Isaiah 43–44

¹And now, thus said Jehovah, Thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Fashioner, O Israel, Be not afraid, for I have redeemed thee, I have called on thy name—thou art Mine. ²When thou passest into waters, I am with thee, And into floods, they do not overflow thee, When thou goest into fire, thou art not burnt, And a flame doth not burn against thee. ³For I—Jehovah thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, I have appointed Egypt thine atonement, Cush and Seba in thy stead. ⁴Since thou wast precious in Mine eyes, Thou wast honoured, and I have loved thee, And I appoint men in thy stead, And peoples instead of thy life. ⁵Be not afraid, for I am with thee, From the east I bring in thy seed, And from the west I gather thee. ⁶I am saying to the north, ‘Give up,’ And to the south, ‘Restrain not.’ Bring in My sons from afar, And My daughters from the end of the earth. ⁷Every one who is called by My name, Even for My honour I have created him, I have formed him, yea, I have made him.

⁸He brought out a blind people who have eyes, And deaf ones who have ears. ⁹All the nations have been gathered together, And the peoples are assembled, Who among them declareth this, And former things causeth us to hear? They give their witnesses, And they are declared righteous, And they hear and say, ‘Truth.’ ¹⁰Ye are My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, And My servant whom I have chosen, So that ye know and give credence to Me, And understand that I am He, Before Me there was no God formed, And after Me there is none. ¹¹I—I am Jehovah, And besides Me there is no saviour. ¹²I—I declared, and saved, and proclaimed, And there is no stranger with you, And ye are My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I am God. ¹³Even from the day I am He, And there is no deliverer from My hand, I work, and who doth turn it back?

¹⁴Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: ‘For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And caused bars to descend—all of them, And the Chaldeans, whose song is in the ships. ¹⁵I am Jehovah, your Holy One, Creator of Israel, your King.’ ¹⁶Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving in the sea a way, And in the strong waters a path. ¹⁷Who is bringing forth chariot and horse, A force, even a strong one: ‘Together they lie down—they rise not, They have been extinguished, As flax they have been quenched.’ ¹⁸Remember not former things, And ancient things consider not. ¹⁹Lo, I am doing a new thing, now it springeth up, Do ye not know it? Yea, I put in a wilderness a way, In a desolate place—floods. ²⁰Honour me doth the beast of the field, Dragons and daughters of an ostrich, For I have given in a wilderness waters, Floods in a desolate place, To give drink to My people—My chosen. ²¹This people I have formed for Myself, My praise they recount.

²²And Me thou hast not called, O Jacob, For thou hast been wearied of me, O Israel, ²³Thou hast not brought in to Me, The lamb of thy burnt-offerings, And with thy sacrifices thou hast not honoured Me, I have not caused thee to serve with a present, Nor wearied thee with frankincense. ²⁴Thou hast not bought for Me with money sweet cane, And with the fat of thy sacrifices hast not filled Me, Only—thou hast caused Me to serve with thy sins, Thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. ²⁵I—I am He who is blotting out Thy transgressions for Mine own sake, And thy sins I do not remember. ²⁶Cause me to remember—we are judged together, Declare thou that thou mayest be justified. ²⁷Thy first father sinned, And thine interpreters transgressed against me, ²⁸And I pollute princes of the sanctuary, And I give Jacob to destruction, and Israel to revilings!

Chapter 44

¹And now, hear, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have fixed on: ²Thus said Jehovah, thy Maker, and thy Former, From the womb He doth help thee; Fear not, my servant Jacob, And Jeshurun, whom I have fixed on. ³For I pour waters on a thirsty one, And floods on a dry land, I pour My Spirit on thy seed, And My blessing on thine offspring. ⁴And they have sprung up as among grass, As willows by streams of water. ⁵This one saith, For Jehovah I am, And this calleth himself by the name of Jacob, And this one writeth with his hand, ‘For Jehovah,’ and by the name of Israel surnameth himself. ⁶Thus said Jehovah, king of Israel, And his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: ‘I am the first, and I the last, And besides Me there is no God. ⁷And who as I, doth call and declare it, And arrange it for Me, Since My placing the people of antiquity, And things that are coming, And those that do come, declare they to them? ⁸Fear not, nor be afraid, Have I not from that time caused thee to hear, and declared? And ye are My witnesses, Is there a God besides Me? yea, there is none, A Rock I have not known.

⁹Framers of a graven image are all of them emptiness, And their desirable things do not profit, And their own witnesses they are, They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed. ¹⁰Who hath formed a god, And a molten image poured out—not profitable? ¹¹Lo, all his companions are ashamed, As to artisans—they are of men, All of them gather together, they stand up, They fear, they are ashamed together. ¹²He hath wrought iron with an axe, And hath wrought with coals, And with hammers doth form it, And doth work it by his powerful arm, Yea, he is hungry, and there is no power, He doth not drink water, and he is wearied. ¹³He hath wrought with wood, He hath stretched out a rule, He doth mark it out with a line, He maketh it with carving tools, And with a compass he marketh it out, And maketh it according to the form of a man, According to the beauty of a man, To remain in the house. ¹⁴Cutting down to himself cedars, He taketh also a cypress, and an oak, And he strengtheneth it for himself Among the trees of a forest, He hath planted an ash, and the shower doth nourish it. ¹⁵And it hath been for man to burn, And he taketh of them, and becometh warm, Yea, he kindleth it, and hath baked bread, Yea, he maketh a god, and boweth himself, He hath made it a graven image, And he falleth down to it. ¹⁶Half of it he hath burnt in the fire, By this half of it he eateth flesh, He roasteth a roasting, and is satisfied, Yea, he is warm, and saith: ‘Aha, I have become warm, I have enjoyed the light. ¹⁷And its remnant for a god he hath made—For his graven image, He falleth down to it, and worshippeth, And prayeth unto it, and he saith, ‘Deliver me, for my god thou art.’ ¹⁸They have not known, nor do they understand, For He hath daubed their eyes from seeing, Their heart from acting wisely. ¹⁹And none doth turn it back unto his heart, Nor hath knowledge nor understanding to say, ‘Half of it I have burned in the fire, Yea, also, I have baked bread over its coals, I roast flesh and I eat, And its remnant for an abomination I make, To the stock of a tree I fall down.’ ²⁰Feeding on ashes, the heart is deceived, It hath turned him aside, And he delivereth not his soul, nor saith: ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’

²¹Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, For My servant thou art, I formed thee, a servant to Me thou art, O Israel, thou dost not forget Me. ²²I have blotted out, as by a thick cloud, Thy transgressions, And as by a cloud thy sins, Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee. ²³Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah hath wrought, Shout, O lower parts of earth, Break forth, O mountains, with singing, Forest, and every tree in it, For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, And in Israel He doth beautify Himself. ²⁴Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, And thy framer from the womb: ‘I am Jehovah, doing all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, Spreading out the earth—who is with Me? ²⁵Making void the tokens of devisers, And diviners it maketh mad, Turning the wise backward, And their knowledge it maketh foolish. ²⁶Confirming the word of His servant, The counsel of His messengers it perfecteth, Who is saying of Jerusalem, She is inhabited, And of cities of Judah, They shall be built, and her wastes I raise up, ²⁷Who is saying to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I cause to dry up, ²⁸Who is saying of Cyrus, My shepherd, And all my delight He doth perfect, So as to say of Jerusalem, Thou art built, And of the temple, Thou art founded.

Chapter 45