Isaiah 44

⁸“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—

⁵In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

⁶And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

¹⁰As for you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, declares the Lord, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.

⁶O offspring of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

⁸do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,

⁷A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

¹But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

³“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.

⁴Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.

²⁴Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,

⁷everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”

¹Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The Lord called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

²⁸And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

¹⁷‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

²¹“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the Lord.

³⁷On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

³⁸Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”

²³If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.

⁶And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.

¹¹The Lord will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

³He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

¹³Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,

⁵He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it by abundant waters and set it out like a willow.

¹By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

²There on the willows we hung our harps,

⁴But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

⁹This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

¹⁷Today you have proclaimed that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.

¹⁸And today the Lord has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,

³⁸In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

¹⁶Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

⁹It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

⁴Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord—the first and the last—I am He.”

¹⁰“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.

¹¹I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no Savior but Me.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.

¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

⁸Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”

⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,

⁶so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.

²²“Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.

⁹Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

²¹Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

⁹All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

⁷I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

⁸And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

¹⁰“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.

²There is no one holy like the Lord. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.

³⁵You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

³⁹Know therefore this day and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?

²⁴Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

¹⁴Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁸What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

⁷All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!

²⁹See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.

²⁷say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet in the time of trouble, they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’

²⁸But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.

⁵Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”

¹⁸What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

²⁶And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.

¹King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

⁴So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

²⁹See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.

¹⁷But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.

¹⁶They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.

⁷All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!

²⁹Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.

²⁴It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.

²⁵Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.

¹Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

²Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

⁶Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

¹⁹To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?

⁶They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.

⁷They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.

³For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.

⁴They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.

¹³Is it not indeed from the Lord of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?

⁴He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

⁴So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.

⁵Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

¹⁶that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,

¹⁷of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air,

⁵They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;

⁶they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell;

²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁹Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

²So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.

²⁰One lacking such an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

³For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.

⁴They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.

¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

¹²My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.

¹⁴When Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the Seirites, set them up as his own gods, bowed before them, and burned sacrifices to them.

¹⁹But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

²⁰Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

²⁰Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

¹⁰Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?

²⁰Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

²⁹Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”

²⁶And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.

³⁸One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

¹⁹Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

²⁰Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

²⁰When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

²¹Then Daniel replied, “O king, may you live forever!

⁹And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

¹⁰Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

³⁹For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says:

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”

⁹The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,

¹⁰and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

²¹“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

¹²So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

¹⁵‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

⁷At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁵Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

¹³Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.

²⁰Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

¹Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

³¹Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.

²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

¹³if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

¹But now listen, O Jacob My servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.

²This is the word of the Lord, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

¹⁶Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

⁸Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors!

⁹Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, and your King.”

¹But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

²³Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.

²⁵I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.

²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

¹⁸But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

¹But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

⁶to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

⁸When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

⁹And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

⁷Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy

¹After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!

²For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.

¹¹Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.

¹²Let the fields exult, and all that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy

¹²It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.

⁵This is what God the Lord says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

⁵For your husband is your Maker—the Lord of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

¹⁸For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

⁹And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

²This is the word of the Lord, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

¹⁰The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.

¹²He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

³¹Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

³⁶A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.

¹²So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!

¹³You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.

²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

³⁶At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.

³⁷Answer me, O Lord! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”

⁹Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

²⁵David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

²⁶Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope,

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

³And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

¹⁸This is what the Lord says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will stand in its rightful place.

³⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

³⁸A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.

¹⁵I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.

¹²And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.

³²The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.”

¹⁵For I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of Hosts is His name.

²²In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

¹This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:

¹In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.

³In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its foundations be firmly laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,

⁴with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.

¹³I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the Lord of Hosts.”

¹¹I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.