Isaiah 44-47

New King James Version

God’s Blessing on Israel

44 “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
²Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
⁴They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
⁵One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.

There Is No Other God

⁶“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
^(A)‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
⁷And ^(B)who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
⁸Do not fear, nor be afraid;
^(C)Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
^(D)You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed ^(E)there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’ ”

Idolatry Is Foolishness

⁹^(F)Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
^(G)They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
¹⁰Who would form a god or mold an image
^(H)That profits him nothing?
¹¹Surely all his companions would be ^(I)ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.

¹²^(J)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.

¹³The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
¹⁴He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He ^[a]secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

¹⁵Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
¹⁶He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
¹⁷And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸^(K)They do not know nor understand;
For ^(L)He has ^[b]shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot ^(M)understand.
¹⁹And no one ^(N)considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
²⁰He feeds on ashes;
^(O)A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a ^(P)lie in my right hand?”

Israel Is Not Forgotten

²¹“Remember these, O Jacob,
And Israel, for you are My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be ^(Q)forgotten by Me!
²²^(R)I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for ^(S)I have redeemed you.”

²³^(T)Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ^(U)glorified Himself in Israel.

Judah Will Be Restored

²⁴Thus says the Lord, ^(V)your Redeemer,
And ^(W)He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
^(X)Who stretches out the heavens ^[c]all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
²⁵Who ^(Y)frustrates the signs ^(Z)of the babblers,
And drives diviners mad;
Who turns wise men backward,
^(AA)And makes their knowledge foolishness;
²⁶^(AB)Who confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’
To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places;
²⁷^(AC)Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸Who says of ^(AD)Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, ^(AE)“You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To ^(AF)Cyrus, whose ^(AG)right hand I have ^[d]held—
^(AH)To subdue nations before him
And ^(AI)loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
²‘I will go before you
^(AJ)And^[e] make the ^[f]crooked places straight;
^(AK)I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
³I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
^(AL)That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who ^(AM)call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
⁴For ^(AN)Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
⁵I ^(AO)am the Lord, and ^(AP)there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
^(AQ)I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
⁶^(AR)That they may ^(AS)know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
⁷I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and ^(AT)create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’

⁸“Rain^(AU) down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“Woe to him who strives with ^(AV)his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
^(AW)Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
¹⁰Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

¹¹Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
^(AX)“Ask Me of things to come concerning ^(AY)My sons;
And concerning ^(AZ)the work of My hands, you command Me.
¹²^(BA)I have made the earth,
And ^(BB)created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And ^(BC)all their host I have commanded.
¹³^(BD)I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will ^[g]direct all his ways;
He shall ^(BE)build My city
And let My exiles go free,
^(BF)Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

¹⁴Thus says the Lord:

^(BG)“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over ^(BH)in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, ^(BI)‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
^(BJ)There is no other God.’ ”

¹⁵Truly You are God, ^(BK)who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
¹⁶They shall be ^(BL)ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
¹⁷^(BM)But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an ^(BN)everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or ^(BO)disgraced
Forever and ever.

¹⁸For thus says the Lord,
^(BP)Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it ^[h]in vain,
Who formed it to be ^(BQ)inhabited:
^(BR)“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹I have not spoken in ^(BS)secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me ^[i]in vain’;
^(BT)I, the Lord, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.

²⁰“Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
^(BU)They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
²¹Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
^(BV)Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
^(BW)And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.

²²“Look to Me, and be saved,
^(BX)All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
²³^(BY)I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every ^(BZ)knee shall bow,
^(CA)Every tongue shall take an oath.
²⁴He shall say,
^[j]‘Surely in the Lord I have ^(CB)righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And ^(CC)all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
²⁵^(CD)In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and ^(CE)shall glory.’ ”

Dead Idols and the Living God

46 Bel ^(CF)bows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
^(CG)A burden to the weary beast.
²They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
^(CH)But have themselves gone into captivity.

³“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
^(CI)Who have been upheld by Me from ^[k]birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
⁴Even to your old age, ^(CJ)I am He,
And even to gray hairs ^(CK)I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

⁵“To^(CL) whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
⁶^(CM)They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a ^(CN)goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
⁷^(CO)They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though ^(CP)one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.

⁸“Remember this, and ^[l]show yourselves men;
^(CQ)Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
⁹^(CR)Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and ^(CS)there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
¹⁰^(CT)Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ^(CU)‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
¹¹Calling a bird of prey ^(CV)from the east,
The man ^(CW)who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed ^(CX)I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.

¹²“Listen to Me, you ^(CY)stubborn-hearted,
^(CZ)Who are far from righteousness:
¹³^(DA)I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation ^(DB)shall not ^[m]linger.
And I will place ^(DC)salvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.

The Humiliation of Babylon

47 “Come ^(DD)down and ^(DE)sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of ^(DF)Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and ^[n]delicate.
²^(DG)Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
³^(DH)Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
^(DI)I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”

⁴As for ^(DJ)our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.

⁵“Sit in ^(DK)silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
^(DL)For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
⁶^(DM)I was angry with My people;
^(DN)I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
^(DO)On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
⁷And you said, ‘I shall be ^(DP)a lady forever,’
So that you did not ^(DQ)take these things to heart,
^(DR)Nor remember the latter end of them.

⁸“Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
⁹But these two things shall come to you
^(DS)In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.

¹⁰“For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, ‘No one ^(DT)sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have ^[o]warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
¹¹Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able ^[p]to put it off.
And ^(DU)desolation shall come upon you ^(DV)suddenly,
Which you shall not know.

¹²“Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
¹³^(DW)You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now ^(DX)the^[q] astrologers, the stargazers,
And ^[r]the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
¹⁴Behold, they shall be ^(DY)as stubble,
The fire shall ^(DZ)burn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
¹⁵Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
^(EA)Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his ^[s]quarter.
No one shall save you.

Footnotes

Isaiah 44:14 Lit. appropriates
Isaiah 44:18 Lit. smeared over
Isaiah 44:24 By Himself
Isaiah 45:1 strengthened or sustained
Isaiah 45:2 Tg. I will trample down the walls; Vg. I will humble the great ones of the earth
Isaiah 45:2 DSS, LXX mountains
Isaiah 45:13 Or make all his ways straight
Isaiah 45:18 Or empty, a waste
Isaiah 45:19 Or in a waste place
Isaiah 45:24 Or Only in the Lord are all righteousness and strength
Isaiah 46:3 Lit. the belly
Isaiah 46:8 be men, take courage
Isaiah 46:13 delay
Isaiah 47:1 dainty
Isaiah 47:10 led you astray
Isaiah 47:11 Lit. to cover it or atone for it
Isaiah 47:13 Lit. viewers of the heavens
Isaiah 47:13 Lit. those giving knowledge for new moons
Isaiah 47:15 own side or way