Isaiah 43–44

But now thus saith the Lord ^athat created thee, O Jacob,

^bAnd he ^athat formed thee, O Israel,

^fpFear not: ^cfor I have redeemed thee,

^dI have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

^2eWhen thou passest through the waters, ^fI will be with thee;

And ^gthrough the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:

^ehWhen thou ⁱwalkest through the fire, ^hthou shalt not be ⁱburnt;

Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

³For I am the Lord thy God,

The Holy One of Israel, ^jthy Saviour:

^kI gave ^lEgypt ^mfor thy ransom,

^lEthiopia and ⁿSeba for thee.

⁴Since ^othou wast precious in my sight,

Thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:

^mTherefore will I give men for thee,

And people for thy life.

^5pFear not: for I am with thee:

I will bring thy seed ^qfrom the east,

And ^qgather thee from the west;

⁶I will say to ^qthe north, Give up;

And to the south, Keep not back:

Bring ^rmy sons from far,

And ^rmy daughters from the ends of the earth;

⁷Even every one ^sthat is called by my name:

For ^asI have created him for my glory,

^aI have formed him; yea, ^uI have made him.

^8vBring forth the blind people that have eyes,

And the deaf that have ears.

⁹Let all the nations be gathered together,

And let the people be assembled:

^wWho among them can declare this,

And shew us former things?

Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified:

Or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

^10xYe are my witnesses, saith the Lord,

And ^ymy servant whom I have chosen:

That ye may know and believe me,

And understand that I am he:

^zBefore me there was no God formed,

Neither shall there be after me.

^11aI, even I, am the Lord;

^aAnd ^bbeside me there is no saviour.

¹²I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed,

When there was no ^cstrange god among you:

Therefore ^dye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that ^eI am God.

¹³Yea, ^efbefore the day was I am he;

And there is none that can deliver out of my hand:

I will work, and who shall ^glet it?

¹⁴Thus saith the Lord, ^hyour redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;

For your sake I have sent to Babylon,

And have brought down all their ⁱnobles,

And the ^kChaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶Thus saith the Lord, ^lwhich maketh a way in the sea,

And a path in the mighty waters;

^17mWhich bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power;

They shall lie down together, they shall not rise:

They are extinct, ⁿthey are quenched as tow.

^18oRemember ye not the former things,

Neither consider the things of old.

¹⁹Behold, I will do ^pa new thing;

Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

^qI will even make a way in the wilderness,

And ^rrivers in ^sthe desert.

²⁰The beast of the field shall honour me,

^tThe dragons and the owls:

Because ^rI give waters in the wilderness,

And rivers in ^sthe desert,

^rTo give drink to my people, my chosen.

^21uThis people have I formed for myself;

^vThey shall shew forth ^wmy praise.

²²But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob;

But ^xthou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

^23yThou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings;

Neither hast thou ^zhonoured me with thy sacrifices.

I have not caused thee to serve with an offering,

Nor ^awearied thee with ^bincense.

²⁴Thou hast bought me no ^bsweet cane with money,

Neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices:

But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins,

Thou hast ^acwearied me with thine iniquities.

²⁵I, even I, am he that ^dblotteth out thy transgressions ^efor mine own sake,

^fAnd will not remember thy sins.

²⁶Put me in remembrance: let us plead together:

Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

²⁷Thy first father hath sinned,

And thy teachers have transgressed against me.

²⁸Therefore ^gI have profaned the princes of the sanctuary,

And have given Jacob ^hito the curse,

And Israel to ^hkreproaches.

XLIV.Yet now hear, ^aO Jacob my servant;

And ^aIsrael, whom I have chosen:

²Thus saith the Lord ^bthat made thee,

And ^cformed thee from the womb, which will help thee;

^cFear not, ^aO Jacob, my servant;

And thou, ^dJeshurun, ^awhom I have chosen.

³For ^eI will pour water upon him that is thirsty,

And floods upon the dry ground:

^fI will pour my spirit upon thy seed,

And my blessing upon thine ^goffspring:

⁴And ^ethey shall spring up as among the grass,

As ^hwillows by ⁱthe water courses.

⁵One shall say, I am the Lord’s;

And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob;

And another shall ^ksubscribe with his hand unto the Lord,

And ^lsurname himself by the name of Israel.

⁶Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel,

And ^mhis redeemer the Lord of hosts;

I ⁿam the first, and I am the last;

And ^obesides me there is no God.

⁷And ^pwho, as I, shall call,

And shall declare it, and set it in order for me,

Since I ^qappointed the ancient people?

And ^rthe things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

⁸Fear ye not, neither be afraid:

^sHave not I told thee ^tfrom that time,

And have declared it? ^uye are even my witnesses.

^ovwIs there a God besides me?

Yea, ^wthere is no God; I know not any.

^9xThey that make a graven image are all of them vanity;

And their delectable things shall not profit;

And ^ythey are their own witnesses;

^zThey see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

¹⁰Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image

^aThat is profitable for nothing?

¹¹Behold, all his fellows ^bshall be ashamed:

And the workmen, they are of men:

Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up;

Yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.

^12cThe smith with the tongs both worketh in ^dthe coals,

And fashioneth it ^ewith hammers,

And worketh it with the strength of his arms:

Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth:

He drinketh no water, and is faint.

¹³The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line;

He fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass,

And maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man;

That it may remain in the house.

¹⁴He heweth him down cedars, and taketh ^fthe cypress and the oak,

Which ^ghe strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest:

He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.

^15hThen shall it be for a man ⁱto burn:

For he will take thereof, and warm himself;

Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread;

Yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it;

He maketh it a graven image, and ^jfalleth down thereto.

¹⁶He burneth part thereof in the fire;

With part thereof he eateth flesh;

He roasteth roast, and is satisfied:

Yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha,

I am warm, I have seen ^kthe fire:

¹⁷And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image:

He ⁱfalleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and ^lprayeth unto it,

And saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

^18mThey have not known nor understood:

For he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see;

And their hearts, that they cannot understand.

¹⁹And none considereth in his heart,

Neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say,

I have burnt part of it in the fire;

Yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof;

I have roasted flesh, and eaten it:

And shall I make the residue thereof an abomination?

Shall I ⁱfall down to the stock of a tree?

²⁰He ⁿfeedeth on ashes:

^oA deceived heart hath turned him aside,

That he cannot deliver his soul, nor say,

Is there not ^pa lie in my right hand?

²¹Remember these, O Jacob

And Israel; for ^qthou art my servant:

I ^qhave formed thee; thou art my servant:

O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

²²I ^rhave blotted out, ^sas a thick cloud, thy transgressions,

And, as a cloud, thy sins:

Return unto me; for ^tI have redeemed thee.

^23uSing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it:

Shout, ^vye lower parts of the earth:

^uwBreak forth into singing, ye mountains,

^xO forest, and every tree therein:

For ^tthe Lord hath redeemed Jacob,

And ^yglorified himself in Israel.

²⁴Thus saith the Lord, ^zthy redeemer,

And ^ahe that formed thee from the womb,

I am the Lord that maketh all things;

^bcThat stretcheth forth the heavens alone;

^cdThat spreadeth abroad the earth ^cby myself;

²⁵That frustrateth the tokens of ^fthe liars,

^gAnd ^hmaketh ⁱdiviners mad;

That turneth wise men backward,

And ^kmaketh their knowledge foolish;

²⁶That confirmeth the word of ^lhis servant,

And performeth the counsel of his messengers;

That saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited;

And ^mto the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built,

And I will raise up the decayed places thereof:

²⁷ⁿThat saith to the deep, Be dry,

And I will dry up thy rivers:

²⁸That saith of ^oCyrus, He is my shepherd,

And shall perform ^pall my pleasure:

Even saying ^qto Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built;

And to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

XLV.