Isaiah 44
EasyEnglish Bible
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.[a]
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.[b]
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.” ’
以赛亚书 44
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
耶和华应许降福斯民
44 “我的仆人雅各，我所拣选的以色列啊，现在你当听！ 2 造做你，又从你出胎造就你，并要帮助你的耶和华如此说：‘我的仆人雅各，我所拣选的耶书仑哪，不要害怕！ 3 因为我要将水浇灌口渴的人，将河浇灌干旱之地，我要将我的灵浇灌你的后裔，将我的福浇灌你的子孙。 4 他们要发生在草中，像溪水旁的柳树。 5 这个要说“我是属耶和华的”，那个要以雅各的名自称，又一个要亲手写“归耶和华的”[a]，并自称为以色列。’
6 “耶和华以色列的君，以色列的救赎主，万军之耶和华如此说：‘我是首先的，我是末后的，除我以外，再没有真神。 7 自从我设立古时的民，谁能像我宣告并且指明，又为自己陈说呢？让他将未来的事和必成的事说明。 8 你们不要恐惧，也不要害怕！我岂不是从上古就说明指示你们吗？并且你们是我的见证。除我以外，岂有真神吗？诚然没有磐石，我不知道一个！’”
制造偶像虚妄无益
9 制造雕刻偶像的尽都虚空，他们所喜悦的都无益处。他们的见证无所看见，无所知晓，他们便觉羞愧。 10 谁制造神像，铸造无益的偶像？ 11 看哪，他的同伴都必羞愧，工匠也不过是人。任他们聚会，任他们站立，都必惧怕，一同羞愧。
12 铁匠把铁在火炭中烧热，用锤打铁器，用他有力的膀臂锤成，他饥饿而无力，不喝水而发倦。 13 木匠拉线，用笔划出样子，用刨子刨成形状，用圆尺划了模样，仿照人的体态，做成人形，好住在房屋中。 14 他砍伐香柏树，又取柞树[b]和橡树，在树林中选定了一棵。他栽种松树得雨长养， 15 这树人可用以烧火。他自己取些烤火，又烧着烤饼，而且做神像跪拜，做雕刻的偶像向它叩拜。 16 他把一份烧在火中，把一份烤肉吃饱，自己烤火说：“啊哈！我暖和了，我见火了。” 17 他用剩下的做了一神，就是雕刻的偶像，他向这偶像俯伏叩拜，祷告他说：“求你拯救我，因你是我的神。”
18 他们不知道，也不思想，因为耶和华闭住他们的眼不能看见，塞住他们的心不能明白。 19 谁心里也不醒悟，也没有知识，没有聪明，能说：“我曾拿一份在火中烧了，在炭火上烤过饼，我也烤过肉吃。这剩下的，我岂要做可憎的物吗？我岂可向木墩子叩拜呢？” 20 他以灰为食，心中昏迷使他偏邪，他不能自救，也不能说：“我右手中岂不是有虚谎吗？”
当歌颂耶和华救赎之恩
21 “雅各，以色列啊，你是我的仆人，要记念这些事！以色列啊，你是我的仆人，我造就你，必不忘记你。 22 我涂抹了你的过犯，像厚云消散；我涂抹了你的罪恶，如薄云灭没。你当归向我，因我救赎了你。” 23 诸天哪，应当歌唱！因为耶和华做成这事。地的深处啊，应当欢呼！众山应当发声歌唱，树林和其中所有的树，都当如此！因为耶和华救赎了雅各，并要因以色列荣耀自己。
24 从你出胎造就你的救赎主耶和华如此说：“我耶和华是创造万物的，是独自铺张诸天、铺开大地的（谁与我同在呢？）， 25 使说假话的兆头失效，使占卜的癫狂，使智慧人退后，使他的知识变为愚拙， 26 使我仆人的话语立定，我使者的谋算成就。论到耶路撒冷说：‘必有人居住。’论到犹大的城邑说：‘必被建造，其中的荒场，我也必兴起。’ 27 对深渊说：‘你干了吧！我也要使你的江河干涸。’ 28 论居鲁士说：‘他是我的牧人，必成就我所喜悦的，必下令建造耶路撒冷，发命立稳圣殿的根基。’
Footnotes
- 以赛亚书 44:5 或作：在手上写“归耶和华”。
- 以赛亚书 44:14 或作：青桐。
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