Isaiah 44

Isaiah 44

¹Yet listen now, Jacob my servant,

and Israel, whom I have chosen.

²This is what Yahweh who made you,

and formed you from the womb,

who will help you says:

“Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant;

and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

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

and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour my Spirit on your seed,

and my blessing on your offspring:

⁴and they will spring up among the grass,

as willows by the watercourses.

⁵One will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s;’

and another will be called by the name of Jacob;

and another will write with his hand ‘to Yahweh,’

and honor the name of Israel.”

⁶This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel,

and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says:

“I am the first, and I am the last;

and besides me there is no God.

⁷Who is like me?

Who will call,

and will declare it,

and set it in order for me,

since I established the ancient people?

Let them declare the things that are coming,

and that will happen.

⁸Don’t fear,

neither be afraid.

Haven’t I declared it to you long ago,

and shown it?

You are my witnesses.

Is there a God besides me?

Indeed, there is not.

I don’t know any other Rock.”

⁹Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain.

The things that they delight in will not profit.

Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.

¹⁰Who has fashioned a god,

or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?

¹¹Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed;

and the workmen are mere men.

Let them all be gathered together.

Let them stand up.

They will fear.

They will be put to shame together.

¹²The blacksmith takes an axe,

works in the coals,

fashions it with hammers,

and works it with his strong arm.

He is hungry,

and his strength fails;

he drinks no water,

and is faint.

¹³The carpenter stretches out a line.

He marks it out with a pencil.

He shapes it with planes.

He marks it out with compasses,

and shapes it like the figure of a man,

with the beauty of a man,

to reside in a house.

¹⁴He cuts down cedars for himself,

and takes the cypress and the oak,

and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest.

He plants a fir tree,

and the rain nourishes it.

¹⁵Then it will be for a man to burn;

and he takes some of it, and warms himself.

Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread.

Yes, he makes a god, and worships it;

he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.

¹⁶He burns part of it in the fire.

With part of it, he eats meat.

He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.

Yes, he warms himself,

and says, “Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire.”

¹⁷The rest of it he makes into a god,

even his engraved image.

He bows down to it and worships,

and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!”

¹⁸They don’t know, neither do they consider:

for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see;

and their hearts, that they can’t understand.

¹⁹No one thinks,

neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say,

“I have burned part of it in the fire.

Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals.

I have roasted meat and eaten it.

Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination?

Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?”

²⁰He feeds on ashes.

A deceived heart has turned him aside;

and he can’t deliver his soul,

nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”

²¹Remember these things, Jacob and Israel;

for you are my servant.

I have formed you.

You are my servant.

Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

²²I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions,

and, as a cloud, your sins.

Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it!

Shout, you lower parts of the earth!

Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees,

for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob,

and will glorify himself in Israel.

²⁴Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer,

and he who formed you from the womb:

“I am Yahweh, who makes all things;

who alone stretches out the heavens;

who spreads out the earth by myself;

²⁵who frustrates the signs of the liars,

and makes diviners mad;

who turns wise men backward,

and makes their knowledge foolish;

²⁶who confirms the word of his servant,

and performs the counsel of his messengers;

who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’

and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’

and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’

²⁷who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’

and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’

²⁸Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’

even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’

and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”