Isaiah 44:11-45:5

English Standard Version

¹¹^(A)Behold, 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^(B)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.^[a] He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. ^(C)He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ¹⁴^(D)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. ^(E)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 ^(F)abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ²⁰^(G)He feeds on ^(H)ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not ^(I)a lie in my right hand?”

The Lord Redeems Israel

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob,
    and Israel, for you are ^(J)my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
    ^(K)O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
²²^(L)I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
    and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³^(M)Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
    shout, O ^(N)depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
    O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
    ^(O)and will be glorified^[b] in Israel.

²⁴Thus says the Lord, ^(P)your Redeemer,
    ^(Q)who formed you from the womb:
^(R)“I am the Lord, who made all things,
    ^(S)who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who spread out the earth by myself,
²⁵who frustrates the signs of liars
    and makes fools of diviners,
^(T)who turns wise men back
    and makes their knowledge foolish,
²⁶^(U)who confirms the word of his servant
    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
    ^(V)and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
    and I will raise up their ruins’;
²⁷^(W)who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
    I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸who says of ^(X)Cyrus, ‘He is ^(Y)my shepherd,
    and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
    ^(Z)and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

Cyrus, God's Instrument

45 Thus says the Lord to ^(AA)his anointed, to Cyrus,
    ^(AB)whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
    and ^(AC)to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
    that gates may not be closed:
²“I will go before you
    and ^(AD)level the exalted places,^[c]
^(AE)I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron,
³^(AF)I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, ^(AG)who call you by your name.
⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
^(AH)I call you by your name,
    ^(AI)I name you, though you do not know me.
⁵^(AJ)I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    ^(AK)I equip you, though you do not know me,