Isaiah 41:9 (YLT)

Passage

Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou <FI>art<Fi> , I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:7 And strengthen doth an artisan the refiner, A smoother <FI>with<Fi> a hammer, Him who is beating <FI>on<Fi> an anvil, Saying, `For joining it <FI>is<Fi> good,' And he strengtheneth it with nails, it is not moved!

Isaiah 41:8 --And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover,

Isaiah 41:9 Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou <FI>art<Fi> , I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.

Isaiah 41:10 Be not afraid, for with thee I <FI>am<Fi> , Look not around, for I <FI>am<Fi> thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness.

Isaiah 41:11 Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "taken", "hold", "ends", "earth", "near", "places", and "thee". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "taken", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And thou O Israel My servant Jacob..." into verse 10's "Be not afraid for with thee I...", so "called" and "taken" 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 "called" and "taken" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.