God Challenges the Nations
Study note
God calls the distant coastlands and nations to come before him, as if in a courtroom. He points to a conqueror coming from the east, generally understood as Cyrus the Persian, whom God raises up to defeat nations and kings. While the nations tremble and rush to make new idols for protection, God asks who is truly behind these events. The answer: the Lord, who is the first and the last.
1 'Quiet down and listen, you coastlands! Let the nations gather their strength! Let them step forward and make their case. Let us come together for a fair hearing.' Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
2 'Who raised up the conqueror from the east and called him to serve in righteousness? He hands over nations and tramples kings underfoot. His sword turns them to dust, and his bow scatters them like straw in the wind.' Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
3 He chases them down and passes safely through, covering ground his feet have never walked before. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 Who made all this happen? Who has been directing things from the very beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and I will be there at the very end. I am the one. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
5 The distant coastlands have seen it and are trembling. The far ends of the earth are shaking. They gather together and arrive. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6 They encourage one another, saying, 'Stay strong!' They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7 The metalworker cheers on the goldsmith. The man hammering at the anvil tells the one polishing with the mallet, 'Nice job on that weld.' They nail the idol in place so it will not tip over. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
Israel Is God's Chosen Servant
Study note
In contrast to the frightened nations, God speaks directly to Israel with deep tenderness. Israel is his servant, chosen and not rejected, the descendant of Abraham, whom God called his friend. The famous promise in verse 10 is one of the most comforting verses in the Bible: 'Don't be afraid, for I am with you.' God promises to strengthen them, help them, and hold them up. Their enemies will come to nothing. Even though Israel feels small and weak like a worm, God will make them into a powerful threshing instrument.
8 'But you, Israel, are my servant. Jacob, I chose you — the descendant of Abraham, my friend.' But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 'I reached out to the very ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I told you, You are my servant. I picked you and have not thrown you aside.' Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 "Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness." Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 'Everyone who rages against you will end up ashamed and disgraced. Those who fight you will become nothing and fade away.' Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
12 'You will go looking for your enemies but will not be able to find them. Those who wage war against you will be completely gone, as if they never existed.' Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13 'For I am the Lord your God. I take hold of your right hand and say to you, Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.' For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14 'Don't be afraid, tiny Israel, small as you are. I am your helper,' the Lord declares — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 'I am going to turn you into a new threshing tool with sharp teeth. You will thresh mountains and grind them up. You will turn hills into chaff.' Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 'You will toss them into the air, and the wind will sweep them away. A whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will celebrate in the Lord and find your pride in the Holy One of Israel.' Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
God Provides for the Needy
Study note
God promises to answer the cries of the poor and thirsty. He will open rivers on bare hilltops and springs in the valleys. He will plant trees in the desert: cedars, acacias, myrtles, olives, pines, and cypresses. He does this so that everyone will see and know that the Lord has done it.
17 'When poor and desperate people search for water and cannot find any, when their tongues are dry and cracked from thirst, I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not leave them stranded.' When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 'I will open up rivers on barren hilltops and springs in the middle of dry valleys. I will turn the desert into a lake and parched ground into flowing springs.' I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 'I will plant cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees in the wasteland. I will set up cypresses, pines, and box trees together in the desert.' I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20 'I will do this so people can see and know, think about and understand, that the Lord's own hand has done this. The Holy One of Israel has made it happen.' 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.
The False Gods Are Nothing
Study note
God issues a direct challenge to the false gods: present your case! Tell us what happened in the past or predict what will happen in the future. Do something, anything, to prove you are real. They cannot. God declares them to be nothing, and anyone who chooses them is disgusting to him. He alone raised up the one from the north and east (Cyrus), and he alone announced it in advance. No false god declared it. They are all empty wind and confusion.
21 'State your case,' says the Lord. 'Bring your strongest evidence,' says the King of Jacob. Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
22 'Have your idols step up and explain what is going to happen. Have them tell us what happened in the past so we can study it, or let them predict the future for us.' Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
23 'Go ahead — tell us what will happen next, so we can know you are actual gods. Do something, anything, whether good or bad, so we can be impressed and stunned.' Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24 'But look at you — you are less than nothing, and everything you do is completely worthless. Anyone who picks you is disgusting.' Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
25 'I stirred up someone from the north, and here he comes. From where the sun rises, he calls on my name. He stomps on rulers like they are mud, the way a potter kneads clay.' I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.
26 'Who announced this from the start so we could know? Who predicted it ahead of time so we could say, He got it right? Nobody spoke up. Nobody predicted it. Nobody heard a word from any of you.' Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
27 'I was the very first to tell Zion, Look, here they are! I gave Jerusalem a messenger carrying wonderful news.' The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
28 'I searched among the idols, but not one of them had anything to say. There was not a single advisor who could give an answer when I asked.' For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 'See — they are all fake! Their work amounts to nothing. Their metal images are empty wind and confusion.' Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.