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¹"But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen:

²This is what the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you says, 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And Jeshurun (Israel, the upright one) whom I have chosen.

³'For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty, And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;

⁴And they will spring up among the grass Like willows by the streams of water.'

⁵"One will say, 'I am the Lord's'; And another will name himself after Jacob; And another will write on his hand, 'I am the Lord's,' And be called by the [honorable] name of Israel.

⁶"For the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts says this, 'I am the First and I am the Last; And there is no God besides Me.

⁷'Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it; Yes, let him confront Me, Since I established the people of antiquity. And let them [those supposed gods] tell those people [who foolishly follow them] the things to come And the events that are going to take place.

⁸'Do not tremble nor be afraid [of the violent upheavals to come]; Have I not long ago proclaimed it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? There is no other Rock; I know of none.'"

⁹All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.

¹⁰Who has made a god or cast an idol which is profitable for nothing?

¹¹In fact, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand up, let them be terrified, let them together be put to shame.

¹²The ironsmith shapes iron and uses a chisel and works it over the coals. He forms the [idol's] core with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He also becomes hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and grows tired.

¹³The carpenter stretches out a measuring line, he marks out the shape [of the idol] with red chalk; he works it with planes and outlines it with the compass; and he makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, that it may sit in a house.

¹⁴He cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain nourishes it.

¹⁵Then it becomes fuel for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god [from the same wood] and worships it. He makes it into a carved idol [with his own hands] and falls down and worships it!

¹⁶He burns half of the wood in the fire; over this half he [cooks and] eats meat, he roasts meat and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire."

¹⁷But from what is left of the wood he makes a god, his carved idol. He falls down before it, he worships it and prays to it and says, "Save me, for you are my god."

¹⁸They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand.

¹⁹No one remembers, nor has knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], "I have burned half of this log in the fire, and also baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. Then I make the rest of it into an repulsive thing [to God]; I bow down [to worship] before a block of wood!"

²⁰That kind of man (the idolater) feeds on ashes [and is satisfied with ashes]! A deceived mind has led him astray, so that he cannot save himself, or ask, "Is this thing [that I am holding] in my right hand not a lie?"

²¹"Remember [the foolishness of] these things, O Jacob And Israel, for you are My servant! I formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

²²"I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."

²³Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout in triumph, you depths of the earth; Break forth into jubilant rejoicing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And He shows His glory in Israel.

²⁴For the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says this, "I am the LORD, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself,

²⁵Frustrating the signs and confounding the omens of boasters (false prophets), Making fools out of fortune-tellers, Counteracting the wise And making their knowledge ridiculous,

²⁶Confirming the word of His servant And carrying out the plan of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall [again] be inhabited!' And of the cities of Judah, 'They shall [again] be built.' And I will raise up and restore her ruins.

²⁷"It is I who says to the deep, 'Be dried up!' And I will make your rivers dry.

²⁸"It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd (ruler), And he will carry out all that I desire—' Saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall [again] be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation shall [again] be laid.'"

¹This is what the LORD says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia], Whose right hand I have held To subdue nations before him, And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them]; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

²"I will go before you and level the mountains; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

³"I will give you the treasures of darkness [the hoarded treasures] And the hidden riches of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you (Cyrus the Great) by your name.

⁴"For the sake of Jacob My servant, And of Israel My chosen, I have also called you by your name; I have given you an honorable name Though you have not known Me.

⁵"I am the LORD, and there is no one else; There is no God except Me. I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,

⁶That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun [the world over] That there is no one except Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other,

⁷The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing peace and creating disaster; I am the LORD who does all these things.

⁸"Rain down, O heavens, from above, Let the clouds pour down righteousness [all the blessings of God]; Let the earth open up, let salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

⁹"Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker— A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]! Shall the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or does the thing say, 'He has no hands'?

¹⁰"Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to a father, 'What are you fathering?' Or to a woman, 'With what are you in labor?'"

¹¹For the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker says this, "Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And give Me orders concerning the work of My hands.

¹²"I made the earth and created man upon it. My hands, stretched out the heavens, And I commanded all their host.

¹³"I have stirred up Cyrus and put him into action in righteousness [to accomplish My purpose] And I will make all his ways smooth; He will build My city and let My exiles go, Without any payment or reward," says the LORD of hosts.

¹⁴For this is what the LORD says, "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush (ancient Ethiopia) And the Sabeans, men of stature, Will come over to you and they will be yours; They will walk behind you, in chains [of subjection to you] they will come over, And they will bow down before you; They will make supplication to you, [humbly and earnestly] saying, 'Most certainly God is with you, and there is no other, No other God [besides Him].'"

¹⁵Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!

¹⁶They will be put to shame and also humiliated, all of them; They who make idols will go away together in humiliation.

¹⁷Israel has been saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated for all eternity.

¹⁸For the LORD, who created the heavens(He is God, who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) says this, "I am the LORD, and there is no one else.

¹⁹"I have not spoken in secret, In a corner of a land of darkness; I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, 'Seek Me in vain [with no benefit for yourselves].' I, the LORD, speak righteousness [the truth—trustworthy, a straightforward correlation between deeds and words], Declaring things that are upright.

²⁰"Assemble yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They are ignorant, Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle] And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.

²¹"Declare and present your defense of idols; Indeed, let them consult together. Who announced this [rise of Cyrus and his conquests] long before it happened? Who declared it long ago? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A [consistently and uncompromisingly] just and righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.

²²"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.

²³"I have sworn [an oath] by Myself, The word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear [allegiance].

²⁴"It shall be said of Me, 'Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.' To Him people will come, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.

²⁵"In the LORD all the offspring of Israel Will be justified (declared free of guilt) and will glory [in God]."

¹Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle. Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them], Burdens on the weary animals.

²They stooped over, they have bowed down together; They could not rescue the burden [of their own idols], But have themselves gone into captivity.

³"Listen to Me," [says the LORD], "O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been carried by Me from your birth And have been carried [in My arms] from the womb,

⁴Even to your old age I am He, And even to your advanced old age I will carry you! I have made you, and I will carry you; Be assured I will carry you and I will save you.

⁵"To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we may be alike?

⁶"Those who lavish gold from the bag And weigh out silver on the scales Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it.

⁷"They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it; They set it in its place and there it remains standing. It cannot move from its place. Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer; It cannot save him from his distress.

⁸"Remember this, and take courage; Take it to heart, you rebellious and disloyal people.

⁹"Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past; For I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is no one like Me,

¹⁰Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, And from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose,'

¹¹Calling a bird of prey from the east, From a far country, the man (Cyrus) of My purpose. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, be assured I will do it.

¹²"Listen to Me, you stiff-necked people, You who are far from righteousness (right standing with God).

¹³"I bring near My righteousness [in the salvation of Israel], it is not far away; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel.