Isaiah 43-45

New International Reader's Version

⁸ Lead my people into court.
    They have eyes but can’t see.
    Bring those who have ears but can’t hear.
⁹ All the nations are gathering together.
    All of them are coming.
Which one of their gods said ahead of time
    that the people of Israel would return?
    Which of them told us anything at all about the past?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right.
    Then others will hear them. And they will say,
    “What they said is true.”
¹⁰ “People of Israel, you are my witnesses,” announces the Lord.
    “I have chosen you to be my servant.
I wanted you to know me and believe in me.
    I wanted you to understand that I am the one and only God.
Before me, there was no other god at all.
    And there will not be any god after me.
¹¹ I am the one and only Lord.
    I am the only one who can save you.
¹² I have made known what would happen.
    I saved you. I have told you about it.
I did this. It was not some other god you worship.
    You are my witnesses that I am God,” announces the Lord.
¹³ “And that is not all! I have always been God,
    and I always will be.
No one can save people from my power.
    When I do something, who can undo it?”

¹⁶ Long ago the Lord opened
    a way for his people to go through the Red Sea.
    He made a path through the mighty waters.
¹⁷ He caused Egypt to send out its chariots and horses.
    He sent its entire army to its death.
Its soldiers lay down there.
    They never got up again.
    They were destroyed.
They were blown out like a dimly burning flame.
    But the Lord says,
¹⁸ “Forget the things that happened in the past.
    Do not keep on thinking about them.
¹⁹ I am about to do something new.
    It is beginning to happen even now.
    Don’t you see it coming?
I am going to make a way for you to go through the desert.
    I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land.
²⁰ Even wild dogs and owls honor me.
    That is because I provide water in the desert
    for my people to drink.
I cause streams to flow in the dry and empty land
    for my chosen ones.
²¹ I do it for the people I made for myself.
    I want them to sing praise to me.

²² “Family of Jacob, you have not prayed to me as you should.
    People of Israel, you have not worn yourselves out for me.
²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings.
    You have not honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not loaded you down
    by requiring grain offerings.
I have not made you tired
    by requiring you to burn incense.
²⁴ But you have not bought any sweet-smelling cane for me.
    You have not given me the fattest parts
    of your animal sacrifices.
Instead, you have loaded me down with your sins.
    You have made me tired with the wrong things you have done.

²⁵ “I am the one who wipes out your lawless acts.
    I do it because of who I am.
    I will not remember your sins anymore.
²⁶ But let us go to court together.
    Remind me of what you have done.
State your case.
    Prove to me that you are not guilty.
²⁷ Your father Jacob sinned.
    The people I sent to teach you refused to obey me.
²⁸ So I put the high officials of your temple to shame.
    I let Jacob’s family be totally destroyed.
    And I let people make fun of Israel.

⁹ Those who make statues of gods don’t amount to anything.
    And the statues they think so much of are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind.
    They don’t know anything.
    So they will be put to shame.
¹⁰ People make statues of gods.
    But those gods can’t do any good.
¹¹ People who do that will be put to shame.
    Those who make statues of gods are mere human beings.
Let all of them come together and state their case.
    They will be terrified and put to shame.

¹² A blacksmith gets his tool.
    He uses it to shape metal over the burning coals.
He uses his hammers to make a statue of a god.
    He forms it with his powerful arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength.
    He doesn’t drink any water.
    He gets weaker and weaker.
¹³ A carpenter measures a piece of wood with a line.
    He draws a pattern on it with a marker.
He cuts out a statue with sharp tools.
    He marks it with compasses.
He shapes it into the form of a beautiful human being.
    He does this so he can put it in a temple.
¹⁴ He cuts down a cedar tree.
    Or perhaps he takes a cypress or an oak tree.
It might be a tree that grew in the forest.
    Or it might be a pine tree he planted.
    And the rain made it grow.
¹⁵ A man gets wood from trees to burn.
    He uses some of it to warm himself.
    He starts a fire and bakes bread.
But he also uses some of it to make a god and worship it.
    He makes a statue of a god and bows down to it.
¹⁶ He burns half of the wood in the fire.
    He prepares a meal over it.
He cooks meat over it.
    He eats until he is full.
He also warms himself. He says,
    “Good! I’m getting warm.
    The fire is nice and hot.”
¹⁷ From the rest of the wood he makes a statue.
    It becomes his god.
    He bows down and worships it.
He prays to it. He says,
    “Save me! You are my god!”
¹⁸ People like that don’t even know what they are doing.
    Their eyes are shut so that they can’t see the truth.
    Their minds are closed so that they can’t understand it.
¹⁹ No one even stops to think about this.
    No one has any sense or understanding.
    If anyone did, they would say,
“I used half of the wood for fuel.
    I even baked bread over the fire.
    I cooked meat. Then I ate it.
Should I now make a statue of a god
    out of the wood that’s left over?
Should I bow down to a block of wood?
    The Lord would hate that.”
²⁰ That’s as foolish as eating ashes!
    The mind of someone like that
    has led him astray.
He can’t save himself.
    He can’t bring himself to say,
“This thing I’m holding in my right hand
    isn’t really a god at all.”

²¹ The Lord says, “Family of Jacob, remember these things.
    People of Israel, you are my servant.
I have made you. You are my servant.
    Israel, I will not forget you.
²² I will sweep your sins away as if they were a cloud.
    I will blow them away as if they were the morning mist.
Return to me.
    Then I will set you free.”

²³ Sing for joy, you heavens!
    The Lord does wonderful things.
Shout out loud, you earth!
    Burst into song, you mountains!
    Sing, you forests and all your trees!
The Lord sets the family of Jacob free.
    He shows his glory in Israel.

“I am the Lord. I am the Maker of everything.
    I alone stretch out the heavens.
    I spread out the earth by myself.

²⁵ “Some prophets are not really prophets at all.
    I show that their signs are fake.
    I make those who practice evil magic look foolish.
I destroy the learning of those who think they are wise.
    Their knowledge does not make any sense at all.
²⁶ I make the words of my servants the prophets come true.
    I carry out what my messengers say will happen.

“I say about Jerusalem,
    ‘My people will live there again.’
I say about the towns of Judah,
    ‘They will be rebuilt.’
I say about their broken-down buildings,
    ‘I will make them like new again.’
²⁷ I say to the deep waters,
    ‘Dry up. Let your streams become dry.’
²⁸ I say about Cyrus,
    ‘He is my shepherd.
    He will accomplish everything I want him to.
He will say about Jerusalem,
    “Let it be rebuilt.”
And he will say about the temple,
    “Let its foundations be laid.” ’

45 “Cyrus is my anointed king.
    I take hold of his right hand.
I give him the power
    to bring nations under his control.
I help him strip kings of their power
    to go to war against him.
I break city gates open so he can go through them.
    I say to him,
² ‘I will march out ahead of you.
    I will make the mountains level.
I will break down bronze gates.
    I will cut through their heavy iron bars.
³ I will give you treasures that are hidden away.
    I will give you riches that are stored up in secret places.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
    I am the God of Israel.
    I am sending for you by name.
⁴ Cyrus, I am sending for you by name.
    I am doing it for the good of the family of Jacob.
    They are my servant.
I am doing it for Israel.
    They are my chosen people.
You do not know anything about me.
    But I am giving you a title of honor.
⁵ I am the Lord. There is no other Lord.
    I am the one and only God.
You do not know anything about me.
    But I will make you strong.
⁶ Then people will know there is no God but me.
    Everyone from where the sun rises in the east
    to where it sets in the west will know it.
I am the Lord.
    There is no other Lord.
⁷ I cause light to shine. I also create darkness.
    I bring good times. I also create hard times.
    I do all these things. I am the Lord.

⁸ “ ‘Rain down my godliness, you heavens above.
    Let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide to receive it.
    Let freedom spring to life.
Let godliness grow richly along with it.
    I have created all these things.
    I am the Lord.’ ”

⁹ How terrible it will be for anyone who argues with their Maker!
    They are like a broken piece of pottery lying on the ground.
Does clay say to a potter,
    “What are you making?”
Does a pot say,
    “The potter doesn’t have any skill”?
¹⁰ How terrible it will be for anyone who says to a father,
    “Why did you give me life?”
How terrible for anyone who says to a mother,
    “Why have you brought me into the world?”

¹¹ The Lord is the Holy One of Israel.
    He made them.
He says to them,
    “Are you asking me about what will happen to my children?
    Are you telling me what I should do with what my hands have made?
¹² I made the earth.
    I created human beings to live there.
My own hands spread out the heavens.
    I put all the stars in their places.
¹³ I will stir up Cyrus and help him win his battles.
    I will make all his roads straight.
He will rebuild Jerusalem.
    My people have been taken away from their country.
    But he will set them free.
I will not pay him to do it.
    He will not receive a reward for it,”
    says the Lord who rules over all.

“You will get everything Egypt produces.
    You will receive everything the people of Cush
and the tall Sabeans get in trade.
    All of it will belong to you.
And all these people will walk behind you as slaves.
    They will be put in chains and come over to you.
They will bow down to you.
    They will admit,
‘God is with you.
    There is no other God.’ ”

¹⁵ You are a God who has been hiding yourself.
    You are the God of Israel. You save us.
¹⁶ All those who make statues of gods will be put to shame.
    They will be dishonored.
    They will be led away in shame together.
¹⁷ But the Lord will save Israel.
    He will save them forever.
They will never be put to shame or dishonored.
    That will be true for all time to come.

¹⁸ The Lord created the heavens.
    He is God.
He formed the earth and made it.
    He set it firmly in place.
He didn’t create it to be empty.
    Instead, he formed it for people to live on.
He says, “I am the Lord.
    There is no other Lord.
¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret.
    I have not spoken from a dark place.
I have not said to Jacob’s people,
    ‘It is useless to look for me.’
I am the Lord. I always speak the truth.
    I always say what is right.

²⁰ “Come together, you people of the nations
    who escaped from Babylon.
    Gather together and come into court.
Only people who do not know anything
    would carry around gods that are made out of wood.
    They pray to false gods that can’t save them.
²¹ Tell me what will happen. State your case.
    Talk it over together.
Who spoke long ago about what would happen?
    Who said it a long time ago?
I did. I am the Lord.
    I am the one and only God.
I always do what is right.
    I am the one who saves.
    There is no God but me.

²² “All you who live anywhere on earth,
    turn to me and be saved.
    I am God. There is no other God.
²³ I have made a promise in my own name.
    I have spoken with complete honesty.
    I will not take back a single word. I said,
‘Everyone will kneel down to me.
    Everyone’s mouth will make promises in my name.’
²⁴ They will say, ‘The Lord is the only one who can save us.
    Only he can make us strong.’ ”
All those who have been angry with the Lord will come to him.
    And they will be put to shame.
²⁵ But the Lord will save all the people of Israel.
    And so they will boast about the Lord.