Isaiah 44
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.
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Isaiah 44: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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.