Isaiah:41

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* "Keep silent before me , islands , and let the peoples renew their strength . Let them come near , then let them speak . Let 's meet together for judgment . * Who has raised up one from the east ? Who called him to his foot in righteousness ? He hands over nations to him , and makes him rule over kings . He gives them like the dust to his sword , like the driven stubble to his bow . * He pursues them , and passes by safely , Even by a way that he had not gone with his feet . * Who has worked and done it , calling the generations from the beginning ? I , Yahweh , the first , and with the last , I am he ." * The islands have seen , and fear . The ends of the earth tremble . They approach , and come . * Everyone helps his neighbor . They say to their brothers , "Be strong !" * So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith . He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil , saying of the soldering , "It is good "; and he fastens it with nails , that it might not totter . * "But you , Israel , my servant , Jacob whom I have chosen , the seed of Abraham my friend , * You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth , and called from its corners , and said to you , 'You are my servant , I have chosen you and not cast you away ;' * Don 't you be afraid , for I am with you . Don 't be dismayed , for I am your God . I will strengthen you . Yes , I will help you . Yes , I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness . * Behold , all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded . Those who strive with you will be like nothing , and shall perish . * You will seek them , and won 't find them , even those who contend with you . Those who war against you will be as nothing , as a non-existent thing . * For I , Yahweh your God , will hold your right hand , saying to you , 'Don 't be afraid . I will help you .' * Don '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 . * Behold , I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth . You will thresh the mountains , and beat them small , and will make the hills like chaff . * You will winnow them , and the wind will carry them away , and the whirlwind will scatter them . You will rejoice in Yahweh . You will glory in the Holy One of Israel . * The poor and needy seek water , and there is none . Their tongue fails for thirst . I , Yahweh , will answer them . I , the God of Israel , will not forsake them . * 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 springs of water . * I will put cedar , acacia , myrtle , and oil trees in the wilderness . I will set fir trees , pine , and box trees together in the desert ; * that they may see , know , consider , and understand together , that the hand of Yahweh has done this , and the Holy One of Israel has created it . * Produce your cause ," says Yahweh . "Bring forth your strong reasons ," says the King of Jacob . * "Let them announce , and declare to us what shall happen . Declare the former things , what they are , that we may consider them , and know the latter end of them ; or show us things to come . * Declare the things that are to come hereafter , that we may know that you are gods . Yes , do good , or do evil , that we may be dismayed , and see it together . * Behold , you are of nothing , and your work is of nothing . He who chooses you is an abomination . * "I have raised up one from the north , and he has come ; from the rising of the sun , one who calls on my name ; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar , and as the potter treads clay . * Who has declared it from the beginning , that we may know ? And before , that we may say , 'He is right ?' Surely , there is no one who declares . Surely , there is no one who shows . Surely , there is no one who hears your words . * I am the first to say to Zion , 'Behold , look at them ;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem . * When I look , there is no man ; even among them there is no counselor who , when I ask of them , can answer a word . * Behold , all of them , their works are vanity and nothing . Their molten images are wind and confusion .

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