1 Be silent before Me {Sovereign Judge}, O coastlands, and let the nations renew their strength {koach: vigor or ability}. Let them draw near; then let them speak. Together, let us come near to judgment.
2 Who has stirred up one from the east? In righteousness {tsedeq: rightful cause} He {YHWH, Righteous Summoner} calls him to His feet; He gives nations before him, and kings He subdues. He gives them like dust to his sword, like driven stubble to his bow.
3 He will pursue {yirdphem: enduring chase} them and will pass safely by a path {orach: untrodden route} his feet have not trodden.
4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations {dorot: successive eras} from the beginning? I, the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Initiator}, am the first, and I am with the last; I am He.
5 The islands {iyyim: distant coastlands} saw and were afraid; the ends {ketzot: extremities} of the earth trembled. They drew near and came together.
6 Each man helps{yaazru: provides assistance} his friend, and he says to his brother, “Be strong{chazak: stand firm with courage}.”
7 And the craftsman strengthened the smith {tzoref: metalworker}; the one smoothing with the hammer supported the one striking the anvil, saying about the joining {deveq: adhesive joining}, “It is good”; and he fortified it with nails so that it would not be moved.
8 But you, Israel, are my servant {avdi: commissioned minister}; Jacob, whom I have chosen, is the offspring {zera: inherited promise} of Abraham, my friend.
9 You, whom I {YHWH, Sovereign Upholder} have taken hold of from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners, I said to you, “You are my servant {avdi: one devoted to service}; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.”
10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God {Elohim: Covenant Protector}. I will strengthen you {immatz: make resolute}, and I will help you; I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all those incensed against you will be ashamed {yevoshu: public disgrace} and humiliated; they will be as nothing, and the men of your contention {riv: legal dispute} will perish.
12 You will seek them, and you will not find them; those who engage in strife {matsutekha: adversarial challenge} will be as nothing and as utter nothingness {efes: complete nonexistence}, and those who wage war against you will be as nothing.
13 For I, the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Hand-Holding Helper}, am holding your right hand {yamin: strength side}, the One who says to you, “Do not fear; I have helped you.”
14 Do not fear, worm Jacob, and men of Israel; I will help you, declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Defender}, your Redeemer {go’el: kinsman-restorer}, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I have made you as a new sharp threshing sledge {morag: agricultural sledge} with double edges; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff {kamotz: windblown debris}.
16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the storm {usearah: powerful whirlwind} will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD {YHWH, Deliverer} and boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor and the needy are seeking water but find none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD {YHWH, Compassionate Responder}, will hear them; the God of Israel {Elohei Yisrael, Covenant Protector} will not forsake them.
18 I {YHWH, Promise Upholder} will open rivers {neharot: flowing streams} on the high places, and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land sources of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness {midbar: barren region} the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane tree, and the box tree together {yachdav: unified grouping}.
20 So that they may see and know, and set in their heart and understand together, that the hand of the LORD {YHWH, Active Maker} has done this, and the Holy One of Israel {k’dosh Yisra’el, Set-Apart Creator} has created it.
21 “Present your case,” says the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}; “bring forward your strong arguments,” says the King of Jacob {melekh Yaakov: Sovereign over Israel}.
22 Let them bring forward and proclaim to us what will happen: the former things {rishonot: prior events}—declare what they are so that we may set our heart upon them and know their outcome {acharitán: final result}. Or declare to us the things to come.
23 Declare the things {otiyot: prophetic evidences} to come afterward, so that we may know that you are gods {elohim: divine beings}; do good or do evil, so that we may be dismayed and see it together.
24 Behold, you are from nothing {meayin: existential void}, and your work is from utter nonexistence; abomination {toevah: detestable object} is he who chooses you.
25 I have stirred up one from the north {tzafon: northern region}, and he came; from the rising of the sun he will call upon My name, and he will come upon officials as clay {chomer: pliable material}, and like a potter he will trample mud.
26 Who has declared from the beginning, so that we may know? And from beforetime, so that we may say, He {YHWH, Righteous Judge} is righteous? Indeed, there is none who declares; indeed, there is none who causes to hear; indeed, there is none who hears your words {imreikhem: Proclamations}.
27 I {YHWH: Sovereign Sender} was the first {rishon: primacy marker} to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!” and to Jerusalem I will give a bearer of good news.
28 And I saw, and there was no man; and among these there was no counselor {yo’etz: one who gives wise advice}. When I asked them, they did not answer a word {davar: spoken matter}.
29 Behold, they are all emptiness {aven: utter futility}; their works are nothing; their molten images {niskeihem: molten idols} are wind and chaos.