Daily Text and Bible Reading: Monday, August 11 [Press play below]

41.1 “Listen to me in silence, you islands; Let the nations regain their strength. Let them approach; then let them speak. Let us come together for judgment.
41.2 Who has raised up someone from the sunrise, Calling him in righteousness to His feet, To hand over nations to him And to make him subdue kings? Who reduces them to dust before his sword, Like windblown stubble before his bow?
41.3 He pursues them, passing along unhindered Over paths that his feet have not traveled.
41.4 Who has acted and done this, Summoning the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, am the First One; And with the last ones I am the same.”
41.5 The islands have seen it and have become afraid. The ends of the earth began to tremble. They draw near and come forward.
41.6 Each one helps his companion And says to his brother: “Be strong.”
41.7 So the craftsman strengthens the metalworker; The one who flattens with the forge hammer Strengthens the one hammering at the anvil. He says about the soldering: “It is good.” Then it is fastened with nails so that it will not topple over.
41.8 “But you, O Israel, are my servant, You, O Jacob, whom I have chosen, The offspring of Abraham my friend,
41.9 You, whom I took from the ends of the earth, And you, whom I called from its most distant parts. I said to you, ‘You are my servant; I have chosen you; I have not rejected you.
41.10 Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be anxious, for I am your God. I will fortify you, yes, I will help you, I will really hold on to you with my right hand of righteousness.’
41.11 Look! All those getting enraged against you will be put to shame and humiliated. Those who fight with you will be brought to nothing and perish.
41.12 You will search for men who struggle with you, but you will not find them; The men at war with you will become as something nonexistent, as nothing at all.
41.13 For I, Jehovah your God, am grasping your right hand, The One saying to you, ‘Do not be afraid. I will help you.’
41.14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel, I will help you,” declares Jehovah, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel.
41.15 “Look! I have made you a threshing sledge, A new threshing instrument with double-edged teeth. You will tread down the mountains and crush them And make the hills like chaff.
41.16 You will winnow them, And the wind will carry them away; A windstorm will scatter them. You will be joyful in Jehovah, And you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.”
41.17 “The needy and the poor are seeking water, but there is none. Their tongue is dry from thirst. I, Jehovah, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41.18 I will make rivers flow on the bare hills And springs in the valley plains. I will turn the wilderness into a reedy pool of water And the waterless land into springs of water.
41.19 In the desert I will plant the cedar tree, The acacia and the myrtle and the pine tree. In the desert plain I will plant the juniper tree, Together with the ash and the cypress tree,
41.20 So that all people may see and know And pay attention and understand That the hand of Jehovah has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
41.21 “Present your case,” says Jehovah. “Produce your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
41.22 “Produce evidence and tell us the things that will happen. Do tell us about the former things, So that we may reflect on them and know their outcome. Or declare to us the things that are coming.
41.23 Tell us what will happen in the future, So that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something, good or bad, So that we may be amazed when we see it.
41.24 Look! You are something nonexistent, And your achievement is nothing. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
41.25 I have raised up someone from the north, and he will come, One from the rising of the sun who will call on my name. He will trample rulers as if they were clay, Like a potter who treads moist clay.
41.26 Who told about this from the beginning, so that we could know, Or from times past, so that we could say, ‘He is right’? Indeed, no one announced it! No one declared it! No one heard anything from you!”
41.27 I was the first to say to Zion: “Look! Here they are!” And to Jerusalem I will send a bearer of good news.
41.28 But I kept looking, and there was no one; There was not one among them to give advice. And I kept asking them to reply.
41.29 Look! All of them are a delusion. Their works are nothing. Their metal images are wind and unreality.
Chapter 42

42.1 Look! My servant, whom I support! My chosen one, whom I have approved! I have put my spirit in him; He will bring justice to the nations.
42.2 He will not cry out or raise his voice, And he will not make his voice heard in the street.
42.3 No crushed reed will he break, And no smoldering wick will he extinguish. In faithfulness he will bring justice.
42.4 He will not grow dim or be crushed until he establishes justice in the earth; And the islands keep waiting for his law.
42.5 This is what the true God, Jehovah, says, The Creator of the heavens and the Grand One who stretched them out, The One who spread out the earth and its produce, The One who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk on it:
42.6 “I, Jehovah, have called you in righteousness; I have taken hold of your hand. I will safeguard you and give you as a covenant for the people And as a light of the nations,
42.7 For you to open the blind eyes, To bring the prisoner out of the dungeon And those sitting in darkness out of the prison.
42.8 I am Jehovah. That is my name; I give my glory to no one else, Nor my praise to graven images.
42.9 See, the first things have come to pass; Now I am declaring new things. Before they spring up, I tell you about them.”
42.10 Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea and all that fills it, You islands and their inhabitants.
42.11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voice, The settlements where Kedar dwells. Let the inhabitants of the crag shout joyfully; Let them cry out from the top of the mountains.
42.12 Let them attribute glory to Jehovah And declare his praise in the islands.
42.13 Jehovah will go out like a mighty man. He will awaken his zeal like a warrior. He will shout, yes, he will let out a war cry; He will show himself mightier than his enemies.
42.14 “I have kept quiet for a long time. I remained silent and restrained myself. Like a woman giving birth, I will groan, pant, and gasp all at once.
42.15 I will devastate mountains and hills And dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands And dry up reedy pools of water.
42.16 I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know And cause them to tread on unfamiliar paths. I will turn the darkness before them into light And turn the rugged terrain into level land. This is what I will do for them, and I will not abandon them.”
42.17 They will be turned back and will be utterly put to shame, Those who trust in carved images, Those who say to metal statues: “You are our gods.”
42.18 Listen, you who are deaf; Look and see, you who are blind.
42.19 Who is blind except my servant, So deaf as the messenger I send? Who is so blind as the one rewarded, So blind as the servant of Jehovah?
42.20 You see many things, but you do not keep watch. You open your ears, but you do not listen.
42.21 For the sake of his righteousness, Jehovah has taken pleasure in magnifying the law and making it glorious.
42.22 But this is a people plundered and pillaged; All of them are trapped in the holes and hidden in the prisons. They have been plundered with no one to rescue them, And pillaged with no one to say: “Bring them back!”
42.23 Who among you will hear this? Who will pay attention and listen for the time to come?
42.24 Who has given Jacob for pillage And Israel to the plunderers? Is it not Jehovah, the One against whom we sinned? In His ways they refused to walk, And His law they would not obey.
42.25 So He kept pouring out on him wrath, His anger and the fury of war. It consumed everything around him, but he paid no attention. It blazed up against him, but he would not take it to heart.
Chapter 43

43.1 Now this is what Jehovah says, Your Creator, O Jacob, the One who formed you, O Israel: “Do not be afraid, for I have repurchased you. I have called you by your name. You belong to me.
43.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, And through the rivers, they will not flood over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame singe you.
43.3 For I am Jehovah your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
43.4 For you became precious in my eyes, You were honored, and I have loved you. So I will give people in place of you And nations in exchange for your life.
43.5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east And gather you together from the west.
43.6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth,
43.7 Everyone who is called by my name And whom I created for my own glory, Whom I have formed and made.’
43.8 Bring out a people who are blind, though they have eyes, And who are deaf, though they have ears.
43.9 Let all the nations assemble in one place, And let the peoples be gathered together. Who among them can tell this? Or can they cause us to hear the first things? Let them present their witnesses to prove themselves right, Or let them hear and say, ‘It is the truth!’”
43.10 “You are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “Yes, my servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and have faith in me And understand that I am the same One. Before me no God was formed, And after me there has been none.
43.11 I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.”
43.12 “I am the One who declared and saved and made known When there was no foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “and I am God.
43.13 Also, I am always the same One; And no one can snatch anything out of my hand. When I act, who can prevent it?”
43.14 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sakes I will send to Babylon and bring down all the bars of the gates, And the Chaldeans, in their ships, will cry out in distress.
43.15 I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
43.16 This is what Jehovah says, The One making a way through the sea And a path even through turbulent waters,
43.17 The One who draws out the war chariot and the horse, The army together with the mighty warriors: “They will lie down and not get up. They will be extinguished, snuffed out like a burning wick.”
43.18 “Do not remember the former things, And do not dwell on the past.
43.19 Look! I am doing something new; Even now it is springing up. Do you not recognize it? I will make a way through the wilderness And rivers through the desert.
43.20 The wild beast of the field will honor me, The jackals and the ostriches, For I provide water in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert, For my people, my chosen one, to drink,
43.21 The people whom I formed for myself So that they might declare my praise.
43.22 But you have not called on me, O Jacob, Because you grew weary of me, O Israel.
43.23 You have not brought me sheep for your whole burnt offerings Or glorified me with your sacrifices. I have not compelled you to bring me a gift, Nor have I made you weary by demanding frankincense.
43.24 You did not buy me sweet cane with your money, And with the fat of your sacrifices you did not satisfy me. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins And made me weary with your errors.
43.25 I, I am the One who is blotting out your transgressions for my own sake, And I will not remember your sins.
43.26 Remind me; let us bring our case against each other; Tell your side of it to prove you are in the right.
43.27 Your first forefather sinned, And your own spokesmen have rebelled against me.
43.28 So I will profane the princes of the holy place, And I will give Jacob over to destruction And subject Israel to insulting words.