Isaiah 44–45

44Yet 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, ^dJesurun, ^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 ^obeside 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 beside 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 burned 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.

45Thus saith the Lord to ^ahis anointed, to Cyrus,

Whose ^bright hand I ^||have holden,

^cTo subdue nations before him;

And ^dI will loose the loins of kings,

To open before him the two leaved gates;

And the gates shall not be shut;

²I will go before thee,

And ^emake the crooked places straight:

^fI will break in pieces the gates of brass,

^fAnd cut in sunder the bars of iron:

³And I will give thee ^gthe treasures of darkness,

And ^hhidden riches of secret places,

That thou mayest know that I, the Lord, ⁱwhich call thee ^kby thy name, am ^lthe God of Israel.

⁴For ^mJacob my servant’s sake, and ^mIsrael mine elect,

I have even ⁱcalled thee ^kby thy name:

I have ⁿsurnamed thee, though thou hast ^onot known me.

^5pI am the Lord, and ^pthere is none else,

There is no God beside me:

^qI girded thee, ^othough thou hast not known me:

^6rThat they may know ^sfrom the rising of the sun, and from the west,

That ^pthere is none beside me.

^pI am the Lord, and there is none else.

⁷I form the light, and ^tcreate darkness:

I make peace, and ^ucreate evil:

I the Lord do all these things.

^8vDrop down, ye heavens, from above,

And ^vlet the skies pour down ^wrighteousness:

Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation,

And let ^wrighteousness spring up together;

I the Lord have created it.

^9xWoe unto him that ^ystriveth with ^zhis Maker!

Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.

^zShall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?

Or thy work, He hath no hands?

¹⁰Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou?

Or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

¹¹Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker,

Ask me of ^athings to come concerning ^bmy sons,

And concerning ^cthe work of my hands command ye me.

^12dI have made the earth,

And ^ecreated man upon it:

I, even my hands, ^fhave stretched out the heavens,

And ^gall their host have I commanded.

^13hI have raised him up in righteousness,

And I will ^||direct all his ways:

ⁱHe shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives,

^kNot for price nor reward,

Saith the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴Thus saith the Lord,

^lThe labour of Egypt, and merchandise of ^mEthiopia

And of the ⁿSabeans, ^omen of stature,

Shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine:

They shall come after thee; ^pin chains they shall come over,

And ^qthey shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying,

^rSurely God is in thee;

And ^sthere is none else, there is no God.

¹⁵Verily thou art a God ^tthat hidest thyself,

O God of Israel, the Saviour.

^16uThey shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them:

They shall go to confusion together that are makers of ^vidols.

¹⁷But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation:

^vvYe shall not be ashamed nor confounded ^wworld without end.

^18xFor thus saith the Lord that created the heavens;

God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it,

He created it not ^yin vain, he formed it to be inhabited:

I ^sam the Lord; and there is none else.

^19zI have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth:

I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me ^yin vain:

^aI the Lord speak righteousness, I declare ^bthings that are right.

²⁰Assemble yourselves and come;

Draw near together, ^cye that are escaped of the nations:

^dThey have no knowledge ^ethat set up the wood of their graven image,

And ^fpray unto a god that cannot save.

^21gTell ye, and bring them near;

Yea, let them take counsel together:

^gWho hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it ^hfrom that time?

Have not I the Lord? and ⁱthere is no God else beside me;

A just God and ^ka Saviour; ^kthere is none beside me.

²²Look unto me, and ^lbe ye saved, ^lall the ends of the earth:

For ⁱI am God, and there is none else.

^23mnI have sworn by myself,

The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return,

^mThat unto me ^oevery knee shall bow,

^pEvery tongue shall swear.

^24||Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I ^q†righteousness and strength:

Even to him shall men come;

And ^rall that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

^25qIn the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and ^sshall glory.