Isaiah 44–45

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.”^*

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

⁴⁵Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped

to subdue nations before him

and to strip kings of their robes,

to open doors before him—

and the gates shall not be closed:^*

²I will go before you

and level the mountains;^h

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron;^*

³I will give you the treasures of darkness

and riches hidden in secret places,

so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,

the God of Israel, who call you by your name.^*

⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob

and Israel my chosen,

I call you by your name;

I give you a title, though you do not know me.^*

⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other;

besides me there is no god.

I arm you, though you do not know me,^*

⁶so that they may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is no one besides me;

I am the Lord, and there is no other.^*

⁷I form light and create darkness,

I make weal and create woe;

I the Lord do all these things.^*

⁸Shower, O heavens, from above,

and let the skies rain down righteousness;

let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,ⁱ

and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;

I the Lord have created it.^*

⁹Woe to those who strive with their Maker,

earthen vessels with the potter!^j

Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?

or “Your work has no handles”?^*

¹⁰Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you fathering?”

or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”

¹¹Thus says the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:

Will you question me^k about my children

or command me concerning the work of my hands?^*

¹²I made the earth

and created humankind upon it;

it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,

and I commanded all their host.^*

¹³I have aroused Cyrus^l in righteousness,

and I will make all his paths straight;

he shall build my city

and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,

says the Lord of hosts.^*

¹⁴Thus says the Lord:

The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush

and the Sabeans, tall of stature,

shall come over to you and be yours;

they shall follow you;

they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.

They will make supplication to you, saying,

“God is with you alone, and there is no other;

there is no god besides him.”^*

¹⁵Truly, you are a God who hides himself,

O God of Israel, the Savior.^*

¹⁶All of them are put to shame and confounded;

the makers of idols go in disgrace together.^*

¹⁷But Israel is saved by the Lord

with everlasting salvation;

you shall not be put to shame or confounded

ever again.^*

¹⁸For thus says the Lord,

who created the heavens

(he is God!),

who formed the earth and made it

(he established it;

he did not create it a chaos;

he formed it to be inhabited!):

I am the Lord, and there is no other.^*

¹⁹I did not speak in secret

in a land of darkness;

I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,

“Seek me in chaos.”

I the Lord speak the truth;

I declare what is right.^*

Idols Cannot Save Babylon

²⁰Assemble yourselves and come together;

draw near, you survivors of the nations!

They have no knowledge—

those who carry about their wooden idols

and keep on praying to a god

that cannot save.^*

²¹Declare and present your case;

take counsel together!^m

Who told this long ago?

Who declared it of old?

Was it not I, the Lord?

There is no other god besides me,

a righteous God and a Savior;

there is no one besides me.^*

²²Turn to me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.^*

²³By myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness

a word that shall not return:

“To me every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear.”^*

²⁴Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,

are righteousness and strength;

all who were incensed against him

shall come to him and be ashamed.^*

²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

shall triumph and glory.^*