ÉsaïeChapitre 41

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Be silent before me, you coastlands; let the nations renew their strength. Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together for judgment.
Who stirred up the one from the east, whom righteousness meets at every step? He hands the nations over to him and subdues kings before him; his sword turns them to dust, his bow to wind-driven chaff.
He pursues them and passes on unharmed, by a path his feet have never walked.
Who has done this and brought it about, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first, and with the last, I am he.
The coastlands have seen it and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble. They draw near, they come.
Each one helps his neighbor and says to his brother, "Take courage!"
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer urges on the one who strikes the anvil. He says of the soldering, "It is good," and fastens the idol with nails so it will not topple.
But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend.
I took hold of you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said to you, "You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you."
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Look, all who rage against you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who oppose you will come to nothing and perish.
You will look for those who quarreled with you and not find them; those who made war on you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, "Do not fear; I am your help."
Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you few men of Israel. I am your help, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Look, I am making you a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them off; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you will glory.
When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
I will open rivers on the barren heights and springs in the valleys; I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched land into flowing springs.
In the wilderness I will plant the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive; in the wasteland I will set the cypress, the plane, and the pine together,
so that all may see and know, consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Present your case, says the LORD; bring forward your arguments, says the King of Jacob.
Let them come and tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know how they turned out; or announce to us the things that are coming.
Declare what is to come hereafter, so that we may know you are gods. Do something, good or evil, so that we may see it together and be filled with dread.
Look, you are nothing, and your work is worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable.
I stirred up one from the north, and he comes; from the rising of the sun he calls on my name. He tramples rulers like mortar, like a potter treading clay.
Who announced this from the beginning, so that we might know, or foretold it, so that we might say, "He was right"? No one announced it, no one proclaimed it, no one heard a word from you.
I was the first to say to Zion, "Look, here they are!" and to Jerusalem I give a herald of good news.
I look, but there is no one; among these there is no counselor—no one I can ask who will answer a word.
Look, they are all a delusion; their deeds amount to nothing. Their idols are wind and emptiness.