FUTURE FORETOLD

48. Isaiah - Prophecy - Ch 41 - 50

Isaiah 41

1 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.
2 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.
3 He pursued them, and
passed safely; even by
the way that he had
not gone with his feet.
4 Who hath wrought and
done it, calling the
generations from the
beginning? I the LORD,
the first, and with
the last; I am he.

5 The isles saw it,
and feared; the ends
of the earth were afraid,
drew near, and came.
6 They helped every one
his neighbour; and every
one said to his brother,
Be of good courage.
7 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.
8 But thou, Israel,
art my servant, Jacob
whom I have chosen, the seed
of Abraham my friend.

9 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.

10 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.

11 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.
12 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.
13 For I the LORD thy God
will hold thy right hand,
saying unto thee, Fear not;
I will help thee.
14 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.
15 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.
16 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.
17 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.
18 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.
19 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:
20 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.

21 Produce your cause,
saith the LORD; bring forth
your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob.

22 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.

23 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.

24 Behold, ye are of nothing,
and your work of nought:
an abomination is
he that chooseth you.
25 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.
26 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.
27 The first shall say to Zion,
Behold, behold them: and I
will give to Jerusalem one
that bringeth good tidings.
28 For I beheld, and there
was no man; even among them,
and there was no counseller,
that, when I asked of them,
could answer a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity;
their works are nothing:
their molten images are
wind and confusion.