Isaiah 38-48
EasyEnglish Bible
Hezekiah becomes ill
38 At that time, Hezekiah became very ill. He nearly died. Then Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet, went to Hezekiah. He said to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You will soon die. You will not get better. So you must tell your family what to do after your death.” ’
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall and he prayed to the Lord. 3 He prayed, ‘Lord, please remember that I have served you well. I have always obeyed you. You could trust me to do the things that you told me to do.’ Hezekiah wept very much.
4 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 5 ‘Go and say this to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord says, the God that your ancestor David worshipped. I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. So I will let you live for 15 more years. 6 I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will keep Jerusalem safe.” ’
7 Isaiah said, ‘The Lord will do what he has promised to do for you. This is how you will know that it will really happen. 8 You can see the sun's shadow when it falls on the stairs that King Ahaz built. The Lord will cause the shadow to go back ten steps on these stairs.’ Then the shadow did go back ten steps!
Hezekiah's song
9 When Hezekiah became better from his disease, he wrote this song:
10 I thought that I might die in the middle of my life.
I thought that I would go into the deep hole of death,
before I had lived all the years of my life.
11 I thought, ‘I will not see the Lord again,
while I live in this world.
I will no longer see the people who live in the world.
I will no longer live among them.’
12 My home here has gone,
as easily as they pull down a shepherd's tent.
God has cut off my life,
like a piece of cloth that they have just made.
They cut it off and they roll it up.
As quickly as day becomes night,
God brings my life to an end.
13 I waited until morning would come.
It seemed like God was breaking all my bones,
like a lion does.
As quickly as day becomes night,
God brings my life to an end.
14 I cry like a swallow.
I make a sad noise like a dove.
My eyes are weak as I look up to heaven for help.
Lord God, save me from my trouble!
15 I do not know what I can say.
The Lord has told me what must happen.
He has done what he decided to do.
I will live quietly for the rest of my life,
because I am very sad and upset.
16 Lord God, your promises give life to people.
May they give life to my spirit.
Please make me well again and let me live.
17 Yes, it was good for me to have this trouble.
You rescued me from the deep hole of death.
You removed my sins,
and you put them behind your back.
18 Dead people in their graves cannot praise you.
They cannot sing to thank you.
People who go down into the deep hole of death
cannot trust you to help them.
19 It is those people who are alive that can thank you.
And I am doing it today.
Fathers tell their children that they can trust you.
20 The Lord will now save me from death.
We will sing to thank the Lord in his temple.
We will sing with happy music every day of our lives.
21 Now Isaiah had said this: ‘Take some figs to make a medicine and put it on Hezekiah's boil. Then he will get better.’ 22 Hezekiah had asked, ‘What will show me that I will be able to go up to the Lord's temple?’[a]
Hezekiah's mistake
39 At that time, Baladan's son, Merodach-Baladan, was the king of Babylon. Merodach-Baladan sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah. He had heard the news that Hezekiah had been ill, but he was now better. 2 Hezekiah was happy to meet the officers who came from the king of Babylon. Hezekiah showed them the places where he stored his valuable things. He showed them all his silver and gold things, his spices and very valuable olive oil. He also showed them all his weapons. Hezekiah showed them all his valuable things. There was nothing in his palace or in his whole kingdom that he did not show to the king of Babylon's officers.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah. Isaiah asked the king, ‘What did those men say? Where did they come from?’ Hezekiah replied, ‘They came to me from Babylon, far away.’ 4 Isaiah asked, ‘What did they see in your palace?’ Hezekiah said, ‘They saw everything that is in my palace. I showed all my valuable things to them.’
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord Almighty:
6 “Understand this! One day, soldiers from Babylon will carry away all your valuable things. Everything that you and your ancestors have stored here until now will go to Babylon. They will leave nothing here. 7 Some of your own descendants will also go to Babylon. Soldiers from Babylon will take them away from here. Your descendants will become eunuchs in the king of Babylon's palace.” That is what the Lord says. ’
8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The Lord's message that you have spoken to me is good.’
But he was thinking, ‘While I am still alive, people will live safely without any trouble.’
God's promises to his people
40 Your God says, ‘Comfort my people.
Yes, comfort them.
2 Speak kindly to the people in Jerusalem.
Tell them that their time of trouble has now finished.
Their punishment has been enough.
The Lord has made them pay for their sins.
He has made them pay twice.’
3 Somebody's voice is shouting,
‘Prepare a way in the wilderness for the Lord.
Make a straight road in the desert for our God.
4 Raise up every valley,
and bring down every mountain and hill.
The rough ground and the ground that has rocks
will become flat.
5 Then the great glory of the Lord will appear!
All people will see it at the same time.
The Lord himself has promised this.’
6 A voice is saying, ‘Shout!’
But I say, ‘What should I shout?’
‘Shout that all people are like grass.
Their promises are like the flowers in a field.
7 Grass quickly dies,
and flowers fall to the ground.
The Lord causes this to happen,
when he sends a wind to blow on them.
It is true. People are like grass.
8 Grass quickly dies,
and flowers fall to the ground.
But God's promise will be true for ever.’
9 Zion, you have good news to tell to people!
So go up onto a high mountain.
Yes, Jerusalem, shout the good news!
Shout aloud, and do not be afraid.
Say to the towns in Judah, ‘Here is your God!’
10 Look! The Almighty Lord is coming with power.
He will use his great strength to rule the people.
Look again! He is bringing his gifts with him.
He brings the prize that he has won in battle.
11 He takes care of his people,
like a shepherd who takes care of his sheep.[b]
He picks up the young lambs
and he carries them near to his heart.
He carefully leads the mother sheep that have lambs.
12 Nobody has done what God has done!
He measured all the water of the seas in one hand.
He used his hand to measure the whole sky.
He carefully weighed the soil of the earth.
He carefully weighed the mountains in his scales,
and the hills too.
13 Nobody understands the mind of the Lord.
Nobody can be his advisor,
to tell him what he should do.
14 He does not ask anyone to be his guide.
Nobody can teach him the proper way to do things.
Nobody can give him knowledge.
Nobody can teach him how to understand things.
15 The Lord looks at the nations
as if they are a little bit of water in a bucket.
They are like dust on his scales.
He weighs the islands as he would weigh dust.
16 All the trees from Lebanon's forests are not enough
to make a fire for his altar.
All its animals are not enough to offer to him
as burnt offerings.
17 All the nations in the world are not important to the Lord.
He sees them as empty and useless.
18 You cannot find anyone else who is like God.
There is no image that you can make to be like him.
19 A worker may use special skill to make an idol.
Another worker may cover it with gold.
He may use silver chains to make it beautiful.
20 A poor person may choose special wood for his idol.
He chooses wood that will not quickly become spoiled.
Then he finds a worker to make an idol for him.
He makes it so that it will not fall over!
21 You must surely know what is true!
You must have heard about it.
Somebody must have told you these things
from the beginning.
You should have understood it all
since the time that God made the earth.
22 God sits high above on his throne
where the earth and the sky meet.
The people on the earth seem like grasshoppers to him.
He hangs out the sky like a curtain.
He makes it like a tent for him to live in.
23 He takes away the power of kings.
He causes the rulers of the world to be useless.
24 They are like plants that soon disappear.
Somebody plants them in the ground.
But while their roots are still growing into the soil,
God blows on them and they become dry.
Then the wind carries them away like straw.
25 The Holy God says,
‘You cannot find anyone who is like me.
Nobody is the same as me.’
26 Look up at the sky!
Think about the one who made all the stars.
God is the one who brought together that great army!
He knows how many they are
and he knows each of their names!
When he calls them, each one is there,
because he is so strong and powerful.
27 You Israelites, descendants of Jacob, say,
‘The Lord does not know about our troubles.
He does not bring justice to us.’
Why do you say that?
28 You must surely know what is true!
You must have heard about it.
The Lord is the God who lives for ever.
He made the whole earth, near and far.
He never becomes tired or weak.
He knows and he understands everything.
29 He makes tired people strong again.
When people have become weak,
he gives them more strength.
30 Even young people become tired and weak.
Even strong young men may slip and fall down.
31 But people who wait for the Lord to help them
will receive new strength.
They will rise up high,
as if they have the wings of eagles.
They will run and they will not become tired.
They will walk and they will not become weak.
God judges the nations
41 ‘You islands, be quiet as you listen to me.
The nations need to come and stand in front of me.
So they must be brave and speak to me.
We must meet together to decide who is right.
2 Tell me, who has woken up that king in the east?
Who has chosen that king to serve him?
He has given that king power over many nations,
so that the kings of those nations must obey him.
He uses that king's weapons to destroy other nations.
He blows them away like dust or straw.
3 That king chases quickly after them,
and nothing hurts him.
His feet do not seem to touch the ground!
4 Tell me, who has caused these things to happen?
Who has decided what should happen,
from the beginning, century after century?
It is I, the Lord!
I was there at the beginning,
and I will always be there, through to the end.
5 The people on the islands see what I am doing,
and they are afraid.
People all over the world shake with fear.
They join together and they come near.
6 They help each other,
and they say to one another, “Be strong!” ’
7 The man who makes things with wood speaks to the man who works with gold and the man who works with iron. They help each other to work well. They say, ‘We have done a good job.’ Then they use nails to fix the idol that they have made, so that it does not fall over!
8 ‘But you, Israel, are my servant.
Yes, I have chosen you, descendants of Jacob.
You are descendants of my friend, Abraham.
9 I led you back from the ends of the earth.
I called you to come from places far away.
I have said to you, “You are my servant.
I have chosen you. I have not thrown you away.
10 I am with you,
so do not be afraid.
I am your God,
so do not be upset.
I will make you strong
and I will help you.
My powerful right hand will keep you safe.”
11 Listen to this! Everyone who has been angry with you
will now become completely ashamed.
Those who have attacked you will disappear and die.
12 Even if you look for your enemies,
you will not find them.
They will all disappear!
13 Yes, I am the Lord, your God.
I will hold on to your right hand.
I say to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.”
14 Do not be afraid, you Israelites, descendants of Jacob.
You may seem unimportant, like a worm,
but I myself will help you.’
That is what the Lord says.
He is your Redeemer, the Holy God of Israel.
15 ‘Look at this! I will cause you to destroy your enemies,
like a heavy weight that threshes grain.[c]
You will have new sharp metal points that are like teeth.
You will thresh the mountains
and you will break them into pieces.
You will make the hills become like straw.
16 You will throw them into the air,
and the wind will blow them away in all directions!
You will be happy with what the Lord has done for you.
You will boast that the Holy God of Israel is your God.
17 Poor and helpless people look for water to drink,
but there is none.
They are so thirsty that their tongues are dry.
But I, the Lord, will answer their prayers.
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them alone.
18 I will make rivers run over the dry hills.
I will make springs of water in the valleys.
I will make pools of water in the desert.
The dry land will become a place of streams.
19 Many trees will grow in the wilderness.
Cedar, acacia, myrtle and olive trees will grow there.
In the dry valleys
there will be pine, fir and cypress trees.[d]
20 I will do this so that people see it happen.
They will watch carefully and they will understand.
They will know that the Lord's power
has caused it to happen.
They will know that the Holy God of Israel
has created it.’
False gods have no power
21 The Lord, Israel's King, says,
‘Come and show me what you can do!
Tell me clearly what power you have!
22 Bring your idols into court.
Let them tell us what will happen in future years.
Let them tell us what happened in the past.
Then we can think about those things.
We will understand what happened in the end.
Or ask them to tell us about future events!
23 If they can tell us what will happen in future years,
we will know that they really are gods.
Tell them to do something,
a good thing or a bad thing.
That would really surprise us,
or even frighten us!
24 But no! Your idols are useless.
There is nothing that they can do.
Anybody who chooses to worship them
has turned against God!
25 I have woken up a ruler,
who is coming with his army from the north.
He comes from a land in the east, where the sun rises,
and he will use my name to call to me.
He will walk over rulers of other nations
as if they are mud.
He will push them down with his feet,
like a potter who prepares his clay.
26 Tell me, who decided in the beginning,
that all these things must happen?
Who told us about them before they happened?
Then we could say, “He was right!”
None of your idols said anything about it!
Nobody heard them say a word!
27 I, the Lord, was the first person
to tell the good news to Zion.
I sent someone to Jerusalem to say,
“Look, they have arrived!”
28 I looked among your idols,
to see who might be a good advisor.
But none of them could help.
None of them could answer my questions.
29 Look! All the idols are useless.
They can do nothing.
Their images are as weak as a breath of wind.’
The Lord's special Servant[e]
42 ‘Here is my servant.
I give him strength.
I have chosen him.
He makes me very happy.
I have put my Spirit on him.
He will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry out.
He will not shout.
He will not speak loudly in the streets.
3 He will not hurt weak people,
like someone who breaks a weak reed.
He will not destroy helpless people,
like someone who puts out a weak flame.
He will be kind to people,
and he will judge them in a fair way.
4 He will remain strong and brave,
until he brings justice to the whole world.
People who are in lands far away
will wait for him to teach them.’
5 The Lord is God. He is the God who created the sky. He hung it up like a curtain. He created the earth and everything that lives on it. He gives life and breath to all the people who live on it. The Lord says to his servant:
6 ‘I have chosen you to bring righteousness.
I will take hold of your hand,
and I will keep you safe.
Through you, I will make a covenant with my people,
and you will bring light to the other nations.
7 You will cause blind people to see.
You will cause prisoners to be free.
You will bring out into the open
people who sit in dark prisons.
8 I am the Lord. That is my name.
I will not let anyone else share my glory.
I will not let people praise idols.
I am the only one that they must praise.
9 Everything that I promised in the past has happened
as I said that it would happen.
Now I will tell you about new things.
Before they start to happen,
I will tell you about them.’
10 Sing a new song to the Lord!
All over the earth, people should praise him.
Praise him, you people who travel over the sea
and everything that lives in the sea.
Praise him, you people who live in lands far away.
11 People who live in the towns of the desert
should shout aloud to praise him.
Kedar's people should praise him
in the places where they live.
The people who live in Sela should sing aloud with joy.
They should shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 They should all honour the Lord
as he deserves.
Those who live in lands far away
should praise him for what he has done.
13 The Lord marches out to battle,
like a brave soldier.
He is angry with his enemies,
and he is ready to attack them.
He shouts loudly as he attacks,
and he shows his power over them.
14 The Lord says,
‘I have been quiet for a long time.
I have held back my anger.
But now I am ready to deliver!
I will cry out and shout and groan,
like a woman who is ready to give birth.
15 I will destroy the mountains and the hills.
I will cause the plants that grow on them to die.
I will cause the rivers to become dry islands.
I will cause the pools of water to become dry.
16 I will lead my blind people
along ways that they did not know before.
I will be their guide,
as they walk along paths that are new to them.
I will change the dark places that are in front of them,
so that they become places with light.
And I will cause the rough ground to become flat.
Those are the things that I will do for them.
I will not leave my people alone.
17 But I will push away people who trust idols to help them.
Those people will become ashamed.
They say to images that they have made,
“You are our gods.”
18 Listen to me, you deaf people!
Look at this, you blind people!
19 Who is blind?
Nobody is as blind as my servant.[f]
Who is deaf?
Nobody is as deaf as the one who takes my message.
The people that I agreed a covenant with are blind!
Yes, the servant of the Lord is truly blind!
20 You Israelites have seen many things,
but you do not understand them.
You have opened your ears to listen,
but you have not really heard anything.’
21 The Lord always does what is right. So he has made his law great and important. He is happy when people respect his law.
22 But enemies have robbed God's people and they have taken away all their valuable things. Their enemies have caught them in traps and they have made them prisoners. There is nobody who will rescue them. Their enemies have stored them safely, and nobody says, ‘Send them back.’
23 Will any of you listen to my message?
Will you think carefully about it in the future?
24 Who put Jacob's descendants
under the power of their enemies?
Who gave the Israelites
to people who would rob them?
It was the Lord!
He is the one that we have not obeyed.
His people did not live in the way that he wanted.
They did not obey his law.
25 So the Lord was very angry with them.
He punished them with a cruel war.
His anger was like a fire all round them,
but they did not understand what he was doing.
His anger burned them,
but they did not learn their lesson.
God redeems Israel
43 Israelites, descendants of Jacob, the Lord created you, and he made you who you are. Now he says this to you:
‘Do not be afraid,
I have rescued you to belong to me.
I have called you by your name,
so now you are mine.
2 When you go through deep water,
I will be with you.
When you cross dangerous rivers,
you will not drown.
When you walk through fire,
it will not burn you.
The flames will not destroy you.[g]
3 I am the Lord, your God,
so I will rescue you.
I am Israel's Holy God, your Saviour.
I gave Egypt as the price to buy you back.
I gave Ethiopia and Seba to their enemies,
so that you could be free.
4 You are very valuable to me.
You are my special people, and I love you.
So I will give other people to their enemies,
to keep your lives safe.
Other nations will pay the price,
instead of you.
5 I am with you,
so do not be afraid.
I will bring your descendants from the east.
I will also bring you together from the west.
6 I will say to people in the north,
“Give them back!”
And I will say to people in the south,
“Do not stop them!”
Bring my sons from places that are far away.
Bring my daughters from the ends of the earth.
7 Bring back everyone who belongs to me.
I created them,
so that they would bring honour to me.
I made them who they are.
Yes, I made them!
8 So bring the people to me.
They have eyes, but they are blind!
They have ears, but they are deaf!
9 Tell the people of all nations to come together.
Did any of their gods tell us what would happen?
If anyone heard them speak the truth,
they should bring those people to this court.
Then they can tell us that they were right.
People could say, “They spoke the truth.” ’
10 The Lord says to his people,
‘You are the people who must say that I am right.
I have chosen you as my servant.
I chose you so that you may know me,
and also believe in me.
Then you would understand that I am the true God.
There has never been any other god except me,
and there never will be.
11 I am the Lord, I alone.
There is no other saviour, except me.
12 I promised to save you,
and I did what I said I would do.
I told everyone what I had done.
There was no foreign god among you,
who did that for you.
So you are the people who must say
that I am the only true God.’
That is what the Lord says.
13 ‘Today and every day, I am God.
If I hold you in my hand,
nobody can take you away from my power.
When I do something,
nobody can change it.’
14 The Lord is your Redeemer, Israel's Holy God. He says this:
‘I will send an army to attack Babylon,
so that you, my people, will be safe.
I will cause all the Babylonians to run away.
They were proud of their great ships,
but now they will use them to escape from their enemies.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy God.
I am the one who created Israel.
I am your King.’
16 The Lord is the one who made a road through the sea for you to cross. You went on a dry path in the middle of the deep water. 17 He led the enemy's great army, with their chariots and their horses, to chase you. They all fell down and the water drowned them. Their lives finished, like the flame of a lamp that stops burning.
18 The Lord did all that for you, but now he says,
‘Forget those things that happened a long time ago.
Do not think about past events.
19 Look! Now I will do something that is new!
It is already beginning to happen.
Surely, you can recognize it.
Yes, I will make a road through the desert.
I will make streams in the wilderness.
20 The wild animals in the desert praise me,
including the jackals and the owls.
They praise me because I put water in the desert,
and streams in the wilderness.
I am giving water to the people that I have chosen,
so that they will not be thirsty.
21 They are the people that I made for myself,
so that they would praise me aloud.
22 But you Israelites, Jacob's descendants,
you did not call to me to help you.
You became tired of serving me.
23 You did not bring sheep to me as burnt offerings.
You did not make sacrifices to me,
to show that you respect me.
I did not make it difficult for you,
when I asked you to bring offerings to me.
When I asked you to burn incense to worship me,
that should not have made you tired.
24 You did not buy any spices
to offer them to me.
You did not bring me the fat from your sacrifices
to make me happy.
Instead, you have made it difficult for me,
because of all your sins.
All the evil things that you do
have caused me to become very tired.
25 But I am the one who removes your sins
when you do not obey me.
I, the Lord, do that, because of who I am.
I do not hold your sins in my mind.
26 So let us talk together about what has happened.
Show me why you think that you are right!
27 Your first ancestor did not obey me.[h]
Your leaders and teachers turned against me.
28 So I caused the priests of your temple
to become ashamed.
I caused enemies to destroy Israel.
I let them insult Jacob's descendants.’
44 ‘Israelites, Jacob's descendants, listen to me!
I have chosen you to be my servant.’
2 The Lord created you. Before you were born, he was already taking care of you. He will continue to help you. He says to you,
‘Do not be afraid, my servant, Jacob.
I call you “Jeshurun”,
and I have chosen you to belong to me.
3 I will pour water onto land that is thirsty.
I will pour streams of water on the dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,
and I will bless them.
4 They will grow up like fresh grass in a field.
They will grow like willow trees beside a river.
5 Someone will say, “I belong to the Lord.”
Another person will call himself by the name “Jacob”.
Someone else will write on his hand, “I am the Lord's”,
and he will call himself “Israel”.’
6 The Lord is Israel's King and Redeemer. He is the Lord Almighty. He says,
‘I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God, except me.
7 Is there anyone like me? If there is, he should say so!
He must tell me why he thinks he is so great.
Long ago I made my people become a nation.
Let him say what he has done since then!
Let him tell us what will happen in future years!
8 My people, do not shake with fear.
Long ago I told you about things that would happen.
You can tell people the truth about me.
You know that I am the only true God.
There is no other Rock to keep you safe.[i]
There surely is no other God except me.’
9 All the people who make idols are fools.
The images which make them so happy are useless.
Those who worship idols cannot see the truth.
They do not understand what they are doing,
and they will be ashamed.
10 Only a fool makes an idol and thinks that it is his god.
An image cannot help him.
11 Those who work with him will all be ashamed.
Those workers with special skills are only human.
They should come together,
and they should stand in front of me.
That will make them very frightened.
They will realize how foolish they are!
12 This is how they make their idols:
A man who works with iron takes his tool. He makes the metal hot in the fire. Then he uses hammers to hit it with his strong arms. He hits it so that it has the right shape. But then he becomes hungry. He is too weak to work any more. He does not drink any water and so he feels tired.
13 A carpenter measures a piece of wood. Then he draws a shape for the image. He uses his tools to cut the wood. He carefully makes it have the right shape. He makes the image have the shape of a human. It looks like a beautiful person. Now it is ready to go in its special room.
14 He may cut down cedar trees to make something. He may cut down a cypress tree, or an oak tree. He takes these trees from the forest. Or he may plant his own pine tree, so that the rain helps it to grow well. 15 He uses some of the wood to burn. He makes himself warm beside the fire. He may light a fire and then he may bake bread on it. Then he uses some of the wood to make a god that he will worship! Yes, he makes an idol, and he bends down in front of it. 16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire. He uses it to cook his meat, and he eats plenty of food. He makes himself warm and he says, ‘Good! Now I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 He uses the rest of the wood to make an idol to be his god. He bends down in front of it and he worships it. He prays to it and he says, ‘Save me, because you are my god!’
18 People like that are stupid. They do not understand anything. They cannot see the truth, as if they are blind. Their minds cannot think properly. 19 None of them think carefully about what they are doing. They do not say to themselves, ‘I burned half of the wood in the fire. I even baked bread and I cooked meat on it. It gave me food to eat. Then I used the rest of the wood to make a useless idol! I took a piece of wood and I worshipped it! Why did I do that?’
20 Someone like that is stupid enough to eat ashes. His mind has deceived him. He cannot save himself from his lies. He will not say to himself, ‘This thing that I hold in my right hand is completely false!’
The Lord takes care of his people
21 The Lord says:
‘Jacob's descendants, remember these things,
because you, Israel, are my servant.
I created you to be my servant.
Israel, I will not forget you.
22 I have removed the guilt of your sins,
like the wind blows away a cloud.
When you turned against me,
I have quickly forgiven you.
Return to me now,
because I have rescued you.’
23 Sing aloud with joy, you heavens above us,
because the Lord has done it!
Shout as loudly as you can,
places deep below the earth.
You mountains, sing with joy,
and you forests and trees as well!
Be happy, because the Lord has redeemed his people.
He has rescued the Israelites, Jacob's descendants,
to show how great he is.
24 The Lord is your Redeemer. He took care of you before you were born. He says,
‘I am the Lord. I made everything.
I alone hung up the sky like a curtain.
I made the whole earth by myself.
25 I show that the false prophets speak useless messages.
I show that those who use magic to say what will happen are fools.
I cause the ideas of wise people to become useless.
People think that their advice is foolish.
26 But I do the things that my servants say will happen.
I show that my prophets' messages are true.
I say about Jerusalem, “People will live there again.”
I say about the towns in Judah, “I will cause people to build them again,
so that they are no longer heaps of stones.”
27 I say to the deep sea, “Become dry!”
and its streams become dry.
28 I say about King Cyrus,
“He is my shepherd.[j]
He will do what I want him to do.”
He will give a command about Jerusalem.
He will say, “Build the city again!”
He will say about the temple,
“Build its foundation.” ’
45 The Lord says this to Cyrus, the king that he has chosen to serve him:
‘I hold your right hand.
I give you power over other nations,
to take away the weapons of their kings.
I will open the gates of cities in front of you,
and they will stay open.
2 I will go in front of you,
and I will make the mountains flat.
I will break bronze gates into pieces,
and I will cut through iron bars.[k]
3 I will take valuable things that people have stored in secret places,
and I will give them to you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord, Israel's God.
I am the one who calls you by your name.
4 I have called you on behalf of my people,
to help my servant, Jacob's descendants.
They are Israel's people, that I have chosen for myself.
You do not know me as your God,
but I have given to you an important name.
5 I am the Lord and there is nobody else like me.
There is no other God, except me.
You do not know me as your God,
but I will make you strong to fight battles.
6 Then all over the world, from east to west,
people will know that there is no other God.
Yes, I am the Lord
and there is nobody else like me.
7 I make light and I also make darkness.
I make peace as well as trouble.
I am the Lord.
I do all these things.
8 Let justice pour down from the sky like rain!
Let the earth be ready to receive it!
Then salvation and righteousness will grow together,
like strong plants.
I am the Lord,
and I will cause it to happen.’
9 It will be very bad for people who quarrel with their Maker. They are like pieces of a pot that are lying on the ground among all the other pieces. The clay does not say to the potter, ‘What do you think you are you making?’ The pot does not say to the potter, ‘Your work is useless!’
10 It will be very bad for people who say to their fathers, ‘What kind of child have you become a father to?’ And it will be bad for people who say to their mothers, ‘What kind of baby are you giving birth to?’
11 The Lord is Israel's Holy God. He is the one who created Israel. He says this about the things that will happen:
‘You should not ask me questions about my children.
You should not tell me what to do
with the people that I have made
12 It is I who made the earth.
I created the people who live on it.
I hung up the sky like a curtain.
I did that with my own hands!
I put all the stars in their places.
13 Now I have woken up Cyrus
to do for me things that are right.
I will make all his paths easy to travel on.
He will build again my city,
and he will make my people free to return home.
Nobody will have to pay him any money
or give him a bribe to do that.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
14 This is what the Lord says to his people:
‘I promise you that you will rule Egypt and Ethiopia,
and also those tall people from Seba.
They will bring to you the things that they buy and sell.
Those valuable things will belong to you.
They will walk behind you in chains,
as your slaves.
They will bend down low in front of you,
and they will even pray to you.
They will agree, “Surely God is with you.
There is nobody else like him. There is no other God.” ’
15 Yes, you are a God who hides yourself!
You are Israel's God, our Saviour!
16 People who make idols will all become ashamed.
People will insult them as they leave together.
17 The Lord will make Israel safe.
Israel will be safe and free for ever.
You will never be ashamed again.
People will never insult you again.
18 The Lord created the heavens. He is the true God. He created the earth and he put it in its place. He built it to be strong. He did not create it as an empty place. He made it for people to live there. He says,
‘I am the Lord.
There is nobody else who is like me.
19 I have not spoken secretly,
as I hid in a dark place.
I did not say to Jacob's descendants,
“Look for me, but you will not find me.”
I am the Lord. I speak what is right.
My message is true.
20 So come, you people of the nations,
you who have escaped from war.
Bring yourselves in front of me together!
People who carry wooden idols are fools!
They pray to gods who cannot rescue them.
21 Now decide together what you will say in court!
Tell me what you think!
Who said a long time ago what would happen?
Who spoke about it long before it happened?
It was I, the Lord!
There is nobody else like me.
There is no other God, except me.
I am a righteous God and I save my people.
There is no other God.
22 So turn to me and I will make you safe.
I say that to everybody all over the world.
Turn to me, because I am God.
There is nobody else like me.
23 This is my promise that I say is true.
I have spoken it honestly and I will not change it.
I promise this:
Everybody will go down on their knees in front of me.
Everybody will promise to serve me.
24 They will all say this about me:
“The Lord alone is true and strong.” ’
Everybody who has been angry with God will come to him.
They will be ashamed that they were angry.
25 The Lord will bring justice
for all the descendants of Israel.
They will say that the Lord is great!
Babylon's false gods have no power
46 Bel bends down to the ground.
Nebo lies down low.[l]
Their images are heavy loads on the backs of animals.
The animals become tired and weak as they carry them away.
2 Those gods fall down and they lie together on the ground!
They have no power to rescue their images.
The gods themselves go as prisoners to a foreign land,
together with their images.
3 The Lord says,
‘Listen to me, you family of Jacob.
Yes, listen to me, all you Israelites who are still alive.
I have taken care of you since you first became a nation.
I have carried you since you were born.
4 I will continue to take care of you until you are old,
until your hair becomes grey.
I made you who you are,
and I will supply everything that you need.
I will carry you,
and I will save you.
5 You know that there is no God like me!
You cannot say about any god,
that he is the same as me.
6 Some people make idols for themselves.
They pour out gold coins from their purse.
They weigh silver on their scales.
They pay a worker with special skill to use the silver and the gold
to make a god.
Then they bend down low in front of it,
and they worship it!
7 They lift the idol onto their shoulders
and they carry it home.
They put it in its place and it stands there.
It cannot move anywhere else.
If someone calls out to it for help,
it does not answer.
It cannot save anyone from their trouble.
8 Remember this, you people who do not obey me.
Think about it carefully.
9 Remember all the things that I did a long time ago.
I am God. There is nobody else like me.
There is no other God, except me.
10 From the beginning, I say what will happen at the end.
Long ago, I spoke about future things that have not yet happened.
I say this: “My purpose will not change.
I will do everything that I want to do.”
11 Now I will call somebody to come from the east.
He will come down quickly,
like an eagle that catches small birds to eat.
He will come from a country that is far away.
He will do for me what I want to do.
Yes, I will surely do what I have decided to do.
I have given the command,
and I will cause it to happen.
12 Listen to me, you people who refuse to obey me.
You choose not to do anything that is right.
13 But now I am ready to rescue you,
and I will show you what is right.
This will soon happen!
I will save the people in Zion.
I will make Israel great and beautiful.’
God's message to Babylon
47 ‘Babylon, get down on the ground, and sit in the dirt!
Come down off your throne, young lady!
In the past, nobody has touched you,
but people will no longer say that you are so pretty.
2 Use heavy stones to make grain into flour.
Take the veil off your face.
Lift up your skirt.
Walk through streams of water with bare legs.
3 Stand there with your body completely bare!
Everybody will see your great shame.
I will punish you for your sins,
and nobody will escape.’
4 This is what the Lord Almighty says. He is our Redeemer, Israel's Holy God.
5 ‘You city of the Babylonians, sit there quietly!
Go and hide in a dark place.
People will no longer call you the queen of all kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my own people.
They belonged to me as my special people,
but I punished them like ordinary people.
I gave you the power to hurt them,
and you were not kind to them.
You were very cruel to old people.
7 You boasted,
“I will rule other nations as queen for ever!”
But you did not think about what you were doing.
You did not think about what would happen in the end.
8 So listen to me, Babylon!
You love to enjoy expensive things.
You think that you are strong and safe.
You say to yourself, “Here I am!
There is nobody as good as I am.
I will never be alone as a widow.
I will never lose my children.”
9 But both of those things will happen to you!
They will happen suddenly, in only one day.
You will lose your children
and you will become a widow.
All these troubles will come to hurt you.
You can use all your powerful magic
but you will not stop this trouble!
10 You thought that your evil deeds would keep you safe.
You said, “Nobody sees me!”
You think that you are very wise
and that you know everything.
But your wisdom has deceived you.
You say, “Here I am!
There is nobody as good as I am.”
11 But trouble will suddenly come to you.
Your magic words will not stop it.
Trouble will come and destroy you.
You cannot pay anyone to take it away.
It will suddenly hit you,
before you even recognize it.
12 So continue with your magic, if you want to.
Say your magic words.
You have always used that magic,
since you were young.
Perhaps your magic will help you.
Perhaps you will frighten your enemies!
13 You receive a lot of advice,
and it has made you become tired.
Let your advisors come and stand there.
They study the sky and the stars to decide what will happen.
They say what will happen each month.
So let them come and help you!
See if they can rescue you from the trouble that is coming!
14 But they are as useless as straw
that quickly burns in a fire.
They cannot save themselves,
because the fire is too hot!
This is not a nice fire to sit beside and enjoy the heat.
15 You have worked with those magicians since you were young,
but you will have no help from them now.
They have gone their own separate ways.
There is nobody left who can save you.’
The Lord warns his people
48 Listen to this, family of Jacob. You are called ‘Israel’, and you are Judah's descendants.[m] You use the name of the Lord when you make promises. You pray to Israel's God. But you do not do those things honestly and fairly. 2 Your people are proud to say that they live in the holy city. They trust in Israel's God, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
3 The Lord says to his people,
‘I already spoke about things that would happen at a future time.
A long time ago I told you what would happen.
Then I suddenly did my work,
and I caused those things to happen!
4 I did it because I know what you are like.
You refuse to obey me.
You do not want to change the way that you live.
Your neck is like iron and it will not bend!
Your head is as hard as bronze!
5 So I told you about these things a long time ago.
Before they happened, I told you about them.
Then you could not say, “My idol did them.
Yes, my wooden image and my idol made of metal
decided that these things would happen.”
6 You heard what I said would happen,
and now you have seen it happen.
Agree that what I say is true!
Now I will tell you about new things that will happen.
They are secret things that you do not yet know about.
7 They are not things that started long ago.
I am causing them to happen now.
You did not hear about them before today.
So you cannot say, “Yes, I already knew about them.”
8 You have not heard about them before.
You know nothing about them.
From long ago you refused to listen to me.
I know that you are never honest.
Since you first became a nation,
you have refused to obey me.
9 Because of who I am,
I will keep my anger until later.
I will not destroy you now,
so that people will praise my name.
10 Listen! I have made you pure.
But I have not done it in the way that people make silver pure.
Instead, I have sent pain and trouble to you.
That is how I make you pure.
11 I do these things to show who I am.
That is why I do it!
I will not let people insult my good name.
I will not let anyone else share my glory.
12 So listen to me, descendants of Jacob!
I called you to belong to me, you Israelite people.
I am the only One.
I am the first, and I am also the last.
13 I created the earth with my own hand.
With my right hand, I hung up the sky like a curtain.
When I call to the stars,
they all appear in their places.
14 All of you, come together and listen to me.
Not one of your idols has said
what will happen now.
I, the Lord, have chosen a friend to attack Babylon.
He will do what I want.
He will have the power to punish the Babylonians.
15 Yes, that is what I have commanded.
I have called him to do this work.
I have shown him what he must do,
and he will do it!
16 Come near to me! Listen to my message!
From the beginning, I have not spoken secretly.
When these things happen, I will already be there.’
Now the Almighty Lord has sent me, with the power of his Spirit.[n]
17 The Lord is your Redeemer, Israel's Holy God. He says,
‘I am the Lord your God.
I teach you what will be good for you.
I lead you along a good path in life.
18 You should have obeyed my commands.
Then you would have had peace in your lives,
like a river that runs quietly.
You would have been safe and well,
like the strong waves in the sea.
19 You would have had many descendants,
as much as the sand on the shore of the sea.
I would not need to destroy them.
Their family name would continue for ever.’
20 Now leave Babylon as free people!
No longer serve the Babylonians!
Shout the news with joy!
Tell everyone about it, all over the world.
Tell them that the Lord has redeemed his people,
his servants, the Israelites.
21 When he led them through the desert,
they did not become thirsty.
He broke open a rock for them,
so that water poured out.
They could drink as much as they needed.
22 But the Lord says, ‘Wicked people will have no peace in their lives.’
Footnotes
- 38:22 Verses 21-22 may come between verse 6 and verse 7.
- 40:11 A shepherd is a picture of somebody who takes care of his people. God often thinks about his people as sheep who need a shepherd.
- 41:15 ‘thresh’ means to hit hard, to remove seeds from wheat or other crops.
- 41:19 These kinds of trees do not usually grow together in the same place.
- 42:1 There are four parts of Isaiah's book which have ‘Songs about the Servant’. In these songs, the Servant is God's special Messiah. The songs are in Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13—53:12.
- 42:19 Here, God's servant is the Israelite nation. See Isaiah 41:8.
- 43:2 The dangerous rivers and the fires are pictures of different kinds of trouble. God says that he will always be there to help his people, whatever troubles they may have.
- 43:27 ‘Your first ancestor’ may mean Jacob (Israel). He was the ancestor of the Israelite nation.
- 44:8 ‘Rock’ is a name for God. It means that he is a strong place where we can be safe.
- 44:28 Leaders are often called shepherds, because they take care of people, like a shepherd takes care of his sheep.
- 45:2 See Psalms 107:16.
- 46:1 Bel and Nebo were gods of Babylon.
- 48:1 Jacob was the ancestor of the Israelite people. God gave to him the new name ‘Israel’. Judah was one of Jacob's 12 sons.
- 48:16 These may be the words of Isaiah, as he brings God's message to his people. Or they may be the words of Cyrus, the king that God had chosen to punish the Babylonians.
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