Isaiah 41

¹Iles, be stille to me, and folkis chaunge strengthe; neiye thei, and thanne speke thei; neiye we togidere to doom.

²Who reiside the iust man fro the eest, and clepide hym to sue hym silf? He schal yyue folkis in his siyt, and he schal welde kyngis; he schal yyue as dust to his swerd, and as stobil `that is rauyschid of the wynd, to his bowe.

³He schal pursue hem, he schal go in pees; a path schal not appere in hise feet.

⁴Who wrouyte and dide these thingis? clepynge generaciouns at the bigynnyng. Y am the Lord; and Y am the firste and the laste.

⁵Ilis sien, and dredden; the laste partis of erthe were astonyed; thei camen niy, and neiyiden.

⁶Ech man schal helpe his neiybore, and schal seie to his brother, Be thou coumfortid.

⁷A smyth of metal smytynge with an hamer coumfortide him that polischyde, ethir made fair, in that tyme, seiynge, It is good, to glu; and he fastenede hym with nailis, that he schulde not be mouyd.

⁸And thou, Israel, my seruaunte, Jacob, whom Y chees, the seed of Abraham, my frend, in whom Y took thee;

⁹fro the laste partis of erthe, and fro the fer partis therof Y clepide thee; and Y seide to thee, Thou art my seruaunt; Y chees thee, and castide not awei thee.

¹⁰Drede thou not, for Y am with thee; boowe thou not awei, for Y am thi God. Y coumfortide thee, and helpide thee; and the riythond of my iust man vp took thee.

¹¹Lo! alle men schulen be schent, and schulen be aschamed, that fiyten ayens thee; thei schulen be as if thei ben not, and men schulen perische, that ayen seien thee.

¹²Thou schalt seke hem, and thou schalt not fynde thi rebel men; thei schulen be, as if thei ben not, and as the wastyng of a man fiytynge ayens thee.

¹³For Y am thi Lord God, takynge thin hond, and seiynge to thee, Drede thou not, Y helpide thee.

¹⁴Nyle thou, worm of Jacob, drede, ye that ben deed of Israel. Y helpide thee, seith the Lord, and thin ayen biere, the hooli of Israel.

¹⁵Y haue set thee as a newe wayn threischynge, hauynge sawynge bilis; thou schalt threische mounteyns, and schalt make smal, and thou schalt sette litle hillis as dust.

¹⁶Thou schalt wyndewe hem, and the wynd schal take hem awei, and a whirlewynd schal scatere hem; and thou schalt make ful out ioie in the Lord, and thou schalt be glad in the hooli of Israel.

¹⁷Nedi men and pore seken watris, and tho ben not; the tunge of hem driede for thirst. Y the Lord schal here hem, I God of Israel schal not forsake hem.

¹⁸Y schal opene floodis in hiy hillis, and wellis in the myddis of feeldis; Y schal sette the desert in to poondis of watris, and the lond without weie in to ryuers of watris.

¹⁹Y schal yyue in wildirnesse a cedre, and a thorn, and a myrte tre, and the tre of an olyue; Y schal sette in the desert a fir tre, an elm, and a box tre togidere.

²⁰That thei se, and knowe, and bithenke, and vndurstonde togidere; that the hond of the Lord dide this thing, and the hooli of Israel made that of nouyt.

²¹Make ye niy youre doom, seith the Lord; brynge ye, if in hap ye han ony thing, seith the kyng of Jacob.

²²Neiy tho, and telle to vs, what euer thingis schulen come; telle ye the formere thingis that weren, and we schulen sette oure herte, and schulen wite; schewe ye to vs the laste thingis of hem, and tho thingis that schulen come.

²³Telle ye what thingis schulen come in tyme to comynge, and we schulen wite, that ye ben goddis; al so do ye wel, ethir yuele, if ye moun; and speke we, and see we togidere.

²⁴Lo! ye ben of nouyt, and youre werk is of that that is not; he that chees you, is abhomynacioun.

²⁵I reiside fro the north, and he schal come fro the risyng of the sunne; he schal clepe my name. And he schal brynge magistratis as cley, and as a pottere defoulynge erthe.

²⁶Who tolde fro the bigynnyng, that we wite, and fro the bigynnyng, that we seie, Thou art iust? noon is tellynge, nether biforseiynge, nether herynge youre wordis.

²⁷The firste schal seie to Sion, Lo! Y am present; and Y schal yyue a gospellere to Jerusalem.

²⁸And Y siy, and noon was of these, that token councel, and he that was axid, answeride a word.

²⁹Lo! alle men ben vniust, and her werkis ben wynd and veyn; the symylacris of hem ben wynd, and voide thing.

Isaiah 41

¹Keep 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.

²Who 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.

³He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

⁴Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

⁵The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.

⁶They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

⁷So 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.

⁸But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

⁹Thou 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.

¹⁰Fear 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.

¹¹Behold, 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.

¹²Thou 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.

¹³For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

¹⁴Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, 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.

¹⁶Thou 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.

¹⁷When 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.

¹⁸I 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.

¹⁹I 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:

²⁰That 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.

²¹Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

²²Let 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.

²³Shew 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.

²⁴Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

²⁵I 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 morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

²⁶Who 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.

²⁷The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

²⁸For 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.

²⁹Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.