Isaiah 41:12 (DRB)

Passage

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee.

Isaiah 41:11 Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee.

Isaiah 41:12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee.

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.

Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "shalt", "seek", "find", "resist", "thee", and "shall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "shalt", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Behold all that fight against thee shall..." into verse 13's "For I am the Lord thy God...", so "thou" and "shalt" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "shalt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.