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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Isaiah 44 New American Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/isaiah/44.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcc/isaiah/44-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NABRE</a> > Isaiah 44</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../isaiah/43.htm" title="Isaiah 43">◄</a> Isaiah 44 <a href="../isaiah/45.htm" title="Isaiah 45">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New American Bible Revised Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><section id="ch29044" class="chapter"> <h1 id="cn29044" class="cn"></h1> <div class="senseline"> <p class="slf"><span id="v29044001" class="ver">1</span>Hear then, Jacob, my servant,</p> <p class="sl1">Israel, whom I have chosen.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044002" class="ver">2</span>Thus says the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> who made you,</p> <p class="sl1">your help, who formed you from the womb:</p> <p class="sl">Do not fear, Jacob, my servant,</p> <p class="sl1">Jeshurun,<a id="rfn29044002-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044002-1">*</a> whom I have chosen.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044003" class="ver">3</span>I will pour out water upon the thirsty ground,</p> <p class="sl1">streams upon the dry land;</p> <p class="sl">I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring,</p> <p class="sl1">my blessing upon your descendants.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044004" class="ver">4</span>They shall spring forth amid grass</p> <p class="sl1">like poplars beside flowing waters.<a id="ren29044004-a" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044004-a">a</a></p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044005" class="ver">5</span>One shall say, “I am the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>’s,”</p> <p class="sl1">another shall be named after Jacob,</p> <p class="sl">And this one shall write on his hand,<a id="rfn29044005-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044005-1">*</a> “The <span class="tetr">Lord</span>’s,”</p> <p class="sl1">and receive the name Israel.<a id="ren29044005-b" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044005-b">b</a></p> </div> <section> <h2 class="ah">The True God and False Gods</h2> <div class="senseline"> <p class="slf"><span id="v29044006" class="ver">6</span><a id="rfn29044006-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044006-1">*</a> Thus says the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, Israel’s king,</p> <p class="sl1">its redeemer, the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> of hosts:</p> <p class="sl">I am the first, I am the last;</p> <p class="sl1">there is no God but me.<a id="rfn29044006-2" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044006-2">*</a> <a id="ren29044006-c" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044006-c">c</a></p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044007" class="ver">7</span>Who is like me? Let him stand up and declare,</p> <p class="sl1">make it evident, and confront me with it.</p> <p class="sl">Who of old announced future events?</p> <p class="sl1">Let them foretell to us the things to come.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044008" class="ver">8</span>Do not fear or be troubled.</p> <p class="sl">Did I not announce it to you long ago?</p> <p class="sl1">I declared it, and you are my witnesses.</p> <p class="sl">Is there any God but me?</p> <p class="sl1">There is no other Rock,<a id="rfn29044008-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044008-1">*</a> I know of none!<a id="ren29044008-d" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044008-d">d</a></p> <p class="slf"><span id="v29044009" class="ver">9</span><a id="rfn29044009-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044009-1">*</a> Those who fashion idols are all nothing;</p> <p class="sl1">their precious works are of no avail.</p> <p class="sl">They are their witnesses:<a id="rfn29044009-2" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044009-2">*</a></p> <p class="sl1">they see nothing, know nothing,</p> <p class="sl1">and so they are put to shame.<a id="ren29044009-e" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044009-e">e</a></p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044010" class="ver">10</span>Who would fashion a god or cast an idol,</p> <p class="sl1">that is of no use?</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044011" class="ver">11</span>Look, all its company will be shamed;</p> <p class="sl1">they are artisans, mere human beings!</p> <p class="sl">They all assemble and stand there,</p> <p class="sl1">only to cower in shame.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044012" class="ver">12</span>The ironsmith fashions a likeness,</p> <p class="sl1">he works it over the coals,</p> <p class="sl">Shaping it with hammers,</p> <p class="sl1">working it with his strong arm.</p> <p class="sl">With hunger his strength wanes,</p> <p class="sl1">without water, he grows faint.<a id="ren29044012-f" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044012-f">f</a></p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044013" class="ver">13</span>The woodworker stretches a line,</p> <p class="sl1">and marks out a shape with a stylus.</p> <p class="sl">He shapes it with scraping tools,</p> <p class="sl1">with a compass measures it off,</p> <p class="sl">Making it the copy of a man,<a id="rfn29044013-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044013-1">*</a></p> <p class="sl1">human display, enthroned in a shrine.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044014" class="ver">14</span>He goes out to cut down cedars,</p> <p class="sl1">takes a holm tree or an oak.</p> <p class="sl">He picks out for himself trees of the forest,</p> <p class="sl1">plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044015" class="ver">15</span>It is used for fuel:</p> <p class="sl1">with some of the wood he warms himself,</p> <p class="sl1">makes a fire and bakes bread.</p> <p class="sl">Yet he makes a god and worships it,</p> <p class="sl1">turns it into an idol and adores it!</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044016" class="ver">16</span>Half of it he burns in the fire,</p> <p class="sl1">on its embers he roasts meat;</p> <p class="sl1">he eats the roast and is full.</p> <p class="sl">He warms himself and says, “Ah!</p> <p class="sl1">I am warm! I see the flames!”</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044017" class="ver">17</span>The rest of it he makes into a god,</p> <p class="sl1">an image to worship and adore.</p> <p class="sl">He prays to it and says,</p> <p class="sl1">“Help me! You are my god!”</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044018" class="ver">18</span>They do not know, do not understand;</p> <p class="sl1">their eyes are too clouded to see,</p> <p class="sl1">their minds, to perceive.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044019" class="ver">19</span>He does not think clearly;</p> <p class="sl1">he lacks the wit and knowledge to say,</p> <p class="sl">“Half the wood I burned in the fire,</p> <p class="sl1">on its embers I baked bread,</p> <p class="sl1">I roasted meat and ate.</p> <p class="sl">Shall I turn the rest into an abomination?</p> <p class="sl1">Shall I worship a block of wood?”</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044020" class="ver">20</span>He is chasing ashes!<a id="rfn29044020-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044020-1">*</a></p> <p class="sl">A deluded mind has led him astray;</p> <p class="sl1">He cannot save himself,</p> <p class="sl1">does not say, “This thing in my right hand—is it not a fraud?”</p> <p class="slf"><span id="v29044021" class="ver">21</span>Remember these things, Jacob,</p> <p class="sl1">Israel, for you are my servant!</p> <p class="sl">I formed you, a servant to me;</p> <p class="sl1">Israel, you shall never be forgotten by me:</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044022" class="ver">22</span>I have brushed away your offenses like a cloud,</p> <p class="sl1">your sins like a mist;</p> <p class="sl1">return to me, for I have redeemed you.</p> <p class="slf"><span id="v29044023" class="ver">23</span>Raise a glad cry, you heavens—the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> has acted!</p> <p class="sl1">Shout, you depths of the earth.</p> <p class="sl">Break forth, mountains, into song,</p> <p class="sl1">forest, with all your trees.</p> <p class="sl">For the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> has redeemed Jacob,</p> <p class="sl1">shows his glory through Israel.</p> </div> </section> <section> <h2 class="ah">Cyrus, Anointed of the Lord, Agent of Israel’s Liberation</h2> <div class="senseline"> <p class="slf"><span id="v29044024" class="ver">24</span>Thus says the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your redeemer,</p> <p class="sl1">who formed you from the womb:</p> <p class="sl">I am the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, who made all things,</p> <p class="sl1">who alone stretched out the heavens,</p> <p class="sl1">I spread out the earth by myself.<a id="ren29044024-g" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044024-g">g</a></p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044025" class="ver">25</span>I bring to nought the omens of babblers,</p> <p class="sl1">make fools of diviners,</p> <p class="sl">Turn back the wise</p> <p class="sl1">and make their knowledge foolish.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044026" class="ver">26</span>I confirm the words of my servant,</p> <p class="sl1">carry out the plan my messengers announce.</p> <p class="sl">I say to Jerusalem, Be inhabited!</p> <p class="sl1">To the cities of Judah, Be rebuilt!</p> <p class="sl1">I will raise up their ruins.</p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044027" class="ver">27</span>I say to the deep, Be dry!</p> <p class="sl1">I will dry up your rivers.<a id="ren29044027-h" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044027-h">h</a></p> <p class="sl"><span id="v29044028" class="ver">28</span>I say of Cyrus,<a id="rfn29044028-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn29044028-1">*</a> My shepherd!</p> <p class="sl1">He carries out my every wish,</p> <p class="sl">Saying of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”</p> <p class="sl1">and of the temple, “Lay its foundations.”<a id="ren29044028-i" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en29044028-i">i</a></p> </div> </section> </section> <br /><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="intro.htm"><span class="ac">Book Introduction</span></a></h1><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="footnotes.htm"><span class="ac">Footnotes</span></a></h1></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the <i>New American Bible, revised edition</i> © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. 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