Isaiah 44–45

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.’ ”

45Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped

to subjugate nations before him,

and I uncover^a the loins of kings

to open doors before him,

and the gates shall not be shut:

²“I myself will go before you,

and I will level the mountains.^b

I will break the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron.

³And I will give you the treasures of darkness

and treasures of secret places

so that you may know that I am Yahweh,

the one who calls you by your name, the God of Israel,

⁴for the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen one.

And I call you by your name;

I give you a name of honor, though^c you do not know me.

⁵I am Yahweh, and there is none besides me;

besides me there is no god.

I gird you though^d 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 Yahweh and there is none besides me.

⁷I form light and I create darkness;

I make peace and I create evil;

I am Yahweh; I do all these things.

⁸Trickle, O heavens, from above,

and let clouds trickle with righteousness;

let the earth open so that^e salvation may be fruitful,

and let it cause righteousness to sprout along with it.^f

I myself, Yahweh, have created it.

⁹Woe to the one who strives with his maker,^g

a potsherd among^h potsherds of earth!

Does the clay say to the one who fashions it,

‘What are you making?’

and ‘Your work has no hands’?

¹⁰Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What you are begetting?’

orⁱ to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’ ”

¹¹Thus says Yahweh, the holy one of Israel,

and its maker:^j

“Ask me of the things to come about^k my children,

and you command me about the work of my hands.

¹²I myself made the earth,

and I created humankind upon it.

I, my hands, stretched out the heavens,

and I commanded all their host.

¹³I myself have stirred him up in righteousness,

and I will make all his paths smooth.

He himself shall build my city,

and he shall set my exiles free,

not for price or a gift,” says Yahweh of hosts.

Yahweh the Only Savior

¹⁴Thus says Yahweh:

“The acquisition of Egypt

and the merchandise of Cush

and the Sabeans, tall men,

shall pass over to you;

they shall be yours,

and they shall walk behind you.

They shall pass over in chains,

and they shall bow down to you;

they will pray to you:

‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other.

Besides him there is no God.’ ”

¹⁵Surely you are a God who keeps yourself hidden,

God of Israel, the savior.

¹⁶All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated;

the craftsmen of idols go together in insult.

¹⁷Israel is saved by Yahweh with everlasting salvation;

you shall not be ashamed,

and you shall not be humiliated to all eternity.^l

¹⁸For thus says Yahweh, who created^m the heavens,

he is God, who formedⁿ the earth

and who made^o it.

He himself established it;

he did not create it as emptiness—

he formed it for inhabiting.

“I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.

¹⁹I have spoken not in secrecy, in a place, a land, of darkness,

I have not said to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain!’^p

I, Yahweh, am speaking righteousness,

declaring uprightness.

²⁰Assemble and come;

draw near together, survivors of the nations!

They do not know, those who carry their wooden idols^q

and pray to a god who cannot save.

²¹Declare and present your case,

also let them consult together!

Who made this known^r from former times,^s

declared it from of old?^t

Was it not I, Yahweh?

And there is no other god besides me,

a righteous God besides me,

and no savior besides me.

²²Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth,

for I am God and there is none besides me.

²³I have sworn by myself;

a word that^u shall not return has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness:

‘Every knee shall kneel down to me;

every tongue shall swear.’

²⁴‘Only in Yahweh,’ one shall say to me, ‘are righteousness and strength.’

He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed.

²⁵In Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be in the right,

and they shall boast.”