Isaiah 41:3-1964 bbe — He goes after them safely, not touching the road with his feet. Whose purpose and work was it? His who sent out the gen…

“He pursues them and passes by unharmed; he advances with great speed. Who acts and carries out decrees? Who summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end– I am the one. The coastlands see and are afraid; the whole earth trembles; they approach and come. They help one another; one says to the other,‘Be strong!’ The craftsman encourages the metalsmith, the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil. He approves the quality of the welding, and nails it down so it won’t fall over.” The Lord Encourages His People“You, my servant Israel, Jacob whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend, you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities, and have summoned from the remote regions– I told you,“You are my servant.” I have chosen you and not rejected you. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you– yes, I help you– yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated; your adversaries will be reduced to nothing and perish. When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them; your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing. For I am the LORD your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you,‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’ Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, men of Israel. I am helping you,” says the LORD, your protector, the Holy One of Israel. “Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge, new and double-edged. You will thresh the mountains and crush them; you will make the hills like straw. You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away; the wind will scatter them. You will rejoice in the LORD; you will boast in the Holy One of Israel. The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched from thirst. I, the LORD, will respond to their prayers; I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them. I will make streams flow down the slopes and produce springs in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water and the arid land into springs. I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness; I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the arid rift valley. I will do this so people will observe and recognize, so they will pay attention and understand that the LORD’s power has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” The Lord Challenges the Pagan Gods“Present your argument,” says the LORD.“Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king. “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled. Or decree for us some future events! Predict how future events will turn out, so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances, one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. He steps on rulers as if they were clay, like a potter treading the clay. Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know? Who announced it ahead of time, so we could say,‘He’s correct’? Indeed, none of them decreed it! Indeed, none of them announced it! Indeed, no one heard you say anything! I first decreed to Zion,‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ I sent a herald to Jerusalem. I look, but there is no one, among them there is no one who serves as an adviser, that I might ask questions and receive answers. Look, all of them are nothing, their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance.”

“He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet. Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last. The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came. Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage. The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering: and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend: In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away. Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee. Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee. For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee. Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shalt thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful. The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters. 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. ”