< Isaiah 44 >
1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says Jehovah who made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.
4 And they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
5 One shall say, I am Jehovah's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand to Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
6 Thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.
7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? And let them declare the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass.
8 Fear ye not, nor be afraid. Have I not declared to thee of old, and shown it? And ye are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Yea, there is no Rock. I know not any.
9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them vanity. And the things that they delight in shall not profit. And their own witnesses see not, nor know, that they may be put to shame.
10 Who has fashioned a god, or molded an image that is profitable for nothing?
11 Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame, and the workmen. They are of men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They shall fear. They shall be put to shame together.
12 The smith makes an axe, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. Yea, he is hungry, and his strength fails. He drinks no water, and is faint.
13 The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. And he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
14 He hews down cedars for him, and takes the holm tree and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it.
15 Then it shall be for a man to burn. And he takes of it, and warms himself. Yea, he kindles it, and bakes bread. Yea, he makes a god, and worships it. He makes it a graven image, and falls down to it.
16 He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it he eats flesh. He roasts roast, and is satisfied. Yea, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.
17 And the residue of it he makes a god, even his graven image. He falls down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me, for thou are my god.
18 They do not know, nor do they consider. For he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see, and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
19 And none calls to mind, nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire. Yea, I have also baked bread upon the coals of it. I have roasted flesh and eaten it. And shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
20 He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
21 Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou are my servant. I have formed thee. Thou are my servant, O Israel, thou shall not be forgotten by me.
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed thee.
23 Sing, O ye heavens, for Jehovah has done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein. For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
24 Thus says Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he who formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, who makes all things, who stretches forth the heavens alone, who spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?),
25 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad, who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places of it,
27 who says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers,
28 who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
