God Promises to Save Israel

43 But now the Lord Who made you, O Jacob, and He Who made you, O Israel, says, “Do not be afraid. For I have bought you and made you free. I have called you by name. You are Mine! ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not flow over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The fire will not destroy you. ³ For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Who saves you. I have given Egypt as pay for your life, and have traded Cush and Seba for you. ⁴ You are of great worth in My eyes. You are honored and I love you. I will give other men in your place. I will trade other people for your life. ⁵ Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bring your children from the east, and I will gather you from the west. ⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from far away, and My daughters from the ends of the earth. ⁷ Bring every one who is called by My name, for I have made him for My honor, yes, I made him.”

⁸ Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, and those who cannot hear, even though they have ears. ⁹ All the nations have gathered together so the people may be together. Who among them can make this known, and tell us what has happened before? Let them bring people who can show us that they are right. Let them hear and say, “It is true.” ¹⁰ “You can speak for Me,” says the Lord. “You are My servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. No God was made before Me, and there will be none after Me. ¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord. There is no one who saves except Me. ¹² I have spoken and saved and have made things known, and there was no strange god among you. You can speak for Me,” says the Lord, “and I am God. ¹³ I am God and always will be. No one is able to take anything out of My hand. I do something, and who can change it?”

God’s Loving-Kindness—Israel Not Faithful

¹⁴ The Lord Who bought you and sets you free, the Holy One of Israel, says, “Because of you I have sent to Babylon, and will bring down all their leaders, even the Babylonians, into the ships in which they find joy. ¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Maker of Israel, your King.” ¹⁶ This is what the Lord says, Who makes a way through the sea and a path through the powerful waters, ¹⁷ Who brings out the war-wagon and the horse, the army and the strong man, (They will lie down together and will not rise again. They are destroyed, put out like the fire of a little light): ¹⁸ “Do not remember the things that have happened before. Do not think about the things of the past. ¹⁹ See, I will do a new thing. It will begin happening now. Will you not know about it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. ²⁰ The wild animals will honor Me, the wild dogs and the ostriches. For I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people. ²¹ The people whom I made for Myself will make known My praise.

²² “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob! You have become tired of Me, O Israel! ²³ You have not brought the sheep of your burnt gifts to Me in worship. You have not honored Me with your gifts on the altar. I have not made you bring gifts or special perfume to Me. ²⁴ You have not bought Me any sweet smelling plants with money. And you have not given Me the fat of your gifts on the altar. Instead you have put the weight of your sins upon Me. You have made Me tired with your wrong-doing.

²⁵ “I, even I, am the One Who takes away your sins because of Who I am. And I will not remember your sins. ²⁶ Make Me remember, and let us talk together. Make your cause known, that you may be shown not to be guilty. ²⁷ Your first father sinned, and those who have spoken for you have sinned against Me. ²⁸ So I will make unclean the leaders of the holy place. I will give Jacob over to be destroyed, and Israel to sharp words of shame.

Good Will Come to Israel

44 “But now listen, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. ² This is what the Lord Who made you, Who put you together before you were born, Who will help you, says, ‘Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. ³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land and rivers on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your children, and will bring good to your children’s children. ⁴ They will grow like grass in the fields, and like poplar trees by the rivers.’ ⁵ This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s.’ And that one will call on the name of Jacob. Another will write on his hand, ‘I belong to the Lord,’ and will name Israel’s name with honor.”

Only One God

⁶ The Lord, the King of Israel and the One Who saves and frees from sin, the Lord of All, says, “I am the first and I am the last. There is no God besides Me. ⁷ Who is like Me? Let him make it known. Yes, let him tell Me what happened from the time I made people long ago. And let him tell the things that are coming and what is going to happen. ⁸ Do not fear. Do not be afraid. Have I not made it known to you from long ago? And you have heard Me. Is there a God besides Me? No, there is no other Rock. I know of none.”

Following False Gods Is Sinful

⁹ All who make objects to worship are for nothing. The things they think are worth much are worth nothing. Those who speak for them do not see or know, so they will be put to shame. ¹⁰ Who has made a false god or an object of worship that is of no worth? ¹¹ See, all his friends will be put to shame, for the workmen themselves are only men. Let them all gather, let them stand up, let them shake with fear, and let them together be put to shame.

¹² The one who works with iron makes a sharp tool for cutting, working over a fire. He makes it by beating it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry and has no strength. He drinks no water and becomes tired. ¹³ One works with wood, he marks it, and draws on it with a red marker. He makes it smooth and makes it like a man, like the beauty of a man, so that it may sit in a house. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedar trees, and takes a cypress or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees. He plants a fir tree, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself. He makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it. He makes an object of worship and bows down in front of it. ¹⁶ He burns half of it in the fire. Over this half he eats meat as he makes it ready, and is filled. He also warms himself and says, “O, I am warm. I see the fire.” ¹⁷ But he makes the rest of it into a god, his object of worship. He bows down in front of it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Bring me out of my trouble, for you are my god.”

¹⁸ They do not know, and they do not understand. For the Lord has covered their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹ And no one remembers about it, or knows or understands enough to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, and have baked bread over the fire. I have cooked the meat over a fire and have eaten it. Should I make the rest of it into an object the Lord hates? Should I bow down in front of a block of wood?” ²⁰ He eats ashes! A false idea in his heart has led him the wrong way. And he cannot save himself or say, “Is not what I have here in my right hand a lie?”

The Lord Does Not Forget Israel

²¹ “Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel, for you are My servant. I have made you, you are My servant. O Israel, I will not forget you. ²² I have taken away your wrong-doing like a dark cloud, and your sins like a fog. Return to Me, for I have bought you and set you free.” ²³ Call out for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Call out for joy, you deep places of the earth. Break out into singing, you mountains and every tree. For the Lord has bought Jacob and set him free and has shown His shining-greatness in Israel!

People Will Live in Jerusalem Again

²⁴ The Lord, Who makes you, bought you and saves you, and the One Who put you together before you were born, says, “I am the Lord, Who made all things. I alone spread out the heavens, and I alone spread out the earth. ²⁵ I allow trouble to come on the special things done by men who lie and speak in pride. I make fools out of those who tell the future using their secret ways. I turn back wise men, and make their learning foolish. ²⁶ I make the word of My servant sure, and act upon the words of the men who speak for Me. It is I Who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will have people living in her,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built.’ And I will build her up again. ²⁷ It is I Who says to the deep sea, ‘Dry up!’ And I will dry up your rivers. ²⁸ It is I Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he will do all that I want him to do,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the house of God, ‘Your first stones will be laid again.’”

The Christian Is Complete in Christ

2 I want you to know how hard I have worked for you and for the Christians in the city of Laodicea and for those who have never seen me. ² May their hearts be given comfort. May they be brought close together in Christian love. May they be rich in understanding and know God’s secret. It is Christ Himself. ³ In Christ are hidden all the riches of wisdom and understanding. ⁴ I tell you this so no one will try to change your mind with big sounding talk. ⁵ Even if I am far away from you in body, I am with you in spirit. I am happy to learn how well you are getting along. It is good to hear that your faith is so strong in Christ. ⁶ As you have put your trust in Christ Jesus the Lord to save you from the punishment of sin, now let Him lead you in every step. ⁷ Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.

Wisdom of the World Is Empty

⁸ Be careful that no one changes your mind and faith by much learning and big sounding ideas. Those things are what men dream up. They are always trying to make new religions. These leave out Christ. ⁹ For Christ is not only God-like, He is God in human flesh. ¹⁰ When you have Christ, you are complete. He is the head over all leaders and powers. ¹¹ When you became a Christian, you were set free from the sinful things of the world. This was not done by human hands. You were set free from the sins of your old self by what was done in Christ’s body. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried as Christ was buried. When you were raised up in baptism, you were raised as Christ was raised. You were raised to a new life by putting your trust in God. It was God Who raised Jesus from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ. ¹⁴ We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ God took away the power of the leaders of this world and the powers of darkness. He showed them to the world. The battle was won over them through Christ.

Watch for Those Who Want to Keep the Law

¹⁶ Do not let anyone tell you what you should or should not eat or drink. They have no right to say if it is right or wrong to eat certain foods or if you are to go to religious suppers. They have no right to say what you are to do at the time of the new moon or on the Day of Rest. ¹⁷ These things are a picture of what is coming. The important thing is Christ Himself. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone rob you of your crown. They will try to get you to bow down in worship of angels. They think this shows you are not proud. They say they were told to do this in a dream. These people are proud because of their sinful minds. ¹⁹ Such people are not a part of Christ. Christ is the Head. We Christians make up His body. We are joined together as a body is held together. Our strength to grow comes from Christ.

²⁰ You have died with Christ and become dead to those old ways. Then why do you follow the old ways of worship? Why do you obey man-made rules? ²¹ These rules say, “You must not put your hand on this.” “Do not put this into your mouth.” “You must not put your finger on that.” ²² All these things come to an end when they are used. You are following only man-made rules. ²³ It looks as if it is wise to follow these rules in an act of worship, because they are hard on the body. It looks as if they are done without pride, but they are worth nothing. They do not take away a man’s desire to sin.