44 Yet listen now, Jacob my servant,
    and Israel, whom I have chosen.
² This is what Yahweh who made you,
    and formed you from the womb,
    who will help you says:
“Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant;
    and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
    and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour my Spirit on your descendants,
    and my blessing on your offspring:
⁴ and they will spring up among the grass,
    as willows by the watercourses.
⁵ One will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s;’
    and another will be called by the name of Jacob;
    and another will write with his hand ‘to Yahweh,’
    and honor the name of Israel.”

⁶ This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel,
    and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says:
“I am the first, and I am the last;
    and besides me there is no God.
⁷ Who is like me?
    Who will call,
    and will declare it,
    and set it in order for me,
    since I established the ancient people?
Let them declare the things that are coming,
    and that will happen.
⁸ Don’t fear,
    neither be afraid.
Haven’t I declared it to you long ago,
    and shown it?
You are my witnesses.
    Is there a God besides me?
Indeed, there is not.
    I don’t know any other Rock.”

⁹ Everyone who makes a carved image is vain.
    The things that they delight in will not profit.
    Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
¹⁰ Who has fashioned a god,
    or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
¹¹ Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed;
    and the workmen are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together.
    Let them stand up.
    They will fear.
    They will be put to shame together.

¹² The blacksmith takes an ax,
    works in the coals,
    fashions it with hammers,
    and works it with his strong arm.
He is hungry,
    and his strength fails;
he drinks no water,
    and is faint.
¹³ The carpenter stretches out a line.
    He marks it out with a pencil.
    He shapes it with planes.
    He marks it out with compasses,
    and shapes it like the figure of a man,
    with the beauty of a man,
    to reside in a house.
¹⁴ He cuts down cedars for himself,
    and takes the cypress and the oak,
    and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest.
He plants a cypress tree,
    and the rain nourishes it.
¹⁵ Then it will be for a man to burn;
    and he takes some of it, and warms himself.
    Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread.
Yes, he makes a god, and worships it;
    he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
¹⁶ He burns part of it in the fire.
    With part of it, he eats meat.
    He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
Yes, he warms himself,
    and says, “Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire.”
¹⁷ The rest of it he makes into a god,
    even his engraved image.
He bows down to it and worships,
    and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!”

¹⁸ They don’t know, neither do they consider:
    for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see;
    and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
¹⁹ No one thinks,
    neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
    “I have burned part of it in the fire.
    Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals.
    I have roasted meat and eaten it.
    Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination?
    Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?”
²⁰ He feeds on ashes.
    A deceived heart has turned him aside;
    and he can’t deliver his soul,
    nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”

²¹ Remember these things, Jacob and Israel;
    for you are my servant.
    I have formed you.
    You are my servant.
    Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
²² I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions,
    and, as a cloud, your sins.
    Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³ Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it!
    Shout, you lower parts of the earth!
    Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees,
    for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob,
    and will glorify himself in Israel.

²⁴ Yahweh, your Redeemer,
    and he who formed you from the womb says:
“I am Yahweh, who makes all things;
    who alone stretches out the heavens;
    who spreads out the earth by myself;
²⁵ who frustrates the signs of the liars,
    and makes diviners mad;
who turns wise men backward,
    and makes their knowledge foolish;
²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant,
    and performs the counsel of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’
    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’
    and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’
²⁷ who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’
    and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
²⁸ Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’
    even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’
    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”