44 ¶ Yet now hear, O Jacob my slave and Israel, whom I have chosen:
2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my slave, and thou, Jesurun, {Heb. the upright one} whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring:
4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
5 One shall say, I am the LORD’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.
6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer, the LORD of the hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
7 And who shall call as I do and declare this in advance and set it in order for me, since I made the people of the world? Let them declare unto them the things that are near and the things that shall come.
8 Do not fear, neither be afraid; have I not caused thee to hear from of old and declared unto thee beforehand that which was to come? Then ye are my witnesses that there is no God but me, and there is no Strong One that I do not know.
9 ¶ Those that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and that which is most precious to them is useful for nothing; and they are their own witnesses that they do not see, nor understand; therefore, they shall be ashamed.
10 Who has formed God? And who cast a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; for the workmen, they are of men; even if all of them are gathered together and stand, they shall fear and shall be ashamed together.
12 The smith shall take the tongs; he shall work among the coals; he shall give it form with the hammers and bring forth in it the arm of his strength; though he is hungry and his strength fails: he shall not drink water, even if he faints.
13 The carpenter stretches out his rule; he measures it with a line; he fits it with planes; he marks it out with the compass; he makes it after the form of a noble man, in the likeness of the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
14 He shall hew down cedars and take the cypress and the oak, and he shall strengthen himself with the trees of the forest; he shall plant a fir tree, which shall be nourished with the rain.
15 The man shall then use of it for firewood; for he will take thereof and warm himself; he will kindle it and bake bread; he will also make a god and worship it; he will fabricate an idol and shall kneel down before it.
16 He shall burn part of it in the fire; with another part thereof he shall eat flesh; he shall roast meat and shall satisfy himself. Afterwards he shall warm himself and say, Aha, I have warmed myself, I have seen fire;
17 the residue of it he turns into god, into his graven image; he humbles himself before it and worships it and prays unto it and says, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18 They did not know nor understand; for he has anointed their eyes that they not see and their hearts that they not understand.
19 He does not return to his right mind; he does not have knowledge nor intelligence to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; I have also baked bread upon the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Do I have to humble myself before the trunk of a tree?
20 The ashes feed him; his deceived heart inclines him, that he not deliver his soul and say, Is not the lie at my right hand?
21 ¶ Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel: that thou art my slave: I have formed thee; thou art my slave, O Israel, do not forget me.
22 I have undone, as a cloud, thy rebellions, and thy sins, as a mist, return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
23 Sing praises, O ye heavens; for the LORD has done it; shout with joy, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into praise, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel he shall be glorified.
24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things, that stretches forth the heavens alone, that spreads abroad the earth by myself;
25 that undoes the signs of the fortune tellers and makes the diviners mad; that turns the wise men backward and makes their wisdom fade away;
26 that awakes the word of his slave and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, that says unto Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be rebuilt, and I will raise up thy ruins
27 that says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers
28 that calls Cyrus, my shepherd, and all that I desire, he shall fulfil, by saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
