Isaiah:41

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* Listen unto me , O islands ; and let the peoples strengthen themselves ; let them come near ; then let them speak ; let us come near together to judgment . * Who raised up righteousness from the east , called him that he might follow him , gave the Gentiles before him , and made [him ] rule over kings ? He gave [them ] as the dust to his sword [and ] as driven stubble to his bow . * He pursued them [and ] passed in peace by the way [that ] his feet had never entered . * Who has wrought and done [it ]? Who calls the generations from the beginning ? I the LORD , the first , and I , myself am with those who are last . * The isles saw [it ] and feared ; the ends of the earth were afraid ; they congregated and came . * Each one helped his neighbour ; and [each one ] said to his brother , Be of good courage . * So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith , [and ] he that smooths [with ] the hammer him that smote the anvil , saying , It [is ] well joined and he strengthened it with nails , [that ] it should not be moved . * But thou , Israel , my servant , Jacob whom I have chosen , [art ] the seed of Abraham my friend . * For I have taken thee from the ends of the earth and called thee from the boundaries thereof and said unto thee Thou [shalt be ] my servant ; I have chosen thee , and not cast thee away . * Do not fear for I [am ] with thee ; do not be dismayed , for I [am ] thy God , who strengthens thee ; I will help thee always ; I will always uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness . * Behold , all those that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded ; they shall be as nothing ; and those that strive with thee shall perish . * Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them , [even ] those that contended with thee ; those that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought . * For I [am ] the LORD thy God that holds thy right hand saying unto thee , Fear not ; I will help thee . * Fear not , thou worm Jacob , ye dead of Israel ; I will help thee , saith the LORD and thy Redeemer , the Holy One of Israel . * Behold , I have placed thee as a threshing instrument , as a new [sharp ] threshing instrument having teeth ; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat [them ] small and shalt make the hills as chaff . * Thou shalt fan them , and the wind shall carry them away , and the whirlwind shall scatter them ; but thou shalt rejoice in the LORD , thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel . * The poor and needy seek the waters that are not ; their tongue fails for thirst ; I the LORD will hear them ; [I ] the God of Israel will not forsake them . * I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the plains ; I will turn the wilderness into pools of water and the dry land into springs of water . * I will bring forth in the wilderness cedars , thorns , myrtles , and olive trees ; I will set in the desert the fir tree [and ] the pine and the box tree together : * That they may see and know and take warning and understand together that the hand of the LORD does this , and the Holy One of Israel has created it . * Explain your cause , saith the LORD ; bring forth your foundations , saith the King of Jacob . * Let them bring forth and declare unto us what shall happen ; tell us what has happened from the beginning , and we shall consider it in our hearts ; and we shall know what his end shall be , and cause us to understand that which is to come . * Give us news of that which is to come hereafter that we may know that ye [are ] gods ; or at least do good or do evil that we may have something to tell , and together we shall marvel . * Behold , ye [are ] of nothing and your works of vanity ; an abomination [is he that ] chooses you . * I have raised up [one ] from the north , and he came from the rising of the sun ; he called in my name and came unto princes as [upon ] clay and as the potter treads clay . * Who has declared from the beginning , that we shall know ? and beforetime that we shall say , [He is ] righteous ? yea , [there is ] no one that declares this , yea , [there is ] no one that teaches , yea , [there is ] no one that hears your words . * I [am ] the first that has taught these things unto Zion , and unto Jerusalem I brought the news . * For I beheld , and [there was ] no one ; and [I asked ] regarding these things , and [there was ] no counsellor ; I asked them , and they did not answer a word . * Behold , they [are ] all vanity ; their works [are ] nothing : their molten images [are ] wind and confusion .:

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