Isaiah 41:16 (YLT)

Passage

Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou--thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 41:15 Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest.

Isaiah 41:16 Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou--thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself.

Isaiah 41:17 The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel--I forsake them not.

Isaiah 41:18 I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "winnowest", "wind", "lifteth", "whirlwind", "scattereth", "thou--thou", and "rejoicest". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "winnowest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Lo I have set thee for a..." into verse 17's "The poor and the needy are seeking...", so "thou" and "winnowest" 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 "winnowest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.