Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 41"

Isaiah 41

The Message Bible MSG

1 "Quiet down, far-flung ocean islands. Listen! Sit down and rest, everyone. Recover your strength. Gather around me. Say what's on your heart. Together let's decide what's right.

2 "Who got things rolling here, got this champion from the east on the move? Who recruited him for this job, then rounded up and corralled the nations so he could run roughshod over kings? He's off and running, pulverizing nations into dust, leaving only stubble and chaff in his wake.

3 He chases them and comes through unscathed, his feet scarcely touching the path.

4 "Who did this? Who made it happen? Who always gets things started? I did. God. I'm first on the scene. I'm also the last to leave.

5 "Far-flung ocean islands see it and panic. The ends of the earth are shaken. Fearfully they huddle together.

6 They try to help each other out, making up stories in the dark.

7 The godmakers in the workshops go into overtime production, crafting new models of no-gods, Urging one another on - 'Good job!' 'Great design!' - pounding in nails at the base so that the things won't tip over.

8 "But you, Israel, are my servant. You're Jacob, my first choice, descendants of my good friend Abraham.

9 I pulled you in from all over the world, called you in from every dark corner of the earth, Telling you, 'You're my servant, serving on my side. I've picked you. I haven't dropped you.'

10 Don't panic. I'm with you. There's no need to fear for I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you. I'll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.

11 "Count on it: Everyone who had it in for you will end up out in the cold - real losers. Those who worked against you will end up empty-handed - nothing to show for their lives.

12 When you go out looking for your old adversaries you won't find them - Not a trace of your old enemies, not even a memory.

13 That's right. Because I, your God, have a firm grip on you and I'm not letting go. I'm telling you, 'Don't panic. I'm right here to help you.'

14 "Do you feel like a lowly worm, Jacob? Don't be afraid. Feel like a fragile insect, Israel? I'll help you. I, God, want to reassure you. The God who buys you back, The Holy of Israel.

15 I'm transforming you from worm to harrow, from insect to iron. As a sharp-toothed harrow you'll smooth out the mountains, turn those tough old hills into loamy soil.

16 You'll open the rough ground to the weather, to the blasts of sun and wind and rain. But you'll be confident and exuberant, expansive in The Holy of Israel!

17 "The poor and homeless are desperate for water, their tongues parched and no water to be found. But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them, and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty.

18 I'll open up rivers for them on the barren hills, spout fountains in the valleys. I'll turn the baked-clay badlands into a cool pond, the waterless waste into splashing creeks.

19 I'll plant the red cedar in that treeless wasteland, also acacia, myrtle, and olive. I'll place the cypress in the desert, with plenty of oaks and pines.

20 Everyone will see this. No one can miss it - unavoidable, indisputable evidence That I, God, personally did this. It's created and signed by The Holy of Israel.

21 "Set out your case for your gods," says God. "Bring your evidence," says the King of Jacob.

22 "Take the stand on behalf of your idols, offer arguments, assemble reasons. Spread out the facts before us so that we can assess them ourselves. Ask them, 'If you are gods, explain what the past means -

23 or, failing that, tell us what will happen in the future. Can't do that? How about doing something - anything! Good or bad - whatever. Can you hurt us or help us? Do we need to be afraid?'

24 They say nothing, because they are nothing - sham gods, no-gods, fool-making gods.

25 "I, God, started someone out from the north and he's come. He was called out of the east by name. He'll stomp the rulers into the mud the way a potter works the clay.

26 Let me ask you, Did anyone guess that this might happen? Did anyone tell us earlier so we might confirm it with 'Yes, he's right!'? No one mentioned it, no one announced it, no one heard a peep out of you.

27 But I told Zion all about this beforehand. I gave Jerusalem a preacher of good news.

28 But around here there's no one - no one who knows what's going on. I ask, but no one can tell me the score.

29 Nothing here. It's all smoke and hot air - sham gods, hollow gods, no-gods.

English Standard Version ESV

1 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.

2 Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.

3 He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod.

4 Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

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

6 Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, "Be strong!"

7 The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good"; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off";

10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

11 Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.

12 You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.

13 For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you."

14 Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff;

16 you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 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.

19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together,

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

21 Set forth your case, says the LORD; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.

22 Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.

23 Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.

24 Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.

25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay.

26 Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, "He is right"? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.

27 I was the first to say to Zion, "Behold, here they are!" and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

28 But when I look, there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, when I ask, gives an answer.

29 Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.