Isaiah 41:12 (GNV)

Passage

Thou shalt seeke them and shalt not finde them: to wit, the men of thy strife, for they shall be as nothing, and the men that warre against thee, as a thing of nought.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:10 Feare thou not, for I am with thee: be not afraide, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, and helpe thee, and will susteine thee with the right hand of my iustice.

Isaiah 41:11 Beholde, all they that prouoke thee, shalbe ashamed, and confounded: they shalbe as nothing, and they that striue with thee, shall perish.

Isaiah 41:12 Thou shalt seeke them and shalt not finde them: to wit, the men of thy strife, for they shall be as nothing, and the men that warre against thee, as a thing of nought.

Isaiah 41:13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying vnto thee, Feare not, I wil helpe thee.

Isaiah 41:14 Feare not, thou worme, Iaakob, and ye men of Israel: I wil helpe thee, sayth the Lord and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "shalt", "seeke", "finde", "strife", "shall", and "nothing". 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 "Beholde all they that prouoke thee shalbe..." into verse 13's "For I the Lord thy God will...", 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.