Isaiah 41

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Coasts and islands, fal silent before me, and let the peoples renew their strength, let them comeforward and speak; let us assemble for judgement.	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 raised from the east him whom saving justice summons in its train, him to whom Yahwehdelivers up the nations and subjects kings, him who reduces them to dust with his sword, and to driven stubblewith his bow,	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 him who pursues them and advances unhindered, his feet scarcely touching the road?	3 He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet.
4 Who has acted thus, who has done this? He who cal s each generation from the beginning: I, Yahweh,who am the first and til the last I shal still be there.'	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 coasts and islands have seen and taken fright, the remotest parts of earth are trembling: they areapproaching, they are here!	5 The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came.
6 People help one another, they say to each other, 'Take heart!'	6 Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage.
7 The woodworker encourages the smelter, the polisher encourages the hammerer, saying of thesoldering, 'It is sound'; and he fastens it with nails to keep it steady.	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, descendant of Abraham my friend,	8 But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend:
9 whom I have taken to myself, from the remotest parts of the earth and summoned from countries faraway, to whom I have said, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you, I have not rejected you,'	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 do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be alarmed, for I am your God. I give you strength, truly Ihelp you, truly I hold you firm with my saving right hand.	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 Look, al those who rage against you wil be put to shame and humiliated; those who picked quarrelswith you will be reduced to nothing and wil perish.	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 wil look for them but wil not find them, those who used to fight you; they wil be destroyed andbrought to nothing, those who made war on 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, Yahweh, your God, I grasp you by your right hand; I tel you, 'Do not be afraid, I shal 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 Do not be afraid, Jacob, you worm! You little handful of Israel! I shall help you, declares Yahweh; yourredeemer 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 Look, I am making you into a threshing-sledge, new, with double teeth; you wil thresh and beat themountains to dust and reduce the hills to straw.	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 You wil winnow them and the wind wil carry them off, the gale will scatter them; whereas you wilrejoice in Yahweh, will 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 oppressed and needy search for water, and there is none, their tongue is parched with thirst. I,Yahweh, shal answer them, I, the God of Israel, shal not abandon 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 shal open up rivers on barren heights and water-holes down in the ravines; I shall turn the desertinto a lake and 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 shal plant the desert with cedar trees, acacias, myrtles and olives; in the wastelands I shal putcypress trees, plane trees and box trees side by side;	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 so that people may see and know, so that they may all observe and understand that the hand ofYahweh has done this, that 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 Yahweh, 'Produce your arguments,' says Jacob's king.	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 produce and reveal to us what is going to happen. What happened in the past? Reveal it sothat we can consider it and know what the outcome wil be. Or tel us about the future,	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 reveal what is to happen next, and then we shal know that you are gods. At least, do something, be itgood or bad, so that we may feel alarm and 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 Look, you are less than nothingness, and what you do is less than nothing; to choose you is anoutrage.'	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 raised him from the north and he has come, from the east he has been summoned by name.He tramples on rulers like mud, like a potter treading 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 revealed this from the beginning for us to know, and in the past for us to say, 'That is right'? Noone in fact revealed it, no one proclaimed it, no one has heard you speak.	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 First-fruits of Zion, look, here they come! I send a messenger to Jerusalem,	27 The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist.
28 and I look -- no one, not a single counsel or among them who, if I asked, could give an answer.	28 And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.
29 Taken altogether they are nothingness, what they do is nothing, their statues, wind and emptiness.	29 Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity.