Isaiah 44

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.”^*