8“But you, Israel, My servant,
         Jacob whom I have chosen,
         Descendant of Abraham My friend,

9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
         And called from its remotest parts
         And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
         I have chosen you and not rejected you.

10‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
         Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
         I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
         Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

11“Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
         Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

12“You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
         Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

13“For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand,
         Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

14“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
         I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15“Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
         You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
         And will make the hills like chaff.

16“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
         And the storm will scatter them;
         But you will rejoice in the LORD,
         You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
         And their tongue is parched with thirst;
         I, the LORD, will answer them Myself,
         As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

18“I will open rivers on the bare heights
         And springs in the midst of the valleys;
         I will make the wilderness a pool of water
         And the dry land fountains of water.

19“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
         The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;
         I will place the juniper in the desert
         Together with the box tree and the cypress,

20That they may see and recognize,
         And consider and gain insight as well,
         That the hand of the LORD has done this,
         And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21“Present your case,” the LORD says.
         “Bring forward your strong arguments,”
         The King of Jacob says.

22Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
         As for the former events, declare what they were,
         That we may consider them and know their outcome.
         Or announce to us what is coming;

23Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
         That we may know that you are gods;
         Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

24Behold, you are of no account,
         And your work amounts to nothing;
         He who chooses you is an abomination.

25“I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;
         From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
         And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
         Even as the potter treads clay.”

26Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
         Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
         Surely there was no one who declared,
         Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
         Surely there was no one who heard your words.

27“Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
         And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

28“But when I look, there is no one,
         And there is no counselor among them
         Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

29“Behold, all of them are false;
         Their works are worthless,
         Their molten images are wind and emptiness.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,

Douay-Rheims Bible
But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend:

Darby Bible Translation
But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend

English Revised Version
But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend;

Webster's Bible Translation
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

World English Bible
"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,

Young's Literal Translation
-- And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover,February 20. "Fear Thou Not, for I am with Thee" (Isa. Xli. 10).
"Fear thou not, for I am with thee" (Isa. xli. 10). Satan is always trying to weaken our faith by fear. He is a great metaphysician and knows the paralyzing effect of fear, that it is the great enemy of faith, and that faith is the great secret of help. If he can get us fearing he will stop our trusting and hinder the very blessing we need. Job found the peril of fear and gives us the sorrowful testimony, "I feared a fear and it came upon me." Fear is born of Satan, and if we would only take time …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

February 21. "Be not Dismayed, for I am Thy God" (Isa. Xli. 10).
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Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 7. "I Will Strengthen Thee; Yea, I Will Help Thee; Yea, I Will Uphold Thee" (Isa. Xli. 10).
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August 22. "I the Lord, the First and with the Last" (Isa. Xli. 4).
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John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Fear Not
What a precious promise to the young Christian, or to the old Christian attacked by lowness of spirits and distress of mind! "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer the Holy One of Israel. Christian brethren, there are some in this congregation, I hope many, who have solemnly devoted themselves to the cause and service of the Lord Jesus Christ: let them hear, then, the preparation which is necessary for this service set forth in the word …
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You will please to notice that it looks as if this were a repetition by three different persons. Israel was cast down, and Jehovah, for that is the first word--(you will notice that the word "Lord" is in capitals, and should be translated "Jehovah")--says to his poor, tried, desponding servant, "I will help thee." No sooner is that uttered than we think we shall not be straining the text if we surmise that God the Holy Spirit, the Holy One of Israel, adds his solemn affidavit also; and declares by …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

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Heinrich Suso Is. xli. 17 O Lord, the most fair, the most tender, My heart is adrift and alone; My heart is aweary and thirsty-- Athirst for a joy unknown. From a child I have followed it--chased it, By wilderness, wold, and hill-- I never have reached it or seen it, yet must I follow it still. In those olden years did I seek it In the sweet fair things around, But the more I sought and I thirsted, The less, O my Lord, I found. When nearest it seemed to my grasping, It fled like a wandering thought; …
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