Isaiah 41:23 (KJV)

Passage

Shew 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.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

Isaiah 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew 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.

Isaiah 41:23 Shew 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.

Isaiah 41:24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

Isaiah 41:25 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 treadeth clay.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shew", "things", "come", "hereafter", "gods", "good", "evil", and "dismayed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shew" and "things", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "Let them bring them forth and shew..." into verse 24's "Behold ye are of nothing and your...", so "shew" and "things" 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 "shew" and "things" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.