Isaiah 43–44

God Is Always with His People

43Now this is what the Lord says.

He created you, people of Jacob;

he formed you, people of Israel.

He says, “Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you.

I have called you by name, and you are mine.

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

When you cross rivers, you will not drown.

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

nor will the flames hurt you.

³This is because I, the Lord, am your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I gave Egypt to pay for you,

and I gave Cush and Seba to make you mine.

⁴Because you are precious to me,

because I give you honor and love you,

I will give other people in your place;

I will give other nations to save your life.

⁵Don’t be afraid, because I am with you.

I will bring your children from the east

and gather you from the west.

⁶I will tell the north: Give my people to me.

I will tell the south: Don’t keep my people in prison.

Bring my sons from far away

and my daughters from faraway places.

⁷Bring to me all the people who are mine,

whom I made for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

Judah Is God’s Witness

⁸Bring out the people who have eyes but don’t see

and those who have ears but don’t hear.

⁹All the nations gather together,

and all the people come together.

Which of their gods said this would happen?

Which of their gods can tell what happened in the beginning?

Let them bring their witnesses to prove they were right.

Then others will say, “It is true.”

¹⁰The Lord says, “You are my witnesses

and the servant I chose.

I chose you so you would know and believe me,

so you would understand that I am the true God.

There was no God before me,

and there will be no God after me.

¹¹I myself am the Lord;

I am the only Savior.

¹²I myself have spoken to you, saved you, and told you these things.

It was not some foreign god among you.

You are my witnesses, and I am God,”

says the Lord.

¹³“I have always been God.

No one can save people from my power;

when I do something, no one can change it.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord, who saves you,

the Holy One of Israel, says:

“I will send armies to Babylon for you,

and I will knock down all its locked gates.

The Babylonians will shout their cries of sorrow.

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.”

God Will Save His People Again

¹⁶This is what the Lord says.

He is the one who made a road through the sea

and a path through rough waters.

¹⁷He is the one who defeated the chariots and horses

and the mighty armies.

They fell together and will never rise again.

They were destroyed as a flame is put out.

¹⁸The Lord says, “Forget what happened before,

and do not think about the past.

¹⁹Look at the new thing I am going to do.

It is already happening. Don’t you see it?

I will make a road in the desert

and rivers in the dry land.

²⁰Even the wild animals will be thankful to me—

the wild dogs and owls.

They will honor me when I put water in the desert

and rivers in the dry land

to give water to my people, the ones I chose.

²¹The people I made

will sing songs to praise me.

²²“People of Jacob, you have not called to me;

people of Israel, you have become tired of me.

²³You have not brought me your sacrifices of sheep

nor honored me with your sacrifices.

I did not weigh you down with sacrifices to offer

or make you tired with incense to burn.

²⁴So you did not buy incense for me;

you did not freely bring me fat from your sacrifices.

Instead you have weighed me down with your many sins;

you have made me tired of your many wrongs.

²⁵“I, I am the One who erases all your sins, for my sake;

I will not remember your sins.

²⁶But you should remind me.

Let’s meet and decide what is right.

Tell what you have done and show you are right.

²⁷Your first father sinned,

and your leaders have turned against me.

²⁸So I will make your holy rulers unholy.

I will bring destruction on the people of Jacob,

and I will let Israel be insulted.”

The Lord Is the Only God

44The Lord says, “People of Jacob, you are my servants. Listen to me!

People of Israel, I chose you.”

²This is what the Lord says, who made you,

who formed you in your mother’s body,

who will help you:

“People of Jacob, my servants, don’t be afraid.

Israel, I chose you.

³I will pour out water for the thirsty land

and make streams flow on dry land.

I will pour out my Spirit into your children

and my blessing on your descendants.

⁴Your children will grow like a tree in the grass,

like poplar trees growing beside streams of water.

⁵One person will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use the name Jacob.

Another will sign his name ‘I am the Lord’s,’

and another will use the name Israel.”

⁶The Lord, the king of Israel,

is the Lord All-Powerful, who saves Israel.

This is what he says: “I am the beginning and the end.

I am the only God.

⁷Who is a god like me?

That god should come and prove it.

Let him tell and explain all that has happened since I set up my ancient people.

He should also tell what will happen in the future.

⁸Don’t be afraid! Don’t worry!

I have always told you what will happen.

You are my witnesses.

There is no other God but me.

I know of no other Rock; I am the only One.”

Idols Are Useless

⁹Some people make idols, but they are worth nothing.

People treasure them, but they are useless.

Those people are witnesses for the statues, but those people cannot see.

They know nothing, so they will be ashamed.

¹⁰Who made these gods?

Who made these useless idols?

¹¹The workmen who made them will be ashamed,

because they are only human.

If they all would come together,

they would all be ashamed and afraid.

¹²One workman uses tools to heat iron,

and he works over hot coals.

With his hammer he beats the metal and makes a statue,

using his powerful arms.

But when he becomes hungry, he loses his power.

If he does not drink water, he becomes tired.

¹³Another workman uses a line and a compass

to draw on the wood.

Then he uses his chisels to cut a statue

and his calipers to measure the statue.

In this way, the workman makes the wood look exactly like a person,

and this statue of a person sits in the house.

¹⁴He cuts down cedars

or cypress or oak trees.

Those trees grew by their own power in the forest.

Or he plants a pine tree, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵Then he burns the tree.

He uses some of the wood for a fire to keep himself warm.

He also starts a fire to bake his bread.

But he uses part of the wood to make a god, and then he worships it!

He makes the idol and bows down to it!

¹⁶The man burns half of the wood in the fire.

He uses the fire to cook his meat,

and he eats the meat until he is full.

He also burns the wood to keep himself warm. He says,

“Good! Now I am warm. I can see because of the fire’s light.”

¹⁷But he makes a statue from the wood that is left and calls it his god.

He bows down to it and worships it.

He prays to it and says,

“You are my god. Save me!”

¹⁸Those people don’t know what they are doing. They don’t understand!

It is as if their eyes are covered so they can’t see.

Their minds don’t understand.

¹⁹They have not thought about these things;

they don’t understand.

They have never thought to themselves,

“I burned half of the wood in the fire

and used the hot coals to bake my bread.

I cooked and ate my meat.

And I used the wood that was left to make this hateful thing.

I am worshiping a block of wood!”

²⁰He doesn’t know what he is doing;

his confused mind leads him the wrong way.

He cannot save himself

or say, “This statue I am holding is a false god.”

The Lord Is the True God

²¹“People of Jacob, remember these things!

People of Israel, remember you are my servants.

I made you, and you are my servants.

So Israel, I will not forget you.

²²I have swept away your sins like a big cloud;

I have removed your sins like a cloud that disappears into the air.

Come back to me because I saved you.”

²³Skies, sing for joy because the Lord did great things!

Earth, shout for joy, even in your deepest parts!

Sing, you mountains, with thanks to God.

Sing, too, you trees in the forest!

The Lord saved the people of Jacob!

He showed his glory when he saved Israel.

²⁴This is what the Lord says, who saved you,

who formed you in your mother’s body:

“I, the Lord, made everything,

stretching out the skies by myself

and spreading out the earth all alone.

²⁵I show that the signs of the lying prophets are false;

I make fools of those who do magic.

I confuse even the wise;

they think they know much, but I make them look foolish.

²⁶I make the messages of my servants come true;

I make the advice of my messengers come true.

I say to Jerusalem,

‘People will live in you again!’

I say to the towns of Judah,

‘You will be built again!’

I say to Jerusalem’s ruins,

‘I will repair you.’

²⁷I tell the deep waters, ‘Become dry!

I will make your streams become dry!’

²⁸I say of Cyrus, ⁿ ‘He is my shepherd

and will do all that I want him to do.

He will say to Jerusalem, “You will be built again!”

He will tell the Temple, “Your foundations will be rebuilt.” ’ ”