Isaiah 41:2-8

2Who stirs up this one from the east? Who officially commissions him for service? He hands nations over to him, and enables him to subdue kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, like windblown straw with his bow.

3He pursues them and passes by unharmed; he advances with great speed.

4Who acts and carries out decrees? Who summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one.

5The coastlands see and are afraid; the whole earth trembles; they approach and come.

6They help one another; one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’

7The craftsman encourages the metalsmith, the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil. He approves the quality of the welding, and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

8“You, my servant Israel, Jacob whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend,