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Israel Encouraged

¹ "Listen ^(C1)to Me in silence, you ^(C2)islands and coastlands,
And let the nations ^(C3)gain their strength;
^(C4)Let them come near, then let them speak;
^(C5)Let us come together for judgment and decide the issue between us concerning the enemy from the east.

² "^(C1)Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great
Whom He ^(C2)calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step?
The LORD ^(C3)turns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like ^(C4)dust with his sword,
Like wind-driven ^(C5)chaff with his bow. ^(VR1)

³ "He (Cyrus) pursues them and passes along safely,
By a way his feet had not traveled before.

⁴ "^(C1)Who has performed and done this,
Calling forth and guiding the destinies of the generations of the nations from the beginning?
'^(C2)I, the LORD—the first, and with the last existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God—^(C3)I am He.'"

⁵ The ^(C1)islands and coastlands have seen and they fear;
The ^(C2)ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.

⁶ They each help his neighbor
And say to his brother as he fashions his idols, "Be of good courage!"

⁷ So the ^(C1)craftsman encourages the ^(C2)goldsmith,
And he who smooths metal with the smith's hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering (welding), "That is good";
And he fastens the idol with nails,
^(C3)So that it will not totter nor be moved.

⁸ "But you, Israel, ^(C1)My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The offspring of ^(C2)Abraham My ^(C3)friend, ^(VR1)

⁹ You whom I the LORD have ^(F1)(C1)taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest ^(C2)parts
And said to you, 'You are ^(C3)My servant,
I have ^(C4)chosen you and have not rejected you even though you are exiled.

¹⁰ '^(C1)Do not fear anything, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, be assured ^(C2)I will help you;
I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous ^(C3)right hand a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation.' ^(VR1)

¹¹ "Indeed, ^(C1)all those who are angry with you will be put to shame and humiliated;
^(C2)Those who strive against you will be as nothing and will perish.

¹² "^(C1)You shall search for those who quarrel with you, but will not find them;
They who war against you will be as nothing, as nothing at all.

¹³ "For I the LORD your God keep ^(C1)hold of your right hand; I am the Lord,
Who says to you, '^(C2)Do not fear, I will help you.'

¹⁴ "Do not fear, you ^(C1)worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you," declares the LORD, "and ^(C2)your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵ "In fact, I have made of you a new, sharp ^(F1)threshing implement with sharp edges;
^(C1)You will thresh the ^(C2)mountains and crush them,
And make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶ "You will ^(C1)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And a high wind will scatter them;
But you will ^(C2)rejoice in the LORD,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ "The poor and needy are seeking ^(C1)water, but there is none;
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, ^(C2)will answer them Myself;
I, the God of Israel, ^(C3)will not neglect them.

¹⁸ "I will open ^(C1)rivers on the barren heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make ^(C2)the wilderness a reed-pool of water
And the dry land springs of water.

¹⁹ "I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the ^(C1)myrtle and the olive tree;
I will place the ^(C1)juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,

²⁰ So that ^(C1)they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the ^(C2)hand of the LORD has done this,
That the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹ "Present your case for idols made by men's hands," says the LORD.
"Produce your evidence of divinity,"
Says the ^(C1)king of Jacob.

^22 (C1)Let them bring forward their evidence and tell us what is going to happen.
Regarding the ^(C2)former events, tell what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome;
Or announce to us the things that are going to come.

^23 (C1)Tell us the things that are to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, you should ^(C2)do something good or do evil, ^(F1)that we may be afraid and fear you together as we observe the miracle.

²⁴ Hear this! ^(C1)You idols are less than nothing,
And ^(C2)your work is worthless;
The worshiper who chooses you as a god is ^(C3)repulsive. ^(VR1)

²⁵ "I have stirred up and put into action ^(F1)(C1)one from the north the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name in prayer.
And he will trample on the Babylonian officials as on ^(C2)mortar,
Even as a potter treads clay." ^(VR1)

²⁶ Who among the idols has ^(C1)declared this from the beginning, so that we could know?
Or from earlier times, so that we could say, "He is unquestionably right!"?
In fact, there was ^(C2)no one who declared it,
Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it;
There was no one at all who heard you speak for you pagan gods are speechless.

²⁷ "I was first to say ^(C1)to Zion, 'Listen carefully, here they are the Jews who will be restored to their own land.'
And to Jerusalem, 'I will provide a ^(C2)messenger (Isaiah) to bring the good news ^(F1)that Cyrus will be stirred up {and put into action to save them}.' ^(VR1)

²⁸ "But when ^(C1)I look on the pagan prophets and priests, there is no one who could predict these events,
And there is no ^(C2)counselor ^(F1)among them,
Who, if I ask, can ^(C3)give an answer.

²⁹ "In fact, all of these pagan prophets and priests are false;
Their ^(C1)works are ^(C2)worthless,
Their cast images are merely ^(C3)wind and emptiness.