Isaiah 44

1But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, the one I have chosen. 2The LORD says this, he who made you, who shaped you in the womb and will come to your aid: Have no fear, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, my chosen one. 3For I will pour out water on parched ground and send streams across the dry land; I will pour out my Spirit on your children, and my blessing on those who come after you. 4They will shoot up among the grass like poplars beside running streams. 5One will say, “I am the LORD’s”; another will claim the name of Jacob; another will write on the hand, “Belonging to the LORD,” and take Israel as a name of honor.

6The LORD, the King of Israel, its Redeemer, the LORD of Armies, says this: I am the first and I am the last; there is no god but me. 7Who can compare with me? Let him speak up, announce it, and set it out in order for me, from the day I founded the people of long ago. Let them make known what is coming, the things that are still to happen. 8Do not shake with dread or be afraid. Did I not announce it to you long ago and make it known? You are my witnesses. Is there any god apart from me? There is no other Rock; I know of none. 9All who shape idols are nothing, and the things they love do them no good. Their own witnesses see nothing and know nothing, so that they will be put to shame. 10Who would shape a god or cast an idol that brings no gain? 11Look, all who join with it will be put to shame; its makers are only human. Let them all assemble and stand up; they will be filled with dread and put to shame together. 12The ironsmith takes his tool and works it over hot charcoal. He beats it into shape with hammers, working it with all the strength of his arm. Yet he gets hungry and his strength runs out; he has no water to drink and is worn out. 13The woodworker stretches out a measuring line and sketches the shape with a stylus. He carves it with planes and marks it out with a compass. He makes it in the shape of a man, as handsome as any human, to sit in a house. 14He sets out to cut down cedars. He picks a holm oak or an oak and leaves it to grow strong among the forest trees. He plants a pine, and the rain makes it grow tall. 15It is wood for people to burn. He takes some of it and gets warm; he lights a fire and bakes his bread. Then he makes a god as well, and bows down to it; he carves an idol and falls on his face before it. 16He burns half of it in the fire. Over that half he cooks meat and eats; he roasts his meat and is full. He warms himself as well, and says, “Aha! I am warm; I can see the flames!” 17What is left he makes into a god, an idol of his own. He falls down before it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Rescue me, because you are my god!” 18They do not know, they do not understand; their eyes are smeared shut so they cannot see, and their hearts so they cannot grasp the truth. 19He does not think it over. He lacks the knowledge and the sense to say, “I burned half of it in the fire; I baked bread on its coals too; I roasted meat and ate. And am I to turn what is left into an abomination? Am I to bow down before a lump of wood?” 20He grazes on ashes. A mind that has been fooled has led him off course. He cannot rescue himself or ask, “Is this thing in my right hand not a fraud?”

21Keep these things in mind, Jacob, and you, Israel, for you are my servant. I shaped you; you are my own servant, Israel. You will never slip from my mind. 22Like a cloud I have wiped away your rebellious acts, and your sins like a mist. Come back to me; I have redeemed you. 23Ring out with joy, you heavens, because the LORD has acted! Raise a shout, you depths below the earth! Burst into joyful song, mountains, you forest too, and every tree within it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and he will show his glory in Israel.

24The LORD, your Redeemer, who shaped you in the womb, says this: I am the LORD, who made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, who hammered out the earth with no one beside me, 25who brings to nothing the omens of the babblers and makes the diviners look like fools, who sends the wise into retreat and makes their knowledge foolishness, 26who makes good the word of his servant and carries out the plan announced by his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, “People will live in her again,” and of the towns of Judah, “They will be built again; I will restore her ruins,” 27who says to the ocean depths, “Dry up! I will make your rivers run dry,” 28who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd; he will carry out everything I desire,” and the word goes out about Jerusalem, “She will be built again,” and to the temple, “Your foundations will be laid.”