Isaiah 44:1–50:11

God’s Blessing on Israel

44 “Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant,

And Israel whom I have chosen.

2 Thus says the Lord who made you

And formed you from the womb, who will help you:

‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;

And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,

And floods on the dry ground;

I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,

And My blessing on your offspring;

4 They will spring up among the grass

Like willows by the watercourses.’

5 One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;

Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;

Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

And name himself by the name of Israel.

There is No Other God

6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,

And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

a‘I am the First and I am the Last;

Besides Me there is no God.

7 And bwho can proclaim as I do?

Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,

Since I appointed the ancient people.

And the things that are coming and shall come,

Let them show these to them.

8 Do not fear, nor be afraid;

cHave I not told you from that time, and declared it?

dYou are My witnesses.

Is there a God besides Me?

Indeed ethere is no other Rock;

I know not one.’ ”

Idolatry is Foolishness

9 fThose who make an image, all of them are useless,

And their precious things shall not profit;

They are their own witnesses;

gThey neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

10 Who would form a god or mold an image

hThat profits him nothing?

11 Surely all his companions would be iashamed;

And the workmen, they are mere men.

Let them all be gathered together,

Let them stand up;

Yet they shall fear,

They shall be ashamed together.

12 jThe blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,

Fashions it with hammers,

And works it with the strength of his arms.

Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;

He drinks no water and is faint.

13 The craftsman stretches out his rule,

He marks one out with chalk;

He fashions it with a plane,

He marks it out with the compass,

And makes it like the figure of a man,

According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.

14 He cuts down cedars for himself,

And takes the cypress and the oak;

He 1secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.

He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

15 Then it shall be for a man to burn,

For he will take some of it and warm himself;

Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;

Indeed he makes a god and worships it;

He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.

16 He burns half of it in the fire;

With this half he eats meat;

He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.

He even warms himself and says,

“Ah! I am warm,

I have seen the fire.”

17 And the rest of it he makes into a god,

His carved image.

He falls down before it and worships it,

Prays to it and says,

“Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18 kThey do not know nor understand;

For lHe has 2shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,

And their hearts, so that they cannot munderstand.

19 And no one nconsiders in his heart,

Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,

“I have burned half of it in the fire,

Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;

I have roasted meat and eaten it;

And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?

Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”

20 He feeds on ashes;

oA deceived heart has turned him aside;

And he cannot deliver his soul,

Nor say, “Is there not a plie in my right hand?”

Israel is Not Forgotten

21 “Remember these, O Jacob,

And Israel, for you are My servant;

I have formed you, you are My servant;

O Israel, you will not be qforgotten by Me!

22 rI have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,

And like a cloud, your sins.

Return to Me, for sI have redeemed you.”

23 tSing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!

Shout, you lower parts of the earth;

Break forth into singing, you mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it!

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,

And uglorified Himself in Israel.

Judah Will Be Restored

24 Thus says the Lord, vyour Redeemer,

And wHe who formed you from the womb:

“I am the Lord, who makes all things,

xWho stretches out the heavens 3all alone,

Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;

25 Who yfrustrates the signs zof the babblers,

And drives diviners mad;

Who turns wise men backward,

aAnd makes their knowledge foolishness;

26 bWho confirms the word of His servant,

And performs the counsel of His messengers;

Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’

To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’

And I will raise up her waste places;

27 cWho says to the deep, ‘Be dry!

And I will dry up your rivers’;

28 Who says of dCyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,

And he shall perform all My pleasure,

Saying to Jerusalem, e“You shall be built,”

And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,

To aCyrus, whose bright hand I have 1held—

cTo subdue nations before him

And dloose the armor of kings,

To open before him the double doors,

So that the gates will not be shut:

2 ‘I will go before you

eAnd 2make the 3crooked places straight;

fI will break in pieces the gates of bronze

And cut the bars of iron.

3 I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

gThat you may know that I, the Lord,

Who hcall you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

4 For iJacob My servant’s sake,

And Israel My elect,

I have even called you by your name;

I have named you, though you have not known Me.

5 I jam the Lord, and kthere is no other;

There is no God besides Me.

lI will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 mThat they may nknow from the rising of the sun to its setting

That there is none besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other;

7 I form the light and create darkness,

I make peace and ocreate calamity;

I, the Lord, do all these things.’

8 “Rain pdown, you heavens, from above,

And let the skies pour down righteousness;

Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,

And let righteousness spring up together.

I, the Lord, have created it.

9 “Woe to him who strives with qhis Maker!

Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!

rShall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’

Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

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

Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

11 Thus says the Lord,

The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

s“Ask Me of things to come concerning tMy sons;

And concerning uthe work of My hands, you command Me.

12 vI have made the earth,

And wcreated man on it.

I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,

And xall their host I have commanded.

13 yI have raised him up in righteousness,

And I will 4direct all his ways;

He shall zbuild My city

And let My exiles go free,

aNot for price nor reward,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

14 Thus says the Lord:

b“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush

And of the Sabeans, men of stature,

Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;

They shall walk behind you,

They shall come over cin chains;

And they shall bow down to you.

They will make supplication to you, saying, d‘Surely God is in you,

And there is no other;

eThere is no other God.’ ”

15 Truly You are God, fwho hide Yourself,

O God of Israel, the Savior!

16 They shall be gashamed

And also disgraced, all of them;

They shall go in confusion together,

Who are makers of idols.

17 hBut Israel shall be saved by the Lord

With an ieverlasting salvation;

You shall not be ashamed or jdisgraced

Forever and ever.

18 For thus says the Lord,

kWho created the heavens,

Who is God,

Who formed the earth and made it,

Who has established it,

Who did not create it 5in vain,

Who formed it to be linhabited:

m“I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19 I have not spoken in nsecret,

In a dark place of the earth;

I did not say to the seed of Jacob,

‘Seek Me 6in vain’;

oI, the Lord, speak righteousness,

I declare things that are right.

20 “Assemble yourselves and come;

Draw near together,

You who have escaped from the nations.

pThey have no knowledge,

Who carry the wood of their carved image,

And pray to a god that cannot save.

21 Tell and bring forth your case;

Yes, let them take counsel together.

qWho has declared this from ancient time?

Who has told it from that time?

Have not I, the Lord?

rAnd there is no other God besides Me,

A just God and a Savior;

There is none besides Me.

22 “Look to Me, and be saved,

sAll you ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

23 tI have sworn by Myself;

The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,

And shall not return,

That to Me every uknee shall bow,

vEvery tongue shall take an oath.

24 He shall say,

7‘Surely in the Lord I have wrighteousness and strength.

To Him men shall come,

And xall shall be ashamed

Who are incensed against Him.

25 yIn the Lord all the descendants of Israel

Shall be justified, and zshall glory.’ ”

Dead Idols and the Living God

46 Bel abows down, Nebo stoops;

Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.

Your carriages were heavily loaded,

bA burden to the weary beast.

2 They stoop, they bow down together;

They could not deliver the burden,

cBut have themselves gone into captivity.

3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,

And all the remnant of the house of Israel,

dWho have been upheld by Me from 1birth,

Who have been carried from the womb:

4 Even to your old age, eI am He,

And even to gray hairs fI will carry you!

I have made, and I will bear;

Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

5 “To gwhom will you liken Me, and make Me equal

And compare Me, that we should be alike?

6 hThey lavish gold out of the bag,

And weigh silver on the scales;

They hire a igoldsmith, and he makes it a god;

They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.

7 jThey bear it on the shoulder, they carry it

And set it in its place, and it stands;

From its place it shall not move.

Though kone cries out to it, yet it cannot answer

Nor save him out of his trouble.

8 “Remember this, and 2show yourselves men;

lRecall to mind, O you transgressors.

9 mRemember the former things of old,

For I am God, and nthere is no other;

I am God, and there is none like Me,

10 oDeclaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things that are not yet done,

Saying, p‘My counsel shall stand,

And I will do all My pleasure,’

11 Calling a bird of prey qfrom the …