Isaiah 43–44

The Restorer of Israel

43But now thus says Yahweh,

he who created you, Jacob,

and he who formed you, Israel:

“You must not fear, for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by your name; you are mine.^a

²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,

and through the rivers, they shall not flow over you.

When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not scorch^b you.

³For I am Yahweh, your God,

the holy one of Israel, your savior.

I give you Egypt as ransom,

Cush and Seba in place of you.

⁴Because you are precious in my eyes,

you are honored, and I myself love you,

and I give people in place of you,

and nations in place of your life.

⁵You must not fear,

for I am with you.

I will bring your offspring^c from the east,

and I will gather you from the west.

⁶I will say to the north, ‘Give!’

and to the south, ‘You must not withhold!’

Bring my sons from far away,

and my daughters from the end of the earth—

⁷everyone who is called by my name,

and whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed,

indeed whom I made.”

⁸Bring out the people blind yet^d with eyes,

and deaf, though^e they have ears.

⁹Let all the nations gather together,

and let the peoples assemble.

Who among them has declared this,

and declared^f the former things to us?

Let them bring^g their witnesses, that^h they may be in the right,

and let them hear and say, “It is true!”

¹⁰“You are my witnesses,” declaresⁱ Yahweh,

“and my servant whom I have chosen

so that you may know and believe in^j me

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me^k,

and none shall be after me.

¹¹I myself am Yahweh,

and there is no savior besides me!

¹²I myself declared and saved,

and I proclaimed.^l And there was no strange god^m among you.

And you are my witnesses,” declaresⁿ Yahweh,

“and I am God.

¹³Indeed, from this day I am the one,

and no one can deliver from my hand.

I perform,^o and who can cancel it?”^p

Yahweh Rescues His People

¹⁴Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer,

the holy one of Israel:

“For your sake I will send to Babylon,

and I will cause all of them to fall down as fugitives,

and the Chaldeans,^q their rejoicing on the ships.

¹⁵I am Yahweh, your holy one,

the creator of Israel, your king.”

¹⁶Thus says Yahweh, who makes^r a way in the sea

and a path in the mighty waters,

¹⁷who brings out chariot and horse,

army and mighty one.

Together they lie down;

they cannot rise.

They are extinguished,

quenched like a wick.

¹⁸“You must not remember the former things,

and you must not consider the former things.

¹⁹Look! I am about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts!

Do you not perceive^s it?

Indeed, I will make^t a way in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert.

²⁰The animals of the field will honor me,

jackals and daughters of the ostrich,

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give a drink to my chosen people,

²¹this people whom I formed for myself,

so they might make known^u my praise.

²²But^v you did not call me, Jacob;

for you have become weary of me, Israel.

²³You have not brought me your sheep for a burnt offering

nor^w honored me with your sacrifice.

I have not made you serve with offerings,^x

nor have I made you weary with frankincense.

²⁴You have not bought me spice reed with money

or^y satisfied me with the fat of sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

you have made me weary with your iniquities.

²⁵I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake,

and I will not remember your sins.

²⁶Take me to court; let us enter into judgment together.

You, make an account^z so that you may be in the right.

²⁷Your first ancestor^a sinned,

and your representatives^b transgressed against me.

²⁸And I profaned the princes of the sanctuary,

and I gave Jacob to destruction, and Israel to reviling.

Yahweh Blesses Chosen Israel

44“But now hear, Jacob my servant,

and Israel, whom I have chosen.

²Thus says Yahweh, who made you,

and who formed you in^a the womb and will help you:

you must not fear, my servant Jacob,

and Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

³For I will pour out water on a thirsty land

and streams on dry ground.

I will pour my spirit out on your descendants^b

and my blessing on your offspring.

⁴And they shall sprout among^c the grass

like willows by a watercourse of water.

⁵This one will say, ‘I belong to Yahweh!’

And that one will be called by the name of Jacob,

and another will write on his hand ‘Yahweh’s’

and take the name^d of Israel.”

Yahweh the Only God

⁶Thus says Yahweh, the king of Israel,

and its redeemer, Yahweh of hosts:

“I am the first, and I am the last,

and there is no god besides me.

⁷And who is like me? Let him proclaim^e it!

And let him declare it and set it in order for me

since I established an eternal people^f and things that are to come,

and let them tell them the things that are coming.

⁸You must not tremble,^g

and you must not be paralyzed with fear.

Have I not made you hear from of old^h

and declared it, and you are my witnesses?

Is there a god besides me?

And there is no rock! I know none!”

Idolatry Is Ridiculous

⁹All those who form an idol are nothing,

and their delightful things do not profit.

And their witnesses do not see or know,

so they will be ashamed.

¹⁰Who would form a god

and cast an image of which he cannot profit?

¹¹Look! all his companions shall be ashamed,

and the artisans are human!

Let all of them assemble;

let them stand up.

They shall tremble;ⁱ

they shall be ashamed together.

¹²The ironsmith^j works in the coals with his tool

and forms it with hammers.

And he makes it with his strong arm;^k

indeed, he becomes hungry, and he lacks^l strength;

he does not drink water, and he is faint.

¹³The woodworker^m stretches out a line;

he makes an outline of it with a marker.

He makes it with a knife

and makes an outline of it with a compass.

He makes it like the image of a man,

like the beauty of a human, to dwell in a temple.ⁿ

¹⁴Cutting down cedars for himself,

he chooses^o a holm tree and an oak,

and he lets it grow strong for him among the trees of the forest.

He plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵And it becomes fuel for a human,^p

and he takes some of it and grows warm;

also, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.

Also, he makes a god and bows in worship;

he makes himself an image and bows down to it!

¹⁶He burns half of it in the fire;

he eats meat over half of it;

he roasts a roast and is satisfied.

Also he grows warm and says, “Ah!

I am warm! I see the fire!”

¹⁷And he makes the remainder of it into a god!

He bows down to his idol,

and he bows in worship and prays to him,

and he says, “Save me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸They do not know,

and they do not understand,

for their eyes are besmeared so that they cannot see,^q

their minds^r so that they have no insight.^s

¹⁹And no one takes it to heart,^t and there is no knowledge

and no understanding to say, “I burned half of it in the fire

and also I baked bread on its coals;

I roasted meat, and I have eaten.

And I shall make the rest of it into an abomination!

I shall bow down to a block of wood!”

²⁰He feeds on ashes; a deceived mind^u misleads him.

And he cannot save himself,^v and he cannot say,

“Is this not an illusion in my right hand?”

Yahweh Remembers Israel

²¹“Remember these things, Jacob,

and Israel, for you are my servant:

I formed you; you are my servant;

Israel, you will not be forgotten by me!

²²I have wiped your transgressions out like a cloud

and your sins like mist.

Return to me,

for I have redeemed you!”

²³Sing for joy, heavens, for Yahweh has done it!

Shout, depths of the earth!

Break forth, mountains, in rejoicing,

forest and every tree in it,

for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob,

and he will show his glory in Israel!

Jerusalem Restored through Cyrus

²⁴Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer,

and he who formed you in^w the womb:

“I am Yahweh, who made everything,

who stretched out the heavens alone,

who spread out the earth—who was with me?—

²⁵who frustrates^x the signs of oracle priests

and makes a fool of diviners,

who drives the wise men back

and makes their knowledge foolish,

²⁶who keeps^y the word of his servant

and carries out the plan of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’

and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,

and I will restore its ruins’;

²⁷who says to the deep, ‘Dry up!

And I will cause your rivers to dry up’;

²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd,’

and he shall carry out all my wishes^z;

and saying of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt,’

and the temple, ‘It shall be founded.’ ”