Israel Encouraged

1 “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,
          And let the peoples gain new strength;
          Let them come forward, then let them speak;
          Let us come together for judgment.

2 “Who has aroused one from the east
          Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?
          He delivers up nations before him
          And subdues kings.
          He makes them like dust with his sword,
          As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,
          By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

4 “Who has performed and accomplished it,
          Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
          ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”

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

6 Each one helps his neighbor
          And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter,
          And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
          Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
          And he fastens it with nails,
          So that it will not totter.

8 “But you, Israel, My servant,
          Jacob whom I have chosen,
          Descendant of Abraham My friend,

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
          And called from its remotest parts
          And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
          I have chosen you and not rejected you.

10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
          Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
          I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
          Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
          Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
          Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

13 “For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand,
          Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
          I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
          You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
          And will make the hills like chaff.

16 “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
          And the storm will scatter them;
          But you will rejoice in the LORD,
          You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
          And their tongue is parched with thirst;
          I, the LORD, will answer them Myself,
          As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

18 “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 fountains of water.

19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
          The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;
          I will place the juniper in the desert
          Together with the box tree and the cypress,

20 That they may see and recognize,
          And consider and gain insight as well,
          That the hand of the LORD has done this,
          And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

21 “Present your case,” the LORD says.
          “Bring forward your strong arguments,”
          The King of Jacob says.

22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
          As for the former events, declare what they were,
          That we may consider them and know their outcome.
          Or announce to us what is coming;

23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
          That we may know that you are gods;
          Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

24 Behold, you are of no account,
          And your work amounts to nothing;
          He who chooses you is an abomination.

25 “I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;
          From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
          And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
          Even as the potter treads clay.”

26 Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
          Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
          Surely there was no one who declared,
          Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
          Surely there was no one who heard your words.

27 “Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
          And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

28 “But when I look, there is no one,
          And there is no counselor among them
          Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

29 “Behold, all of them are false;
          Their works are worthless,
          Their molten images are wind and emptiness.