1. Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew {cf15I their} strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
2. Who raised up the righteous {cf15I man} from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made {cf15I him} rule over kings? he gave {cf15I them} as the dust to his sword, {cf15I and} as driven stubble to his bow.
3. He pursued them, {cf15I and} passed safely; {cf15I even} by the way {cf15I that} he had not gone with his feet.
4. Who hath wrought and done {cf15I it}, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I {cf15I am} he.
5. The isles saw {cf15I it}, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6. They helped every one his neighbour; and {cf15I every one} said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, {cf15I and} he that smootheth {cf15I with} the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It {cf15I is} ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, {cf15I that} it should not be moved.
8. But thou, Israel, {cf15I art} my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9. {cf15I Thou} whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou {cf15I art} my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10. Fear thou not; for I {cf15I am} with thee: be not dismayed; for I {cf15I 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, {cf15I 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, {cf15I 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 {cf15I 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, {cf15I and} shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17. {cf15I When} the poor and needy seek water, and {cf15I there is} none, {cf15I 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, {cf15I 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 {cf15I reasons}, saith the King of Jacob.
22. Let them bring {cf15I them} forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they {cf15I 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 {cf15I are} gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold {cf15I it} together.
24. Behold, ye {cf15I are} of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination {cf15I is he that} chooseth you.
25. I have raised up {cf15I 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 {cf15I 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, {cf15I He is} righteous? yea, {cf15I there is} none that sheweth, yea, {cf15I there is} none that declareth, yea, {cf15I there is} none that heareth your words.
27. The first {cf15I shall say} to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
28. For I beheld, and {cf15I there was} no man; even among them, and {cf15I there was} no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29. Behold, they {cf15I are} all vanity; their works {cf15I are} nothing: their molten images {cf15I are} wind and confusion.