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Isaiah 44
New English Translation

The Lord Will Renew Israel

44 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says—
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun,[a] whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the parched ground[b]
and cause streams to flow[c] on the dry land.
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,[d]
like poplars beside channels of water.
5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use[e] the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”[f]

The Absurdity of Idolatry

6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,
their Protector,[g] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim![h]
Let him announce it and explain it to me—
since I established an ancient people[i]—
let them announce future events.[j]
8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid![k]
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock;[l] I know of none.
9 All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
10 Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless?[m]
11 Look, all his associates[n] will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans.[o]
Let them all assemble and take their stand.
They will panic and be put to shame.
12 A blacksmith works with his tool[p]
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it[q] with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;[r]
he drinks no water and gets tired.
13 A carpenter takes measurements;[s]
he marks out an outline of its form;[t]
he scrapes[u] it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,[v]
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.[w]
14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress[x] or an oak.
He gets[y] trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar[z] and the rain makes it grow.
15 A man uses it to make a fire;[aa]
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.[ab]
16 Half of it he burns in the fire—
over that half he cooks[ac] meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.[ad]
19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire—
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’[ae]
20 He feeds on ashes;[af]
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’[ag]
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
O Israel, for you are my servant.
I formed you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you![ah]
22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud.[ai]
Come back to me, for I protect[aj] you.”
23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes;[ak]
shout out, you subterranean regions[al] of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees![am]
For the Lord protects[an] Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel.[ao]

The Lord Empowers Cyrus

24 This is what the Lord, your Protector,[ap] says,
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself,[aq]
25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers[ar]
and humiliates[as] the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men[at]
and makes their advice[au] seem foolish,
26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants[av]
and brings to pass the announcements[aw] of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!
I will dry up your sea currents,’
28 who commissions[ax] Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd[ay]
to carry out all my wishes[az]
and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’
and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’[ba]

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:2 sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.
  2. Isaiah 44:3 tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)
  3. Isaiah 44:3 tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
  4. Isaiah 44:4 tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.
  5. Isaiah 44:5 tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”
  6. Isaiah 44:5 tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”
  7. Isaiah 44:6 tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
  8. Isaiah 44:7 tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”
  9. Isaiah 44:7 tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmiʿim meʿolam ʾotiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.
  10. Isaiah 44:7 tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”
  11. Isaiah 44:8 tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form likely needs to be emended to תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa.
  12. Isaiah 44:8 tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”
  13. Isaiah 44:10 tn The rhetorical question is sarcastic. The sense is, “Who is foolish enough…?”
  14. Isaiah 44:11 tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.
  15. Isaiah 44:11 sn The point seems to be this: if the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”
  16. Isaiah 44:12 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (maʿatsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
  17. Isaiah 44:12 tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.
  18. Isaiah 44:12 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
  19. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
  20. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
  21. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
  22. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
  23. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
  24. Isaiah 44:14 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
  25. Isaiah 44:14 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
  26. Isaiah 44:14 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (ʾoren) to אֶרֶז (ʾerez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
  27. Isaiah 44:15 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
  28. Isaiah 44:15 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
  29. Isaiah 44:16 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
  30. Isaiah 44:18 tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”
  31. Isaiah 44:19 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
  32. Isaiah 44:20 tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”
  33. Isaiah 44:20 tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”
  34. Isaiah 44:21 tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
  35. Isaiah 44:22 tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (ʿav) and עָנָן (ʿanan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).
  36. Isaiah 44:22 tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.
  37. Isaiah 44:23 tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”
  38. Isaiah 44:23 tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.
  39. Isaiah 44:23 tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”
  40. Isaiah 44:23 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
  41. Isaiah 44:23 tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”
  42. Isaiah 44:24 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
  43. Isaiah 44:24 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.
  44. Isaiah 44:25 tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).
  45. Isaiah 44:25 tn Or “makes fools of” (NIV, NRSV); NAB and NASB both similar.
  46. Isaiah 44:25 tn Heb “who turns back the wise” (so NRSV); NIV “overthrows the learning of the wise”; TEV “The words of the wise I refute.”
  47. Isaiah 44:25 tn Heb “their knowledge” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
  48. Isaiah 44:26 tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.
  49. Isaiah 44:26 tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (ʿetsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.
  50. Isaiah 44:28 tn Heb “says to.” It is possible that the sentence is not completed, as the description of Cyrus and his God-given role is developed in the rest of the verse. 45:1 picks up where 44:28a leaves off with the Lord’s actual words to Cyrus finally being quoted in 45:2.
  51. Isaiah 44:28 tn Heb “my shepherd.” The shepherd motif is sometimes applied, as here, to a royal figure who is responsible for the well-being of the people whom he rules.
  52. Isaiah 44:28 tn Heb “that he might bring to completion all my desire.”
  53. Isaiah 44:28 tn Heb “and [concerning the] temple, you will be founded.” The preposition -לְ (le) is understood by ellipsis at the beginning of the second line. The verb תִּוָּסֵד (tivvased, “you will be founded”) is second masculine singular and is probably addressed to the personified temple (הֵיכָל [hekhal, “temple”] is masculine).
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Isaiah 44
Expanded Bible

The Lord Is the Only God

44 The Lord says, “·People of Jacob, you are my servants [L Jacob, my servant]. Listen to me!
    ·People of Israel, I chose you [L Israel, my chosen; 41:8].”
2 This is what the Lord says, who made you,
    who formed you in ·your mother’s body [L the womb],
    who will help you:
“·People of Jacob, my servants [L Jacob, my servant], don’t be afraid.
    ·Israel [L Jeshurun; C the location of the Temple; Deut. 32:15; 33:5, 26], I chose you.
3 I will pour out water for the thirsty land
    and make streams flow on dry land.
I will pour out my Spirit ·into your children [on your descendants/offspring/seed]
    and my blessing on your ·descendants [offspring].
4 ·Your children [L They] will ·grow [sprout up] like a tree in the grass,
    like ·poplar trees [or willows] growing beside streams of water.
5 One person will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
    and another will use the name Jacob.
Another will ·sign his name [or write on his hand] ‘I am the Lord’s,’
    and another will ·use [call himself by] the name Israel.”

6 The Lord, the king of Israel,
    is the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], who saves Israel.
This is what he says: “I am the ·beginning and the end [L first and the last].
    ·I am the only God [There is no god but me].
7 Who is like me?
    Let him ·come and prove [proclaim; claim] it.
Let him tell and explain all that has happened since I ·set up [established] my ancient people.
    He should also tell what will happen in the future.
8 Don’t be afraid! Don’t ·worry [fear]!
    ·I have always told you what will happen [Have I not proclaimed it long ago?].
You are my witnesses.
    ·There is no other [L Is there another…?] God but me.
I know of no other Rock; I am the only One.”

Idols Are Useless

9 Some people make idols, but they are ·worth nothing [nothing; void].
    People treasure them, but they are ·useless [worthless].
Those people are witnesses for the statues, but those people cannot see.
    They know nothing, so they will be ·ashamed [put to shame; C idolmakers are as ignorant as their idols].
10 Who makes a god or ·shapes [casts; molds] an idol
    that can do nothing for him?
11 [L Look; T Behold] ·The workmen who made them [L All his compansions] will be ·ashamed [put to shame],
    because ·they [L the craftsmen] are only human.
If they all would come together to stand against me,
    they would all be ·afraid [terrified] and ·ashamed [put to shame].

12 One ·workman [blacksmith] uses tools to heat iron,
    and he works over hot coals.
With his hammer he beats the metal and makes a statue,
    using his powerful arms.
But when he becomes hungry, he loses his ·power [strength].
    If he does not drink water, he becomes tired.

13 ·Another workman [A carpenter/craftsman] ·uses a line and a compass [L stretches a line]
    to draw on the wood.
Then he uses his chisels to cut a statue
    and his ·calipers [compass] to measure the statue.
In this way, the workman makes the wood ·look exactly like a person [like the pattern of a man],
    and this statue of a person ·sits [or dwells] in ·the house [or a shrine].
14 He cuts down cedars
    or cypress or oak trees.
·Those trees grew by their own power in [or He secures it for himself from] the forest.
    Or he plants a pine tree, and the rain makes it grow.
15 Then he burns the tree.
    He uses some of the wood for a fire to keep himself warm.
    He also starts a fire to bake his bread.
But he uses part of the wood to make a god, and then he worships it!
    He makes the idol and bows down to it [C showing the absurdity of worshiping an idol made from the same material he burns]!
16 The man burns half of the wood in the fire.
    He uses the fire to cook his meat,
    and he eats the meat until he is full.
He also burns the wood to keep himself warm. He says,
    “Good! Now I am warm. ·I can see because of the fire’s light [or …as I watch the fire; L I have seen the fire].”
17 But he makes a statue from the wood that is left and calls it his god.
    He bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it and says,
    “You are my god. ·Save [Rescue] me!”
18 Those people ·don’t know what they are doing [or know nothing]. They ·don’t understand [are ignorant]!
    ·It is as if their eyes are covered [or They shut their eyes] so they can’t see.
    Their minds don’t understand.
19 ·They have not thought about these things [No one considers];
    they don’t understand.
They have never thought to themselves,
    “I burned half of the wood in the fire
    and used the hot coals to bake my bread.
    I cooked and ate my meat.
·And I used the wood that [or Should I use what…?] was left to make this ·hateful [abominable; detestable] thing.
    ·I am worshiping [or Should I bow down to…?] a block of wood!”
20 He ·doesn’t know what he is doing [L feeds on ashes; or eats on a pile of ashes];
    his ·confused mind [deluded/deceived heart] leads him ·the wrong way [astray].
He cannot ·save [rescue; T deliver] himself
    or say, “·This statue I am holding is a false god [L Is there not a lie in my right hand?].”

The Lord Is the True God

21 “·People of Jacob [L Jacob], remember these things!
    ·People of Israel [L Israel], remember you are my servants.
I ·made [shaped; formed] you, and you are my servants.
    So Israel, I will not forget you.
22 I have ·swept away [removed; or blotted out] your ·sins [offenses; transgressions] like a big cloud;
    I have removed your sins like a ·cloud that disappears into the air [mist].
Come back to me because I ·saved [redeemed] you.”

23 ·Skies [or Heavens], sing for joy because the Lord ·did great things [or acts; intervenes; L has done this]!
    Earth, shout for joy, even in your deepest parts!
·Sing [Break into song], you mountains, with thanks to God.
    Sing, too, you forests and all your trees!
The Lord ·saved [redeemed] ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob]!
    He ·showed his glory when he saved [L is glorified in] Israel.
24 This is what the Lord ·who saved you [your redeemer] says,
    the one who formed you in ·your mother’s body [L the womb]:
“I, the Lord, made everything,
    stretching out the skies by myself
    and spreading out the earth all alone.
25 I ·show that the signs of the lying prophets are false [L frustrate the signs of babblers/or empty talkers];
    I make fools of ·those who do magic [diviners].
I ·confuse even [reverse what is said by] the wise;
    they think they know much, but I make ·them look foolish [their knowledge into foolishness].
26 I ·make the messages of my servants come true [confirm my servants’ words];
    I make the ·advice [or prophecies] of my messengers come true.
I say to Jerusalem,
    ‘·People will live in you again [L It will be inhabited]!’
I say to the towns of Judah,
    ‘You will be built again!’
I say to Jerusalem’s ruins,
    ‘I will ·repair you [raise you up].’
27 I tell the deep waters, ‘Become dry!
    I will make your streams become dry!’
28 I say of Cyrus [C the Persian king (ruled 550–530 bc) who allowed Israel to return from exile; 41:2; 44:28—45:6; 46:11; 48:14–16], ‘He is my shepherd
    and will ·do [fulfill] all that I want him to do.
    He will say to Jerusalem, “You will be built again!”
He will tell the Temple, “Your foundations will be rebuilt.”’”

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