41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 1 you will not find them;
your enemies 2 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, 3
men of 4 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, 5 the Holy One of Israel. 6
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 7 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 8
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 9
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; 10
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
41:20 I will do this so 11 people 12 will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power 13 has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” 14
41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” 15 says Jacob’s king. 16
41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 17
so we may examine them 18 and see how they were fulfilled. 19
Or decree for us some future events!
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 20
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 21
41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 22
41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 23 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 24
He steps on 25 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it 26 ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 27
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 28
41:28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 29
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 30
1 tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”
2 tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”
3 tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.
4 tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”
5 tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.
6 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
5 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
6 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
7 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.
7 tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
9 tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”
10 tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”
11 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
12 tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”
11 tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.
12 sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.
13 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
14 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
15 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
15 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”
16 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).
17 tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”
19 sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.
20 tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”
21 tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).
21 tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
23 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
24 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
25 tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.
26 tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”