Isaiah 44
44“But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.H8085H3290H5650H3478H9772The Lord who made you and helps you says. Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, O dear Israel, my chosen one.H559H3068H6213H3335H990H5826H3372H3290H5650H3484H9773For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.H3332H4325H6771H5140H3004H3332H7307H2233H1293H66314They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.H6779H996H2682H6155H4325H29885Some will proudly claim, ‘I belong to the Lord.’ Others will say, ‘I am a descendant of Jacob.’ Some will write the Lord’s name on their hands and will take the name of Israel as their own.”H559H3068H7121H8034H3290H3789H3027H3068H3655H8034H34786This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.H559H3068H4428H3478H1350H3068H6635H7223H314H1107H4307Who is like me? Let him step forward and prove to you his power. Let him do as I have done since ancient times when I established a people and explained its future.H7121H5046H6186H7760H5769H5971H857H935H50468Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one!”H6342H7297H7297H8085H227H5046H5707H3426H433H1107H6697H30459How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame.H3335H6459H8414H2530H3276H5707H7200H3045H95410Who but a fool would make his own god—an idol that cannot help him one bit?H3335H410H5258H6459H3276H111511All who worship idols will be disgraced along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—who claim they can make a god. They may all stand together, but they will stand in terror and shame.H2270H954H2796H120H6908H5975H6342H954H316212The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. His work makes him hungry and weak. It makes him thirsty and faint.H1270H2796H4621H6466H6352H3335H4717H6466H3581H2220H7457H3581H369H8354H4325H328613Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine.H2796H6086H5186H6957H8388H8279H6213H4741H8388H4230H6213H8403H376H8597H120H3427H100414He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain.H3772H730H3947H8645H437H553H6086H3293H5193H766H1653H143115Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it!H120H1197H3947H2552H5400H644H3899H6466H410H7812H6213H6459H545616He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”H8313H2677H1119H784H2677H398H1320H6740H6748H7646H2552H559H1889H2552H7200H21717Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”H7611H6213H410H6459H5456H7812H6419H559H5337H41018Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.H3045H995H2902H5869H7200H3826H791919The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, “Why, it’s just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”H7725H3820H1847H8394H559H8313H2677H1119H784H644H3899H1513H6740H1320H398H6213H3499H8441H5456H944H608620The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”H7462H665H2048H3820H5186H5337H5315H559H8267H322521“Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you.H2142H3290H3478H5650H3335H5650H3478H538222I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”H4229H5645H6588H6051H2403H7725H135023Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout for joy, O depths of the earth! Break into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel.H7442H8064H3068H6213H7321H8482H776H6476H7440H2022H3293H6086H3068H1350H3290H6286H347824This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer and Creator. “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth?H559H3068H1350H3335H990H3068H6213H5186H8064H7554H77625I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools.H6565H226H907H7080H1984H7725H2450H268H1847H552826But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’ and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt; I will restore all your ruins!’H6965H1697H5650H7999H6098H4397H559H3389H3427H5892H3063H1129H6965H272327When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry.H559H6683H2717H3001H510428When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”H559H3566H7462H7999H2656H559H3389H1129H1964H3245
Isaiah 45
45This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again.H559H3068H4899H3566H3225H2388H7286H1471H6440H6605H4975H4428H6605H6440H1817H8179H54622This is what the Lord says. “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.H3212H6440H3474H1921H3474H3474H7665H1817H5154H1438H1280H12703And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.H5414H214H2822H4301H4565H3045H3068H7121H8034H430H34784“And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.H3290H5650H3478H972H7121H8034H3655H30455I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me,H3068H430H2108H247H30456so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other.H3045H4217H8121H4628H657H1107H30687I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.H3335H216H1254H2822H6213H7965H1254H7451H3068H62138“Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them.H7491H8064H4605H7834H5140H6664H776H6605H6509H3468H6666H6779H3162H3068H12549“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’H1945H7378H3335H2789H2789H127H2563H559H3335H6213H6467H302710How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”H1945H559H1H3205H802H234211This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel and your Creator. “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?H559H3068H6918H3478H3335H7592H857H1121H6467H3027H668012I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.H6213H776H1254H120H3027H5186H8064H6635H668013I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people—without seeking a reward! I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”H5782H6664H3474H1870H1129H5892H7971H1546H4242H7810H559H3068H663514This is what the Lord says. “You will rule the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans. They will come to you with all their merchandise, and it will all be yours. They will follow you as prisoners in chains. They will fall to their knees in front of you and say, ‘God is with you, and he is the only God. There is no other.’”H559H3068H3018H4714H5505H3568H5436H582H4060H5674H3212H310H2131H5674H7812H6419H410H657H43015Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways.H403H410H5641H430H3478H346716All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.H954H3637H1980H3639H3162H2796H673617But the Lord will save the people of Israel with eternal salvation. Throughout everlasting ages, they will never again be humiliated and disgraced.H3478H3467H3068H5769H8668H954H3637H5769H570318For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.H559H3068H1254H8064H430H3335H776H6213H3559H1254H8414H3335H3427H306819I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.H1696H5643H2822H4725H776H559H2233H3290H1245H8414H3068H1696H6664H5046H433920“Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save!H6908H935H5066H3162H6412H1471H3045H5375H6086H6459H6419H410H346721Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say. Who made these things known so long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the Lord? For there is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none but me.H5046H5066H3289H3162H8085H6924H5046H3068H430H1107H6662H410H3467H369H210822Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.H6437H3467H657H776H41023I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word. Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me.”H7650H1697H3318H6310H6666H7725H1290H3766H3956H765024The people will declare, “The Lord is the source of all my righteousness and strength.” And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.H559H3068H6666H5797H935H2734H95425In the Lord all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in him they will boast.H3068H2233H3478H6663H1984
Isaiah 46
46Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, bow as they are lowered to the ground. They are being hauled away on ox carts. The poor beasts stagger under the weight.H1078H3766H5015H7164H6091H2416H929H5385H6006H4853H58892Both the idols and their owners are bowed down. The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into captivity together.H7164H3766H3162H3201H4422H4853H5315H1980H76283“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born.H8085H1004H3290H7611H1004H3478H6006H990H5375H73564I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.H2209H7872H5445H6213H5375H5445H44225“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?H1819H7737H4911H18196Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it!H2107H2091H3599H8254H3701H7070H7936H6884H6213H410H5456H78127They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It can’t even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.H5375H3802H5445H3240H5975H4725H4185H6817H6030H3467H68698“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones.H2142H377H7725H3820H65869Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.H2142H7223H5769H410H430H657H364410Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.H5046H319H7225H6924H6213H559H6098H6965H6213H265611I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding. I have said what I would do, and I will do it.H7121H5861H4217H376H6098H4801H776H1696H935H3335H621312“Listen to me, you stubborn people who are so far from doing right.H8085H47H3820H7350H666613For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem and show my glory to Israel.H7126H6666H7368H8668H309H5414H8668H6726H3478H8597
Dublin, OH
, my chosen one.H559
