Isaiah 44-48

New Life Version

Good Will Come to Israel

44 “But now listen, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. ² This is what the Lord Who made you, Who put you together before you were born, Who will help you, says, ‘Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. ³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land and rivers on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your children, and will bring good to your children’s children. ⁴ They will grow like grass in the fields, and like poplar trees by the rivers.’ ⁵ This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s.’ And that one will call on the name of Jacob. Another will write on his hand, ‘I belong to the Lord,’ and will name Israel’s name with honor.”

Only One God

⁶ The Lord, the King of Israel and the One Who saves and frees from sin, the Lord of All, says, “I am the first and I am the last. There is no God besides Me. ⁷ Who is like Me? Let him make it known. Yes, let him tell Me what happened from the time I made people long ago. And let him tell the things that are coming and what is going to happen. ⁸ Do not fear. Do not be afraid. Have I not made it known to you from long ago? And you have heard Me. Is there a God besides Me? No, there is no other Rock. I know of none.”

Following False Gods Is Sinful

⁹ All who make objects to worship are for nothing. The things they think are worth much are worth nothing. Those who speak for them do not see or know, so they will be put to shame. ¹⁰ Who has made a false god or an object of worship that is of no worth? ¹¹ See, all his friends will be put to shame, for the workmen themselves are only men. Let them all gather, let them stand up, let them shake with fear, and let them together be put to shame.

¹² The one who works with iron makes a sharp tool for cutting, working over a fire. He makes it by beating it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry and has no strength. He drinks no water and becomes tired. ¹³ One works with wood, he marks it, and draws on it with a red marker. He makes it smooth and makes it like a man, like the beauty of a man, so that it may sit in a house. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedar trees, and takes a cypress or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees. He plants a fir tree, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself. He makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it. He makes an object of worship and bows down in front of it. ¹⁶ He burns half of it in the fire. Over this half he eats meat as he makes it ready, and is filled. He also warms himself and says, “O, I am warm. I see the fire.” ¹⁷ But he makes the rest of it into a god, his object of worship. He bows down in front of it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Bring me out of my trouble, for you are my god.”

¹⁸ They do not know, and they do not understand. For the Lord has covered their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹ And no one remembers about it, or knows or understands enough to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, and have baked bread over the fire. I have cooked the meat over a fire and have eaten it. Should I make the rest of it into an object the Lord hates? Should I bow down in front of a block of wood?” ²⁰ He eats ashes! A false idea in his heart has led him the wrong way. And he cannot save himself or say, “Is not what I have here in my right hand a lie?”

The Lord Does Not Forget Israel

²¹ “Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel, for you are My servant. I have made you, you are My servant. O Israel, I will not forget you. ²² I have taken away your wrong-doing like a dark cloud, and your sins like a fog. Return to Me, for I have bought you and set you free.” ²³ Call out for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Call out for joy, you deep places of the earth. Break out into singing, you mountains and every tree. For the Lord has bought Jacob and set him free and has shown His shining-greatness in Israel!

People Will Live in Jerusalem Again

²⁴ The Lord, Who makes you, bought you and saves you, and the One Who put you together before you were born, says, “I am the Lord, Who made all things. I alone spread out the heavens, and I alone spread out the earth. ²⁵ I allow trouble to come on the special things done by men who lie and speak in pride. I make fools out of those who tell the future using their secret ways. I turn back wise men, and make their learning foolish. ²⁶ I make the word of My servant sure, and act upon the words of the men who speak for Me. It is I Who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will have people living in her,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built.’ And I will build her up again. ²⁷ It is I Who says to the deep sea, ‘Dry up!’ And I will dry up your rivers. ²⁸ It is I Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he will do all that I want him to do,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the house of God, ‘Your first stones will be laid again.’”

Cyrus to Lead

45 This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, whom He has chosen, whose right hand He has held, “I send him to put nations under his power, and to take away the power of kings. And I will open doors in front of him so that gates will not be shut. ² I will go before you and make the hard places smooth. I will break the brass doors to pieces, and cut through their iron gates. ³ I will give you riches hidden in the darkness and things of great worth that are hidden in secret places. Then you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. ⁴ For the good of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I called you by your name. I gave you a name of honor, when you had not known Me. ⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other. There is no God besides Me. I will give you strength, even though you have not known Me. ⁶ Then men may know from sunrise to sunset that there is no God besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. ⁷ I make light and I make darkness. I bring good and I make trouble. I am the Lord Who does all these things.

⁸ “Send down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down what is right and good. Let the earth open up and bring the fruit of saving power. And let what is right and good grow with it. I the Lord have made it.

⁹ “It is bad for the one who works against His Maker. He is just a clay pot among the other pots of earth. Will the clay say to the pot-maker, ‘What are you doing?’ or, your work say, ‘He has no hands’? ¹⁰ It is bad for him who says to his father, ‘To what are you giving life?’ or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”

¹¹ The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, says, “Will you ask Me about the things to come for My children? Will you tell Me about the work of My hands? ¹² I made the earth, and made man upon it. I spread out the heavens with My hands, and put all the stars in their places. ¹³ I have sent Cyrus to do what is right and good. And I will make all his ways smooth. He will build My city and without any money will set My people free who were taken away,” says the Lord of All.

¹⁴ The Lord says, “The riches of Egypt and the good things of Cush and the tall Sabeans will come over to you and be yours. They will walk behind you in chains and bow down to you. They will beg you, saying, ‘For sure God is with you, and there is no other God. There is none other.’” ¹⁵ It is true that You are a God Who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the One Who saves! ¹⁶ All of them will be put to shame and troubled. Those who make false gods will go away together in shame. ¹⁷ Israel has been saved forever by the Lord. You will never be put to shame for all time.

¹⁸ This is what the Lord Who made the heavens, the God Who planned and made the earth, and everything in it and did not make it a waste place, but made it a place for people to live in, says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other. ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret in some dark land. I did not say to the children of Jacob, ‘Look for Me for nothing.’ I the Lord speak the truth. I say what is right.

²⁰ “Gather together and come. Come near together, you who are left of the nations. They have no learning, who carry around their false god made of wood and pray to a god who cannot save. ²¹ Make your need known. Yes, let them talk it over together. Who said this would happen from long ago? Who has been saying it for a long time? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides Me, a God Who is right and good, a God Who saves. There is none except Me. ²² Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. ²³ By Myself I have sworn. The Word has gone out from My mouth in truth, and will not turn back: ‘Every knee will bow down before Me. And every tongue will say that I am God.’ ²⁴ They will say of Me, ‘Strength and what is right and good are only found in the Lord.’ Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. ²⁵ In the Lord all the children of Israel will be made right, and will give praise.”

False Gods and the Living God

46 The false gods, Bel and Nebo, bow down. Their objects of worship were put on animals and cattle and the wagons had heavy loads making it hard for the tired animals. ² They get down, they bow down together. They could not save the heavy load, but are themselves carried away to another land.

³ “Listen to Me, O family of Jacob, and all who are left of the family of Israel. You have been helped by Me before you were born and carried since you were born. ⁴ Even when you are old I will be the same. And even when your hair turns white, I will help you. I will take care of what I have made. I will carry you, and will save you.

⁵ “To whom will you compare Me? With whom will you make Me the same and compare Me, that we should be alike? ⁶ Those who take much gold from the money bag and weigh silver hire one who works with gold, and he makes it into a god. Then they bow down and worship it. ⁷ They lift it upon their shoulders and carry it. They set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. When one cries to it, it cannot answer. It cannot take him away from his trouble.

⁸ “Remember this and be men. Bring it to mind again, you sinners. ⁹ Remember the things of long ago. For I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is no one like Me. ¹⁰ I tell from the beginning what will happen in the end. And from times long ago I tell of things which have not been done, saying, ‘My Word will stand. And I will do all that pleases Me.’ ¹¹ I call a strong and hungry bird from the east, the man from a far country who will do what I have planned. I have spoken, and I will make it happen. I have planned it, and I will do it.

¹² “Listen to Me, you strong-willed people who are far from being right and good. ¹³ I bring near what is right and good. It is not far away. And My saving power is ready now. I will save Zion, and will bring My great power to Israel.

Babylon Is Punished

47 “Come down and sit in the dust, O pure daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O people of the Babylonians. For you will no longer be called soft and gentle. ² Take the heavy stones and grind grain. Take off your face-covering and your clothing. Take the covering off your legs, and cross the rivers. ³ Your body will not be covered, and your shame will be seen. I will punish, and will not show pity to any man.” ⁴ The One Who bought us and saves us, the Lord of All is His name, the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ “Sit and be quiet, and go into darkness, O people of the Babylonians. For you will no more be called the queen of nations. ⁶ I was angry with My people. I made My chosen nation unclean, and gave them into your hand. You did not show loving-kindness to them. On the older people you made your load very heavy. ⁷ You said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’ So you did not think about these things, or remember what might happen.

⁸ “So now hear this, you who love the desires of the body, who live without fear of danger. You say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a woman whose husband has died, and I will not lose my children.’ ⁹ But these two things will come upon you all at once in one day. You will lose your children and your husband. All this trouble will come to you, even with all your witchcraft and the strong power of your sinful secret ways. ¹⁰ You trusted in your sin and said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and learning have led you the wrong way, for you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’ ¹¹ Much trouble will come upon you, and you will not know how to get away from it. Trouble will fall on you, and there will be no way for you to pay that it might go away. You will not know it but all at once you will be destroyed.

¹² “Keep on with your sinful secret ways and all your witchcraft that you have used since you were young. It might be that you will get something from it. Maybe you can cause fear. ¹³ You are tired with your many wise men. Now call the star watchers, those who tell by the stars what will happen in the future, those who tell the future by the new moons. Have them stand up and save you from what will come upon you. ¹⁴ See, they have become like dry grass. Fire burns them. They cannot take themselves away from the power of the fire. This is no fire for making one warm, or fire to sit by! ¹⁵ This is how those are to you, with whom you have worked since you were young. Each one has gone on in his own wrong way. There is no one who can save you.

Israel Is Not Faithful in Following the Lord

48 “Hear this, O family of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who come from the seed of Judah. They make promises in the name of the Lord, and call upon the God of Israel, but not in truth or by what is right and good. ² For they call themselves people of the holy city, and trust in the God of Israel. The Lord of All is His name. ³ I made known the things that would happen long ago. From My mouth My words went out. Then all at once I did what I said I would, and they came to pass. ⁴ I know that your heart is hard. Your neck is like iron, and your forehead is like brass. ⁵ So I made them known to you long ago. I told you before they happened, or else you might say, ‘My false god has done them. My objects of worship have made them happen.’ ⁶ You have heard, now look at all this. And will you say that you will not tell about it? I tell you new things from this time on, even hidden things which you have not known. ⁷ They are made now, not long ago. Before today you have never heard of them, or you would say, ‘See, I knew them.’ ⁸ You have not heard. You have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, because I knew that you could not be trusted. You have been known to fight against the law and not obey from birth. ⁹ Because of My name I hold back My anger. For My praise I keep Myself from cutting you off. ¹⁰ See, I have tested you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the fire of suffering. ¹¹ For My own good, for My own good, I will do this. For why should I allow My name to be put to shame? I will not give My shining-greatness to another.

God Will Take Israel Out of Trouble

¹² “Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel whom I called. I am He. I am the first, and I am the last. ¹³ My hand put the earth in its place. And My right hand spread out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand together. ¹⁴ Gather together, all of you, and listen! Who among them has made these things known? The Lord loves him. He will do to Babylon what pleases him, and his arm will be against the Babylonians. ¹⁵ I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and he will do well. ¹⁶ Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret. From the time it came to be, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent me and His Spirit.”

¹⁷ The Lord Who bought you and saves you, the Holy One of Israel, says, “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to do well, Who leads you in the way you should go. ¹⁸ If only you had listened to My Laws! Then your peace would have been like a river and your right-standing with God would have been like the waves of the sea. ¹⁹ Your children’s children would have been like the sand. Those born to you would have been like the sand. Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before Me.”

²⁰ Go out from Babylon! Run from the Babylonians! Call out for joy and let this be known to the end of the earth, saying, “The Lord has bought and set free His servant Jacob!” ²¹ They were not thirsty when He led them through the deserts. He made water flow out of the rock for them. He broke the rock, and the water flowed out. ²² “There is no peace for the sinful,” says the Lord.