Isaiah 44

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.’ ”