Isaiah 44

¹“But now hear, O Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!

²Thus says the Lord who made you,

who formed you from the womb and will help you:

Fear not, O Jacob my servant,

Jeshʹurun whom I have chosen.

³For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants,

and my blessing on your offspring.

⁴They shall spring up like grass amid waters,

like willows by flowing streams.

⁵This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’

another will call himself by the name of Jacob,

and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and surname himself by the name of Israel.”

⁶Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel

and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

“I am the first and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.

⁷Who is like me? Let him proclaim it,

let him declare and set it forth before me.

Who has announced from of old the things to come?

Let them tell us what is yet to be.

⁸Fear not, nor be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

And you are my witnesses!

Is there a God besides me?

There is no Rock; I know not any.”

⁹All who make 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. ¹⁰Who fashions a god or casts an image, that is profitable for nothing? ¹¹Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are but men; let them all assemble, let them stand forth, they shall be terrified, they shall be put to shame together.

¹²The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals; he shapes it with hammers, and forges 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; he fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ¹⁴He cuts down cedars; or he chooses a holm 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 a graven image and falls down before it. ¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over the half he eats flesh, he roasts meat 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; he prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for thou art my god!”

¹⁸They know not, nor do they discern; for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their minds, 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 flesh and have eaten; and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ²⁰He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob,

and Israel, for you are my servant;

I formed you, you are my servant;

O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

²²I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,

and your sins like mist;

return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;

shout, O depths of the earth;

break forth into singing, O mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it!

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,

and will be glorified in Israel.

²⁴Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

who formed you from the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made all things,

who stretched out the heavens alone,

who spread out the earth—Who was with me?—

²⁵who frustrates the omens of liars,

and makes fools of diviners;

who turns wise men back,

and makes their knowledge foolish;

²⁶who confirms the word of his servant,

and performs the counsel of his messengers;

who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’

and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,

and I will raise up their ruins’;

²⁷who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,

I will dry up your rivers’;

²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfil all my purpose’;

saying of Jerusalem. ‘She shall be built,’

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