Isaiah 44
44
Yahweh, the Only True God
1-2“Now, listen to me, my servant Jacob,
Israel, my chosen one.
I am Yahweh, your Creator, who shaped you in my womb. # 44:1–2 There is no verse in the Bible that speaks of God as our mother, but there are frequent metaphors that imply God gave us birth (and new birth), nurtured us in his love, and even formed us in his womb. The love God has for us is similar to a mother’s love. The Hebrew concept of compassion carries this thought, for the Hebrew word for “compassion” (racham) is the same word as “womb.” God has a womb-love for each of us. This thought resurfaces more than once in these later chapters of Isaiah.
Hear what I have to say to you:
‘Don’t fear. I will help you, O Jacob my servant,
Do not fear, my pleasing one, # 44:1–2 Or “Jeshurun,” a symbolic name for Israel showing her unique, intimate relationship with God. It is taken from the root word yashar, “to please.” Others translate this endearing term for Israel as “upright one.” God will straighten out the crookedness of Jacob. “Jeshurun” is found only here and in Deuteronomy (see Deut. 32:15; 33:5, 26). Israel.
3I will pour refreshing water on the thirsty
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit on your children, # 44:3 See Acts 2:12–17.
my blessing upon your descendants.
4They will spring up like grass blanketing a meadow, # 44:4 Or “like a binu-tree” (Dead Sea scroll 1QIsaa).
like poplars growing by gushing streams.
5One will say, “I belong to Yahweh.”
Another will be called Jacob.
Yet another will write on his hand # 44:5 Or “with his own hand.” “Property of Yahweh.”
Another will adopt the name Israel.’ ”
6The words of Yahweh,
Israel’s true King # 44:6 See Matt. 27:42; Mark 15:32; John 1:49; 12:13. and Kinsman-Redeemer,
Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, says:
“I am the Beginning and I am the Ending, # 44:6 Or “I am the First, and I am the Last.”
and I am the only God there is.
7Who is like me? Go ahead, stand and speak up.
I’ll wait for him to announce it and explain it all to me!
Who else has announced from everlasting # 44:7 The Hebrew word for “everlasting” is ʿolam, and there are nine more everlasting things found in Isaiah: (1) everlasting God (Isa. 40:28), (2) everlasting covenant (Isa. 55:3; 61:8), (3) everlasting kindness (Isa. 54:8), (4) everlasting salvation (Isa. 45:17), (5) everlasting majesty of God’s people (Isa. 60:15), (6) everlasting joy (Isa. 51:11), (7) everlasting favor (Isa. 56:5), (8) everlasting light (Isa. 60:19–20), and (9) everlasting signs (Isa. 55:13). what is to come? # 44:7 Or “from my placing an eternal people and things to come.” The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Let him prophesy what is yet to be.
8Do not fear nor be shaken!
Haven’t I foretold it, announcing it to you ahead of time?
You are my witnesses, so tell me, is there any god besides me?
There is no other Rock of shelter; I know not one.”
9Idol-makers amount to nothing,
and the things they treasure can do no one any good.
They are witnesses with blind eyes who know nothing;
they will be disgraced.
10What kind of person would form an idol-god
or cast an image with no ability to do any good?
11No wonder those who worship them # 44:11 Or “those who produce them.” will be put to shame.
Their craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand.
They will all be terrified and put to shame!
12The blacksmith takes his tongs and heats it over the coals,
forming it with hammers, forging it with his strong arm.
But when he gets hungry, his strength ebbs away,
and if he doesn’t drink water, he quickly grows weary.
13The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,
then marks it and fashions his idol-god with his carving tools.
Then he uses a stylus to trace it out on the wood # 44:13 Or “rounds it with his instruments.”
and shapes it into the figure of a man,
trying to make it look like a beautiful human
to be displayed somewhere in a shrine.
14He chooses a cedar or a cypress or an oak,
but first lets it grow strong in the forest.
He plants a pine tree, and it is nourished by the rain.
15The wood serves man for fuel;
some he uses to warm himself
and with some he bakes his bread.
But from this same wood he also makes a god to worship
and bows down to the idol he formed.
16Half of the wood he burns in the fire to roast his meat.
Then he eats his fill and is satisfied.
Part he uses to warm himself and says,
“Ah, I’m warm and cozy sitting by the fire.”
17With the rest of it he makes his idol-god,
bows down to it, and worships it!
He prays to it, saying, “Save me, for you are my god!”
18They have no clue what they’re doing
and don’t comprehend how absurd it is!
For they shut their eyes so they cannot see.
They close their hearts so they cannot understand.
19They have no knowledge, no understanding,
no discernment to say,
“Half of the wood I burned in the fire.
I roasted meat and cooked my dinner.
Now should I take the rest of the wood
and make it into an abomination?
Should I bow down and worship a block of wood?”
20He feeds his spirit on ashes! # 44:20 Or “the shepherd of ashes.”
His deluded heart leads him astray.
He can’t even ask himself,
“Is this thing I’m holding in my right hand a fraud?”
God Never Forgets Israel
21“Remember these things, O Jacob’s tribes,
and Israel, you are my servant.
I created you to be my servant, and I will never forget you!
22I have swept away your sins like a thick cloud. # 44:22 This “thick cloud” of our sins was a barrier between God and man. Grace has swept it away so that we can freely come before him.
I have made your guilt vanish
like mist disappearing into thin air.
Now come back, come back to me,
for I have paid the price for you.” # 44:22 See Gal. 3:13–14.
23Sing! Starry sky above, break loose with singing,
for Yahweh has finished it!
Shout! Earth deep below, give up your shout!
Mountains high, break out with joyous songs of praise!
Let the forest choirs join in, with every tree singing its notes!
For Yahweh has paid the ransom price for Jacob’s tribes,
and he will be glorified in Israel!
God Is in Control
24Here is what Yahweh,
your Kinsman-Redeemer, who formed you in his womb, has to say:
“I am Yahweh, Creator of all.
I alone stretched out the canvas of the cosmos.
I who shaped the earth needed no one’s help.
25Now I make fools of fortune-tellers
and frustrate astrologers’ predictions.
I confuse the wise, who think they know it all,
and make their ‘knowledge’ into foolishness.
26I confirm the word of my servants
and fulfill the prophecies of my messengers.
I say to Jerusalem, ‘Many people will live in you again,’
and to the cities of Judah, ‘I will raise up your ruins; you will be rebuilt!’
27I say to deep waters, ‘Dry up!’ and to rivers, ‘Become dry!’ # 44:27 This actually happened at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus. See Jer. 50:38; 51:31–36.
28I say concerning Cyrus, # 44:28 Cyrus, king of Persia, reigned from 559–529 BC. He permitted the Jews to return from captivity to Jerusalem and issued a decree to authorize the temple to be rebuilt (2 Chron. 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–4). Even though Isaiah prophesied 175 years before Cyrus became king, he called him by name. This is one of the greatest proofs of God’s omniscience and sovereignty as well as the supernatural aspect of prophecy. ‘He is my shepherd,
and he will carry out all the purposes I have for him,’
saying to Jerusalem, ‘You will be rebuilt and flourish again!’
saying to the temple, ‘You will be reconstructed!’ ” # 44:28 Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote that “when Cyrus read this [Isaiah’s prophecy], and admired the Divine Power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written.” These verses in chs. 44–45 convinced Cyrus to issue the decree to rebuild the temple. See Josephus, Ant. 11.1.2 and Ezra 5:13.
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Isaiah 44: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationIsaiah 44
44
XLIV
1Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant!
And Israel! whom I have chosen:
2Thus saith Jehovah who made thee,
And formed thee from the womb, He will help thee;
Fear not, my servant Jacob,
And thou Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3For I will pour waters upon the thirsty soil,
And flowing streams upon the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed,
And my blessing upon thine offspring.
4And they shall spring up as among the grass,
As willows by the water-courses.
5One shall say: I am Jehovah’s;
And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob:
And another shall inscribe upon his hand, I am Jehovah’s;
And shall be surnamed by the name of Israel.
6Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts:
I am the first, and I am the last;
And beside me there is no God.
7And who like me could foretell,
And declare it; or who could dispose it for me,
From the time that I have appointed the ancient people;
So that the things which are now coming, and what shall come hereafter, should become known unto them?
8Fear ye not, neither be afraid:
Have I not of old made it known unto thee, and declared it?
And ye are my witnesses.
Is there a God beside me?
Yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.
9They that form a graven image are all of them vanity;
And their objects of delight shall not profit:
Yea, they are their witnesses, that they see not,
Nor understand; so that they may be ashamed.
10Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image,
That is profitable for nothing?
11Behold, all his associates shall be ashamed;
And the workmen themselves who are of men:
Let them assemble, all of them; let them stand up;
They shall fear, and be ashamed together.
12The smith maketh an axe,
And worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers;
And worketh it with the strength of his arm:
Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth him;
He drinketh no water, and is faint.
13The carpenter stretcheth out the line;
He marketh out the form of it with red ochre:
He worketh it with planes,
And with the compass he marketh it out:
He maketh it after the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of the human form, that it may abide in the house.
14He heweth him down cedars,
He taketh also the pine, and the oak;
And he chooseth for himself among the trees of the forest:
He planteth the ash, and the rain nourisheth it.
15Then shall it be for man to burn;
And he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself;
Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread;
Yea, he formeth a god, and worshippeth it;
He maketh of it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16Part of it he burneth in the fire;
On a part of it he eateth flesh:
He roasteth meat, and is satisfied;
Yea, he warmeth himself, and saith:
Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.
17And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image:
He falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it;
And he prayeth unto it, and saith:
Deliver me, for thou art my God!
18They know not, neither do they understand;
For he hath closed up their eyes, that they cannot see;
And their hearts, that they cannot rightly discern.
19Neither doth he consider in his heart;
Neither hath he knowledge, nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire;
I have also baked bread upon the coals thereof;
I have roasted flesh, and eaten it:
And shall I make the residue thereof an abomination?
Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
20He feedeth on ashes: a deluded heart leadeth him aside,
So that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say,
Is there not a lie in my right hand?
21Remember these things, O Jacob,
And, Israel; for thou art my servant:
I have formed thee; thou art my servant;
O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten by me.
22I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions,
And as a light cloud thy sins:
Return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
23Sing, O ye heavens, for Jehovah hath done it;
Utter a joyful sound, ye lower parts of the earth:
Burst forth into song, O ye mountains:
Thou forest, and every tree therein:
For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob,
And will be glorified in Israel.
24Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer,
Even He that formed thee from the womb:
I am Jehovah who maketh all things,
Who stretcheth out the heavens alone;
Who spreadeth abroad the earth by myself:
25I am He who frustrated the foretokens of the impostors,
And maketh the diviners mad;
Who turneth the wise men backward,
And maketh their knowledge foolish:
26Who established the word of his servant,
And accomplished the counsel of his messengers:
Who saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited;
And to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built;
And I will restore her desolate places:
27Who saith to the deep, Be dry;
And I will make dry thy rivers:
28Who saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd;
And he shall fulfill all my pleasure:
Who saith of Jerusalem, She shall be built;
And to the Temple, Thy foundations shall be laid.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.