New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1“Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments. Come now and speak. The court is ready for your case.

1Listen 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 has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind.

2Who 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.

3He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground.

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

4Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he.”

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

5The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war.

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

6The idol makers encourage one another, saying to each other, “Be strong!”

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

7The carver encourages the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. “Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.

7The 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 as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend,

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

9I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

9you 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”;

10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

10fear 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“See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing.

11Behold, 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.

12You will look in vain for those who tried to conquer you. Those who attack you will come to nothing.

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

13For I hold you by your right hand— I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.

13For 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.”

14Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob, don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you. I am the LORD, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.’

14Fear 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.

15You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains.

15Behold, 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;

16You will toss them into the air, and the wind will blow them all away; a whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will rejoice in the LORD. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

16you 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 search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

17When 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.

18I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.

18I 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.

19I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.

19I 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,

20I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means— that it is the LORD who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it.

20that 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“Present the case for your idols,” says the LORD. “Let them show what they can do,” says the King of Israel.

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

22“Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence. Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know what’s going to happen.

22Let 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.

23Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods. In fact, do anything—good or bad! Do something that will amaze and frighten us.

23Tell 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.

24But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Those who choose you pollute themselves.

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

25“But I have stirred up a leader who will approach from the north. From the east he will call on my name. I will give him victory over kings and princes. He will trample them as a potter treads on clay.

25I 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 told you from the beginning that this would happen? Who predicted this, making you admit that he was right? No one said a word!

26Who 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.

27I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look! Help is on the way!’ I will send Jerusalem a messenger with good news.

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

28Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked.

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

29See, they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are as empty as the wind.

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

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.