Isaiah 43-46
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Restoration and Protection Promised
43 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.(A)
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.(B)
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.(C)
4 Because you are precious in my sight
and honored and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.(D)
5 Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;(E)
6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—(F)
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”(G)
8 Bring forth the people who are blind yet have eyes,
who are deaf yet have ears!(H)
9 Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, “It is true.”(I)
10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.(J)
11 I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.(K)
12 I am the one who declared and saved and proclaimed,
not some strange god among you;
you are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.(L)
13 Indeed, since that day I am he;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can hinder it?(M)
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.[a](N)
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,(O)
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down; they cannot rise;
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:(P)
18 Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.(Q)
19 I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.(R)
20 The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,(S)
21 the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.(T)
22 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!(U)
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with frankincense.(V)
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
Rather, you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.(W)
25 I alone am the one
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.(X)
26 Accuse me; let us go to trial;
set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.(Y)
27 Your first ancestor sinned,
and your mediators rebelled against me.
28 Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary;
I delivered Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.(Z)
God’s Blessing on Israel
44 But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!(AA)
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you in the womb and will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.(AB)
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants
and my blessing on your offspring.(AC)
4 They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,[b]
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, “I am the Lord’s”;
another will be called by the name of Jacob;
yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,”
and adopt the name of Israel.(AD)
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first, and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.(AE)
7 Who is like me? Let them proclaim it;
let them declare and set it forth before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come?[c]
Let them tell us[d] what is yet to be.(AF)
8 Do not fear or be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
There is no other rock; I know not one.(AG)
The Absurdity of Idol Worship
9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, and so they will be put to shame.(AH) 10 Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good?(AI) 11 All its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans, too, are merely human. Let them all assemble; let them stand up; they shall be terrified; they shall all be put to shame.(AJ)
12 The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.(AK) 13 The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.(AL) 14 He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.(AM) 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,[e] and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm[f] by the fire!” 17 The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”(AN)
18 They do not know, nor do they comprehend, for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand.(AO) 19 No 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. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”(AP) 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?”(AQ)
Israel Is Not Forgotten
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
O Israel, do not forget me.[g](AR)
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.(AS)
23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and will be glorified in Israel.(AT)
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth;(AU)
25 who frustrates the omens of soothsayers
and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise
and makes their knowledge foolish;(AV)
26 who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins”;(AW)
27 who says to the deep, “Be dry—
I will dry up your rivers”;(AX)
28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”(AY)
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:(AZ)
2 I will go before you
and level the mountains;[h]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron;(BA)
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.(BB)
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
I give you a title, though you do not know me.(BC)
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,(BD)
6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(BE)
7 I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.(BF)
8 Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,[i]
and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
I the Lord have created it.(BG)
9 Woe to those who strive with their Maker,
earthen vessels with the potter![j]
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?
or “Your work has no handles”?(BH)
10 Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you fathering?”
or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
Will you question me[k] about my children
or command me concerning the work of my hands?(BI)
12 I made the earth
and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.(BJ)
13 I have aroused Cyrus[l] in righteousness,
and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
says the Lord of hosts.(BK)
14 Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
“God is with you alone, and there is no other;
there is no god besides him.”(BL)
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.(BM)
16 All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in disgrace together.(BN)
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
ever again.(BO)
18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos;
he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(BP)
19 I did not speak in secret
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
“Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.(BQ)
Idols Cannot Save Babylon
20 Assemble yourselves and come together;
draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
those who carry about their wooden idols
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.(BR)
21 Declare and present your case;
take counsel together![m]
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is no one besides me.(BS)
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.(BT)
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
“To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.”(BU)
24 Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
shall come to him and be ashamed.(BV)
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall triumph and glory.(BW)
46 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and cattle;
these things you carry are loaded
as burdens on weary animals.(BX)
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden
but themselves go into captivity.(BY)
3 Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb;(BZ)
4 even to your old age I am he;
even when you turn gray I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.(CA)
5 To whom will you liken me and make me equal
and compare me, as though we were alike?(CB)
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse
and weigh out silver in the scales—
they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!(CC)
7 They lift it to their shoulders; they carry it;
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries out to it, it does not answer
or save anyone from trouble.(CD)
8 Remember this and consider;[n]
recall it to mind, you transgressors;(CE)
9 remember the former things of old,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like me,(CF)
10 declaring the outcome from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, “My purpose shall stand,
and I will fulfill my intention,”(CG)
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man for my purpose from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have planned, and I will do it.(CH)
12 Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from deliverance:(CI)
13 I bring near my deliverance; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not tarry;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.(CJ)
Footnotes
- 43.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 44.4 Q ms: MT in the midst of grass
- 44.7 Cn: Heb from my placing an eternal people and things to come
- 44.7 Tg: Heb them
- 44.16 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb he eats, he roasts a roast
- 44.16 Q ms: MT I see
- 44.21 Q ms Compare Gk Syr Tg: MT you will not be forgotten by me
- 45.2 Q ms Gk: MT the swellings
- 45.8 Q ms: MT that they may bring forth salvation
- 45.9 Cn: Heb with the potsherds or with the potters
- 45.11 Cn: Heb Ask me of things to come
- 45.13 Heb him
- 45.21 Syr Vg: Heb let them take counsel
- 46.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.