Chronological
44 Eternal One: Nevertheless, listen to Me, My people:
Jacob, My servant; Israel, My chosen.
2 The Eternal who made you,
who formed you in the womb and promised to help you, has this to say:
Eternal One: Don’t be afraid, My servant Jacob,
My dear Jeshurun—My chosen.
3 Like a devoted gardener, I will pour sweet water on parched land,
streams on hard-packed ground;
I will pour My spirit on your children and grandchildren—
and let My blessing flow to your descendants.
4 And they will sprout among the grasses, grow vibrant and tall
like the willow trees lining a riverbank.
5 One will call out: “I belong to the Eternal.”
Another will say, “Jacob is my people; Israel my honored name.”
Yet others will write “Property of the Eternal” on their hands.
6 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
King of Israel, who paid their ransom, has this to say:
Eternal One: I am at the beginning and will be at the end.
There is no God except for Me.
7 If you know any God like Me, tell it now.
Declare and demonstrate any who can compare to Me.
Or if you know and have announced events before their time,
told what is to come, then speak so now.
8 Don’t be afraid. Let your minds be clear of fear.
Haven’t I announced events and revealed what is to come?
From the earliest days, I have done so. You know it—you have seen and know.
So, go ahead, My witnesses: is there a god out there other than Me?
Witnesses: There is no other rock like God. I don’t know a single one.
All of the nations that Israel encounters are involved in some form of idol worship. They imagine these gods and fashion these images in order to satisfy a desire—a God-given desire—to connect with something, with someone out there. Human beings know at some deep, intuitive level that God exists, life is sacred, and there are mysteries more profound than the daily grind. This is why every human civilization exhibits some form of religious life and devotion. But instead of seeking the God who is, people have a tendency to create the gods they want, gods that give them control over the complexities and problems of life. Israel is elected by God for a number of reasons. Perhaps two of the most significant are to bear witness to the one True God and to warn the nations against idolatry. According to Scripture, idol worship is not some neutral, unfortunate habit people get themselves into; it is more than just a waste of time, hope, and effort. It is a dangerous substitute—a counterfeit experience—that adversely misshapes and disorders their lives. To persist in idolatry is to give way to malevolent evils and to miss out on a relationship with the one True God.
9 But whoever does make an idol is not improved or enriched. On the contrary, their passing fancies contribute nothing of value or purpose. Those who look on at such misplaced attention don’t understand what they’re seeing, and the idol-makers will end up embarrassed at best. 10 It’s easy to say, “What pathetic idiocy! Who would do such a thing—make gods that are by definition worthless?” 11 The people who worship them will be shamed and humiliated. After all, people made those gods. Yet it happens all the time. So, let’s put these images, these figurines all together; stand them up—they will tremble with terror and be ashamed.
12 A metalworker shapes the raw materials into tools and then uses them to make little gods by hammering, bending, heating, and cooling the materials. And in the process, he gets tired and hungry; without water he soon grows faint. 13 Likewise, the woodworker measures and marks the wood, chisels and planes it down, marks it with a compass, and carves it until it looks a bit like a human—lovely, maybe—in order to put it in a house. 14 To take it back a bit further, perhaps he cuts down cedars or he carefully selects the cypress or oak himself, watches it, nurtures it until it is ready for his purpose. Perhaps he plants a pine; with sun and rain, it grows tall. 15 When it’s time to harvest, he uses some of the wood for fuel to stay warm, some to heat the oven and bake bread, and some to craft a god. Then the woodworker bows down and worships before the image he just made. 16-17 Do you see the irony? He sits around, warming himself and roasting dinner with wood from the same tree from which he crafted a god to which he bows and worships and prays—one time saying, “I am warmed by the wood fire”; another time saying, “O dear god, save me.”
18-19 So we see again how it is that they’re blind—their eyes shut to the truth in front of them, their hearts and minds refusing to think and really understand what’s going on. So without stopping to think about it, the fool says, “Gosh, I used half of the wood to build a fire, and baked the bread and roasted the meat over its hot coals. After I eat, I think I’ll use the rest of it to make a repulsive god. Maybe I’ll bow down to this leftover lumber.” 20 A fool like this is feeding on ashes—his addled mind and deceived heart lead him nowhere. He can’t figure out how to save himself, much less see the error of his ways and say, “Is this idol in my right hand just a lie?”
Eternal One: Let that be a lesson to you, My people.
21 Don’t forget it, Jacob; O Israel, remember—you are Mine.
I made you; you are My servant; I will not forget you.
22 I have swept away your wrongdoing, as wind sweeps a cloud from the sky:
I have cleared you of your sins, as the sun clears the morning mist.
I have rescued you; come back to Me.
23 Sing, starry sky and every constellation, for what the Eternal has done.
Shout for joy, dark soil underfoot and deep caverns below;
Erupt in joyful songs, mountains and forests, and every tree in them!
Sing joyfully, for the Eternal One has rescued Jacob, His people;
The splendor of God will be revealed in Israel.
24 The Eternal, your rescuing hero who formed you before birth, declares,
Eternal One: I am the Eternal, Creator of all there is and will be.
I alone stretched out the heavens and spread out the blue earth.
25 I confound the lying swindlers who claim to tell the future,
and I make the fortune-tellers look like fools.
I stop the highbrow intellectuals in their tracks,
and I show the fault of their reasoning.
26 But I stand behind the words of My servants,
and I accomplish what they predict.
The one who says about Jerusalem, “This place will be built up again”;
about Judah’s cities, “They will be restored”:
I confirm their predictions. They will rise from their ruins.
27 After all, I am the One who needs only to say “Dry up” to great waters,
and your rivers run dry.
28 I am the one who says of the Persian victor over Babylon,
“Cyrus is My shepherd. He will accomplish what I determine.”
My word goes out concerning Jerusalem:
“It will stand, a glorious city, again”
and of My house within it, “Restoration will begin at once.”
45 This is what the Eternal One says to His chosen agent, Cyrus the Persian.
God has a special mission for Cyrus, the Persian emperor: to lead the world and free His exiled people. The Scripture is clear: God, not kings, directs history. Kings—and sometimes their subjects—often need to be reminded of that. The Eternal, the one True God, stands above and behind human history, directing and orchestrating its events.
Eternal One: Not by his hand alone, but with his in Mine,
nations are vanquished, their leaders conquered;
Doors and gates open without a fight
and will not close.
2 (to Cyrus) I will go ahead of you and smooth the way, lower the heights,
break down bronze doors, and cut through iron bars.
3 I will give you hidden treasures
and wealth tucked away in secret places;
I will reveal them to you.
Then you will know that I am
the Eternal, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
4 For the sake of My servant Jacob, My chosen people Israel,
I have called you by name, made you who you are,
And bestowed an honorable title on you, even though you don’t know Me.
5 I am the Eternal One; there is no other God but Me,
and even though you don’t know Me, I am preparing you for victory.
6 I am doing all this so that people all around the world
may know that I alone am the Eternal, the only God.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make what is good, happy, and healthy, and I create woe.
I, the Eternal One, make them one and all.
8 Skies above, open up and let the clouds rain down righteousness!
Let the earth below sprout triumph and justice.
For I, the Eternal, have created them.
9 How bad it will be for anyone who disputes with the very One who created him!
After all, a human being is nothing more than one clay pot among many.
Imagine the clay saying to the potter, “What do you think you’re doing?”
or “You don’t have the hands for this.”
10 It’s as idiotic as asking a mother or father,
“What are you birthing or begetting?”
11 So the Eternal One, who is the Holy One and Maker of Israel, says,
Eternal One: Are you really going to question Me about what will happen to My children,
or lecture Me about what I should do with the ones I made with My own hands?
12 It is I who made the very ground on which you stand,
I who shaped the human beings who walk around on it.
I pulled the sky and the heavens taut with My own hands,
and organized the army of stars that march across the night sky.
13 So it was perfectly right for me to raise up Cyrus;
I will make his road ahead straight and level,
So that he will rebuild My chosen place, My city Jerusalem,
and set My exiled people free
Without exacting a price or seeking a bribe.
So says the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
14 Eternal One: I, the Eternal One, say to you things will change; the wealthy and strong
of your world—Egyptians, Cushites, Sabeans—will come under your control.
Their goods and services, their strongest warriors, will be yours,
deferring to you, as they follow in chains, saying,
“God is with you. There is no other God but yours.”
15 Cyrus: You have kept yourself hidden from others,
but You are indeed God, who saved Israel in the face of great challenges.
16 Those who worshiped others will be humiliated.
Those who craft idols will be embarrassed by their folly.
17 By contrast, Israel can stand tall. The Eternal has given them
a salvation that will never die, and they will never be embarrassed or ashamed.
18 Indeed, He who created the universe—heavens and earth—gave it form and shape.
The Eternal alone set it all in motion;
He didn’t make it a disorganized wasteland but made it a beautiful and comfortable home.
Eternal One: I am the Eternal One, and there is no other god who exists.
19 I didn’t whisper in secret or mumble in the darkness;
I didn’t say to Jacob’s children:
“Look around the desert and try to find Me.”
No, I am the Eternal One. I will speak clearly what is right and true.
20 Come, come. Gather around, all who survived among the nations.
They have no idea what a real God is
As they coddle their wooden idols,
and pray to worthless images that cannot save them.
21 Go ahead, talk among yourselves. Present your case.
Now, who declared what would happen long ago?
Who predicted how these events would turn out at this time?
Was it not I, the Eternal One? There is no other God but Me.
I alone am the righteous God and Savior. There is no other.
22 So turn your back on those idols and your face to Me.
I will save you, wherever you are, to the ends of the earth,
For I am God. There is none other.
23 I make this solemn vow; I have spoken a word—
faithful and true—and it will not return; it will be done.
My words have wings; they will be accomplished;
every knee will bow down to Me.
Every tongue will swear allegiance to Me.[a]
24 They will say of Me, “Only by the Eternal One shall I see things through.
Only by God shall I go with integrity and strength through life.”
Those who know that God is the source of life, integrity, and strength live lives marked by confidence and a calm assurance.
Now all those who burned with anger against God
will come to Him and be shamed.
25 Through the Eternal, all the descendants of Israel
will be vindicated and made glorious within the world.
46 Bel and Nebo wobble and duck, as their images
sway on the backs of oxen and donkeys—such a heavy burden
For the weary animals—as they are carried about.
2 These “gods” bow and sink together, unable to escape the coming invasion;
they march off into captivity.
The gods of the nations must have looked rather odd riding on the backs of animals. Even gods of the once-feared Babylonians, Bel and Nebo, are nothing but dead weight.
3 Eternal One: Listen, you who count yourselves among Jacob’s descendants,
all the remnant of Israel.
It is you, not I, who have been carried from before you were born.
Indeed, when you were still in the womb, I was taking care of you.
4 And when you are old, I will still be there, carrying you.
When your limbs grow tired, your eyes are weak,
And your hair a silvery gray, I will carry you as I always have.
I will carry you and save you.
5 Does anyone compare to Me? Can you find any likeness?
Who or what might be My equal or even close to Me?
6 What about those who use precious materials for gods—
hiring artisans to carefully craft gold, silver, jewels,
And exotic wood into a god—
then they bow down and worship it!
7 Their god is a mere object. They have to lug it around on their shoulders
before they can stand it up in its proper place.
It just sits there, unmoving until they pick it up again.
It never speaks, never answers.
It cannot help them, no matter how desperate they are.
8 Remember that—and don’t be tempted to conform!
Think about it, you rebels.
9 Remember the old days. For I am God; there is no other.
I am God; there are no other gods like Me.
10 From the beginning I declare how things will end;
from times long past, I tell what is yet to be, saying:
“My intentions will come to pass.
I will make things happen as I determine they should.”
11 I am the one who called Cyrus, the bird of prey from the east;
from a land far away I summoned him to do what I intend.
My word went out, and I will see it done.
My plan has been made, and I will see it through.
12 Listen closely, you strong-willed people
who have veered far from the right path.
13 It won’t be long until I make things right;
My salvation is getting closer and closer; it won’t be delayed.
I am ready to rescue Zion, My chosen place,
and display My beauty and splendor to Israel, My chosen people.
47 Eternal One: Ah, pretty virgin daughter, Miss Babylon,
come down and sit in the dust.
Sit on the ground where you belong: your throne is no more,
daughter of the Chaldeans, no longer all dainty, delicate.
2 And with those delicate fingers grab the heavy millstones and grind the grain.
Take off your lacy veil, lift your skirt, bare your legs, and
Cross the mud and muck of the river on foot like any other slave.
3 Everyone will see you naked; your humiliation will be most public.
I intend to make you pay, and no one will interfere.[b]
4 Israel: Our Savior, our hero—the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
by name—is the Holy One of Israel!
5 So you’d best go quietly, Babylon, daughter of the Chaldeans.
Slink off into the dark. No one will ever again call you Queen of All Lands.
6 Eternal One: Some time ago, I got fed up with My people.
I left My heritage to you, let you defeat them and take them away.
But you showed no mercy, abused and denigrated them;
you even made the elderly suffer beneath your heavy burden.
7 But You were carried away with your power,
thinking you would always be in charge.
You didn’t consider your limits or think about how all this would end.
8 You, pursuer of pleasure, resting in the thought,
“No one exists in the world of any consequence except me.
I’ll never feel as a widow or suffer the loss of my children.”
9 Despite all your magic and charms, all of a sudden, in a single day,
terror and death to the highest degree.
In the midst of it all, your children and husband, too, will be gone.
10 In your wickedness you thought you were immune,
so hidden away that no one could find your faults.
But your version of wisdom and knowledge were your undoing; you thought,
“No one exists in the world of any consequence except me.”
11 Evil will break upon you full force.
You won’t be able to hold it off or charm it away.
Disaster will fall and, even with all your wealth, you won’t stand a chance.
There’s no way to know what is coming; all of a sudden,
It will ruin all that you have and all that you are.
12 But keep trying your spells;
your magic and charms have brought you this far.
Maybe they’ll help in some way. Maybe they’ll incite fear.
13 All of your scheming has only exhausted you.
Let the astrologers step up and save you,
After all they chart the heavens, read the stars,
and predict the future month after month.
14 Look, they’re like dry straw that ignites in a flash and is burned away.
They cannot help you—they cannot help themselves
From the power of the flame.
And this is not some warm and cozy fire shared among friends!
15 So that’s what they’re worth to you—absolutely nothing,
even after all these years of working together.
They’re gone. No one’s left to rescue you.
48 Listen closely, you descendants of Jacob who are called Israel!
Hear this, you who trace your ancestors back to Judah,
Who take oaths in the name of the Eternal, and call on the God of Israel,
but do so dishonestly and inappropriately:
2 Your identity is wrapped up in the holy city,
and you claim to rely on the God of Israel,
The One who is called the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
3 Eternal One: In times long past, I determined
and announced the things that would come.
Then suddenly I acted, and they indeed happened.
4 Long ago, I figured that you’d resist
(after all, you are a hard-headed and stubborn lot).
5 Way back then, I told you what would happen so that you wouldn’t claim
that some other god was responsible—that some figurine you crafted
From wood and molded metal commanded and accomplished it.
6 You’ve heard what I foretold; now you’ve seen what has happened—
do you agree that I’m God?
Well, from this moment, I am telling you new things,
secrets hidden that no one has known.
7 They are created now—brand new, never before announced, never before heard.
So you can’t claim, “Look, I already knew them.”
8 There’s no way you could have heard or known
because, even from long ago, you have never listened.
For I’ve always known that you are a conniving lot;
you’ve been a troublesome rebel from birth.
9 On account of My reputation, I hold back my anger;
for My own weighty grandeur, I am patient with you,
So that I don’t make an absolute break with you.
10 I have refined you, but not in the way silver is refined.
Instead, I try you in the furnace of suffering.
For God, suffering is not an end in itself. God uses suffering and hardship to purge the bad and foster the good in His covenant people.
11 But it is all on account of Me, not of you, that I act,
that I retain honor, that My glory is Mine alone, and not sullied.
12 Listen to Me, O Jacob, Israel whom I’ve specially named,
specially chosen, and not without purpose.
I Am the first of all things, and I will be the last.
13 It is by My power, My desire, My doing that the earth was anchored.
My hand flung the skies. I established them,
And when I call, they pay the strictest attention.
14 Come and listen, all of you! Did any of you tell in advance
that the Eternal’s beloved would press diligently
Against Babylon’s might and overcome Chaldea as He desired?
15 Eternal One: No, only I, I the Eternal One knew this would happen.
I was the one who summoned him, who led him,
Who determined that he would have such victory.
16 Come even closer, and hear: from the beginning I spoke,
not hiding away in hushed secret. I Am and will be;
I was before anything was at all.
The Lord, the Eternal, has sent me and His Spirit.
17 The Eternal One, who rescued you, the Holy One of Israel declares,
Eternal One: I am the Eternal One your God. I have given you My instruction
for living well and right, leading you in how you should be and do.
18 If only you had listened to My instruction,
then you would have been flooded with peace;
Your righteousness would have risen and crested like waves on the sea.
19 Your people would have multiplied to become like the grains of sand,
and your children would be like grains of wheat.
And they would be forever in My mind and My presence.
20 Leave Babylon; run swiftly from Chaldea! And let it be known
with a joyous shout, to the ends of the earth,
That the Eternal One has rescued Jacob, His servant!
21 And though He guided them through desert places, with no water in sight,
they were never thirsty.
Just as in Moses’ time, God made the rocks gush water,
split the rock and made water pour streaming out.
22 Eternal One: Ah, but the malicious and wicked will never be at peace.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.