Study Desk

"^(a)Coastlands, listen to Me ^(b)in silence, And let the peoples ^(c)gain new strength; ^(d)Let them come forward, then let them speak; ^(e)Let us come together for judgment.

"^(f)Who has aroused one from the east Whom He ^(g)calls in righteousness to His ^[a]feet? He ^(h)delivers up nations before him And subdues kings. He makes them like ⁽ⁱ⁾dust with his sword, As the wind-driven ^(j)chaff with his bow.

"He pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been ^[b]traversing with his feet.

"^(k)Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘^(l)I, the Lord , am the first, and with the last. ^(m)I am He.'"

The ⁽ⁿ⁾coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ^(o)ends of the earth tremble; They have drawn near and have come.

Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, "Be strong!"

So the ^(p)craftsman encourages the ^(q)smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, "It is good"; And he fastens it with nails, ^(r)So that it will not totter.

"But you, Israel, ^(s)My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of ^(t)Abraham My ^(u)friend,

You whom I have ^[c](v)taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its ^(w)remotest parts And said to you, ‘You are ^(x)My servant, I have ^(y)chosen you and not rejected you.

‘Do not ^(z)fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely ^(aa)I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous ^(ab)right hand.'

"Behold, ^(ac)all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; ^(ad)Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

"^(ae)You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

"For I am the Lord your God, ^(af)who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘^(ag)Do not fear, I will help you.'

"Do not fear, you ^(ah)worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you," declares the Lord , "^[d]and ^(ai)your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

"Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; ^(aj)You will thresh the ^(ak)mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff.

"You will ^(al)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will ^(am)rejoice in the Lord , You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

"The ^[e]afflicted and needy are seeking ^(an)water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the Lord , ^(ao)will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I ^(ap)will not forsake them.

"I will open ^(aq)rivers on the bare heights And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make ^(ar)the wilderness a pool of water And the dry land fountains of water.

"I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia and the ^(as)myrtle and the ^[f]olive tree; I will place the ^(at)juniper in the desert Together with the box tree and the cypress,

That ^(au)they may see and recognize, And consider and gain insight as well, That the ^(av)hand of the Lord has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

"^[g]Present your case," the Lord says. "Bring forward your strong arguments," The ^(aw)King of Jacob says.

^(ax)Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the ^(ay)former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming;

^(az)Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, ^(ba)do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

Behold, ^(bb)you are of ^[h]no account, And ^(bc)your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an ^(bd)abomination.

"I have aroused ^(be)one from the north, and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name; And he will come upon rulers as upon ^(bf)mortar, Even as the potter treads clay."

Who has ^(bg)declared this from the beginning, that we might know? Or from former times, that we may say, "He is right!"? Surely there was ^(bh)no one who declared, Surely there was no one who proclaimed, Surely there was no one who heard your words.

"^(bi)Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.' And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a ^(bj)messenger of good news.'

"But ^(bk)when I look, there is no one, And there is no ^(bl)counselor ^[i]among them Who, if I ask, can ^(bm)give an answer.

"Behold, all of them are ^[j]false; Their ^(bn)works are ^(bo)worthless, Their molten images are ^(bp)wind and emptiness.