Isaiah:41-42

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Keep silence before me , O islands ; and let the people renew their strength : let them come near ; then let them speak : let us come near together to judgment . * Who raised up the righteous man from the east , called him to his foot , gave the nations 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 safely ; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet . * Who hath wrought and done it , calling the generations from the beginning ? I the LORD , the first , and with the last ; I am he . * The isles saw it , and feared ; the ends of the earth were afraid , drew near , and came . * They helped every one his neighbour ; and every one said to his brother , Be of good courage . * So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith , and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil , saying , It is ready for the sodering : and he fastened it with nails , that it should not be moved . * But thou , Israel , art my servant , Jacob whom I have chosen , the seed of Abraham my friend . * Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth , and called thee from the chief men thereof , and said unto thee , Thou art my servant ; I have chosen thee , and not cast thee away . * Fear thou not ; for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea , I will help thee ; yea , I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness . * Behold , all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded : they shall be as nothing ; and they that strive with thee shall perish . * Thou shalt seek them , and shalt not find them , even them that contended with thee : they that war against thee shall be as nothing , and as a thing of nought . * For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand , saying unto thee , Fear not ; I will help thee . * 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 . * Behold , I will make thee 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 : and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD , and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel . * When the poor and needy seek water , and there is none , and their tongue faileth 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 valleys : I will make the wilderness a pool of water , and the dry land springs of water . * I will plant in the wilderness the cedar , the shittah tree , and the myrtle , and the oil tree ; I will set in the desert the fir tree , and the pine , and the box tree together : * That they may see , and know , and consider , and understand together , that the hand of the LORD hath done this , and the Holy One of Israel hath created it . * Produce your cause , saith the LORD ; bring forth your strong reasons , saith the King of Jacob . * Let them bring them forth , and shew us what shall happen : let them shew the former things , what they be , that we may consider them , and know the latter end of them ; or declare us things for to come . * Shew the things that are to come hereafter , that we may know that ye are gods : yea , do good , or do evil , that we may be dismayed , and behold it together . * Behold , ye are of nothing , and your work of nought : an abomination is he that chooseth you . * I have raised up one from the north , and he shall come : from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name : and he shall come upon princes as upon morter , and as the potter treadeth clay . * Who hath declared from the beginning , that we may know ? and beforetime , that we may say , He is righteous ? yea , there is none that sheweth , yea , there is none that declareth , yea , there is none that heareth your words . * The first shall say to Zion , Behold , behold them : and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings . * For I beheld , and there was no man ; even among them , and there was no counsellor , that , when I asked of them , could answer a word . * Behold , they are all vanity ; their works are nothing : their molten images are wind and confusion . * Behold my servant , whom I uphold ; mine elect , in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my spirit upon him : he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles . * He shall not cry , nor lift up , nor cause his voice to be heard in the street . * A bruised reed shall he not break , and the smoking flax shall he not quench : he shall bring forth judgment unto truth . * He shall not fail nor be discouraged , till he have set judgment in the earth : and the isles shall wait for his law . * Thus saith God the LORD , he that created the heavens , and stretched them out ; he that spread forth the earth , and that which cometh out of it ; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it , and spirit to them that walk therein : * I the LORD have called thee in righteousness , and will hold thine hand , and will keep thee , and give thee for a covenant of the people , for a light of the Gentiles ; * To open the blind eyes , to bring out the prisoners from the prison , and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house . * I am the LORD : that is my name : and my glory will I not give to another , neither my praise to graven images . * Behold , the former things are come to pass , and new things do I declare : before they spring forth I tell you of them . * Sing unto the LORD a new song , and his praise from the end of the earth , ye that go down to the sea , and all that is therein ; the isles , and the inhabitants thereof . * Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice , the villages that Kedar doth inhabit : let the inhabitants of the rock sing , let them shout from the top of the mountains . * Let them give glory unto the LORD , and declare his praise in the islands . * The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man , he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war : he shall cry , yea , roar ; he shall prevail against his enemies . * I have long time holden my peace ; I have been still , and refrained myself : now will I cry like a travailing woman ; I will destroy and devour at once . * I will make waste mountains and hills , and dry up all their herbs ; and I will make the rivers islands , and I will dry up the pools . * And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not ; I will lead them in paths that they have not known : I will make darkness light before them , and crooked things straight . These things will I do unto them , and not forsake them . * They shall be turned back , they shall be greatly ashamed , that trust in graven images , that say to the molten images , Ye are our gods . * Hear , ye deaf ; and look , ye blind , that ye may see . * Who is blind , but my servant ? or deaf , as my messenger that I sent ? who is blind as he that is perfect , and blind as the LORD 'S servant ? * Seeing many things , but thou observest not ; opening the ears , but he heareth not . * The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness ' sake ; he will magnify the law , and make it honourable . * But this is a people robbed and spoiled ; they are all of them snared in holes , and they are hid in prison houses : they are for a prey , and none delivereth ; for a spoil , and none saith , Restore . * Who among you will give ear to this ? who will hearken and hear for the time to come ? * Who gave Jacob for a spoil , and Israel to the robbers ? did not the LORD , he against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways , neither were they obedient unto his law . * Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger , and the strength of battle : and it hath set him on fire round about , yet he knew not ; and it burned him , yet he laid it not to heart . * But now thus saith the LORD that created thee , O Jacob , and he that formed thee , O Israel , Fear not : for I have redeemed thee , I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine .

---