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Isaiah 44
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Chapter 44
The blessing for Israel
1
But now listen, Jacob my servant,
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Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says Yahweh who made you, who formed you from the womb, who is your help: Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
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For I will pour out water on the thirsty soil, streams on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your children.
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They shall grow like grass where there is plenty of water, like poplars by running streams.
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One man will say, ‘I belong to Yahweh’, another will call himself by Jacob’s name. On his hand another will write ‘Yahweh’ and be surnamed ‘Israel’.
Monotheism without compromise
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Thus says Israel’s king and his redeemer, Yahweh Sabaoth: I am the first and the last; there is no other God besides me.
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Who is like me? Let him stand up and speak, let him show himself and argue it out before me. Who from the very beginning foretold the future? Let them tell us what is yet to come.
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Have no fear, do not be afraid: have I not told you and revealed it long ago? You are my witnesses, is there any other God besides me? There is no Rock; I know of none.
A satire on idolatry
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They are all makers of idols; they are nothing and the works they prize are useless. Their servants see nothing, they understand nothing, and so they will be put to shame.
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Who ever fashioned a god or cast an image without hope of gain?
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Watch how its devotees will be put to shame, how its sculptors will blush. Let them all come together, let them appear in court. They will be both terrified and ashamed.
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The blacksmith works on it over the fire and beats it into shape with a hammer. He works on it with his strong arm till he is hungry and tired; drinking no water, he is exhausted.
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The wood carver takes his measurements, outlines the image with chalk, carves it with chisels, following the outline with dividers. He shapes it to human proportions, and gives it a human face, for it to live in a temple.
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He cut down a cedar, or else took a cypress or an oak which he selected from the trees in the forest, or maybe he planted a cedar and the rain made it grow.
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For the common man it is so much fuel; he uses it to warm himself, he also burns it to bake his bread. But this fellow makes a god of it and worships it; he makes an idol of it and bows down before it.
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Half of it he burns in the fire, on the live embers he roasts meat, eats it and is replete. He warms himself too. ‘Ah!’ says he ‘I am warm; I have a fire here!’
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With the rest he makes his god, his idol; he bows down before it and worships it and prays to it. ‘Save me,’ he says ‘because you are my god.’
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They know nothing, understand nothing. Their eyes are shut to all seeing, their heart to all reason.
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They never think, they lack the knowledge and wit to say, ‘I burned half of it on the fire, I baked bread on the live embers, I roasted meat and ate it, and am I to make some abomination of what remains? Am I to bow down before a block of wood?’
20
A man who hankers after ashes has a deluded heart and is led astray. He will never free his soul, or say, ‘What I have in my hand is nothing but a lie!’
Oracle
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Remember these things, Jacob, and that you are my servant, Israel. I have formed you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.
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I have dispelled your faults like a cloud, your sins like a mist. Come back to me, for I have redeemed you.
Song of joy
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Shout for joy, you heavens, for Yahweh has been at work! Shout aloud, you earth below! Shout for joy, you mountains, and you, forest and all your trees! For Yahweh has redeemed Jacob and displayed his glory in Israel.
The might of Yahweh
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Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, he who formed you in the womb: I, myself, Yahweh, made all things, I alone spread out the heavens. When I gave the earth shape, did anyone help me?
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I am he who foils the omens of wizards and makes fools of diviners, who makes sages recant and shows the nonsense of their knowledge,
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who confirms the word of my servant and makes the plans of my envoys succeed. I am he who says of Jerusalem, ‘Let her be inhabited’, of the towns of Judah, ‘Let them be rebuilt’, and I will raise their ruins once more.
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I am he who says to the ocean, ‘Be dry. I will dry up your rivers.’
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I am he who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd – he will fulfil my whole purpose, saying of Jerusalem, “Let her be rebuilt”, and of the Temple, “Let your foundation be laid”‘.
Chapters of Isaiah
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3
4
5
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7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
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61
62
63
64
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66
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