Fear Not, For I Am with You
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1Listen to me in silence, 2O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.
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3Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every 4step?a 5He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, 6like driven stubble with his bow.
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He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod.
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7Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? 8I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
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9The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come.
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Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, "Be strong!"
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10The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good"; and they strengthen it with nails 11so that it cannot be moved.
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But you, Israel, 12my servant, Jacob, 13whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, 14my friend;
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you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called 15from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are 16my servant, 17I have chosen you and not cast you off";
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fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with 18my righteous right hand.
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19Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.
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20You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; 21those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.
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For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you."
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Fear not, you 22worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your 23Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
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24Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh 25the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff;
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26you shall winnow them, and 27the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. 28And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
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29When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
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30I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. 31I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
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32I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert 33the cypress, the plane and the pine together,
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that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that 34the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
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Set forth your case, says the LORD; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
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Let them bring them, and 35tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.
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36Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; 37do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.b
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Behold, 38you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.
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39I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, 40from the rising of the sun, 41and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay.
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42Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, "He is right"? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.
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43I was the first to sayc to Zion, "Behold, here they are!" and 44I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
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45But when I look, there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, when I ask, gives an answer.
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46Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)