Isaiah 44
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"But now hear, b O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
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Thus says the Lord who made you,
c who formed you from the womb and will help you:
d Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
e Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
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f For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
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They shall spring up among the grass
g like willows by flowing streams.
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h This one will say, 'I am the Lord's,'
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,'
and name himself by the name of Israel."
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Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and i his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
j "I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
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k Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
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Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
l And you are my witnesses!
m Is there a God besides me?
There is no n Rock; I know not any."
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o All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
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p Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?
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q Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
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p The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.
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The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. r He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
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s He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.
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Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.
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Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!"
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And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. t He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!"
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They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
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No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an u abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"
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v He feeds on w ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not x a lie in my right hand?"
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Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are y my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
z O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
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a I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
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b Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O c depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
d and will be glorified in Israel.
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Thus says the Lord, e your Redeemer,
f who formed you from the womb:
g "I am the Lord, who made all things,
h who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
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who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
i who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
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j who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,'
k and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins';
27
l who says to the deep, 'Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers';
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who says of m Cyrus, 'He is n my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose';
saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,'
o and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'"
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Cross References
Isaiah 41:8
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend.
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Cross References
Isaiah 44:24
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.
Isaiah 49:15
Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Psalms 71:6
Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
Jeremiah 1:5
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Galatians 1:15
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:5
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
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Cross References
Joel 2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'
Acts 2:18
Even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Isaiah 35:6
Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
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Cross References
Psalms 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
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Cross References
Isaiah 14:1
For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:14
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
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Cross References
Isaiah 48:12
Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.
Revelation 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.
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Cross References
Isaiah 41:26 - 27
Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, "He is right"? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:10
You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
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Cross References
Isaiah 45:5
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides m...
Deuteronomy 4:35
To you it was shown, that you might know that t...
Deuteronomy 4:39
Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart,...
Deuteronomy 32:39
'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no...
1 Samuel 2:2
There is none holy like the Lord ; there is non...
Joel 2:27
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel...
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Cross References
Isaiah 30:29
You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
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Cross References
Isaiah 41:24
Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.
Isaiah 41:29
Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.
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Cross References
Isaiah 40:19 - 20
An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
Isaiah 41:6 - 7
Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, "Be strong!
Isaiah 46:6 - 7
Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!
Habakkuk 2:18
What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!
Jeremiah 10:3 - 5
For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
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Cross References
Isaiah 45:16
All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.
Psalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
Isaiah 42:17
They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, "You are our gods.
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Cross References
Isaiah 44:10
Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?
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Cross References
Psalms 115:5 - 7
They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
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Cross References
Isaiah 40:20
He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.
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Cross References
Isaiah 45:20
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 27:15
"'Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'
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Cross References
Hosea 12:1
Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt.
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Cross References
Job 13:12
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
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Cross References
Psalms 144:8
Whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
Romans 1:25
Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
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Cross References
Isaiah 42:19
Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord ?
Isaiah 42:1
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
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Cross References
Isaiah 49:15
Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:25
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
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Cross References
Isaiah 49:13
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Isaiah 55:12
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Psalms 69:34
Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
Jeremiah 51:48
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, declares the Lord.
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Cross References
Psalms 63:9
But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth.
Hosea 2:21 - 22
And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth.
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Cross References
Isaiah 49:3
And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
Isaiah 55:5
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
Isaiah 60:9
For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:14
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
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Cross References
Isaiah 44:2
Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
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Cross References
Isaiah 42:5
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
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Cross References
Isaiah 42:5
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
Isaiah 45:12
I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
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Cross References
Isaiah 19:3
And the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers.
Isaiah 19:14
The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 36:22
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
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Cross References
Jeremiah 32:15
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.
Jeremiah 32:44
Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.
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Cross References
Isaiah 11:15
And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
Isaiah 51:10
Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
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Cross References
Isaiah 45:1
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:
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Cross References
2 Samuel 5:2
In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, 'You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.'
Psalms 78:72
With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
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Cross References
Isaiah 45:13
I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward," says the Lord of hosts.
2 Chronicles 36:22 - 23
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
Ezra 1:1 - 3
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.