Isaiah 41:6-7

41:6 They help one another; ¹ 

one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ²  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ³ 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Isaiah 41:21-22

The Lord Challenges the Pagan Gods

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

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

41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ⁶ 

so we may examine them ⁷  and see how they were fulfilled. ⁸ 

Or decree for us some future events!

[41:6]  ¹ tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”

[41:7]  ² tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ³ tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[41:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.

[41:21]  ⁵ sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.

[41:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

[41:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

[41:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”