Isaiah 43–44
Dead gods tell no tales, only the True and Living God's name will endure forever. No marketing required.
Now this is what Jehovah says, your Creator, O Jacob, the One who formed you, O Israel:
Do not be afraid, for I have repurchased you. I have called you by your name. You belong to me.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not flood over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame singe you.
For I am Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
For you became precious in my eyes. You were honored, and I have loved you. So I will give people in place of you and nations in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you together from the west. I will say to the north, “Give them up!” and to the south, “Do not hold them back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name and whom I created for my own glory, whom I have formed and made.”
Bring out a people who are blind, though they have eyes, and who are deaf, though they have ears.
Let all the nations assemble in one place, and let the peoples be gathered together. Who among them can tell this? Or can they cause us to hear the former things? Let them present their witnesses to prove themselves right, or let them hear and say, “It is the truth.”
“You are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “yes, my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and have faith in me and understand that I am the same One. Before me no God was formed, and after me there has been none.
I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.
I am the One who declared and saved and made known when there was no foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “and I am God. Also, I am always the same One, and no one can snatch anything out of my hand. When I act, who can prevent it?”
This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sakes I will send to Babylon and bring down all the bars of the gates, and the Chaldeans, in their ships, will cry out in distress.
I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
This is what Jehovah says, the One making a way through the sea and a path through turbulent waters, the One who draws out the war chariot and the horse, the army together with the mighty warriors:
They will lie down and not get up. They will be extinguished, snuffed out like a burning wick.
Do not remember the former things, and do not dwell on the past.
Look! I am doing something new. Even now it is springing up. Do you not recognize it?
I will make a way through the wilderness and rivers through the desert. The wild beast of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I provide water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, for my people, my chosen one, to drink, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
But you have not called on me, O Jacob, because you grew weary of me, O Israel.
You have not brought me sheep for your whole burnt offerings or glorified me with your sacrifices. I have not compelled you to bring me a gift, nor have I made you weary by demanding frankincense.
You did not buy me sweet cane with your money, and with the fat of your sacrifices you did not satisfy me.
Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and made me weary with your errors.
I, I am the One who is blotting out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Remind me; let us bring our case against each other. Tell your side of it to prove you are in the right.
Your first forefather sinned, and your own spokesmen have rebelled against me.
So I will profane the princes of the holy place, and I will give Jacob over to destruction and subject Israel to insulting words.
Now listen, O Jacob my servant, and you, O Israel, whom I have chosen.
This is what Jehovah says, your Maker and the One who formed you, who has helped you from the womb:
Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour out water on the thirsty one and flowing streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants.
They will spring up among the green grass like poplars by the streams of water.
One will say, “I belong to Jehovah.” Another will call himself by the name of Jacob. Yet another will write on his hand, “Belonging to Jehovah.” And he will adopt the name of Israel.
This is what Jehovah says, the King of Israel and his Repurchaser, Jehovah of armies:
I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but me.
Who is there like me? Let him call out and tell it and prove it to me. From the time I established the people of long ago, let them tell both the things to come and what will yet happen.
Do not be in dread, and do not become paralyzed with fear. Have I not told each of you beforehand and declared it?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God but me? No, there is no other Rock. I know of none.
All who form carved images amount to nothing, and their cherished objects will be of no benefit. As their witnesses, they see nothing and know nothing, so those who made them will be put to shame.
Who would form a god or cast a metal image that can bring no benefit?
Look! All his associates will be put to shame. The craftsmen are mere humans. Let them all assemble and take their stand. They will be terrified and be put to shame together.
The metalsmith works the iron over the coals with his tool. He forms it with hammers, working it with his powerful arm. Then he grows hungry and his strength fails. He drinks no water and grows tired.
The wood-carver stretches the measuring line, tracing out the pattern with red chalk. He works it with a wood scraper and traces it with a compass. He patterns it after a man, with the beauty of a man, to sit in a house.
There is one whose work is to cut down cedars. He selects a certain type of tree, an oak, and he lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow.
Then it becomes fuel for a man to make fires. He takes part of it to warm himself. He builds a fire and bakes bread. But he also makes a god and worships it. He makes it into a carved image and bows down before it.
Half of it he burns up in a fire. With that half he roasts the meat that he eats and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm as I watch the fire.”
But the rest of it he makes into a god, into his carved image. He bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
They know nothing, they understand nothing, because their eyes are sealed shut and they cannot see, and their heart has no insight.
No one reflects in his heart or has understanding, saying: “Half of it I burned up in a fire, and on its coals I baked bread and roasted meat to eat. Should I then make the rest of it into a detestable thing? Should I worship a block of wood from a tree?”
He feeds on ashes. His own deluded heart has led him astray. He cannot save himself, nor does he say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Remember these things, O Jacob, and you, O Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you, and you are my servant. O Israel, I will not forget you.
I will blot out your transgressions as with a cloud and your sins as with a thick cloud.
Return to me, for I will repurchase you.
Shout joyfully, you heavens, for Jehovah has acted! Shout in triumph, you depths of the earth! Shout for joy, you mountains, you forest and all your trees!
For Jehovah has repurchased Jacob, and on Israel he displays his splendor.
This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, who formed you since you were in the womb:
I am Jehovah, who made everything. I stretched out the heavens by myself, and I spread out the earth. Who was with me?
I frustrate the signs of the empty talkers and make diviners act like fools, confounding the wise men and turning their knowledge into foolishness.
I make the word of my servant come true and completely fulfill the predictions of my messengers.
I say of Jerusalem, “She will be inhabited,” and of the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt, and I will restore her ruins.”
I say to the deep waters, “Be evaporated, and I will dry up all your rivers.”
I say of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd, and he will completely carry out all my will.”
I say of Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Your foundation will be laid.”