1 ARST Yahweh says,“You people who live on islands in the ocean, be silent in front of me while I ask you some questions! Then you can be courageous and talk to me. We will meet together and decide which one of us is right. BSB BSB: “Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment.
2 ARST Who has raised up this king to come from the east? He is the one who does what is right with every step. He hands nations over to him and he defeats them, and he tramples their kings under his feet. He cuts their enemies and they are destroyed so they are like the dust, and his army shoots them with bows and arrows so that they are like the chaff when the wind blows. BSB BSB: Who has aroused one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.
3 ARST Even though they are in danger, they go very swiftly as they pursue their enemies, and nothing stops them. BSB BSB: He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 ARST Who has enabled rulers to do mighty deeds like that? Who has done that throughout all generations? It is I, Yahweh! I was the first one to do things like that, and I will be the last one to do them. BSB BSB: Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
5 ARST People who live on islands in the ocean are afraid while they watch. People in remote areas tremble and gather together. BSB BSB: The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.
6 ARST They encourage each other and say to each other,‘Be strong!’ BSB BSB: Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 ARST The woodworkers encourage those who make things from gold, and the men who flatten metal encourage those who hammer it on an anvil. They all say,‘The idol has been well made!’ Then they carefully nail down the idol in order that it will not topple over!” BSB BSB: The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
8 ARST Yahweh continues to say,“You people of Israel are my servants; you are descendants of Jacob, whom I chose; you are descendants of Abraham, who I said was my friend. BSB BSB: “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
9 ARST I summoned you from very distant places on the earth, and I said,‘I want you to serve me.’ I have chosen you, and I will not reject you. BSB BSB: I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you.
10 ARST Do not be afraid, because I will be with you. Do not be discouraged, because I am your God. I will enable you to be strong, and I will help you; I will hold you up with my powerful arm by which I will rescue you, and I will be completely right to do so! BSB BSB: Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
11 ARST It is certain that all those who are angry with you Israelite people will be disgraced. Those who oppose you will be wiped out; they will all die. BSB BSB: Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
12 ARST If you search for those who tried to conquer you, you will not find them, because they will all disappear. Those who attacked you will not exist anymore, BSB BSB: You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
13 ARST because it will be as though I will hold you up by your right hand. I am Yahweh, your God, and I say to you,‘Do not be afraid, because I will help you.’ BSB BSB: For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.
14 ARST Although others have treated you people of Israel like worms, do not be afraid of your enemies, because I will help you!” This is what Yahweh solemnly says— the one who rescues you, the Holy One of Israel. BSB BSB: Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 ARST He continues to say,“I will cause you to be like a new threshing sledge, very sharp and two- edged. You will tear your enemies to bits causing them to be like bits of chaff on the mountains. BSB BSB: Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
16 ARST You will toss them up into the air, and a strong wind will blow them away. When that happens, you will rejoice about what I have done for you; you will praise me, Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. BSB BSB: You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 ARST When poor and needy people need water and they have no water, and their tongues are very dry because they are very thirsty, I, Yahweh, will come and help them. I, the God to whom you Israelite people belong, will never abandon them. BSB BSB: The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 ARST I will cause rivers to flow for them on the barren hills. I will give them fountains in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Water from springs will flow into rivers, and the rivers will flow across the dry ground. BSB BSB: I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.
19 ARST I will plant cedars, acacia, and myrtle, in the wilderness— and olive trees I will plant in the desert plain— cypresses, pines, and boxtrees all together. BSB BSB: I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,
20 ARST I will do that in order that people who see it will think about it, and they will know and understand that it is I, Yahweh, who has done it; it is what I, the Holy One of Israel, have done. BSB BSB: so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
21 ARST I, Yahweh, the king of Israel am speaking to you nations: Come and tell me what your idols can do for you! Argue your best in defense of them. BSB BSB: “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
22 ARST Bring them here to tell us what is going to happen! Ask them to tell us what things happened long ago, in order that we may think about those things, and learn if those things that they predicted really happened. Or ask them to tell us about the future, in order for us to know what will happen. BSB BSB: “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.
23 ARST Yes, those idols should tell us what will happen in the future. If they do that, we will know that they are really gods. Tell them to do something— either something good or something bad! Tell them to do something that will cause us to be amazed and afraid! BSB BSB: Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.
24 ARST But that is impossible, because idols are absolutely worthless; they can do nothing, and I detest those who decide to worship idols.” BSB BSB: Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25 ARST “But I have incited a ruler who will come with his army from the north. I have summoned him to come from his country, which is east of Israel, and he will call on me for help. I will enable his army to conquer other rulers; they will trample those leaders like a man who makes clay pots first tramples the clay. BSB BSB: I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
26 ARST Who told you people long ago that this would happen? Who predicted it, with the result that we can say,“What he predicted was correct!”? No one else said that it would happen. BSB BSB: Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.
27 ARST I was the first one to say to the people of Jerusalem:‘Listen to this! I have appointed a messenger to tell good news to you!’ BSB BSB: I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
28 ARST None of your idols told you that. And when I asked them questions, none of them was able to give me any answers. BSB BSB: When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say.
29 ARST Think about it: Those idols are all useless, worthless things. They are as meaningless as the wind.” BSB BSB: See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.