Isaiah 44–45

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.’ ”

Chapter 45

God Uses Cyrus

¹Thus says the Lord to ^aCyrus His anointed,

Whom I have taken by the right ^bhand,

To ^csubdue nations before him

And ¹to ^dloose the loins of kings;

To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

²“I will go before you and ^amake the ¹rough places smooth;

I will ^bshatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron ^cbars.

³“I will give you the ^1atreasures of darkness

And hidden wealth of secret places,

So that you may know that it is I,

The Lord, the God of Israel, who ^bcalls you by your name.

⁴“For the sake of ^aJacob My servant,

And Israel My chosen one,

I have also ^bcalled you by your name;

I have given you a title of honor

Though you have ^cnot known Me.

⁵“I am the Lord, and ^athere is no other;

^bBesides Me there is no God.

I will ^1cgird you, though you have not known Me;

⁶That ^1amen may know from the rising to the setting of the sun

That there is ^bno one besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other,

⁷The One ^aforming light and ^bcreating darkness,

Causing ¹well-being and ^ccreating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

God’s Supreme Power

⁸“^aDrip down, O heavens, from above,

And let the clouds pour down righteousness;

Let the ^bearth open up and salvation bear fruit,

^cAnd righteousness spring up with it.

I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“Woe to the one who ^aquarrels with his ¹Maker—

An earthenware vessel ²among the vessels of earth!

Will the ^bclay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’

Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

¹⁰“Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’

Or to a woman, ‘To what are you ¹giving birth?’ ”

¹¹Thus says the ^aLord, the Holy One of Israel, and his ^1bMaker:

“^2cAsk Me about the things to come ³concerning My ^dsons,

And you shall commit to Me ^ethe work of My hands.

¹²“It is I who ^amade the earth, and created man upon it.

I ^bstretched out the heavens with My hands

And I ¹ordained ^call their host.

¹³“I have aroused him in ^arighteousness

And I will ^bmake all his ways smooth;

He will ^cbuild My city and will let My exiles go ^dfree,

Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴Thus says the Lord,

“The ¹products of ^aEgypt and the merchandise of ^2bCush

And the Sabeans, men of stature,

Will ^ccome over to you and will be yours;

They will walk behind you, they will come over in ^dchains

And will ^ebow down to you;

They will make supplication to you:

‘³Surely, ^fGod is ⁴with you, and ^gthere is none else,

No other God.’ ”

¹⁵Truly, You are a God who ^ahides Himself,

O God of Israel, ^bSavior!

¹⁶They will be ^aput to shame and even humiliated, all of them;

The ^bmanufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.

¹⁷Israel has been saved by the Lord

With an ^aeverlasting salvation;

You ^bwill not be put to shame or humiliated

To all eternity.

¹⁸For thus says the Lord, who ^acreated the heavens (He is the God who ^bformed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it ¹a ^cwaste place, but formed it to be ^dinhabited),

“I am the Lord, and ^ethere is none else.

¹⁹“^aI have not spoken in secret,

In ¹some dark land;

I did not say to the ^2boffspring of Jacob,

‘^cSeek Me in ³a waste place’;

I, the Lord, ^dspeak righteousness,

^eDeclaring things that are upright.

²⁰“^aGather yourselves and come;

Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;

^bThey have no knowledge,

Who ^ccarry about ¹their wooden idol

And ^dpray to a god who cannot save.

²¹“^aDeclare and set forth your case;

Indeed, let them consult together.

^bWho has announced this from of old?

Who has long since declared it?

Is it not I, the Lord?

And there is ^cno other God besides Me,

A righteous God and a ^dSavior;

There is none except Me.

²²“^aTurn to Me and ^bbe saved, all the ends of the earth;

For I am God, and there is no other.

²³“^aI have sworn by Myself,

The ^bword has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness

And will not turn back,

That to Me ^cevery knee will bow, every tongue will ^dswear allegiance.

²⁴“They will say of Me, ‘Only ^ain the Lord are righteousness and strength.’

Men will come to Him,

And ^ball who were angry at Him will be put to shame.

²⁵“In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

Will be ^ajustified and will ^bglory.”