Isaiah 43–44; Isaiah 1

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Isaiah 43–44

Israel’s Only Savior

But now thus says the Lord,

mhe who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

nFear not, for I have redeemed you;

oI have called you by name, you are mine.

pWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

pwhen you walk through fire qyou shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

For rI am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

sI give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and tSeba in exchange for you.

Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

peoples in exchange for your life.

uFear not, for I am with you;

vI will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you.

I will say to the north, Give up,

and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring wmy sons from afar

and wmy daughters from the end of the earth,

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.

Bring out xthe people who are blind, yet have eyes,

who are deaf, yet have ears!

yAll the nations gather together,

and the peoples assemble.

Who among them can declare this,

and show us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,

and let them hear and say, It is true.

10  zYou are my witnesses, declares the Lord,

and amy servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

bBefore me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me.

11  cI, I am the Lord,

and besides me there is no savior.

12  I declared and saved and proclaimed,

when there was no strange god among you;

and zyou are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am God.

13  Also dhenceforth I am he;

there is none who can deliver from my hand;

I work, and who can turn it back?

14  Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

eFor your sake I send to Babylon

and fbring them all down as fugitives,

geven the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

15  I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.

16  Thus says the Lord,

hwho makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

17  who ibrings forth chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

jthey are extinguished, kquenched like a wick:

18  lRemember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

19  mBehold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

nI will make a way in the wilderness

oand rivers in the desert.

20  The wild beasts will honor me,

pthe jackals and the ostriches,

qfor I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

21  the people whom I formed for myself

rthat they might declare my praise.

22  Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

but syou have been weary of me, O Israel!

23  tYou have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

sor wearied you with frankincense.

24  You have not bought me sweet cane with money,

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

you have wearied me with your iniquities.

25  I, I am he

uwho blots out vyour transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.

26  Put me in remembrance; wlet us argue together;

set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

27  xYour first father sinned,

and yyour mediators transgressed against me.

28  Therefore zI will profane the princes of the sanctuary,

and adeliver Jacob to utter destruction

and Israel to reviling.

Israel the Lord’s Chosen

But now hear, bO Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!

Thus says the Lord who made you,

cwho formed you from the womb and will help you:

dFear not, O Jacob my servant,

eJeshurun whom I have chosen.

fFor I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants.

They shall spring up among the grass

glike willows by flowing streams.

hThis one will say, I am the Lord’s,

another will call on the name of Jacob,

and another will write on his hand, The Lord’s,

and name himself by the name of Israel.

Besides Me There Is No God

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel

and ihis Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

jI am the first and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.

kWho is like me? Let him proclaim it.1

Let him declare and set it before me,

since I appointed an ancient people.

Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.

Fear not, nor be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

lAnd you are my witnesses!

mIs there a God besides me?

There is no nRock; I know not any.

The Folly of Idolatry

oAll who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 pWho fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 qBehold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

12 pThe ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. rHe shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 sHe cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire! 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. tHe prays to it and says, Deliver me, for you are my god!

18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an uabomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood? 20 vHe feeds on washes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, Is there not xa lie in my right hand?

The Lord Redeems Israel

21  Remember these things, O Jacob,

and Israel, for you are ymy servant;

I formed you; you are my servant;

zO Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

22  aI have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud

and your sins like mist;

return to me, for I have redeemed you.

23  bSing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;

shout, O cdepths of the earth;

break forth into singing, O mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it!

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,

dand will be glorified3 in Israel.

24  Thus says the Lord, eyour Redeemer,

fwho formed you from the womb:

gI am the Lord, who made all things,

hwho alone stretched out the heavens,

who spread out the earth by myself,

25  who frustrates the signs of liars

and makes fools of diviners,

iwho turns wise men back

and makes their knowledge foolish,

26  jwho confirms the word of his servant

and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited,

kand of the cities of Judah, They shall be built,

and I will raise up their ruins;

27  lwho says to the deep, Be dry;

I will dry up your rivers;

28  who says of mCyrus, He is nmy shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose;

saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built,

oand of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.


Isaiah 1

The avision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem bin the days of cUzziah, dJotham, eAhaz, and fHezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Wickedness of Judah

gHear, O heavens, and give ear, O hearth;

for the Lord has spoken:

Children1 ihave I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

The ox jknows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does jnot know,

my people do not understand.

Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

koffspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

they have ldespised mthe Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly nestranged.

Why will you still be ostruck down?

Why will you pcontinue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

qFrom the sole of the foot even to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

and raw wounds;

they are rnot pressed out or bound up

or softened with oil.

sYour country lies desolate;

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

foreigners devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

And tthe daughter of Zion is left

like a ubooth in a vineyard,

like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

vIf the Lord of hosts

had not left us wa few survivors,

we should have been like xSodom,

and become like xGomorrah.

10  Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of yzSodom!

Give ear to the teaching2 of our God,

you people of zGomorrah!

11  aWhat to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

12  When you come to bappear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

13  Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

cNew moon and Sabbath and the dcalling of convocations

I cannot endure einiquity and fsolemn assembly.

14  Your cnew moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

15  When you gspread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

heven though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

iyour hands are full of blood.

16  jWash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

kcease to do evil,

17  learn to do good;

lseek justice,

correct oppression;

mbring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

18  Come now, nlet us reason3 together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as owhite as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

19  pIf you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

20  but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

qfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Unfaithful City

21  How the faithful city

rhas become a whore,4

sshe who was full of justice!

Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

22  tYour silver has become dross,

your best wine mixed with water.

23  Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

Everyone uloves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

vThey do not bring justice to the fatherless,

and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

24  Therefore the wLord declares,

the Lord of hosts,

the xMighty One of Israel:

Ah, I will get relief from my enemies

yand avenge myself on my foes.

25  zI will turn my hand against you

and will smelt away your adross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.

26  And I will restore your judges bas at the first,

and your counselors as at the beginning.

Afterward cyou shall be called the city of righteousness,

the faithful city.

27  dZion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

28  eBut rebels and sinners shall be broken together,

and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

29  fFor they5 shall be ashamed of gthe oaks

that you desired;

and you shall blush for hthe gardens

that you have chosen.

30  For you shall be ilike an oak

whose leaf withers,

and like a garden without water.

31  And the strong shall become jtinder,

and his work a spark,

and both of them shall burn together,

with knone to quench them.