Isaiah 44:1-19 ▼

1 And now listen, O Jacob My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen!

2 Thus says YHWH, the One having made you and having formed you from the womb, who will help you: “Do not fear, My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

3 For I will pour water upon a thirsty one, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your offspring.

4 And they will sprout up among the grass, like willows by streams of water.

5 This one will say ‘I am unto YHWH and this one will call himself by the name of Jacob; and this one will write on his hand ‘Unto YHWH,’ and will address himself by the name of Israel.”

6 Thus says YHWH, the King of Israel and his Redeemer—YHWH of Hosts: “I am the First, and I am the Last, and besides Me there are no gods.

7 And who is like Me? Let him call and declare it, and arrange it for Me, from My putting forth the people of old, and the things to come and what is coming, let them declare it themselves!

8 Do not dread and do not be afraid! Have I not long ago reported it to you and declared it? And you? are My witnesses: Is there a God besides Me? And there is no Rock—not one” I know.

9 Those fashioning an idol—all of them are nothing, and their delights cannot benefit. And their own witnesses, they cannot see, and they do not know, so they are put to shame.

10 Who would fashion a god, or cast an idol, that gives no benefit?

11 Behold, all its companions will be put to shame, and its craftsmen, for they are are of men. All of them, let them gather, let them take their stand; let them dread, let them be ashamed together!

12 The craftsman of iron has an ax and works over the coal, and with hammers he fashions it, and works it with the strength of his arm. Even so he grows hungry, and has no strength; he does not drink water, and he becomes faint.

13 The craftsman of wood stretches out the measuring-line; he traces it with the stylus, he fashions it with the chisel, and he marks it out with the compass; he makes it like the figure of a man, like the splendor of mankind, that it may dwell in a house.

14 He cuts down for himself cedars and takes cypress and oak. And he gives strength to it among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir-tree, and the rain makes it grow,

15 and it is for man to burn. And he takes from it and warms himself; also he kindles a fire and bakes bread; also he makes a god and bows down to it; he makes it a carved image and falls down before it!

16 Half of it he burns in the fire, on half of it he eats meat; he roasts a roast and is satisfied; also, he warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm, I have seen the fire!”

17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, as his idol; he bows down before it, and he bows down and prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18 They do not know and they do not understand, for He has covered over their eyes from seeing, their hearts from understanding.

19 And no one turns it back to his heart, and there is no knowledge and no understanding to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire, and also I have baked bread on its coals and roasted meat, and I have eaten. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”