The Helper of Israel

 ¹ "Be silent before me, you islands!
       Let the nations renew their strength!
       Let them come forward and speak;
       let us meet together at the place of judgment.

 ² "Who has stirred up one from the east,
       calling him in righteousness to his service ?
       He hands nations over to him
       and subdues kings before him.
       He turns them to dust with his sword,
       to windblown chaff with his bow.

 ³ He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
       by a path his feet have not traveled before.

 ⁴ Who has done this and carried it through,
       calling forth the generations from the beginning?
       I, the LORD -with the first of them
       and with the last—I am he."

 ⁵ The islands have seen it and fear;
       the ends of the earth tremble.
       They approach and come forward;

 ⁶ each helps the other
       and says to his brother, "Be strong!"

 ⁷ The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
       and he who smoothes with the hammer
       spurs on him who strikes the anvil.
       He says of the welding, "It is good."
       He nails down the idol so it will not topple.

 ⁸ "But you, O Israel, my servant,
       Jacob, whom I have chosen,
       you descendants of Abraham my friend,

 ⁹ I took you from the ends of the earth,
       from its farthest corners I called you.
       I said, 'You are my servant';
       I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

 ¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you;
       do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
       I will strengthen you and help you;
       I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 ¹¹ "All who rage against you
       will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
       those who oppose you
       will be as nothing and perish.

 ¹² Though you search for your enemies,
       you will not find them.
       Those who wage war against you
       will be as nothing at all.

 ¹³ For I am the LORD, your God,
       who takes hold of your right hand
       and says to you, Do not fear;
       I will help you.

 ¹⁴ Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
       O little Israel,
       for I myself will help you," declares the LORD,
       your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

 ¹⁵ "See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
       new and sharp, with many teeth.
       You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
       and reduce the hills to chaff.

 ¹⁶ You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
       and a gale will blow them away.
       But you will rejoice in the LORD
       and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

 ¹⁷ "The poor and needy search for water,
       but there is none;
       their tongues are parched with thirst.
       But I the LORD will answer them;
       I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

 ¹⁸ I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
       and springs within the valleys.
       I will turn the desert into pools of water,
       and the parched ground into springs.

 ¹⁹ I will put in the desert
       the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
       I will set pines in the wasteland,
       the fir and the cypress together,

 ²⁰ so that people may see and know,
       may consider and understand,
       that the hand of the LORD has done this,
       that the Holy One of Israel has created it.