Isaiah 44
44
God’s Blessing on Israel
1“Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
2Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
4They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
5One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.
There Is No Other God
6“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
#Is. 41:4; (Rev. 1:8, 17; 22:13)‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
7And #Is. 41:4, 22, 26who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
8Do not fear, nor be afraid;
#Is. 41:22Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
#Is. 43:10, 12You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed #Deut. 4:35; 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 22:32; Is. 45:5; Joel 2:27there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’ ”
Idolatry Is Foolishness
9#Is. 41:24Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
#Ps. 115:4They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
10Who would form a god or mold an image
#Is. 41:29; Jer. 10:5; Hab. 2:18; Acts 19:26That profits him nothing?
11Surely all his companions would be #Ps. 97:7; Is. 1:29; 42:17ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.
12#Is. 40:19; Jer. 10:3–5The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
13The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
14He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
15Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
16He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
17And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18#Is. 45:20They do not know nor understand;
For #(Ps. 81:12); Is. 6:9, 10; 29:10; 2 Thess. 2:11He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot #Jer. 10:14understand.
19And no one #Is. 46:8considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
20He feeds on ashes;
#Job 15:31; Hos. 4:12; Rom. 1:21, 22; 2 Thess. 2:11; 2 Tim. 3:13A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a #Is. 57:11; 59:3, 4, 13; Rom. 1:25lie in my right hand?”
Israel Is Not Forgotten
21“Remember these, O Jacob,
And Israel, for you are My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be #Is. 49:15forgotten by Me!
22#Is. 43:25I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for #Is. 43:1; 1 Cor. 6:20; (1 Pet. 1:18, 19)I have redeemed you.”
23#Ps. 69:34; Is. 42:10; 49:13; Jer. 51:48; Rev. 18:20Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And #Is. 49:3; 60:21glorified Himself in Israel.
Judah Will Be Restored
24Thus says the Lord, #Is. 43:14your Redeemer,
And #Is. 43:1He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
#Job 9:8Who stretches out the heavens all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
25Who #Is. 47:13frustrates the signs #Jer. 50:36of the babblers,
And drives diviners mad;
Who turns wise men backward,
#2 Sam. 15:31; Job 5:12–14; Ps. 33:10; Is. 29:14; Jer. 51:57; 1 Cor. 1:20, 27And makes their knowledge foolishness;
26#Zech. 1:6; Matt. 5:18Who confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’
To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places;
27#Jer. 50:38; 51:36Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
28Who says of #2 Chr. 36:22; Ezra 1:1; Is. 45:13Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, #Ezra 6:7“You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
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Isaiah 44: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 44
44
The LORD is the Only God
1The LORD says,
“Listen now, Israel, my servant,
my chosen people, the descendants of Jacob.
2I am the LORD who created you;
from the time you were born, I have helped you.
Do not be afraid; you are my servant,
my chosen people whom I love.
3“I will give water to the thirsty land
and make streams flow on the dry ground.
I will pour out my spirit on your children
and my blessing on your descendants.
4They will thrive like well-watered grass,
like willows by streams of running water.
5“One by one, people will say, ‘I am the LORD's.’
They will come to join the people of Israel.
They will each mark the name of the LORD on their arms
and call themselves members of God's people.”
6 #
Is 48.12; Rev 1.17; 22.13 The LORD, who rules and protects Israel,
the LORD Almighty, has this to say:
“I am the first, the last, the only God;
there is no other god but me.
7Could anyone else have done what I did?
Who could have predicted all that would happen
from the very beginning to the end of time?#44.7 Verse 7 in Hebrew is unclear.
8Do not be afraid, my people!
You know that from ancient times until now
I have predicted all that would happen,
and you are my witnesses.
Is there any other god?
Is there some powerful god I never heard of?”
Idolatry is Ridiculed
9All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant — and they will be disgraced. 10It's no good making a metal image to worship as a god! 11Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial — they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace.
12The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired.
13The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel-tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, “How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!” 17The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, “You are my god — save me!”
18Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, “Some of the wood I burnt up. I baked some bread on the embers and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!”
20It makes as much sense#44.20 It makes as much sense; or It will do as much good. as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.
The LORD, the Creator and Saviour
21The LORD says,
“Israel, remember this;
remember that you are my servant.
I created you to be my servant,
and I will never forget you.
22I have swept your sins away like a cloud.
Come back to me; I am the one who saves you.”
23Shout for joy, you heavens!
Shout, deep places of the earth!
Shout for joy, mountains, and every tree of the forest!
The LORD has shown his greatness
by saving his people Israel.
24“I am the LORD, your saviour;
I am the one who created you.
I am the LORD, the Creator of all things.
I alone stretched out the heavens;
when I made the earth, no one helped me.
25 #
1 Cor 1.20
I make fools of fortune tellers
and frustrate the predictions of astrologers.
The words of the wise I refute
and show that their wisdom is foolishness.
26But when my servant makes a prediction,
when I send a messenger to reveal my plans,
I make those plans and predictions come true.
I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again,
and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt.
Those cities will rise from the ruins.
27With a word of command I dry up the ocean.
28 #
2 Chr 36.23; Ezra 1.2 I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who will rule for me;
you will do what I want you to do:
you will order Jerusalem to be rebuilt
and the Temple foundations to be laid.’ ”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.