Isaiah 44-46

New American Standard Bible

The Blessings of Israel

44 “But now listen, Jacob, My ^(A)servant,
And Israel, whom I have chosen:
²This is what the Lord says, He who made you
And ^(B)formed you from the womb, who ^(C)will help you:
‘^(D)Do not fear, Jacob My servant,
And ^[a]^(E)Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³For ^(F)I will pour water on ^[b]the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will ^(G)pour out My Spirit on your ^(H)offspring,
And My blessing on your descendants;
⁴And they will spring up ^[c]among the grass
Like ^(I)poplars by streams of water.’
⁵This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
And that one ^[d]will call on the name of Jacob;
And another will ^(J)write ^[e]on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’
And will give himself Israel’s name with honor.

⁶“This is what the Lord says, He who is the ^(K)King of Israel and his ^(L)Redeemer, the Lord of armies:

‘I am the ^(M)first and I am the last,
And there is no God ^(N)besides Me.
⁷Who is like Me? ^(O)Let him proclaim and declare it;
And, let him confront Me
^[f]Beginning with My establishing of the ancient ^[g]nation.
Then let them declare to them the things that are coming
And the events that are going to take place.
⁸Do not tremble and do not be afraid;
^(P)Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?
And ^(Q)you are My witnesses.
Is there any God ^(R)besides Me,
Or is there any other ^(S)Rock?
I know of none.’”

The Foolishness of Idolatry

⁹Those who fashion an idol are all futile, and their treasured things are of no benefit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ^(T)put to shame. ¹⁰Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to ^(U)no benefit? ¹¹Behold, all his companions will be ^(V)put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them be put to shame together.

¹²The ^(W)craftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ^[h]fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and ^[i]his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. ¹³^(X)The craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ^(Y)mankind, so that it may sit in a ^(Z)house. ¹⁴He will cut cedars for himself, and he takes a holm-oak or another oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵Then it becomes something for a person to burn, so he takes one of them and gets warm; he also makes a fire and bakes bread. He also ^(AA)makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and ^(AB)bows down before it. ¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat, he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” ¹⁷Yet the rest of it he ^(AC)makes into a god, his carved image. He bows down before it and worships; he also ^(AD)prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸They do not ^(AE)know, nor do they understand, for He has ^(AF)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. ¹⁹No one ^[j]remembers, nor is there ^(AG)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ^[k]I make the rest of it into an ^(AH)abomination, ^[l]I bow down before a block of wood!” ²⁰He ^[m]^(AI)feeds on ashes; a ^(AJ)deceived heart has misled him. And he cannot save ^[n]himself, nor say, “^(AK)Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

God Forgives and Redeems

²¹“^(AL)Remember these things, Jacob,
And Israel, for you are ^(AM)My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant,
Israel, you will ^(AN)not be forgotten by Me.
²²I have ^(AO)wiped out your wrongdoings like a thick cloud
And your sins like a ^[o]heavy mist.
^(AP)Return to Me, for I have ^(AQ)redeemed you.”
²³^(AR)Shout for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;
^(AS)Break into a shout of jubilation, you mountains,
Forest, and every tree in it;
For ^(AT)the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And in Israel He ^(AU)shows His glory.

²⁴This is what the Lord says, He who is your ^(AV)Redeemer, and the one who ^(AW)formed you from the womb:

“I, the Lord, am the maker of all things,
^(AX)Stretching out the heavens by Myself
And spreading out the earth ^[p]alone,
²⁵^(AY)Causing the ^[q]omens of diviners to fail,
^[r]Making fools of fortune-tellers;
^(AZ)Causing wise men to turn back
And ^[s]making their knowledge ridiculous,
²⁶^(BA)Confirming the word of His servant
And ^[t]carrying out the purpose of His messengers.
It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’
And of the ^(BB)cities of Judah, ‘^(BC)They shall be built.’
And I will raise her ruins again.
²⁷I am the One who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Dry up!’
And I will make your rivers ^(BD)dry up.
²⁸It is I who says of ^(BE)Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he will carry out all My desire.’
And ^[u]he says of Jerusalem, ‘^(BF)She will be built,’
And of the temple, ‘^[v]Your foundation will be laid.’”

God Uses Cyrus

45 This is what the Lord says to ^(BG)Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right ^(BH)hand,
To ^(BI)subdue nations before him
And ^[w]to ^(BJ)undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
²“I will go before you and ^(BK)make the ^[x]rough places smooth;
I will ^(BL)shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron ^(BM)bars.
³I will give you the ^[y]^(BN)treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who ^(BO)calls you by your name.
⁴For the sake of ^(BP)Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also ^(BQ)called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have ^(BR)not known Me.
⁵I am the Lord, and ^(BS)there is no one else;
^(BT)There is no God except Me.
I will ^(BU)^[z]arm you, though you have not known Me,
⁶So that ^(BV)people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is ^(BW)no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
⁷The One ^(BX)forming light and ^(BY)creating darkness,
Causing ^[aa]well-being and ^(BZ)creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.

God’s Supreme Power

⁸“^(CA)Drip down, heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the ^(CB)earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
^(CC)And righteousness sprout with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“Woe to the one who ^(CD)quarrels with ^[ab]his Maker—
A piece of pottery ^[ac]among the other earthenware pottery pieces!
Will the ^(CE)clay say to the ^[ad]potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you ^[ae]giving birth?’”

¹¹This is what the ^(CF)Lord says, the Holy One of Israel and ^[af]his ^(CG)Maker:

“^[ag]^(CH)Ask Me about the things to come ^[ah]concerning My ^(CI)sons,
And you shall commit to Me ^(CJ)the work of My hands.
¹²It is I who ^(CK)made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I ^(CL)stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I ^[ai]ordained ^(CM)all their ^[aj]lights.
¹³I have stirred him in ^(CN)righteousness,
And I will ^(CO)make all his ways smooth.
He will ^(CP)build My city and let My exiles go ^(CQ)free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies.

¹⁴This is what the Lord says:

“The ^[ak]products of ^(CR)Egypt and the merchandise of ^[al]^(CS)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will ^(CT)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in ^(CU)chains
And will ^(CV)bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘^[am]^(CW)God certainly is ^[an]with you, and ^(CX)there is no one else,
No other God.’”
¹⁵Truly, You are a God who ^(CY)hides Himself,
God of Israel, ^(CZ)Savior!
¹⁶They will be ^(DA)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The ^(DB)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
¹⁷Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an ^(DC)everlasting salvation;
You ^(DD)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says, He who ^(DE)created the heavens (He is the God who ^(DF)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it ^[ao]as a ^(DG)waste place, but formed it to be ^(DH)inhabited):

“I am the Lord, and ^(DI)there is no one else.
¹⁹^(DJ)I have not spoken in secret,
In ^[ap]some dark land;
I did not say to the ^[aq]^(DK)offspring of Jacob,
‘^(DL)Seek Me in ^[ar]a wasteland’;
I, the Lord, ^(DM)speak righteousness,
^(DN)Declaring things that are right.

²⁰“^(DO)Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
^(DP)They have no knowledge,
Who ^(DQ)carry around ^[as]their wooden idol
And ^(DR)pray to a god who cannot save.
²¹^(DS)Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
^(DT)Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is ^(DU)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a ^(DV)Savior;
There is none except Me.
²²^(DW)Turn to Me and ^(DX)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
²³^(DY)I have sworn by Myself;
The ^(DZ)word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me ^(EA)every knee will bow, every tongue will ^(EB)swear allegiance.
²⁴They will say of Me, ‘Only ^(EC)in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And ^(ED)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be ^(EE)justified and will ^(EF)boast.”

Babylon’s Idols and the True God

46 ^(EG)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle.
The things ^[at]that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary animal.
²They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,
But ^[au]have themselves ^(EH)gone into captivity.

³“^(EI)Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all ^(EJ)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been ^(EK)carried by Me from ^[av]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
⁴Even to your old age ^(EL)I ^[aw]will be the same,
And even to your ^[ax]^(EM)graying years I will ^[ay]carry you!
I have ^[az]done it, and I will bear you;
And I will ^[ba]carry you and I will save you.

⁵“^(EN)To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal, and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
⁶Those who ^(EO)lavish gold from the bag
And weigh silver on the scale,
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They ^(EP)bow down, indeed they worship it.
⁷They ^(EQ)lift it on the shoulder, carry it,
And set it in its place, and it stands there.
^(ER)It does not move from its place.
Though one may shout to it, it ^(ES)cannot answer;
It ^(ET)cannot save him from his distress.

⁸“^(EU)Remember this, and be ^[bb]assured;
^(EV)Recall it to ^[bc]mind, you ^(EW)wrongdoers.
⁹Remember the ^(EX)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is ^(EY)no other;
I am God, and there is ^(EZ)no one like Me,
¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘^(FA)My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
¹¹Calling a ^(FB)bird of prey from the ^(FC)east,
The man of ^[bd]My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have ^(FD)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.

¹²“^(FE)Listen to Me, you ^(FF)stubborn-minded,
Who are ^(FG)far from righteousness.
¹³I ^(FH)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant ^(FI)salvation in Zion,
And My ^(FJ)glory for Israel.