1Keep silence, and hear me, ye distant lands. Ye nations, gather your strength! Let them come near; then let them speak; Let us go together into judgment.

2Who hath raised up from the region of the East Him whom victory meeteth in his march? Who hath subdued nations before him, And given him dominion over kings? Who made their swords like dust, And their bows like driven stubble?

3He pursued them, and passed in safety, By a path which his foot had never trodden.

4Who hath wrought and done it? I, who have called the generations from the beginning, I, Jehovah, the first; And with the last also am I.

5Distant nations saw it, and were afraid; The ends of the earth, and trembled; They drew near, and came together.

6One helped another, And said to him, “Be of good courage!”

7The carpenter encouraged the smith, He that smoothed with the hammer him that smote on the anvil, And said, “The soldering is good,” And he fastened it with nails that it might not fall.

8But thou, O Israel, my servant, Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Offspring of Abraham, my friend!

9Thou, whom I have led by the hand from the ends of the earth, And called from the extremities thereof, And said to thee, “Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away!”

10Fear not, for I am with thee; Faint not, for I, thy God, will strengthen thee; I will help thee, and sustain thee, with my right hand of salvation!

11Behold, all who are enraged against thee Shall be ashamed and confounded; All that contend with thee Shall come to nothing and perish.

12Thou shalt seek and not find Them that contend with thee; They shall come to nothing, and be no more, Who make war against thee.

13For I, Jehovah, am thy God, that holdeth thee by the right hand, That saith to thee, “Fear not, I am thy helper!”

14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, thou feeble people of Israel! I am thy helper, saith Jehovah; Thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

15Behold, I will make thee a thrashing-wain, sharp and new, With double edges; Thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, And make the hills as chaff.

16Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them. But thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, And glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst, I, Jehovah, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18I will open rivers upon the bare hills, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water.

19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia, The myrtle and the olive-tree; I will place in the desert the cypress, The plane-tree and the larch together.

20That they may see, and know, And consider, and understand together, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And that the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

21Bring forward your cause, saith Jehovah; Produce your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob.

22Let them produce them, and show us what shall happen! Tell us what ye have predicted in times past, That we may consider, and know its fulfilment! Or declare to us things that are to come!

23Let us hear what shall happen in future times, That we may know whether ye are gods; Do something, be it good or evil, That we may be astonished, and see it together!

24Behold, ye are less than nothing, And your work is less than naught; An abomination is he that chooseth you!

25I have raised up one from the north, and he cometh; From the rising of the sun he calleth upon my name; He trampleth upon princes as upon mortar; As the potter treadeth down the clay.

26Who hath declared this from the beginning, that we might know it, And long ago, that we might say, It is true? There was not one that foretold it, not one that declared it, Not one that heard your words.

27I first said to Zion, Behold! behold them! And I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings.

28I looked, but there was no man; Even among them, but there was none that gave counsel; I inquired of them that they might give an answer;

29But behold, they are all vanity; Their works are nothing; Wind and emptiness are their molten images.