Isaiah 43–44

Chapter 43

Israel Redeemed

¹But now, thus says the Lord, your ^aCreator, O Jacob,

And He who ^bformed you, O Israel,

“Do not ^cfear, for I have ^dredeemed you;

I have ^ecalled you by name; you are ^fMine!

²“When you ^apass through the waters, ^bI will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you ^cwalk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

³“For ^aI am the Lord your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your ^bSavior;

I have given Egypt as your ransom,

^1cCush and Seba in your place.

⁴“Since you are ^aprecious in My sight,

Since you are ^bhonored and I ^clove you,

I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

⁵“Do not fear, for ^aI am with you;

I will bring ^byour offspring from the east,

And ^cgather you from the west.

⁶“I will say to the ^anorth, ‘Give them up!’

And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring My ^bsons from afar

And My daughters from the ^cends of the earth,

⁷Everyone who is ^acalled by My name,

And whom I have ^bcreated for My ^cglory,

^dWhom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is God’s Witness

⁸Bring out the people who are ^ablind, even though they have eyes,

And the deaf, even though they have ears.

⁹All the nations have ^agathered together

So that the peoples may be assembled.

Who among them can ^bdeclare this

And proclaim to us the former things?

Let them present ^ctheir witnesses ^dthat they may be justified,

Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

¹⁰“You are ^aMy witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And ^bMy servant whom I have chosen,

So that you may know and believe Me

And understand that ^cI am He.

^dBefore Me there was no God formed,

And there will be none after Me.

¹¹“I, even I, am the Lord,

And there is no ^asavior ^bbesides Me.

¹²“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,

And there was no ^astrange god among you;

So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And I am God.

¹³“Even ^1afrom eternity ^bI am He,

And there is ^cnone who can deliver out of My hand;

^dI act and who can reverse it?”

Babylon to Be Destroyed

¹⁴Thus says the Lord your ^aRedeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“For your sake I have sent to Babylon,

And will bring them all down as fugitives,

¹Even the ^bChaldeans, into the ^cships ²in which they rejoice.

¹⁵“I am the Lord, your Holy One,

^aThe Creator of Israel, your ^bKing.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord,

Who ^amakes a way through the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷Who brings forth the ^achariot and the horse,

The army and the mighty man

(They will lie down together and not rise again;

They have been ^bquenched and extinguished like a wick):

¹⁸“^aDo not call to mind the former things,

Or ponder things of the past.

¹⁹“Behold, I will do something ^anew,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even ^bmake a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

²⁰“The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The ^ajackals and the ostriches,

Because I have ^bgiven waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

²¹“The people whom ^aI formed for Myself

^bWill declare My praise.

The Shortcomings of Israel

²²“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;

But you have become ^aweary of Me, O Israel.

²³“You have ^anot brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,

Nor have you ^bhonored Me with your sacrifices.

I have not ^cburdened you with ¹offerings,

Nor wearied you with ^dincense.

²⁴“You have bought Me not ^1asweet cane with money,

Nor have you ²filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,

You have ^bwearied Me with your iniquities.

²⁵“I, even I, am the one who ^awipes out your transgressions ^bfor My own sake,

And I will ^cnot remember your sins.

²⁶“¹Put Me in remembrance, ^alet us argue our case together;

State your cause, ^bthat you may be proved right.

²⁷“Your ^afirst ¹forefather sinned,

And your ^2bspokesmen have ³transgressed against Me.

²⁸“So I will ¹pollute the ²princes of the sanctuary,

And I will consign Jacob to the ^aban and Israel to ^brevilement.

Chapter 44

The Blessings of Israel

¹“But now listen, O Jacob, My ^aservant,

And Israel, whom I have chosen:

²Thus says the Lord who made you

And ^aformed you from the womb, who ^bwill help you,

‘^cDo not fear, O Jacob My servant;

And you ^dJeshurun whom I have chosen.

³‘For ^aI will pour out water on ¹the thirsty land

And streams on the dry ground;

I will ^bpour out My Spirit on your ^coffspring

And My blessing on your descendants;

⁴And they will spring up ¹among the grass

Like ^apoplars by streams of water.’

⁵“This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;

And that one ¹will call on the name of Jacob;

And another will ^awrite ²on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’

And will name Israel’s name with honor.

⁶“Thus says the Lord, the ^aKing of Israel and his ^bRedeemer, the Lord of hosts:

‘I am the ^cfirst and I am the last,

And there is no God ^dbesides Me.

⁷‘Who is like Me? ^aLet him proclaim and declare it;

Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,

¹From the time that I established the ancient ²nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming

And the events that are going to take place.

⁸‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;

^aHave I not long since announced it to you and declared it?

And ^byou are My witnesses.

Is there any God ^cbesides Me,

Or is there any other ^dRock?

I know of none.’ ”

The Folly of Idolatry

⁹Those who fashion ¹a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ^aput to shame.

¹⁰Who has fashioned a god or cast ¹an idol to ^ano profit?

¹¹Behold, all his companions will be ^aput to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.

¹²The ^aman shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ¹fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and ²his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.

^13aAnother shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ^bman, so that it may sit in a ^chouse.

¹⁴Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a ¹cypress or an oak and ²raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also ^amakes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and ^bfalls down before it.

¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.”

¹⁷But the rest of it he ^amakes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also ^bprays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸They do not ^aknow, nor do they understand, for He has ^bsmeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.

¹⁹No one ¹recalls, nor is there ^aknowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ²I make the rest of it into an ^babomination, ³I fall down before a block of wood!”

²⁰He ^1afeeds on ashes; a ^bdeceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver ²himself, nor say, “^cIs there not a lie in my right hand?”

God Forgives and Redeems

²¹“^aRemember these things, O Jacob,

And Israel, for you are ^bMy servant;

I have formed you, you are My servant,

O Israel, you will ^cnot be forgotten by Me.

²²“I have ^awiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud

And your sins like a ¹heavy mist.

^bReturn to Me, for I have ^credeemed you.”

^23aShout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!

Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;

^bBreak forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it;

For ^cthe Lord has redeemed Jacob

And in Israel He ^dshows forth His glory.

²⁴Thus says the Lord, your ^aRedeemer, and the one who ^bformed you from the womb,

“I, the Lord, am the maker of all things,

^cStretching out the heavens by Myself

And spreading out the earth ¹all alone,

^25aCausing the ¹omens of boasters to fail,

²Making fools out of diviners,

^bCausing wise men to draw back

And ³turning their knowledge into foolishness,

^26aConfirming the word of His servant

And ¹performing the purpose of His messengers.

It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’

And of the ^bcities of Judah, ‘^cThey shall be built.’

And I will raise up her ruins again.

²⁷“It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’

And I will make your rivers ^adry.

²⁸“It is I who says of ^aCyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!

And he will perform all My desire.’

And ¹he declares of Jerusalem, ‘^bShe will be built,’

And of the temple, ‘²Your foundation will be laid.’ ”