You will look in vain for those who tried to conquer you. Those who attack you will come to nothing.
Parallel translations
- WEB You will seek them, and won’t find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing.
- KJV 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.
- BSB You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
- NKJV You shall seek them and not find them— Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing.
- NASB “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel's enemies will vanish so completely that they cannot even be found.
Overview
Continuing verse 11, God declares that those who contend and war against Israel will become as nothing, beyond searching out. Their threat will utterly dissolve. The promise magnifies God's protecting power on behalf of His chosen servant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Ps 37:35–36I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
- Job 20:7–9yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him shall say, ‘Where is he?’
- Isa 17:14At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 41:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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