rsv Isaiah:41-42 SEEK
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Listen 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 .
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Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step ?
He gives up nations before him ,
so that he tramples kings under foot ;
he makes them like dust with his sword ,
like driven stubble with his bow .
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He pursues them and passes on safely ,
by paths his feet have not trod .
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Who has performed and done this ,
calling the generations from the beginning ?
I ,
the LORD ,
the first ,
and with the last ;
I am He .
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The coastlands have seen and are afraid ,
the ends of the earth tremble ;
they have drawn near and come .
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Every one helps his neighbor ,
and says to his brother , "
Take courage !"
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The craftsman encourages the goldsmith ,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil ,
saying of the soldering , "
It is good ";
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved .
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But you ,
Israel ,
my servant ,
Jacob ,
whom I have chosen ,
the offspring of Abraham ,
my friend ;
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you 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 ";
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fear 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 victorious right hand .
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Behold ,
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 .
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You shall seek those who contend with you ,
but you shall not find them ;
those who war against you shall be as nothing at all .
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For I ,
the LORD your God ,
hold your right hand ;
it is I who say to you , "
Fear not ,
I will help you ."
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Fear not ,
you worm Jacob ,
you men of Israel !
I will help you ,
says the LORD ;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel .
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Behold ,
I will 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 ;
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You 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 .
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When 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 .
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I 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 .
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I 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 ;
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that men 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 .
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Set forth your case ,
says the LORD ;
bring your proofs ,
says the King of Jacob .
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Let 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 .
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Tell 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 .
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Behold ,
you are nothing ,
and your work is nought ;
an abomination is he who chooses you .
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I stirred up one from the north ,
and he has come ,
from the rising of the sun ,
and he shall call on my name ;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar ,
as the potter treads clay .
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Who declared it from the beginning ,
that we might know ,
and beforetime ,
that we might say , "
He is right "?
There was none who declared it ,
none who proclaimed ,
none who heard your words .
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I first have declared it to Zion ,
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings .
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But when I look there is no one ;
among these there is no counselor who ,
when I ask ,
gives an answer .
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Behold ,
they are all a delusion ;
their works are nothing ;
their molten images are empty wind .
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Behold my servant ,
whom I uphold ,
my chosen ,
in whom my soul delights ;
I have put my Spirit upon him ,
he will bring forth justice to the nations .
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He will not cry or lift up his voice ,
or make it heard in the street ;
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a bruised reed he will not break ,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench ;
he will faithfully bring forth justice .
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He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth ;
and the coastlands wait for his law .
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Thus says God ,
the LORD ,
who created the heavens and stretched them out ,
who spread forth the earth and what comes from it ,
who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it :
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I am the LORD ,
I have called you in righteousness ,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you ;
I have given you as a covenant to the people ,
a light to the nations ,
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to open the eyes that are blind ,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon ,
from the prison those who sit in darkness .
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I am the LORD ,
that is my name ;
my glory I give to no other ,
nor my praise to graven images .
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Behold ,
the former things have come to pass ,
and new things I now declare ;
before they spring forth I tell you of them ."
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Sing to the LORD a new song ,
his praise from the end of the earth !
Let the sea roar and all that fills it ,
the coastlands and their inhabitants .
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Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice ,
the villages that Kedar inhabits ;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy ,
let them shout from the top of the mountains .
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Let them give glory to the LORD ,
and declare his praise in the coastlands .
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The LORD goes forth like a mighty man ,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury ;
he cries out ,
he shouts aloud ,
he shows himself mighty against his foes .
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For a long time I have held my peace ,
I have kept still and restrained myself ;
now I will cry out like a woman in travail ,
I will gasp and pant .
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I will lay waste mountains and hills ,
and dry up all their herbage ;
I will turn the rivers into islands ,
and dry up the pools .
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And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not ,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them .
I will turn the darkness before them into light ,
the rough places into level ground .
These are the things I will do ,
and I will not forsake them .
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They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame ,
who trust in graven images ,
who say to molten images , "
You are our gods ."
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Hear ,
you deaf ;
and look ,
you blind ,
that you may see !
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Who is blind but my servant ,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send ?
Who is blind as my dedicated one ,
or blind as the servant of the LORD ?
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He sees many things ,
but does not observe them ;
his ears are open ,
but he does not hear .
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The LORD was pleased ,
for his righteousness '
sake ,
to magnify his law and make it glorious .
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But this is a people robbed and plundered ,
they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons ;
they have become a prey with none to rescue ,
a spoil with none to say , "
Restore !"
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Who among you will give ear to this ,
will attend and listen for the time to come ?
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Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler ,
and Israel to the robbers ?
Was it not the LORD ,
against whom we have sinned ,
in whose ways they would not walk ,
and whose law they would not obey ?
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So he poured upon him the heat of his anger and the might of battle ;
it set him on fire round about ,
but he did not understand ;
it burned him ,
but he did not take it to heart .
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But now thus says the LORD ,
he who created you ,
O Jacob ,
he who formed you ,
O Israel : "
Fear not ,
for I have redeemed you ;
I have called you by name ,
you are mine .