God’s Help to Israel 1 Brenton Hold a feast to me, ye islands: for the princes shall renew their strength: let them draw nigh and speak together: then let them declare judgment. 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 Brenton Who raised up righteousness from the east, and called it to his feet, so that it should go? shall appoint it an adversary of Gentiles, and shall dismay kings, and bury their swords in the earth, and cast forth their bows and arrows as sticks? 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 Brenton And he shall pursue them; the way of his feet shall proceed in peace. BSB BSB: He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Brenton Who has wrought and done these things? he has called it who called it from the generations of old; I God, the first and to all futurity, I AM. 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 Brenton The nations saw, and feared; the ends of the earth drew nigh, and came together, BSB BSB: The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.
6 Brenton every one judging for his neighbour and that to assist his brother: and one will say, BSB BSB: Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 Brenton The artificer has become strong, and the coppersmith that smites with the hammer, and forges also: sometimes he will say, It is a piece well joined: they have fastened them with nails; they will fix them, and they shall not be moved. 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 Brenton But thou, Israel, art my servant Jacob, and he whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraam, whom I have loved: BSB BSB: “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
9 Brenton whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and from the high places of it I have called thee, and said to thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and I have not forsaken thee. 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 Brenton Fear not; for I am with thee: wander not; for I am thy God, who have strengthened thee; and I have helped thee, and have established thee with my just right hand. 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 Brenton Behold, all thine adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as if they were not: and all thine opponents shall perish. 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 Brenton Thou shalt seek them, and thou shalt not find the men who shall insolently rage against thee: for they shall be as if they were not, and they that war against thee shall not be. BSB BSB: You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
13 Brenton For I am thy God, who holdeth thy right hand, who saith to thee, 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 Brenton Fear not, Jacob, and thou Israel few in number; I have helped thee, saith thy God, he that redeems thee, O 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 Brenton Behold, I have made thee as new saw-shaped threshing wheels of a waggon; and thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat the hills to powder, and make them as chaff: 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 Brenton and thou shalt winnow them , and the wind shall carry them away, and a tempest shall scatter them: but thou shalt rejoice in the holy ones 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 Brenton And the poor and the needy shall exult; for when they shall seek water, and there shall be none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord God, I the God of Israel will hear, and will not forsake 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 Brenton but I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of plains: I will make the desert pools of water, and a thirsty land watercourses. 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 Brenton I will plant in the dry land the cedar and box, the myrtle and cypress, and white poplar: 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 Brenton that they may see, and know, and perceive, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has wrought these works , and the Holy One of Israel has displayed them . 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.”
Meaningless Idols 21 Brenton Your judgment draws nigh, saith the Lord God; your counsels have drawn nigh, saith the King of Jacob. BSB BSB: “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
22 Brenton Let them draw nigh, and declare to you what things shall come to pass; or tell us what things were of old, and we will apply our understanding, and we shall know what are the last and the future things: 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 Brenton tell us, declare ye to us the things that are coming on at the last time , and we shall know that ye are gods: do good, and do evil, and we shall wonder, and see at the same time 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 Brenton whence ye are, and whence is your work: they have chosen you an abomination out of the earth. BSB BSB: Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25 Brenton But I have raised up him that comes from the north, and him that comes from the rising of the sun: they shall be called by my name: let the princes come, and as potter's clay, and as a potter treading clay, so shall ye be trodden down. 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 Brenton For who will declare the things from the beginning, that we may know also the former things, and we will say that they are true? there is no one that speaks beforehand, nor any one that hears your words. 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 Brenton I will give dominion to Sion, and will comfort Jerusalem by the way. BSB BSB: I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
28 Brenton For from among the nations, behold, there was no one; and of their idols there was none to declare anything : and if I should ask them, Whence are ye? they could not answer me. 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 Brenton For these are your makers, as ye think , and they that cause you to err in vain. BSB BSB: See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
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