Isaiah 44

The Lord

44 ¹“And now hear, O Jacob, My servant,
and Israel, whom I have chosen.”

Isaiah

²Thus says the LORD, your Maker,
and your Fashioner from the womb; He will help you.

The Lord

“Do not fear, My servant Jacob
and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen,

³for I will pour water on the thirsty
and streams on dry ground.

I will pour My Spirit on your seed
and My blessing on your offspring.

⁴They will sprout among grass,
like willows beside flowing streams of water.

⁵One will say,

Unnamed individual

‘I am the LORD’s,’

The Lord

and another will be called by the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand,

Written on unnamed individual’s hand

‘The LORD’s,’

The Lord

and he will be called by the name ‘Israel.’”

Isaiah

⁶Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel
and its Redeemer, and the LORD of Hosts:

The Lord

“I am the First,
and I am the Last,

and beside Me there is no god.
⁷And who is like Me?

Let him proclaim,
and let him tell it,
and set it forth for Me;

who has made known the tokens from of old?
Let them tell that which is to come to them.

⁸Do not fear,
nor be afraid.

Have I not announced to you
and declared it from long ago? And you are My witnesses.

Is there a God besides Me?
There is no Rock! I know not any.”

The Lord

⁹All who fashion an idol are chaos,
and their desirable things will not profit,

and their witnesses do not see,
and they do not know

so that they will be put to shame.
¹⁰Whoever has fashioned a god or cast an idol has profited for nothing.

¹¹Behold, all that are associated with him will be put to shame,
and the craftsmen, they are but humans.

Let them all assemble;
let them stand up;

they will fear;
they will be put to shame together.

¹²The ironsmith with a tool works it over the coals.
He shapes it with hammers and makes it with the power of his arm.

Also, he becomes hungry, then there is no strength;
he drinks no water and is faint.

¹³The carpenter stretches a line;
he marks the outline with a stylus.

He makes it with planes,
and marks the outline with a compass.

He makes it into the figure of a man,
with the glory of a human, to dwell in a house {temple},

¹⁴cutting down cedars for it,
or taking a cypress, or an oak,

and he lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵Then it will be for a human to burn.
He takes part of it and warms himself;
also, he kindles a fire and bakes bread;

also, he makes a god and worships it;
he makes it an idol and bows down before it.

¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over it he roasts meat,
and he eats the meat and is satisfied;

also, he warms himself and says,

Idolater

“Aha, I am warm; I have seen the fire.”

The Lord

¹⁷And the remainder of it he makes into a god,
his idol,

and he falls down before it,
and he worships it,

and he prays to it,
and says,

Idolater

“Save me, for you are my god.”

The Lord

¹⁸They do not know,
nor do they understand;

their eyes are shut so that they cannot see,
their hearts so that they cannot understand.

¹⁹No one takes it to heart,

nor is there knowledge,
nor understanding to say,

Idolater

“Half of it I burned in the fire,

and I baked bread on its coals;
I roasted meat and have eaten.

And the rest of it I will make an abomination;
I will bow down to a block of wood.”

The Lord

²⁰He feeds to the ashes.

A heart that is deceived has led him astray, and he cannot save his soul,
and he cannot say,

Idolater

“Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

The Lord

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are My servant.

I have fashioned you; you are My servant.
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

²²I have wiped clean your transgressions like a thick cloud,
and your sins like a cloud.

Return to Me,
for I have redeemed you.

Isaiah

²³Sing gladly, O heavens, for the LORD has done it.
Shout, O depths of the earth.

Break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest and every tree in it,

for the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
and He will glorify Himself in Israel.

Isaiah

²⁴Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who fashioned you from the womb,

The Lord

“I am the LORD, who made all things,

who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth—who was with Me?

²⁵{I am He} who frustrates the tokens of liars
and makes fools of diviners,

who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,

²⁶who confirms the word of His servant
and fulfills the counsel of His messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, ‘It will be inhabited,’
and the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,’
and their ruins, ‘I will raise them,’

²⁷who says to the deep, ‘Dry up,
and I will dry up your rivers,’

²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd,’
and he will fulfill all My purpose,

saying of Jerusalem, ‘It will be rebuilt,’
and to the Temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

45 ¹Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,

to subdue nations before him,
and I will loose the loins of kings,

to open double doors before him,
and the gates will not be closed.

²“I will go before you and level the mountainous land;

I will smash the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron.

³I will give you hidden treasures
and the hoards in secret places

so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

⁴For the sake of My servant, Jacob,
and Israel, My chosen,

I called you by your name and gave you a title,
yet you do not know Me.

⁵I am the LORD, and there is no other;
there is no God besides Me.

I gird you,
yet you do not know Me,

⁶so that they may know from the rising of the sun
and from the west

that there is none besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.”