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Isaiah 41

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1 ἐγκαινίζεσθε πρός με νῆσοι οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες ἀλλάξουσιν ἰσχύν ἐγγισάτωσαν καὶ λαλησάτωσαν ἅμα τότε κρίσιν ἀναγγειλάτωσαν 2 τίς ἐξήγειρεν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν δικαιοσύνην ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὴν κατὰ πόδας αὐτοῦ καὶ πορεύσεται δώσει ἐναντίον ἐθνῶν καὶ βασιλεῖς ἐκστήσει καὶ δώσει εἰς γῆν τὰς μαχαίρας αὐτῶν καὶ ὡς φρύγανα ἐξωσμένα τὰ τόξα αὐτῶν 3 καὶ διώξεται αὐτοὺς καὶ διελεύσεται ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἡ ὁδὸς τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ 4 τίς ἐνήργησεν καὶ ἐποίησεν ταῦτα ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὴν ὁ καλῶν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ γενεῶν ἀρχῆς ἐγὼ θεὸς πρῶτος καὶ εἰς τὰ ἐπερχόμενα ἐγώ εἰμι 5 εἴδοσαν ἔθνη καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς ἤγγισαν καὶ ἤλθοσαν ἅμα

1 Let the islands cease their clamour, and come to me, let the peoples of the world take heart afresh;[1] and so let them come and plead their cause; we will submit the question to an arbiter, they and I. 2 Tell me, who was it summoned his faithful servant[2] from the east, beckoned him to follow? The nations should be at his mercy, kings be subdued at his coming; flying like dust before his sword, scattered like chaff in the wind at the threat of his bow. 3 He should rout them in battle, and pass through their country unmolested, leaving not a footprint behind him. 4 Who was the author, the doer of all this, but I, the Lord, who summon all the ages into being? Before all, and at the end of all, I am. 5 The islands have seen it, and trembled at the sight; the remotest parts of the world have been smitten with dismay; they draw near, and obey the summons.

1

Taceant ad me insulæ,
et gentes mutent fortitudinem:
accedant, et tunc loquantur;
simul ad judicium propinquemus. 2
Quis suscitavit ab oriente Justum,
vocavit eum ut sequeretur se?
Dabit in conspectu ejus gentes,
et reges obtinebit:
dabit quasi pulverem gladio ejus,
sicut stipulam vento raptam arcui ejus. 3
Persequetur eos, transibit in pace:
semita in pedibus ejus non apparebit. 4
Quis hæc operatus est, et fecit,
vocans generationes ab exordio?
Ego Dominus:
primus et novissimus ego sum. 5
Viderunt insulæ, et timuerunt;
extrema terræ obstupuerunt:
appropinquaverunt, et accesserunt.

6 κρίνων ἕκαστος τῷ πλησίον καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ βοηθῆσαι καὶ ἐρεῖ 7 ἴσχυσεν ἀνὴρ τέκτων καὶ χαλκεὺς τύπτων σφύρῃ ἅμα ἐλαύνων ποτὲ μὲν ἐρεῖ σύμβλημα καλόν ἐστιν ἰσχύρωσαν αὐτὰ ἐν ἥλοις θήσουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ οὐ κινηθήσονται

6 (And still each abets his neighbour; Courage, says one to another. 7 The metal-worker, plying the hammer, encourages his fellow that is smiting the anvil; all goes well, he says, with the soldering. And he fastens it with nails, immovable.[3])

6
Unusquisque proximo suo auxiliabitur,
et fratri suo dicet: Confortare. 7
Confortavit faber ærarius
percutiens malleo
eum, qui cudebat tunc temporis,
dicens: Glutino bonum est;
et confortavit eum clavis, ut non moveretur.

8 σὺ δέ Ισραηλ παῖς μου Ιακωβ ὃν ἐξελεξάμην σπέρμα Αβρααμ ὃν ἠγάπησα 9 οὗ ἀντελαβόμην ἀ{P'} ἄκρων τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐκ τῶν σκοπιῶν αὐτῆς ἐκάλεσά σε καὶ εἶπά σοι παῖς μου εἶ ἐξελεξάμην σε καὶ οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπόν σε 10 μὴ φοβοῦ μετὰ σοῦ γάρ εἰμι μὴ πλανῶ ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ θεός σου ὁ ἐνισχύσας σε καὶ ἐβοήθησά σοι καὶ ἠσφαλισάμην σε τῇ δεξιᾷ τῇ δικαίᾳ μου 11 ἰδοὺ αἰσχυνθήσονται καὶ ἐντραπήσονται πάντες οἱ ἀντικείμενοί σοι ἔσονται γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ὄντες καὶ ἀπολοῦνται πάντες οἱ ἀντίδικοί σου 12 ζητήσεις αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐ μὴ εὕρῃς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἳ παροινήσουσιν εἰς σέ ἔσονται γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ὄντες καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται οἱ ἀντιπολεμοῦντές σε 13 ὅτι ἐγὼ ὁ θεός σου ὁ κρατῶν τῆς δεξιᾶς σου ὁ λέγων σοι μὴ φοβοῦ

8 But thou, Israel, my servant, thou, Jacob, on whom my choice has fallen, art sprung from that Abraham, who was my friend; 9 in his person, I led thee by the hand from the ends of the earth, beckoning thee from far away, and still I whispered to thee, My servant thou art, chosen, not rejected. 10 Have no fear, I am with thee; do not hesitate, am I not thy God? I am here to strengthen and protect thee; faithful the right hand that holds thee up. 11 Thou shalt see all thy enemies disappointed and put to the blush; what are they? A very nothing, those adversaries of thine; they must vanish away; 12 thou wilt look in vain for the men who troubled thee, fought against thee; thy search is for a very nothing, a memory of the past. 13 It is I, the Lord thy God, that hold thee by the hand and whisper to thee, Do not be afraid, I am here to help thee.

8

Et tu, Israël, serve meus,
Jacob quem elegi,
semen Abraham amici mei: 9
in quo apprehendi te ab extremis terræ,
et a longinquis ejus vocavi te,
et dixi tibi: Servus meus es tu:
elegi te, et non abjeci te. 10
Ne timeas, quia ego tecum sum;
ne declines, quia ego Deus tuus:
confortavi te, et auxiliatus sum tibi,
et suscepit te dextera Justi mei. 11
Ecce confundentur et erubescent
omnes qui pugnant adversum te;
erunt quasi non sint, et peribunt
viri qui contradicunt tibi. 12
Quæres eos, et non invenies,
viros rebelles tuos;
erunt quasi non sint, et veluti consumptio
homines bellantes adversum te. 13
Quia ego Dominus Deus tuus,
apprehendens manum tuam,
dicensque tibi: Ne timeas:
ego adjuvi te.

14 Ιακωβ ὀλιγοστὸς Ισραηλ ἐγὼ ἐβοήθησά σοι λέγει ὁ θεὸς ὁ λυτρούμενός σε Ισραηλ 15 ἰδοὺ ἐποίησά σε ὡς τροχοὺς ἁμάξης ἀλοῶντας καινοὺς πριστηροειδεῖς καὶ ἀλοήσεις ὄρη καὶ λεπτυνεῖς βουνοὺς καὶ ὡς χνοῦν θήσεις 16 καὶ λικμήσεις καὶ ἄνεμος λήμψεται αὐτούς καὶ καταιγὶς διασπερεῖ αὐτούς σὺ δὲ εὐφρανθήσῃ ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις Ισραηλ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσονται 17 οἱ πτωχοὶ καὶ οἱ ἐνδεεῖς ζητήσουσιν γὰρ ὕδωρ καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς δίψης ἐξηράνθη ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός ἐγὼ ἐπακούσομαι ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψω αὐτούς 18 ἀλλὰ ἀνοίξω ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων ποταμοὺς καὶ ἐν μέσῳ πεδίων πηγάς ποιήσω τὴν ἔρημον εἰς ἕλη καὶ τὴν διψῶσαν γῆν ἐν ὑδραγωγοῖς 19 θήσω εἰς τὴν ἄνυδρον γῆν κέδρον καὶ πύξον καὶ μυρσίνην καὶ κυπάρισσον καὶ λεύκην 20 ἵνα ἴδωσιν καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ ἐννοηθῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστῶνται ἅμα ὅτι χεὶρ κυρίου ἐποίησεν ταῦτα πάντα καὶ ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Ισραηλ κατέδειξεν

14 Jacob, poor worm, poor ghost of Israel, do not be afraid; I am here, says the Lord, to help thee; I am here, says the Holy One of Israel, to ransom thee. 15 I mean to go a-threshing, and thou my sledge, newly made; teeth like saws to thresh the mountains and crush them down, turn the hills into chaff; 16 ay, and winnow them, till wind carries them away and storm scatters them! Thou shalt yet make thy boast of the Lord, triumph in the Holy One of Israel. 17 Poor vagrants that long for water, where water is none, how dry their tongues with thirst! And shall I, the Lord, refuse them a hearing, I, the Holy One of Israel, leave them forsaken? 18 I will open springs on the hill-slopes, wells in the open plain, turn the wilderness into pools, the trackless desert into running streams. 19 I will plant those wastes with cedar and acacia, myrtle and olive; rear, in that desert soil, fir and elm and box besides; 20 proof for all to see and recognize, for all to mark and to consider, that the Lord’s hand was there; who but he, the Holy One of Israel, creates?

14
Noli timere, vermis Jacob,
qui mortui estis ex Israël:
ego auxiliatus sum tibi, dicit Dominus,
et redemptor tuus Sanctus Israël. 15
Ego posui te quasi plaustrum triturans novum,
habens rostra serrantia;
triturabis montes, et comminues,
et colles quasi pulverem pones. 16
Ventilabis eos, et ventus tollet,
et turbo disperget eos;
et tu exsultabis in Domino,
in Sancto Israël lætaberis. 17
Egeni et pauperes
quærunt aquas, et non sunt;
lingua eorum siti aruit.
Ego Dominus exaudiam eos,
Deus Israël, non derelinquam eos. 18
Aperiam in supinis collibus flumina,
et in medio camporum fontes:
ponam desertum in stagna aquarum,
et terram inviam in rivos aquarum. 19
Dabo in solitudinem cedrum,
et spinam, et myrtum, et lignum olivæ;
ponam in deserto abietem,
ulmum, et buxum simul: 20
ut videant, et sciant,
et recogitent, et intelligant pariter,
quia manus Domini fecit hoc,
et Sanctus Israël creavit illud.

21 ἐγγίζει ἡ κρίσις ὑμῶν λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός ἤγγισαν αἱ βουλαὶ ὑμῶν λέγει ὁ βασιλεὺς Ιακωβ 22 ἐγγισάτωσαν καὶ ἀναγγειλάτωσαν ὑμῖν ἃ συμβήσεται ἢ τὰ πρότερα τίνα ἦν εἴπατε καὶ ἐπιστήσομεν τὸν νοῦν καὶ γνωσόμεθα τί τὰ ἔσχατα καὶ τὰ ἐπερχόμενα εἴπατε ἡμῖν 23 ἀναγγείλατε ἡμῖν τὰ ἐπερχόμενα ἐ{P'} ἐσχάτου καὶ γνωσόμεθα ὅτι θεοί ἐστε εὖ ποιήσατε καὶ κακώσατε καὶ θαυμασόμεθα καὶ ὀψόμεθα ἅμα 24 ὅτι πόθεν ἐστὲ ὑμεῖς καὶ πόθεν ἡ ἐργασία ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς βδέλυγμα ἐξελέξαντο ὑμᾶς

21 Come then, says the Lord, your pleadings! Let the King of Jacob hear your contentions; 22 let them come forward, these other gods, and tell us the future.[4] So read the past for us, that the study of it may disclose what needs must follow; coming events make known. 23 Foretell you what is yet to be, we shall know you are gods indeed. Then, if you have the power, grant good or ill fortune to mankind; confer we, and pass judgement on it! 24 Why, you are all empty air, a nothing that nothing can effect; he courts his own shame, that makes choice of you.

21
Prope facite judicium vestrum,
dicit Dominus;
Afferte, si quid forte habetis,
dicit rex Jacob. 22
Accedant, et nuntient nobis
quæcumque ventura sunt;
priora quæ fuerunt, nuntiate,
et ponemus cor nostrum,
et sciemus novissima eorum;
et quæ ventura sunt, indicate nobis. 23
Annuntiate quæ ventura sunt in futurum,
et sciemus quia dii estis vos;
bene quoque aut male, si potestis, facite,
et loquamur et videamus simul. 24
Ecce vos estis ex nihilo,
et opus vestrum ex eo quod non est:
abominatio est qui elegit vos.

25 ἐγὼ δὲ ἤγειρα τὸν ἀπὸ βορρᾶ καὶ τὸν ἀ{F'} ἡλίου ἀνατολῶν κληθήσονται τῷ ὀνόματί μου ἐρχέσθωσαν ἄρχοντες καὶ ὡς πηλὸς κεραμέως καὶ ὡς κεραμεὺς καταπατῶν τὸν πηλόν οὕτως καταπατηθήσεσθε 26 τίς γὰρ ἀναγγελεῖ τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἵνα γνῶμεν καὶ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ἀληθῆ ἐστιν οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ προλέγων οὐδὲ ὁ ἀκούων ὑμῶν τοὺς λόγους 27 ἀρχὴν Σιων δώσω καὶ Ιερουσαλημ παρακαλέσω εἰς ὁδόν 28 ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἰδοὺ οὐδείς καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἀναγγέλλων καὶ ἐὰν ἐρωτήσω αὐτούς πόθεν ἐστέ οὐ μὴ ἀποκριθῶσίν μοι 29 εἰσὶν γὰρ οἱ ποιοῦντες ὑμᾶς καὶ μάτην οἱ πλανῶντες ὑμᾶς

25 I summoned one from the north country; from the east his coming should be, and ever he should invoke my name.[5] Princes he should harry to and fro, lightly as potter treads out his clay. 26 Which of you foretold this from the first? Let us recognize it. Which of you knew it from the beginning? We must needs say, His plea is just. But no, none gave tidings of it, none foretold it; there was no word came from you. 27 Who will be the first[6] to tell Sion, Here, here they are? He shall carry my good news to Jerusalem. 28 But when I looked, there was none of them that could offer counsel, or give a word in answer when I questioned him. 29 None of them has right on his side; all their doings are nothingness; no better than empty air the images men make of them.

25
Suscitavi ab aquilone, et veniet ab ortu solis:
vocabit nomen meum,
et adducet magistratus quasi lutum,
et velut plastes conculcans humum. 26
Quis annuntiavit ab exordio ut sciamus,
et a principio ut dicamus: Justus es?
Non est neque annuntians, neque prædicens,
neque audiens sermones vestros. 27
Primus ad Sion dicet: Ecce adsunt,
et Jerusalem evangelistam dabo. 28
Et vidi,
et non erat neque ex istis quisquam
qui iniret consilium,
et interrogatus responderet verbum. 29
Ecce omnes injusti,
et vana opera eorum;
ventus et inane simulacra eorum.

[1] ‘Take heart afresh’; the same words are used for ‘renew their strength’ in 40.31 above, and some think they have been written in here by an error, since they are not clearly suitable to the context.

[2] Literally, ‘a just man’. The Hebrew text has ‘justice’, and some modern scholars would interpret: ‘Who summoned from the east (a certain person whom) justice (that is, victory) meets (that is, attends) at his heels?’ It is a matter of much disagreement, who is the person so referred to. St Jerome and others think it is the Messias; but the context seems to suggest that the event lies in the past, not in the future. It may perhaps be Cyrus, king of Persia, who is described as God’s chosen emissary in 44.48, 45.1. But it can also be understood of Abraham and his descendants, taken in conjunction, verse 2 referring to Abraham himself and verse 3 to the Exodus. The text of verse 9 below seems to favour this last interpretation.

[3] Verses 6 and 7 are generally understood as referring to the making of idols; but their connexion with the context is so obscure that some think they have been misplaced, and stood originally after verse 20 of the foregoing chapter.

[4] The words ‘these other gods’ are not expressed in the original, but are inserted for the sake of clearness, being easily deducible from the context.

[5] There is the same uncertainty here about the person alluded to, as in verse 2 above.

[6] In the Hebrew text, the verb is not expressed, and it is generally understood as meaning, ‘I will be the first’. In that case, the following clause should read, ‘and I will send a messenger with good news to Jerusalem’.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd