Yesaya 41:1

The Lord Challenges the Nations

41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! ¹ 

Let the nations find renewed strength!

Let them approach and then speak;

let us come together for debate! ² 

Yesaya 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ³ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ⁴ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ⁵ 

[41:1]  ¹ tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV, CEV); TEV “distant lands”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”

[41:1]  ² tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) could be translated “judgment,” but here it seems to refer to the dispute or debate between the Lord and the nations.

[49:1]  ³ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.

[49:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”