Isaiah 44
He Warms Himself with Half the Log and Worships the Rest
← Isaiah 43 · Isaiah: all chapters · Isaiah 45 →
Listen, My Servant Jacob
44:1“But now listen, My servant Jacob, and Israel whom I chose.
44:2Thus says the Lord God who made you and formed you from the womb: You will yet be helped. Do not fear, My servant Jacob and beloved Israel whom I chose.
44:3For I will give water in thirst to those traveling through waterless land. I will place My spirit upon your offspring and My blessings upon your children,
44:4and they will spring up like grass amid water and like a willow beside flowing water.
44:5One will say, ‘I belong to God’; another will cry out in Jacob’s name; another will inscribe, ‘I belong to God,’ in Israel’s name.”
Israel’s King and Redeemer Speaks
44:6Thus says God, Israel’s King, who rescued him, God Sabaoth: “I am first, and I am after these things; apart from Me there is no God.
44:7Who is like Me? Let him stand, call out, and prepare for Me, from when I made humankind for eternity. Let them announce to you the coming things before they arrive.
44:8Do not cover yourselves. Did you not hear from the beginning, and did I not announce it to you? You are witnesses whether there is a God apart from Me; there were none then.”
The Folly of Those Who Carve Gods
44:9All who fashion and carve are futile, making what pleases them, things that will not help them. But they will be ashamed—
44:10all who fashion a god and carve useless things,
44:11and all from whom they came have dried up. Let the deaf from among humankind all assemble and stand together; let them be abashed and ashamed together.
44:12For a craftsman sharpened iron, worked it with an adze, bored it with a drill, and worked it with his strong arm. He will hunger and grow weak and certainly not drink water. Having selected
44:13wood, a craftsman set it by measure and arranged it with glue. He made it like a man’s form and human beauty, to set it in a house.
44:14The wood he cut from the woodland was what the Lord planted and rain made grow,
44:15so that it might serve people for burning. Taking some, he warmed himself; after burning it they baked loaves over the pieces. They worked the rest into gods and worship them.
44:16Half of it they burned in fire, and after burning it they baked loaves over the pieces. Over it he roasted meat, ate, and was satisfied. Warmed, he said, ‘It is pleasant for me, for I am warm and have seen fire!’
44:17He made the rest into a carved god and worships it and prays, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god.’
44:18They did not know enough to understand, because they were darkened from seeing with their eyes and comprehending with their heart.
44:19He did not reckon it in his heart, consider it in his soul, or know by understanding that he burned half in fire, baked loaves over its coals, roasted meat and ate, and made its remainder an abomination; and they worship it.
44:20Know that their heart is ashes, and they wander, and no one can rescue his soul. See—will you not say, ‘A lie is in my right hand’?
Remember These Things, Jacob and Israel
44:21“Remember these things, Jacob and Israel, for you are My servant. I formed you as My servant; and you, Israel, do not forget Me.
44:22For look, I wiped away your lawless acts like a cloud and your sins like dark mist. Turn back to Me, and I will redeem you.”
44:23Rejoice, heavens, because God had mercy on Israel! Sound trumpets, earth’s foundations! Cry out joy, mountains, hills and all their trees! For God redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be glorified.
The Lord Who Redeems You and Formed You
44:24Thus says the Lord who redeems you and forms you from the womb: “I am the Lord who completes all things. I stretched heaven alone and established the earth. Who else
44:25will scatter the signs of spirit-mediums and divinations from the heart, turning the discerning backward and making their counsel foolish,
44:26and establish His servant’s words and make His messengers’ counsel true? He says to Jerusalem, ‘You will be inhabited,’ and to Judea’s cities, ‘You will be rebuilt,’ and her deserted places will spring up;
44:27He says to the abyss, ‘You will be desolate, and I will dry your rivers’;
The Word to Cyrus and to Jerusalem
44:28He tells Cyrus to understand, and says, ‘He will do all My wishes.’ He says to Jerusalem, ‘You will be rebuilt, and I will lay the foundation of My holy house.’”
← Isaiah 43 · Isaiah: all chapters · Isaiah 45 →
Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.