Isaiah 41:24
22 “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.
23 Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.
Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come— one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
26 Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
- KJV
- Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
- WEB
- Behold, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.
- ASV
- Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.
- DARBY
- Behold, ye are less than nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.
- BLB
- Behold, you⁺ [are] nothing, and your⁺ work [is] worthless—an abomination [is] he who chooses you⁺!
- ÅB
- Se, dere er intet, og deres gjerning ingenting; en styggedom er den som velger dere.
- OTB
- Men dere er mindre enn intet, og deres verk er fullstendig verdiløse; den som velger dere er en vederstyggelighet.
- B1930
- Se, I er intet, og eders gjerning ingenting; en vederstyggelighet er den som velger eder.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
1 Corinthians 8:4
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
Read in contextPsalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Read in contextIsaiah 41:29
See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
Read in contextJeremiah 10:14
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Read in contextJeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
Read in contextDeuteronomy 7:26
And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.
Read in contextIsaiah 66:24
“As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
Read in contextJeremiah 51:17–18
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Read in context