Chapter 41

  Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment.  

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  Who hath raised up one from the east, whom he calleth in righteousness to his foot? he giveth nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; he giveth them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.  

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  He pursueth them, and passeth on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.  

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  Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.  

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  The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come.  

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  They help every one his neighbor; and [every one] saith to his brother, Be of good courage.  

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  So the carpenter encourageth the goldsmith, [and] he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that is should not be moved.  

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  But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,  

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  thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away;  

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  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.  

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  Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.  

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  Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.  

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  For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.  

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

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

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

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  The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I, Jehovah, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.  

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

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  I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together:  

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  that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.  

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  Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.  

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  Let them bring forth, and declare unto us what shall happen: declare ye the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.  

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  Declare 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.  

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  Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.  

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  I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name: and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.  

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  Who hath declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, [He is] right? yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.  

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  [I am the] first [that saith] unto Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.  

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  And when I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counsellor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word.  

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  Behold, all of them, their works are vanity [and] nought; their molten images are wind and confusion.  

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