Lekh Lekha
This translation was taken from the JPS Tanakh
Isaiah 40:27-41:16
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
Why declare, O Israel,
“My way is hid from the Lord,
My cause is ignored by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is God from of old,
Creator of the earth from end to end,
He never grows faint or weary,
His wisdom cannot be fathomed.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
Fresh vigor to the spent.
30 Youths may grow faint and weary,
And young men stumble and fall;
31 But they who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength
As eagles grow new plumes:
They shall run and not grow weary,
They shall march and not grow faint.
Chapter 41
1 Stand silent before Me, coastlands,
And let nations renew their strength.
Let them approach to state their case;
Let us come forward together for argument.
2 Who has roused a victor from the East,
Summoned him to His service?
Has delivered up nations to him,
And trodden sovereigns down?
Has rendered their swords like dust,
Their bows like wind-blown straw?
3 He pursues them, he goes on unscathed;
No shackle is placed on his feet.
4 Who has wrought and achieved this?
He who announced the generations from the start —
I, the Lord, who was first
And will be with the last as well.
5 The coastlands look on in fear,
The ends of earth tremble.
They draw near and come;
6 Each one helps the other,
Saying to his fellow, “Take courage!”
7 The woodworker encourages the smith;
He who flattens with the hammer
[Encourages] him who pounds the anvil.
He says of the riveting, “It is good!”
And he fixes it with nails,
That it may not topple.
8 But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
Seed of Abraham My friend —
9 You whom I drew from the ends of the earth
And called from its far corners,
To whom I said: You are My servant;
I chose you, I have not rejected you —
10 Fear not, for I am with you,
Be not frightened, for I am your God;
I strengthen you and I help you,
I uphold you with My victorious right hand.
11 Shamed and chagrined shall be
All who contend with you;
They who strive with you
Shall become as naught and shall perish.
12 You may seek, but shall not find
Those who struggle with you;
Less than nothing shall be
The men who battle against you.
13 For I the Lord am your God,
Who grasped your right hand,
Who say to you: Have no fear;
I will be your help.
14 Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O men of Israel:
I will help you
— declares the Lord —
I your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 I will make of you a threshing board,
A new thresher, with many spikes;
You shall thresh mountains to dust,
And make hills like chaff.
16 You shall winnow them
And the wind shall carry them off;
The whirlwind shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the Lord,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Taken from Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, (Philadelphia, Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society) 1985.
Used by permission of The Jewish Publication Society. Copyright © 1962, 1992
Third Edition by the Jewish Publication Society.
No part of this text can be reproduced or forwarded without written permission.
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