1“Be quiet before me, islands, and let the people get new strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let’s meet together to decide.
2Who has brought someone from the east? Who called him to follow him in righteousness? He gives nations to him and makes him rule over kings. He makes them like dust for his sword, like straw blown by the wind for his bow.
3He chases them and passes through safely, even by a path he had not traveled before.
4Who has planned and done this, calling generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, am the first, and I am with the last. I am he.”
5The islands have seen and are afraid. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come.
6Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, “Be strong!”
7So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. The one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil, saying about the soldering, “It is good”; and he fastens it with nails so it won’t move.
8“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendant of Abraham my friend,
9You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, and said to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you;’
10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be worried, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will support you with my righteous right hand.
11Look, all those who are angry with you will be ashamed and disgraced. Those who argue with you will be like nothing and will die.
12You will look for them, and won’t find them, even those who fought against you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as if they never existed.
13For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’
14Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15Look, I have made you into a new, sharp threshing tool with teeth. You will thresh the mountains and grind them into small pieces, and will make the hills like chaff.
16You will toss them into the air, and the wind will carry them away, and a whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will be proud of the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and needy look for water, and there is none. Their tongue is dry from thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18I will open rivers on the bare hilltops, and springs in the middle of the valleys. I will make the desert a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees in the desert. I will plant cypress trees, pine, and box trees together in the wilderness;
20So that everyone may see, know, think about, and understand that Yahweh’s hand has done this, and the Holy One of Israel created it.
21“Present your case,” says Yahweh. “Bring your strongest arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
22“Let them announce and tell us what will happen. Tell us about the past events, what they were, so we can think about them and know their outcome; or show us what is to come.
23Declare what will happen in the future, so we can know you are gods. Yes, do something good or something bad, so we can be amazed and see it together.
24Look, you and your works are nothing. Whoever chooses you is disgusting.
25I have brought someone from the north, and he has arrived; from the east, someone who calls on my name. He will trample rulers as if they were mud, like a potter treading clay.
26Who predicted this from the beginning, so we would know? Who told us beforehand, so we could say, ‘He is right?’ Truly, no one predicts it. Truly, no one shows it. Truly, no one hears your words.
27I am the first to say to Zion, ‘Look, here they are;’ and I will send a messenger with good news to Jerusalem.
28When I look, there is no one. Even among them, there is no advisor who can answer a single word when I ask them.
29Look, all of them and their actions are meaningless and useless. Their idols are like wind and confusion.