Isaiah 44: 7 - 48: 22
7Who is like me? |
Who will call, |
and will declare it, |
and set it in order for me, |
since I established the ancient people? |
Let them declare the things that are coming, |
and that will happen. |
8Don’t fear, |
neither be afraid. |
Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, |
and shown it? |
You are my witnesses. |
Is there a God besides me? |
Indeed, there is not. |
I don’t know any other Rock.” |
9Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. |
The things that they delight in will not profit. |
Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. |
10Who has fashioned a god, |
or moulds an image that is profitable for nothing? |
11Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; |
and the workmen are mere men. |
Let them all be gathered together. |
Let them stand up. |
They will fear. |
They will be put to shame together. |
12The blacksmith takes an axe, |
works in the coals, |
fashions it with hammers, |
and works it with his strong arm. |
He is hungry, |
and his strength fails; |
he drinks no water, |
and is faint. |
13The carpenter stretches out a line. |
He marks it out with a pencil. |
He shapes it with planes. |
He marks it out with compasses, |
and shapes it like the figure of a man, |
with the beauty of a man, |
to reside in a house. |
14He cuts down cedars for himself, |
and takes the cypress and the oak, |
and strengthens for himself one amongst the trees of the forest. |
He plants a cypress tree, |
and the rain nourishes it. |
15Then it will be for a man to burn; |
and he takes some of it, and warms himself. |
Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. |
Yes, he makes a god, and worships it; |
he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. |
16He burns part of it in the fire. |
With part of it, he eats meat. |
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. |
Yes, he warms himself, |
and says, “Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire.” |
17The rest of it he makes into a god, |
even his engraved image. |
He bows down to it and worships, |
and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!” |
18They don’t know, neither do they consider: |
for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; |
and their hearts, that they can’t understand. |
19No one thinks, |
neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, |
“I have burnt part of it in the fire. |
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. |
I have roasted meat and eaten it. |
Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? |
Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?” |
20He feeds on ashes. |
A deceived heart has turned him aside; |
and he can’t deliver his soul, |
nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?” |
21Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; |
for you are my servant. |
I have formed you. |
You are my servant. |
Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. |
22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, |
and, as a cloud, your sins. |
Return to me, for I have redeemed you. |
23Sing, you heavens, for the LORD has done it! |
Shout, you lower parts of the earth! |
Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, |
for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, |
and will glorify himself in Israel. |
24The LORD, your Redeemer, |
and he who formed you from the womb says: |
“I am the LORD, who makes all things; |
who alone stretches out the heavens; |
who spreads out the earth by myself; |
25who frustrates the signs of the liars, |
and makes diviners mad; |
who turns wise men backward, |
and makes their knowledge foolish; |
26who confirms the word of his servant, |
and performs the counsel of his messengers; |
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ |
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ |
and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’ |
27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ |
and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’ |
28Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’ |
even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’ |
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’” |
1The LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armour; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: |
2“I will go before you |
and make the rough places smooth. |
I will break the doors of bronze in pieces |
and cut apart the bars of iron. |
3I will give you the treasures of darkness |
and hidden riches of secret places, |
that you may know that it is I, the LORD, who calls you by your name, |
even the God of Israel. |
4For Jacob my servant’s sake, |
and Israel my chosen, |
I have called you by your name. |
I have given you a title, |
though you have not known me. |
5I am the LORD, and there is no one else. |
Besides me, there is no God. |
I will strengthen you, |
though you have not known me, |
6that 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 one else. |
7I form the light |
and create darkness. |
I make peace |
and create calamity. |
I am the LORD, |
who does all these things. |
8Rain, you heavens, from above, |
and let the skies pour down righteousness. |
Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, |
and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. |
I, the LORD, have created it. |
9Woe to him who strives with his Maker— |
a clay pot amongst the clay pots of the earth! |
Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ |
or your work, ‘He has no hands?’ |
10Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the father of?’ |
or to a mother, ‘What have you given birth to?’” |
11The LORD, the Holy One of Israel |
and his Maker says: |
“You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, |
and you command me concerning the work of my hands! |
12I have made the earth, and created man on it. |
I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens. |
I have commanded all their army. |
13I have raised him up in righteousness, |
and I will make all his ways straight. |
He shall build my city, |
and he shall let my exiles go free, |
not for price nor reward,” says the LORD of Armies. |
14The LORD says: “The labour of Egypt, |
and the merchandise of Ethiopia, |
and the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you, |
and they will be yours. |
They will go after you. |
They shall come over in chains. |
They will bow down to you. |
They will make supplication to you: |
‘Surely God is in you; and there is no one else. |
There is no other god. |
15Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, |
God of Israel, the Saviour.’” |
16They will be disappointed, |
yes, confounded, all of them. |
Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together. |
17Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation. |
You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting. |
18For the LORD who created the heavens, |
the God who formed the earth and made it, |
who established it and didn’t create it a waste, |
who formed it to be inhabited says: |
“I am the LORD. |
There is no other. |
19I have not spoken in secret, |
in a place of the land of darkness. |
I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ |
I, the LORD, speak righteousness. |
I declare things that are right. |
20“Assemble yourselves and come. |
Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. |
Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, |
and pray to a god that can’t save. |
21Declare and present it. |
Yes, let them take counsel together. |
Who has shown this from ancient time? |
Who has declared it of old? |
Haven’t I, the LORD? |
There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Saviour. |
There is no one besides me. |
22“Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; |
for I am God, and there is no other. |
23I have sworn by myself. |
The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not be revoked, |
that to me every knee shall bow, |
every tongue shall take an oath. |
24They will say of me, |
‘There is righteousness and strength only in the LORD.’” |
Even to him will men come. |
All those who raged against him will be disappointed. |
25All the offspring of Israel will be justified in the LORD, |
and will rejoice! |
1Bel bows down. |
Nebo stoops. |
Their idols are carried by animals, |
and on the livestock. |
The things that you carried around are heavy loads, |
a burden for the weary. |
2They stoop and they bow down together. |
They could not deliver the burden, |
but they have gone into captivity. |
3“Listen to me, house of Jacob, |
and all the remnant of the house of Israel, |
that have been carried from their birth, |
that have been carried from the womb. |
4Even to old age I am he, |
and even to grey hairs I will carry you. |
I have made, and I will bear. |
Yes, I will carry, and will deliver. |
5“To whom will you compare me, and consider my equal, |
and compare me, as if we were the same? |
6Some pour out gold from the bag, |
and weigh silver in the balance. |
They hire a goldsmith, |
and he makes it a god. |
They fall down— |
yes, they worship. |
7They bear it on their shoulder. |
They carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there. |
It cannot move from its place. |
Yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer. |
It cannot save him out of his trouble. |
8“Remember this, and show yourselves men. |
Bring it to mind again, you transgressors. |
9Remember the former things of old: |
for I am God, and there is no other. |
I am God, and there is none like me. |
10I declare the end from the beginning, |
and from ancient times things that are not yet done. |
I say: My counsel will stand, |
and I will do all that I please. |
11I call a ravenous bird from the east, |
the man of my counsel from a far country. |
Yes, I have spoken. |
I will also bring it to pass. |
I have planned. |
I will also do it. |
12Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, |
who are far from righteousness! |
13I bring my righteousness near. |
It is not far off, |
and my salvation will not wait. |
I will grant salvation to Zion, |
my glory to Israel. |
1“Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. |
Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. |
For you will no longer be called tender and delicate. |
2Take the millstones and grind flour. |
Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs, |
and wade through the rivers. |
3Your nakedness will be uncovered. |
Yes, your shame will be seen. |
I will take vengeance, |
and will spare no one.” |
4Our Redeemer, the LORD of Armies is his name, |
is the Holy One of Israel. |
5“Sit in silence, and go into darkness, |
daughter of the Chaldeans. |
For you shall no longer be called |
the mistress of kingdoms. |
6I was angry with my people. |
I profaned my inheritance |
and gave them into your hand. |
You showed them no mercy. |
You laid a very heavy yoke on the aged. |
7You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’ |
so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart, |
nor did you remember the results. |
8“Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, |
who sit securely, |
who say in your heart, |
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me. |
I won’t sit as a widow, |
neither will I know the loss of children.’ |
9But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day, |
the loss of children and widowhood. |
They will come on you in their full measure, |
in the multitude of your sorceries, |
and the great abundance of your enchantments. |
10For you have trusted in your wickedness. |
You have said, ‘No one sees me.’ |
Your wisdom and your knowledge has perverted you. |
You have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’ |
11Therefore disaster will come on you. |
You won’t know when it dawns. |
Mischief will fall on you. |
You won’t be able to put it away. |
Desolation will come on you suddenly, |
which you don’t understand. |
12“Stand now with your enchantments |
and with the multitude of your sorceries, |
in which you have laboured from your youth, |
as if you might profit, |
as if you might prevail. |
13You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. |
Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from the things that will happen to you. |
14Behold, they are like stubble. |
The fire will burn them. |
They won’t deliver themselves from the power of the flame. |
It won’t be a coal to warm at |
or a fire to sit by. |
15The things that you laboured in will be like this: |
those who have trafficked with you from your youth will each wander in his own way. |
There will be no one to save you. |
1“Hear this, house of Jacob, |
you who are called by the name of Israel, |
and have come out of the waters of Judah. |
You swear by the LORD’s name, |
and make mention of the God of Israel, |
but not in truth, nor in righteousness— |
2for they call themselves citizens of the holy city, |
and rely on the God of Israel; |
the LORD of Armies is his name. |
3I have declared the former things from of old. |
Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them. |
I did them suddenly, and they happened. |
4Because I knew that you are obstinate, |
and your neck is an iron sinew, |
and your brow bronze; |
5therefore I have declared it to you from of old; |
before it came to pass I showed it to you; |
lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them. |
My engraved image and my molten image has commanded them.’ |
6You have heard it. |
Now see all this. |
And you, won’t you declare it? |
“I have shown you new things from this time, |
even hidden things, which you have not known. |
7They are created now, and not from of old. |
Before today, you didn’t hear them, |
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ |
8Yes, you didn’t hear. |
Yes, you didn’t know. |
Yes, from of old your ear was not opened, |
for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, |
and were called a transgressor from the womb. |
9For my name’s sake, I will defer my anger, |
and for my praise, I hold it back for you |
so that I don’t cut you off. |
10Behold, I have refined you, |
but not as silver. |
I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. |
11For my own sake, |
for my own sake, I will do it; |
for how would my name be profaned? |
I will not give my glory to another. |
12“Listen to me, O Jacob, |
and Israel my called: |
I am he. |
I am the first. |
I am also the last. |
13Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, |
and my right hand has spread out the heavens. |
when I call to them, they stand up together. |
14“Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! |
Who amongst them has declared these things? |
He whom the LORD loves will do what he likes to Babylon, |
and his arm will be against the Chaldeans. |
15I, even I, have spoken. |
Yes, I have called him. |
I have brought him |
and he shall make his way prosperous. |
16“Come near to me and hear this: |
“From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; |
from the time that it happened, I was there.” |
Now the Lord GOD has sent me |
with his Spirit. |
17The LORD, |
your Redeemer, |
the Holy One of Israel says: |
“I am the LORD your God, |
who teaches you to profit, |
who leads you by the way that you should go. |
18Oh that you had listened to my commandments! |
Then your peace would have been like a river |
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. |
19Your offspring also would have been as the sand |
and the descendants of your body like its grains. |
His name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.” |
20Leave Babylon! |
Flee from the Chaldeans! |
With a voice of singing announce this, |
tell it even to the end of the earth: |
say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!” |
21They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. |
He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. |
He also split the rock and the waters gushed out. |
22“There is no peace”, says the LORD, “for the wicked.” |
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