Bible in Basic English
I will put in the waste land the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive-tree; and in the lowland will be planted the fir-tree, the plane, and the cypress together:
So that they may see and be wise and give their mind to it, and that it may be clear to them all that the hand of the Lord has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has made it.
Put forward your cause, says the Lord; let your strong argument come out, says the King of Jacob.
Let the future be made clear to us: give us news of the past things, so that we may give thought to them; or of the things to come, so that we may see if they are true.
Give us word of what will be after this, so that we may be certain that you are gods: yes, do good or do evil, so that we may all see it and be surprised.
But you are nothing, and your work is of no value: foolish is he who takes you for his gods.
I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.
Who has given knowledge of it from the first, so that we may be certain of it? and from the start, so that we may say, His word is true? There is no one who gives news, or says anything, or who gives ear to your words.
I was the first to give word of it to Zion, and I gave the good news to Jerusalem.
And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.
Truly they are all nothing, their works are nothing and of no value: their metal images are of no more use than wind.
— Isaiah 41:19-1964, Bible in Basic English
“I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, the elm, and the box tree together: 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. Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob. Let them come, and tell us all things that are to come: tell us the former things what they were: and we will set our heart upon them and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that are to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us speak, and see together. Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know: and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words. The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist. And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word. Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity. ”
You will send the wind over them, and it will take them away; they will go in all directions before the storm-wind: you will have joy in the Lord, and be glad in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and crushed are looking for water where no water is, and their tongue is dry for need of it: I the Lord will give ear to their prayer, I the God of Israel will not give them up.
I will make rivers on the dry mountain-tops, and fountains in the valleys: I will make the waste land a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the waste land the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive-tree; and in the lowland will be planted the fir-tree, the plane, and the cypress together:
So that they may see and be wise and give their mind to it, and that it may be clear to them all that the hand of the Lord has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has made it.
Put forward your cause, says the Lord; let your strong argument come out, says the King of Jacob.
Let the future be made clear to us: give us news of the past things, so that we may give thought to them; or of the things to come, so that we may see if they are true.
Give us word of what will be after this, so that we may be certain that you are gods: yes, do good or do evil, so that we may all see it and be surprised.
But you are nothing, and your work is of no value: foolish is he who takes you for his gods.
I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.
Who has given knowledge of it from the first, so that we may be certain of it? and from the start, so that we may say, His word is true? There is no one who gives news, or says anything, or who gives ear to your words.
I was the first to give word of it to Zion, and I gave the good news to Jerusalem.
And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.
Truly they are all nothing, their works are nothing and of no value: their metal images are of no more use than wind.