Isaiah 43–45

1But now, this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.

3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.

4Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.

5Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.

6I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

7everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”

8Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf.

9All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

10“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.

11I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me.

12I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.

13Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

14Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

15I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, and your King.”

16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters,

17who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

18“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old.

19Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

20The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.

21The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.

22But you have not called on Me, O Jacob, because you have grown weary of Me, O Israel.

23You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.

24You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.

25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.

26Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated.

27Your first father sinned, and your spokesmen rebelled against Me.

28So I will disgrace the princes of your sanctuary, and I will devote Jacob to destruction and Israel to reproach.”

1But now listen, O Jacob My servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.

2This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

4They will sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams.

5One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD,’ another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name of Israel.”

6Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

7Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

8Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”

9All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.

10Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?

11Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame.

12The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.

13The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

14He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

15It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread. He also fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

16He burns half of it in the fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. Indeed, he warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

17From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

18They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.

19And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

20He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

21Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.

22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

23Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel.

24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,

25who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

26who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’

27who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’

28who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”

1This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:

2“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

3I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.

4For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me.

5I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,

6so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

7I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.

8Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker— one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

10Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’”

11Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands?

12It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.

13I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the LORD of Hosts.”

14This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”

15Truly You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

16They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.

17But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.

18For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.

19I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.

20Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

21Speak up and present your case— yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

22Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

23By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.

24Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.

25In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.