411 " Coastlands , listen to Me in silence , And let the peoples gain new strength ; Let them come forward , then let them speak ; Let us come together for judgment . 2 " Who has aroused one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet ? He delivers up nations before him And subdues kings . He makes them like dust with his sword , As the wind-driven chaff with his bow . 3 "He pursues them, passing on in safety , By a way he had not been traversing with his feet . 4 " Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning ? ' I, the Lord , am the first , and with the last . I am He.' " 5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid ; The ends of the earth tremble ; They have drawn near and have come . 6 Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother , "Be strong !" 7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter , And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil , Saying of the soldering , "It is good "; And he fastens it with nails , So that it will not totter . 8 "But you, Israel , My servant , Jacob whom I have chosen , Descendant of Abraham My friend , 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth , And called from its remotest parts And said to you, 'You are My servant , I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 'Do not fear , for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God . I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand .' 11 "Behold , all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored ; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish . 12 " You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent . 13 "For I am the Lord your God , who upholds your right hand , Who says to you, ' Do not fear , I will help you.' 14 "Do not fear , you worm Jacob , you men of Israel ; I will help you," declares the Lord , "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel . 15 "Behold , I have made you a new , sharp threshing sledge with double edges ; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff . 16 "You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the Lord , You will glory in the Holy One of Israel . 17 "The afflicted and needy are seeking water , but there is none , And their tongue is parched with thirst ; I, the Lord , will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I will not forsake them. 18 "I will open rivers on the bare heights And springs in the midst of the valleys ; I will make the wilderness a pool of water And the dry land fountains of water . 19 "I will put the cedar in the wilderness , The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree ; I will place the juniper in the desert Together with the box tree and the cypress , 20 That they may see and recognize , And consider and gain insight as well , That the hand of the Lord has done this , And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 "Present your case ," the Lord says . "Bring forward your strong arguments," The King of Jacob says . 22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place ; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome . Or announce to us what is coming ; 23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward , That we may know that you are gods ; Indeed , do good or evil , that we may anxiously look about us and fear together . 24 Behold , you are of no account , And your work amounts to nothing ; He who chooses you is an abomination . 25 "I have aroused one from the north , and he has come ; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name ; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar , Even as the potter treads clay ." 26 Who has declared this from the beginning , that we might know ? Or from former times , that we may say , "He is right !"? Surely there was no one who declared , Surely there was no one who proclaimed , Surely there was no one who heard your words . 27 " Formerly I said to Zion , 'Behold , here they are.' And to Jerusalem , 'I will give a messenger of good news .' 28 "But when I look , there is no one , And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask , can give an answer . 29 "Behold , all of them are false ; Their works are worthless , Their molten images are wind and emptiness .
