Isaiah 44
44
1But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, the one I've chosen. 2This is what the Lord says, the one who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Don't be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun,#44:2. “Jeshurun”: another name for Israel. the one I've chosen. 3For I'm going to pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground. I'm going to pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. 4They will grow up among the grass, like willows beside streams. 5One of them will say, “I belong to the Lord,” while another will call himself by the name Jacob, and yet another will write on his hand, “Belonging to the Lord,” and will name himself Israel.
6This is what the Lord says, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me. 7Who is like me? Let them announce it, make a declaration, and demonstrate it before me. For I was the one who long ago established a people and predicted its future. Let them predict what's going to happen. 8Don't tremble, don't be afraid! Didn't I tell you long ago what I was going to do? Didn't I explain it? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock—I don't know any!
9All those who make idols are stupid; these things they love so much don't bring them any benefit. Those people who believe in idols can't see this, and they don't know anything, making them look foolish. 10Who makes a god, who molds an idol that's no use to them? 11Everyone who makes idols should be ashamed of themselves. Idol-makers are just human beings! Bring them all together and have them stand up, trembling in shame.
12The blacksmith makes an iron tool for woodcarving. Working over hot coals, he hammers it into shape as hard as he can. He gets hungry and loses his strength, and because he doesn't drink he grows weak. 13The woodworker measures out a piece of wood, and draws an image on it. He carves it with a chisel and uses a compass to make an outline. He creates an idol that looks like a person, someone beautiful, to be put in a shrine. 14He chops down cedars, or takes a cypress or an oak. He lets them grow strong in the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain makes it grow. 15Some wood he burns, to keep him warm and to bake his bread. Then he uses some of the same wood to make a god to worship, an idol he bows down to! 16So he burns part of the wood to roast his meat to eat, and to warm him up, and says, “Ah! Look at that fire that keeps me warm!” 17Then he uses the rest of the wood to make himself a god, an idol he bows down to in worship and prays to, saying, “Save me, for you are my god!”
18How ignorant they are, how dumb! Their eyes have been plastered over so they can't see, their minds closed so they don't have insight. 19They can't think things over, they don't have the wisdom or the understanding to say, “Some of the wood I burned in the fire—I used it to bake my bread and roast my meat to eat. The rest of it I used to make a disgusting idol, and I bow down in worship to a block of wood.” 20He is feeding on ashes, seduced by the deceptive thinking of his mind. He can't save himself, and he doesn't even ask, “Isn't this idol I'm holding just a lie?”
21“Remember all this, Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant. I made you, Israel, you are my servant. I won't forget you. 22I have wiped away your acts of rebellion as if they were like a cloud, your sins as if they were like the mist. Come back to me, for I have set you free.”
23Sing in celebration, you heavens, for the Lord has done this; cry out loud, you depths of the earth. Shout with joy, you mountains, you forests and every tree. For the Lord has set Jacob free, and his glory is shown in Israel!
24This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, who shaped you in the womb: “I am the Lord, the Creator of everything. I alone made the heavens, and I myself formed the earth.#44:24. Isaiah poetically speaks of the heavens being “stretched out,” and the earth being “spread out.” 25I am the one who proves the signs of false prophets are wrong. I am the one who makes fools of fortune-tellers. I turn the wisdom of the wise upside down, and make their knowledge ridiculous.#44:25. “Ridiculous”: or “nonsensical.” 26But I confirm the messages given by my servants, and fulfill what my messengers say. They state, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited again, the towns of Judah will be rebuilt, your ruins will be repaired.’ 27When I order deep waters, ‘Dry up!’ I will make sure the rivers dry up! 28When I say to Cyrus, ‘You are my shepherd,’ he will carry out everything I wish. He will give the order, ‘Jerusalem shall be rebuilt,’ and he will say, ‘the Temple shall be restored.’”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 44
44
Israel the Lord’s Chosen
1“But now hear, #See ch. 41:8O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2Thus says the Lord who made you,
# ver. 24; ch. 49:15; [Ps. 71:6; Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15] who formed you from the womb and will help you:
# See ch. 43:5 Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
#
Deut. 32:15
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 #
Joel 2:28; John 7:38; Acts 2:18; See ch. 35:6 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4They shall spring up among the grass
# [Ps. 1:3] like willows by flowing streams.
5 # [ch. 14:1] This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.”
Besides Me There Is No God
6Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and #See ch. 43:14 his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
# ch. 48:12; Rev. 1:8; See ch. 41:4 “I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 # ch. 41:26, 27 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.#44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it?
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
# ch. 43:10 And you are my witnesses!
# ch. 45:5; Deut. 4:35, 39; 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:2; Joel 2:27 Is there a God besides me?
There is no #See ch. 30:29Rock; I know not any.”
The Folly of Idolatry
9 # ch. 41:24, 29 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10#[ch. 40:19, 20; 41:6, 7; 46:6, 7; Hab. 2:18]; See Jer. 10:3-5Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11#ch. 45:16; Ps. 115:8; See ch. 42:17Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
12 # [See ver. 10 above] The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.#44:13 Hebrew stylus He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. #See Ps. 115:5-7He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14#[ch. 40:20]He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress 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 becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. #[ch. 45:20]He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19No 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. And shall I make the rest of it an #Deut. 27:15abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20#Hos. 12:1 He feeds on #[Job 13:12] ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not #Ps. 144:8; [Rom. 1:25]a lie in my right hand?”
The Lord Redeems Israel
21Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are #ch. 42:19; See ch. 42:1 my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
# [ch. 49:15] O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
22 # ch. 43:25 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23 # ch. 49:13; [ch. 55:12; Ps. 69:34; Jer. 51:48] Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O #Ps. 63:9; [Hos. 2:21, 22] depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
# ch. 49:3; [ch. 55:5; 60:9] and will be glorified#44:23 Or will display his beauty in Israel.
24Thus says the Lord, #See ch. 43:14 your Redeemer,
# See ver. 2 who formed you from the womb:
# [ch. 42:5] “I am the Lord, who made all things,
# ch. 42:5; 45:12 who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
25who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
# [ch. 19:3, 14] who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 # [2 Chr. 36:22] who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
# [Jer. 32:15, 44] and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’;
27 # ch. 11:15; [ch. 51:10] who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers’;
28who says of #ch. 45:1 Cyrus, ‘He is #[2 Sam. 5:2; Ps. 78:72] my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
# ch. 45:13; See 2 Chr. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1-3 and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
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