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God’s Blessing on Israel

44But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
   Israel whom I have chosen!
² Thus says the Lord who made you,
   who formed you in the womb and will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
   Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
   and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants,
   and my blessing on your offspring.
⁴ They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,
   like willows by flowing streams.
⁵ This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’,
   another will be called by the name of Jacob,
yet another will write on the hand, ‘The Lord’s’,
   and adopt the name of Israel.

⁶ Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
   and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last;
   besides me there is no god.
⁷ Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,
   let them declare and set it forth before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come?^*
   Let them tell us^* what is yet to be.
⁸ Do not fear, or be afraid;
   have I not told you from of old and declared it?
   You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
   There is no other rock; I know not one.

The Absurdity of Idol-Worship

9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. ¹⁰Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? ¹¹Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame.

12 The blacksmith fashions it^* and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. ¹⁴He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. ¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, ‘Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!’ ¹⁷The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it, and worships it; he prays to it and says, ‘Save me, for you are my god!’

18 They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹No 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. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’ ²⁰He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?’

Israel Is Not Forgotten

²¹ Remember these things, O Jacob,
   and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
   O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
²² I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,
   and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³ Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
   shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
   O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
   and will be glorified in Israel.

²⁴ Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
   who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
   who alone stretched out the heavens,
   who by myself spread out the earth;
²⁵ who frustrates the omens of liars,
   and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise,
   and makes their knowledge foolish;
²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant,
   and fulfils the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited’,
   and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,
   and I will raise up their ruins’;
²⁷ who says to the deep, ‘Be dry—
   I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸ who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
   and he shall carry out all my purpose’;
and who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt’,
   and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
   whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
   and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
   and the gates shall not be closed:
² I will go before you
   and level the mountains,^*
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
   and cut through the bars of iron,
³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
   and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
   the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴ For the sake of my servant Jacob,
   and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
   I surname you, though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;
   besides me there is no god.
   I arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶ so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
   I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.

⁸ Shower, O heavens, from above,
   and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,^*
   and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
   I the Lord have created it.

⁹ Woe to you who strive with your Maker,
   earthen vessels with the potter!^*
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’
   or ‘Your work has no handles’?
¹⁰ Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
   or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labour?’
¹¹ Thus says the Lord,
   the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Will you question me^* about my children,
   or command me concerning the work of my hands?
¹² I made the earth,
   and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
   and I commanded all their host.
¹³ I have aroused Cyrus^* in righteousness,
   and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
   and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
   says the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴ Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,^*
   and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours,
   they shall follow you;
   they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
   ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other;
   there is no god besides him.’
¹⁵ Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
   O God of Israel, the Saviour.
¹⁶ All of them are put to shame and confounded,
   the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷ But Israel is saved by the Lord
   with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
   to all eternity.

¹⁸ For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
   (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
   (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
   he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹ I did not speak in secret,
   in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
   ‘Seek me in chaos.’
I the Lord speak the truth,
   I declare what is right.

Idols Cannot Save Babylon

²⁰ Assemble yourselves and come together,
   draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
   those who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
   that cannot save.
²¹ Declare and present your case;
   let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
   Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
   There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Saviour;
   there is no one besides me.

²² Turn to me and be saved,
   all the ends of the earth!
   For I am God, and there is no other.
²³ By myself I have sworn,
   from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
   a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
   every tongue shall swear.’

²⁴ Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
   are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
   shall come to him and be ashamed.
²⁵ In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
   shall triumph and glory.

46Bel bows down, Nebo stoops,
   their idols are on beasts and cattle;
these things you carry are loaded
   as burdens on weary animals.
² They stoop, they bow down together;
   they cannot save the burden,
   but themselves go into captivity.

³ Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
   all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
   carried from the womb;
⁴ even to your old age I am he,
   even when you turn grey I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
   I will carry and will save.

⁵ To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
   and compare me, as though we were alike?
⁶ Those who lavish gold from the purse,
   and weigh out silver in the scales—
they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god;
   then they fall down and worship!
⁷ They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
   they set it in its place, and it stands there;
   it cannot move from its place.
If one cries out to it, it does not answer
   or save anyone from trouble.

⁸ Remember this and consider,^*
   recall it to mind, you transgressors,
⁹   remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
   I am God, and there is no one like me,
¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning
   and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My purpose shall stand,
   and I will fulfil my intention’,
¹¹ calling a bird of prey from the east,
   the man for my purpose from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
   I have planned, and I will do it.

¹² Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
   you who are far from deliverance:
¹³ I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off,
   and my salvation will not tarry;
I will put salvation in Zion,
   for Israel my glory.