God Helps Israel

¹ Listen to me in silence, coastlands, and let nations renew their strength. Let them approach, then let them speak; let us draw near together for judgment.

² Who has roused salvation from the east, summoned¹ him to his foot, gives nations ⌞in his presence⌟,² and subjugates kings? He makes³ them like the dust with his sword, like scattered stubble with his bow.

1. Or “called”
2. Literally “before his face”
3. Or “gives”

³ He pursues them and passes on in peace; he does not enter the path with his feet.

⁴ Who has accomplished and done this, calling the generations from the ⌞beginning⌟?¹ I, Yahweh, am first; and I am the one with the last.

1. Literally “head”

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

⁶ Each one helps¹ his neighbor; he says to his brother, “Take courage!”

1. Hebrew “help”

⁷ And the artisan encourages the ⌞goldsmith⌟,¹ the one who makes smooth with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good!” And they strengthen it with nails so it cannot be knocked over.

1. Literally “refiner”

⁸ But¹ you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you, the ⌞offspring⌟² of Abraham my ⌞friend⌟,³

1. Or “And”
2. Literally “seed”
3. Literally “beloved”

⁹ you whom I grasped from the ends of the earth and called from its remotest parts and told, “You are my servant; I have chosen you and I have not rejected you.”

¹⁰ You must not fear, for I am with you; you must not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, indeed I will help you, indeed I will take hold of you with the right hand of my salvation.

¹¹ Look! All those who are angry with you shall be ashamed and humiliated; ⌞your opponents⌟¹ shall be like nothing and shall become lost.

1. Literally “the men of your strife”

¹² You shall seek them, but¹ you shall not find them; ⌞your opponents⌟² shall be like nothing, and the men of your war like nothing.

1. Or “and”
2. Literally “the men of your strife”

¹³ For I, Yahweh your God, am grasping your right hand; ⌞it is I who say⌟¹ to you, “You must not fear; I myself, I will help you.

1. Literally “the sayer”

¹⁴ You must not fear, O worm of Jacob; people of Israel, I myself, I will help you,” ⌞declares⌟¹ Yahweh, “and your redeemer is the holy one of Israel.

1. Literally “declaration of”

¹⁵ Look! I will make you into a new sharp threshing sledge, ⌞with⌟¹ sharp edges. You shall thresh and crush the mountains, and you shall make the hills like chaff.

1. Literally “owner of”

¹⁶ You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you yourself shall rejoice in Yahweh; you shall boast in the holy one of Israel.

¹⁷ The poor and the needy are seeking water and there is none; their tongue is dried up with thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸ I will open rivers on the barren heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness like a pool of water and the land of dryness like springs of water.

¹⁹ I will ⌞put⌟¹ the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive oil tree in the wilderness; I will set the cypress, elm, and box tree together in the desert

1. Literally “give”

²⁰ so that they may see and know, and take to heart and understand together that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the holy one of Israel has created it.”

²¹ “Present your legal case,” says Yahweh. “Bring your evidence,” says the king of Jacob.

²² Let them bring them, and let them tell us what will happen. Tell us what the former things are ⌞so that⌟¹ we may take them to our heart and know their outcome.² Declare to us the things to come;

1. Or “And”
2. Or “end”

²³ tell us the things coming ⌞hereafter⌟,¹ that² we may know that you are gods. Indeed, do good or³ do evil, that⁴ we may be afraid and see⁵ together.

1. Literally “later”
2. Or “and”
3. Or “and”
4. Or “and”
5. Following the reading tradition (Qere); the written text (Kethib) has “fear”

²⁴ Look! you are nothing, and your work is something worthless; whoever chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵ I stirred up one from the north, and he has come from the rising of the sun. He shall call on my name, and he shall come on officials as on mortar, and as the ⌞potter⌟¹ treads clay.

1. Literally “creator”

²⁶ Who declared it from the ⌞beginning⌟¹ ⌞so that⌟² we might know, and ⌞beforehand⌟³ ⌞so that⌟⁴ we might say, “He is ⌞right⌟!”⁵ Indeed, there was no one who declared it; Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it. Indeed there was no one who heard your words.

1. Literally “head”
2. Or “and”
3. Literally “from before faces”
4. Or “and”
5. Literally “righteous”

²⁷ First to Zion, look! Look at them! And I give a herald¹ of good tidings to Jerusalem.

1. Or “bringer”

²⁸ But¹ I look and there is no man, and I look among these and there is no counselor, that² I might ask them and they might answer a word.

1. Or “And”
2. Or “and”

²⁹ Look! All of them are deception; their works are nothing; their images are wind and emptiness.