Isaiah 44:17-28 ▼

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?”

20 He grazes on ashes, a deceived heart has stretched him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, and he does not say, “Is not a lie in my right hand?”

21 Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant. I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel; you will not be forgotten by Me.

22 I have blotted out like a cloud your transgressions, and like a mist your sins; return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

23 Sing out, O heavens, for YHWH has done it! Give a shout,, O lower parts of the earth! Break forth O mountains, into singing, O forest and every tree in it. For YHWH has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel He has glorified Himself.

24 Thus says YHWH, your Redeemer, and the One forming you from the womb: “I am YHWH, the One making all things, the One stretching out the heavens by Myself alone, the One spreading out the earth—who besides Me—

25 breaking the omens of devisers, and making fools of those devining; the One turning the wise ones backward, and making their knowledge foolish;

26 the One making stand the word of His servant and fufilling the counsel of His messengers; the One saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and her ruins I will raise up;’

27 the One saying to the deep, ‘Be dry, and your rivers I will dry up;’

28 the One saying of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd and all My delight he will fulfill,’ and saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”