Isaiah 41

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Keep silence before me, O coastlands; you peoples, wait for my words! Let them draw near and speak; let us come together for judgment.	1 Let the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take new strength: let them come near, and then speak, let us come near to judgment together.
2 Who has stirred up from the East the champion of justice, and summoned him to be his attendant? To him he delivers the nations and subdues the kings; With his sword he reduces them to dust, with his bow, to driven straw.	2 Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow.
3 He pursues them, passing on without loss, by a path his feet do not even tread.	3 He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet.
4 Who has performed these deeds? He who has called forth the generations since the beginning. I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last I will also be.	4 Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last.
5 The coastlands see, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble: these things are near, they come to pass.	5 The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came.
	6 Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage.
	7 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.
8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend--	8 But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend:
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and summoned from its far-off places, You whom I have called my servant, whom I have chosen and will not cast off--	9 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.
10 Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice.	10 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.
11 Yes, all shall be put to shame and disgrace who vent their anger against you; Those shall perish and come to nought who offer resistance.	11 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.
12 You shall seek out, but shall not find, those who strive against you; They shall be as nothing at all who do battle with you.	12 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.
13 For I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you."	13 For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.
14 Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.	14 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.
15 I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff.	15 I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shall thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.	16 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.
17 The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.	17 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.
18 I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water.	18 I will open rivers in the high bills, 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.
19 I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine,	19 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:
20 That all may see and know, observe and understand, That the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.	20 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.
21 Present your case, says the LORD; bring forward your reasons, says the King of Jacob.	21 Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob.
22 Let them come near and foretell to us what it is that shall happen! What are the things of long ago? Tell us, that we may reflect on them And know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come!	22 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.
23 Foretell the things that shall come afterward, that we may know that you are gods! Do something, good or evil, that will put us in awe and in fear.	23 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.
24 Why, you are nothing and your work is nought! To choose you is an abomination.	24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination.
25 I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes; from the east I summon him by name; He shall trample the rulers down like red earth, as the potter treads the clay.	25 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.
26 Who announced this from the beginning, that we might know; beforehand, that we might say it is true? Not one of you foretold it, not one spoke; no one heard you say,	26 Who bath 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.
27 "The first news for Zion: they are coming now," or, "For Jerusalem I will pick out a bearer of the glad tidings."	27 The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist.
28 When I look, there is not one, no one of them to give counsel, to make an answer when I question them.	28 And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.
29 Ah, all of them are nothing, their works are nought, their idols are empty wind!	29 Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity.