My servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2Thus said the LORD, your Maker,
Your Creator who has helped you since birth:
Fear not, My servant Jacob,
Jeshuruna whom I have chosen,
3Even as I pour water on thirsty soil,
And rain upon dry ground,
So will I pour My spirit on your offspring,
My blessing upon your posterity.
4And they shall sprout likeb grass,
Like willows by watercourses.
5One shall say, “I am the LORD’s,”
Another shall use the name of “Jacob,”
Another shall mark his arm “of the LORD”c
And adopt the name of “Israel.”
6Thus said the LORD, the King of Israel,
Their Redeemer, the LORD of Hosts:
I am the first and I am the last,
And there is no god but Me.
7dWho like Me can announce,
Can foretell it—and match Me thereby?
Even as I told the future to an ancient people,
So let him foretell coming events to them.
8Do not be frightened, do not be shaken!
Have I not from of old predicted to you?
I foretold, and you are My witnesses.
Is there any god, then, but Me?
“There is no other rock; I know none!”
9The makers of idols
All work to no purpose;
And the things they treasure
Can do no good,
As they themselves can testify.
They neither look nor think,
And so they shall be shamed.
10Who would fashion a god
Or cast a statue
That can do no good?
11Lo, all its adherents shall be shamed;
They are craftsmen, are merely human.
Let them all assemble and stand up!
They shall be cowed, and they shall be shamed.
12eThe craftsman in iron, with his tools,
Works itf over charcoal
And fashions it by hammering,
Working with the strength of his arm.
Should he go hungry, his strength would ebb;
Should he drink no water, he would grow faint.
13The craftsman in wood measures with a line
And marks out a shape with a stylus;
He forms it with scraping tools,
Marking it out with a compass.
He gives it a human form,
The beauty of a man, to dwell in a shrine.
14For his use he cuts down cedars;
He chooses plane trees and oaks.
He sets aside trees of the forest;
Or plants firs, and the rain makes them grow.
15All this serves man for fuel:
He takes some to warm himself,
And he builds a fire and bakes bread.
He also makes a god of it and worships it,
Fashions an idol and bows down to it!
16Part of it he burns in a fire:
On that part he roastsg meat,
He eatsg the roast and is sated;
He also warms himself and cries, “Ah,
I am warm! I can feelh the heat!”
17Of the rest he makes a god—his own carving!
He bows down to it, worships it;
He prays to it and cries,
“Save me, for you are my god!”
18They have no wit or judgment:
Their eyes are besmeared, and they see not;
Their minds, and they cannot think.
19They do not give thought,
They lack the wit and judgment to say:
“Part of it I burned in a fire;
I also baked bread on the coals,
I roasted meat and ate it—
Should I make the rest an abhorrence?
Should I bow to a block of wood?”
20He pursues ashes!i
A deluded mind has led him astray,
And he cannot save himself;
He never says to himself,
“The thing in my hand is a fraud!”
21Remember these things, O Jacob
For you, O Israel, are My servant:
I fashioned you, you are My servant—
O Israel, never forget Me.j
22I wipe away your sins like a cloud,
Your transgressions like mist—
Come back to Me, for I redeem you.
23Shout, O heavens, for the LORD has acted;
Shout aloud, O depths of the earth!
Shout for joy, O mountains,
O forests with all your trees!
For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
Has glorified Himself through Israel.
24Thus said the LORD, your Redeemer,
Who formed you in the womb:
It is I, the LORD, who made everything,
Who alone stretched out the heavens
And unaidedk spread out the earth;
25Who annul the omens of diviners,
And make fools of the augurs;
Who turn sages back
And make nonsense of their knowledge;
26But confirm the word of Myl servant
And fulfill the prediction of Myl messengers.
It is I who say of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
And of the towns of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt;
And I will restore their ruined places.”
27[I,] who said to the deep, “Be dry;
I will dry up your floods,”
28Am the same who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd;m
He shall fulfill all My purposes!
He shall say of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be rebuilt,’
And to the Temple: ‘You shall be founded again.’ ”
45 Thus said the LORD to Cyrus, His anointed one—
Whose right hand a-He has-a grasped,
Treading down nations before him,
b-Ungirding the loins of kings,-b
Opening doors before him
And letting no gate stay shut:
2I will march before you
And level c-the hills that loom up;-c
I will shatter doors of bronze
And cut down iron bars.
3I will give you treasures concealed in the dark
And secret hoards—
So that you may know that it is I the LORD,
The God of Israel, who call you by name.
4For the sake of My servant Jacob,
Israel My chosen one,
I call you by name,
I hail you by title, though you have not known Me.
5I am the LORD and there is none else;
Beside Me, there is no god.
I engird you, though you have not known Me,
6So that they may know, from east to west,
That there is none but Me.
I am the LORD and there is none else,
7I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe—
I the LORD do all these things.
8Pour down, O skies, from above!
Let the heavens rain down victory!
Let the earth open up and triumph sprout,
Yes, let vindication spring up:
I the LORD have created it.
9Shame on him who argues with his Maker,
Though naught but a potsherd of earth!
Shall the clay say to the potter, “What are you doing?
d-Your work has no handles”?-d
10Shame on him who asks his father, “What are you begetting?”
Or a woman, “What are you bearing?”
11Thus said the LORD,
Israel’s Holy One and Maker:
e-Will you question Me-e on the destiny of My children,
Will you instruct Me about the work of My hands?
12It was I who made the earth
And created man upon it;
My own hands stretched out the heavens,
And I marshaled all their host.
13It was I who roused himf for victory
And who level all roads for him.
He shall rebuild My city
And let My exiled people go
Without price and without payment
—said the LORD of Hosts.
14Thus said the LORD:
Egypt’s wealth and Nubia’s gains
And Sabaites, g-long of limb,-g
Shall pass over to you and be yours,
Pass over and follow you in fetters,
Bow low to you
And reverently address you:
“Only among you is God,
There is no other god at all!
15You are indeed a God who concealed Himself,
O God of Israel, who bring victory!
16Those who fabricate idols,
All are shamed and disgraced;
To a man, they slink away in disgrace.
17But Israel has won through the LORD
Triumph everlasting.
You shall not be shamed or disgraced
In all the ages to come!”
18For thus said the LORD,
The Creator of heaven who alone is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who alone established it—
He did not create it a waste,
But formed it for habitation:
I am the LORD, and there is none else.
19I did not speak in secret,
At a site in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the stock of Jacob,
“Seek Me out in a wasteland”—
I the LORD, who foretell reliably,
Who announce what is true.
20Come, gather together,
Draw nigh, you remnants of the nations!
No foreknowledge had they who carry their wooden images
And pray to a god who cannot give success.
21Speak up, compare testimony—
Let them even take counsel together!
Who announced this aforetime,
Foretold it of old?
Was it not I the LORD?
Then there is no god beside Me,
No God exists beside Me
Who foretells truly and grants success.
22Turn to Me and gain success,
All the ends of earth!
For I am God, and there is none else.
23By Myself have I sworn,
From My mouth has issued truth,
A word that shall not turn back:
To Me every knee shall bend,
Every tongue swear loyalty.
24h-They shall say: “Only through the LORD
Can I find victory and might.-h
When people i-trust in-i Him,
All their adversaries are put to shame.
25It is through the LORD that all the offspring of Israel
Have vindication and glory.”
46 Bela is bowed, Neboa is cowering,
Their images are a burden for beasts and cattle;
The things youb would carry [in procession]
Are now piled as a burden
On tired [beasts].
2They cowered, they bowed as well,
They could not rescue the burden,c
And they themselves went into captivity.
3Listen to Me, O House of Jacob,
All that are left of the House of Israel,
Who have been carried since birth,
Supported since leaving the womb:
4Till you grow old, I will still be the same;
When you turn gray, it is I who will carry;
I was the Maker, and I will be the Bearer;
And I will carry and rescue [you].
5To whom can you compare Me
Or declare Me similar?
To whom can you liken Me,
So that we seem comparable?
6Those who squander gold from the purse
And weigh out silver on the balance,d
They hire a metal worker to make it into a god,
To which they bow down and prostrate themselves.
7They must carry it on their backs and transport it;
When they put it down, it stands,
It does not budge from its place.
If they cry out to it, it does not answer;
It cannot save them from their distress.
8Keep this in mind, and e-stand firm!-e
Take this to heart, you sinners!
9Bear in mind what happened of old;
For I am God, and there is none else,
I am divine, and there is none like Me.
10I foretell the end from the beginning,
And from the start, things that had not occurred.
I say: My plan shall be fulfilled;
I will do all I have purposed.
11I summoned that swooping bird from the East;f
From a distant land, the man for My purpose.
I have spoken, so I will bring it to pass;
I have designed it, so I will complete it.
12Listen to Me, you g-stubborn of heart,-g
Who are far from victory:
13I am bringing My victory close;
It shall not be far,
And My triumph shall not be delayed.
I will grant triumph in Zion
To Israel, in whom I glory.
47 Get down, sit in the dust,
Fair Maiden Babylon;
Sit, dethroned, on the