1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
We don’t have to be afraid of God's judgement when we are His servants. We can come willingly to His throne.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
Who gave power to the Assyrians to conquer? And who will give the Babylonians their victories? This isn’t by their own doing.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
“He follows in pursuit and marches safely on,
so fast that he hardly touches the ground!” –Good News Translation
4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.
This is all God's doing.
5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
The isles were the many islands in the Mediterranean Sea, mostly subjects of Phoenicia at this time, though they will eventually be under Greece and then Rome.
6 They helped everyone his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, “Be of good courage.”
The people do try to work together in preparation for this enemy coming.
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, “It is ready for the sodering:” and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
But Israel is different.
9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, “Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.”
God has a special deal with them.
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
God protects and provides for His own.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
Your enemies are cursed.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
All who have conquered Israel/Judah (in God's eyes they are the same thing) have disappeared from the earth.
13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, “Fear not; I will help thee.”
God is their strength and the strength of all who serve Him.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Though Israel is a tiny country with little carnal power, they are God's “bride” and He will protect them.
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
Threshing involves beating the grain until the chaff (shell) falls off.
Jacob’s descendants are going to beat the mountains flat (or the equivalent to their enemies).
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
After you beat the chaff loose from the grain, you toss it up in the air and let the wind blow away all the trash (chaff, stalks, etc.). This is called “winnowing.”
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
When God guides, God provides, no matter what it looks like.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
All blessings come from God.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
There is not enough water in the wilderness and deserts to support trees. Here in the American west, we call something a “tree” if it gets six foot tall.
God is going to provide trees and enough water for them where there shouldn’t be any.
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
This provision will be so miraculous that there will be no doubt that God brought it.
21 Produce your cause, says the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
Time for court. Bring your arguments.
22 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
Let’s look at history and see which god is real.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
What’s more, only the true God will be able to predict the future accurately.
24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooses you.
Stupid people choose to worship false gods.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treads clay.
God is fixing to bring Nebuchadnezzar from the north-east to conquer the region. Ole’ Nebby will eventually accept the true God as his own.
26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And beforetime, that we may say, “He is righteous?” Yea, there is none that shows, yea, there is none that declares, yea, there is none that hears your words.
Which God has predicted this? No one even bothers listening to the false one’s predictions.
27 The first shall say to Zion, “Behold, behold them:” and I will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings.
28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counselor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
False gods are nothing more solid than wind.