Isaiah 41:5-6

41:5 The coastlands ¹  see and are afraid;

the whole earth ²  trembles;

they approach and come.

41:6 They help one another; ³ 

one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’

Isaiah 41:21

The Lord Challenges the Pagan Gods

41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.

“Produce your evidence,” ⁴  says Jacob’s king. ⁵ 

[41:5]  ¹ tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”

[41:5]  ² tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.

[41:6]  ³ tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”

[41:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.

[41:21]  ⁶ sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.