Isaiah 43

1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.
2 When you pass through the water, I will be with you; in the rivers you shall not drown. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; the flames shall not consume you.
3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in return for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you, I give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you; from the east I will bring back your descendants, from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north: Give them up! and to the south: Hold not back! Bring back my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth:
7 Everyone who is named as mine, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
8 Lead out the people who are blind though they have eyes, who are deaf though they have ears.
9 Let all the nations gather together, let the peoples assemble! Who among them could have revealed this, or foretold to us the earlier things? Let them produce witnesses to prove themselves right, that one may hear and say, It is true!
10 You are my witnesses, says the LORD, my servants whom I have chosen To know and believe in me and understand that it is I. Before me no god was formed, and after me there shall be none.
11 It is I, I the LORD; there is no savior but me.
12 It is I who foretold, I who saved; I made it known, not any strange god among you; You are my witnesses, says the LORD. I am God,
13 yes, from eternity I am He; There is none who can deliver from my hand: who can countermand what I do?
14 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sakes I send to Babylon; I will lower all the bars, and the Chaldeans shall cry out in lamentation.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters,
17 Who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, Till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick.
18 Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not;
19 See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.
20 Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, For I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink,
21 The people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.
22 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob, for you grew weary of me, O Israel.
23 You did not bring me sheep for your holocausts, nor honor me with your sacrifices. I did not exact from you the service of offerings, nor weary you for frankincense.
24 You did not buy me sweet cane for money, nor fill me with the fat of your sacrifices; Instead, you burdened me with your sins, and wearied me with your crimes.
25 It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.
26 Would you have me remember, have us come to trial? Speak up, prove your innocence!
27 Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me
28 Till I repudiated the holy gates, put Jacob under the ban, and exposed Israel to scorn.

Isaiah 44

1 Hear then, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the LORD who made you, your help, who formed you from the womb: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, the darling whom I have chosen.
3 I will pour out water upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land; I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants.
4 They shall spring up amid the verdure like poplars beside the flowing waters.
5 One shall say, I am the LORD'S, another shall be named after Jacob, And this one shall write on his hand, The LORD'S, and Israel shall be his surname.
6 Thus says the LORD, Israel's King and redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; there is no God but me.
7 Who is like me? Let him stand up and speak, make it evident, and confront me with it. Who of old announced future events? Let them foretell to us the things to come.
8 Fear not, be not troubled: did I not announce and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses! Is there a God or any Rock besides me?
9 Idol makers all amount to nothing, and their precious works are of no avail, as they themselves give witness. To their shame, they neither see nor know anything; and they are more deaf than men are.
10 Indeed, all the associates of anyone who forms a god, or casts an idol to no purpose, will be put to shame;
11 they will all assemble and stand forth, to be reduced to fear and shame.
12 The smith fashions an iron image, works it over the coals, shapes it with hammers, and forges it with his strong arm. He is hungry and weak, drinks no water and becomes exhausted.
13 The carpenter stretches a line and marks with a stylus the outline of an idol. He shapes it with a plane and measures it off with a compass, making it like a man in appearance and dignity, to occupy a shrine.
14 He cuts down cedars, takes a holm or an oak, and lays hold of other trees of the forest, which the Lord had planted and the rain made grow
15 to serve man for fuel. With a part of their wood he warms himself, or makes a fire for baking bread; but with another part he makes a god which he adores, an idol which he worships.
16 Half of it he burns in the fire, and on its embers he roasts his meat; he eats what he has roasted until he is full, and then warms himself and says, Ah! I am warm, I feel the fire.
17 Of what remains he makes a god, his idol, and prostrate before it in worship, he implores it, Rescue me, for you are my god.
18 The idols have neither knowledge nor reason; their eyes are coated so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot understand.
19 Yet he does not reflect, nor have the intelligence and sense to say, Half of the wood I burned in the fire, and on its embers I baked bread and roasted meat which I ate. Shall I then make an abomination out of the rest, or worship a block of wood?
20 He is chasing ashes-a thing that cannot save itself when the flame consumes it; yet he does not say, Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?
21 Remember this, O Jacob, you, O Israel, who are my servant! I formed you to be a servant to me; O Israel, by me you shall never be forgotten:
22 I have brushed away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23 Raise a glad cry, you heavens: the LORD has done this; shout, you depths of the earth. Break forth, you mountains, into song, you forest, with all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and shows his glory through Israel.
24 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens; when I spread out the earth, who was with me?
25 It is I who bring to nought the omens of liars, who make fools of diviners; I turn wise men back and make their knowledge foolish.
26 It is I who confirm the words of my servants, I carry out the plan announced by my messengers; I say to Jerusalem: Be inhabited; to the cities of Judah: Be rebuilt; I will raise up their ruins.
27 It is I who said to the deep: Be dry; I will dry up your wellsprings.
28 I say of Cyrus: My shepherd, who fulfills my every wish; He shall say of Jerusalem, Let her be rebuilt, and of the temple, Let its foundations be laid.

Isaiah 45

1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, Subduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service, Opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred:
2 I will go before you and level the mountains; Bronze doors I will shatter, and iron bars I will snap.
3 I will give you treasures out of the darkness, and riches that have been hidden away, That you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
4 For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not.
5 I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
6 so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other;
7 I form the light, and create the darkness, I make well-being and create woe; I, the LORD, do all these things.
8 Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop it down. Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up! I, the LORD, have created this.
9 Woe to him who contends with his Maker; a potsherd among potsherds of the earth! Dare the clay say to its modeler, What are you doing? or, What you are making has no hands?
10 Woe to him who asks a father, What are you begetting? or a woman, What are you giving birth to?
11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, his maker: You question me about my children, or prescribe the work of my hands for me!
12 It was I who made the earth and created mankind upon it; It was my hands that stretched out the heavens; I gave the order to all their host.
13 It was I who stirred up one for the triumph of justice; all his ways I make level. He shall rebuild my city and let my exiles go free Without price or ransom, says the LORD of hosts.
14 Thus says the LORD: The earnings of Egypt, the gain of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, tall of stature, Shall come over to you and belong to you; they shall follow you, coming in chains. Before you they shall fall prostrate, saying in prayer: With you only is God, and nowhere else; the gods are nought.
15 Truly with you God is hidden, the God of Israel, the savior!
16 Those are put to shame and disgrace who vent their anger against him; Those go in disgrace who carve images.
17 Israel, you are saved by the LORD, saved forever! You shall never be put to shame or disgrace in future ages.
18 For thus says the LORD, The creator of the heavens, who is God, The designer and maker of the earth who established it, Not creating it to be a waste, but designing it to be lived in: I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken from hiding nor from some dark place of the earth, And I have not said to the descendants of Jacob, Look for me in an empty waste. I, the LORD, promise justice, I foretell what is right.
20 Come and assemble, gather together, you fugitives from among the gentiles! They are without knowledge who bear wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save.
21 Come here and declare in counsel together: Who announced this from the beginning and foretold it from of old? Was it not I, the LORD, besides whom there is no other God? There is no just and saving God but me.
22 Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other!
23 By myself I swear, uttering my just decree and my unalterable word: To me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear,
24 Saying, Only in the LORD are just deeds and power. Before him in shame shall come all who vent their anger against him.
25 In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory of all the descendants of Israel.

Isaiah 46

1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are upon beasts and cattle; They must be borne up on shoulders, carried as burdens by the weary.
2 They stoop and bow down together; unable to save those who bear them, they too go into captivity.
3 Hear me, O house of Jacob, all who remain of the house of Israel, My burden since your birth, whom I have carried from your infancy.
4 Even to your old age I am the same, even when your hair is gray I will bear you; It is I who have done this, I who will continue, and I who will carry you to safety.
5 Whom would you compare me with, as an equal, or match me against, as though we were alike?
6 There are those who pour out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scales; Then they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god before which they fall down in worship.
7 They lift it to their shoulders to carry; when they set it in place again, it stays, and does not move from the spot. Although they cry out to it, it cannot answer; it delivers no one from distress.
8 Remember this and be firm, bear it well in mind, you rebels; remember the former things, those long ago:
9 I am God, there is no other; I am God, there is none like me.
10 At the beginning I foretell the outcome; in advance, things not yet done. I say that my plan shall stand, I accomplish my every purpose.
11 I call from the east a bird of prey, from a distant land, one to carry out my plan. Yes, I have spoken, I will accomplish it; I have planned it, and I will do it.
12 Listen to me, you fainthearted, you who seem far from the victory of justice:
13 I am bringing on my justice, it is not far off, my salvation shall not tarry; I will put salvation within Zion, and give to Israel my glory.

Isaiah 47

1 Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter Babylon; Sit on the ground, dethroned, O daughter of the Chaldeans. No longer shall you be called dainty and delicate.
2 Take the millstone and grind flour, remove your veil; Strip off your train, bare your legs, pass through the streams.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered and your shame be seen; I will take vengeance, I will yield to no entreaty, says our redeemer,
4 Whose name is the LORD of hosts, the Holy One of Israel.
5 Go into darkness and sit in silence, O daughter of the Chaldeans, No longer shall you be called sovereign mistress of kingdoms.
6 Angry at my people, I profaned my inheritance, And I gave them into your hand; but you showed them no mercy, And upon old men you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, I shall remain always, a sovereign mistress forever! But you did not lay these things to heart, you disregarded their outcome.
8 Now hear this, voluptuous one, enthroned securely, Saying to yourself, I, and no one else! I shall never be a widow, or suffer the loss of my children--
9 Both these things shall come to you suddenly, in a single day: Complete bereavement and widowhood shall come upon you For your many sorceries and the great number of your spells;
10 Because you felt secure in your wickedness, and said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, And you said to yourself, I, and no one else!
11 But upon you shall come evil you will not know how to predict; Disaster shall befall you which you cannot allay. Suddenly there shall come upon you ruin which you will not expect.
12 Keep up, now, your spells and your many sorceries. Perhaps you can make them avail, perhaps you can strike terror!
13 You wearied yourself with many consultations, at which you toiled from your youth; Let the astrologers stand forth to save you, the stargazers who forecast at each new moon what would happen to you.
14 Lo, they are like stubble, fire consumes them; They cannot save themselves from the spreading flames. This is no warming ember, no fire to sit before.
15 Thus do your wizards serve you with whom you have toiled from your youth; Each wanders his own way, with none to save you.