Isaiah 41 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Israel Assured of God’s Help

The Final Restoration of Israel

Isa 41:1“Keep silence before Me, O coastlands,
And let the people renew their strength!
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us come near together for judgment.

Isa 41:2

Isa 41:2“Who raised up one from the east?
Who in righteousness called him to His feet?
Who gave the nations before him,
And made him rule over kings?
Who gave them as the dust to his sword,
As driven stubble to his bow?

Isa 41:3

Isa 41:3Who pursued them, and passed safely
By the way that he had not gone with his feet?

Isa 41:4

Isa 41:4Who has performed and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the LORD, am the first;
And with the last I am He.’ ”

Isa 41:5

Isa 41:5The coastlands saw it and feared,
The ends of the earth were afraid;
They drew near and came.

Isa 41:6

Isa 41:6Everyone helped his neighbor,
And said to his brother,
“Be of good courage!”

Isa 41:7

Isa 41:7So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith;
He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil,
Saying, “It is ready for the soldering”;
Then he fastened it with pegs,
That it might not totter.

Isa 41:8

Isa 41:8“But you, Israel, are My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The descendants of Abraham My friend.

Isa 41:9

Isa 41:9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:

Isa 41:10

Isa 41:10Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Isa 41:11

Isa 41:11“Behold, all those who were incensed against you
Shall be ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing,
And those who strive with you shall perish.

Isa 41:12

Isa 41:12You shall seek them and not find them—
Those who contended with you.
Those who war against you
Shall be as nothing,
As a nonexistent thing.

Isa 41:13

Isa 41:13For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

Isa 41:14

Isa 41:14“Fear not, you worm Jacob,
You men of Israel!
I will help you,” says the LORD
And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 41:15

Isa 41:15“Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.

Isa 41:16

Isa 41:16You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the LORD,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 41:17

Isa 41:17“The poor and needy seek water, but there is none,
Their tongues fail for thirst.
I, the LORD, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Isa 41:18

Isa 41:18I will open rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.

Isa 41:19

Isa 41:19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine
And the box tree together,

Isa 41:20

Isa 41:20That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Futility of Idols

Isa 41:21

Isa 41:21“Present your case,” says the LORD.
“Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob.

Isa 41:22

Isa 41:22“Let them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the former things, what they were,
That we may consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.

Isa 41:23

Isa 41:23Show the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that you are gods;
Yes, do good or do evil,
That we may be dismayed and see it together.

Isa 41:24

Isa 41:24Indeed you are nothing,
And your work is nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.

Isa 41:25

Isa 41:25“I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name;
And he shall come against princes as though mortar,
As the potter treads clay.

Isa 41:26

Isa 41:26Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’?
Surely there is no one who shows,
Surely there is no one who declares,
Surely there is no one who hears your words.

Isa 41:27

Isa 41:27The first time I said to Zion,
‘Look, there they are!’
And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.

Isa 41:28

Isa 41:28For I looked, and there was no man;
I looked among them, but there was no counselor,
Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

Isa 41:29

Isa 41:29Indeed they are all worthless;[fn]
Their works are nothing;
Their molded images are wind and confusion.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(41:29)

Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac, and Targum read nothing; Septuagint omits the first line.

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.