Isaiah 43–44

Restoration and Protection Promised

⁴³But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.^*

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

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.^*

³For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in exchange for you.^*

⁴Because you are precious in my sight

and honored and I love you,

I give people in return for you,

nations in exchange for your life.^*

⁵Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you;^*

⁶I will say to the north, “Give them up,”

and to the south, “Do not withhold;

bring my sons from far away

and my daughters from the end of the earth—^*

⁷everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”^*

⁸Bring forth the people who are blind yet have eyes,

who are deaf yet have ears!^*

⁹Let all the nations gather together,

and let the peoples assemble.

Who among them declared this

and foretold to us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,

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

¹⁰You are my witnesses, says the Lord,

and my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me.^*

¹¹I, I am the Lord,

and besides me there is no savior.^*

¹²I am the one who declared and saved and proclaimed,

not some strange god among you;

you are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.^*

¹³Indeed, since that day I am he;

there is no one who can deliver from my hand;

I work, and who can hinder it?^*

¹⁴Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

For your sake I will send to Babylon

and break down all the bars,

and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.^a*

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶Thus says the Lord,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,^*

¹⁷who brings out chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down; they cannot rise;

they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:^*

¹⁸Do not remember the former things

or consider the things of old.^*

¹⁹I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.^*

²⁰The wild animals will honor me,

the jackals and the ostriches,

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,^*

²¹the people whom I formed for myself

so that they might declare my praise.^*

²²Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

but you have been weary of me, O Israel!^*

²³You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings

or wearied you with frankincense.^*

²⁴You have not bought me sweet cane with money

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

Rather, you have burdened me with your sins;

you have wearied me with your iniquities.^*

²⁵I alone am the one

who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.^*

²⁶Accuse me; let us go to trial;

set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.^*

²⁷Your first ancestor sinned,

and your mediators rebelled against me.

²⁸Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary;

I delivered Jacob to utter destruction

and Israel to reviling.^*

God’s Blessing on Israel

⁴⁴But now hear, O Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!^*

²Thus says the Lord who made you,

who formed you in the womb and will help you:

Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,

Jeshurun whom I have chosen.^*

³For I will pour water on the thirsty land

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my spirit upon your descendants

and my blessing on your offspring.^*

⁴They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,^b

like willows by flowing streams.

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

another will be called by the name of Jacob;

yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,”

and adopt the name of Israel.^*

⁶Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,

and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

I am the first, and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.^*

⁷Who is like me? Let them proclaim it;

let them declare and set it forth before me.

Who has announced from of old the things to come?^c

Let them tell us^d what is yet to be.^*

⁸Do not fear or be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

You are my witnesses!

Is there any god besides me?

There is no other rock; I know not one.^*

The Absurdity of Idol Worship

⁹All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, and so they will be put to shame.^{* 10}Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good?^{* 11}All its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans, too, are merely human. Let them all assemble; let them stand up; they shall be terrified; they shall all be put to shame.^*

¹²The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.^{* 13}The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.^{* 14}He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.^{* 16}Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,^e and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm^f by the fire!” ¹⁷The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”^*

¹⁸They do not know, nor do they comprehend, for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand.^{* 19}No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”^{* 20}He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?”^*

Israel Is Not Forgotten

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob,

and Israel, for you are my servant;

I formed you, you are my servant;

O Israel, do not forget me.^g*

²²I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud

and your sins like mist;

return to me, for I have redeemed you.^*

²³Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;

shout, O depths of the earth;

break forth into singing, O mountains,

O forest and every tree in it!

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob

and will be glorified in Israel.^*

²⁴Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

who formed you in the womb:

I am the Lord, who made all things,

who alone stretched out the heavens,

who by myself spread out the earth;^*

²⁵who frustrates the omens of soothsayers

and makes fools of diviners;

who turns back the wise

and makes their knowledge foolish;^*

²⁶who confirms the word of his servant

and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;

who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”

and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,

and I will raise up their ruins”;^*

²⁷who says to the deep, “Be dry—

I will dry up your rivers”;^*

²⁸who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,

and he shall carry out all my purpose”;

and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”

and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”^*