But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,

But thou, Israel, my slave, Jacob whom I have chosen, art the seed of Abraham my friend.

9 Y ou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.

For I have taken thee from the ends of the earth and called thee from the boundaries thereof and said unto thee Thou shalt be my slave; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

10 ‘ Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

¶ Do not fear for I am with thee; do not be dismayed, for I am thy God, who strengthens thee; I will help thee always; I will always uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

11 “ Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

Behold, all those that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; and those that strive with thee shall perish.

12 “ You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even those that contended with thee; those that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought.

13 “ For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘ Do not fear, I will help you.’

For I am the LORD thy God that holds thy right hand saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

14 “ Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the Lord, “ and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye dead of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 “ Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff.

Behold, I have placed thee as a threshing instrument, as a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and shalt make the hills as chaff.

16 “ You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the Lord, You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; but thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 “ The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the Lord, will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

The poor and needy seek the waters that are not; their tongue fails for thirst; I the LORD will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 “ I will open rivers on the bare heights And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water And the dry land fountains of water.

I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the plains; I will turn the wilderness into pools of water and the dry land into springs of water.

19 “ I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert Together with the box tree and the cypress,

I will bring forth in the wilderness cedars, thorns, myrtles, and olive trees; I will set in the desert the fir tree and the pine and the box tree together:

20 T hat they may see and recognize, And consider and gain insight as well, That the hand of the Lord has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

That they may see and know and take warning and understand together that the hand of the LORD does this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 “ Present your case,” the Lord says. “Bring forward your strong arguments,” The King of Jacob says.

¶ Explain your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your foundations, saith the King of Jacob.

22 L et them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming;

Let them bring forth and declare unto us what shall happen; tell us what has happened from the beginning, and we shall consider it in our hearts; and we shall know what his end shall be, and cause us to understand that which is to come.

23 D eclare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

Give us news of that which is to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods; or at least do good or do evil that we may have something to tell, and together we shall marvel.

24 B ehold, you are of no account, And your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.

Behold, ye are of nothing and your works of vanity; an abomination is he that chooses you.

25 “ I have aroused one from the north, and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar, Even as the potter treads clay.”

I have raised up one from the north, and he came from the rising of the sun; he called in my name and came unto princes as upon clay and as the potter treads clay.

26 W ho has declared this from the beginning, that we might know? Or from former times, that we may say, “ He is right!”? Surely there was no one who declared, Surely there was no one who proclaimed, Surely there was no one who heard your words.

Who has declared from the beginning, that we shall know? and beforetime that we shall say, He is righteous? yea, there is no one that declares this, yea, there is no one that teaches, yea, there is no one that hears your words.

27 “ Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’ And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

I am the first that has taught these things unto Zion, and unto Jerusalem I brought the news.

28 “ But when I look, there is no one, And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

For I beheld, and there was no one; and I asked regarding these things, and there was no counsellor; I asked them, and they did not answer a word.

29 “ Behold, all of them are false; Their works are worthless, Their molten images are wind and emptiness.

Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.