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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" /><title>Isaiah 44 ESV</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="../topmenuchap/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">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ESV</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">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/isaiah/44.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Israel the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>’s Chosen</p><span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">“But now hear, O Jacob my servant,</span><br /><span class="indent">Israel whom I have chosen!</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Thus says the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> who made you,</span><br /><span class="indent">who formed you from the womb and will help you:</span><br /><span class="ln-group">Fear not, O Jacob my servant,</span><br /><span class="indent">Jeshurun whom I have chosen.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">For I will pour water on the thirsty land,</span><br /><span class="indent">and streams on the dry ground;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,</span><br /><span class="indent">and my blessing on your descendants.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">They shall spring up among the grass</span><br /><span class="indent">like willows by flowing streams.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">This one will say, ‘I am the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>’s,’</span><br /><span class="indent">another will call on the name of Jacob,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">and another will write on his hand, ‘The <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>’s,’</span><br /><span class="indent">and name himself by the name of Israel.”</span></p> <p class="heading">Besides Me There Is No God</p><span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Thus says the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, the King of Israel</span><br /><span class="indent">and his Redeemer, the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> of hosts:</span><br /><span class="ln-group">“I am the first and I am the last;</span><br /><span class="indent">besides me there is no god.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or Who like me can proclaim it?">a</a></sup></span></span><br /><span class="indent">Let him declare and set it before me,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">since I appointed an ancient people.</span><br /><span class="indent">Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Fear not, nor be afraid;</span><br /><span class="indent">have I not told you from of old and declared it?</span><br /><span class="indent">And you are my witnesses!</span><br /><span class="ln-group">Is there a God besides me?</span><br /><span class="indent">There is no Rock; I know not any.”</span></p> <p class="heading">The Folly of Idolatry</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>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.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew stylus">b</a></sup></span> He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>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!” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>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 abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”</p> <p class="heading">The <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> Redeems Israel</p><span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Remember these things, O Jacob,</span><br /><span class="indent">and Israel, for you are my servant;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">I formed you; you are my servant;</span><br /><span class="indent">O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud</span><br /><span class="indent">and your sins like mist;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">return to me, for I have redeemed you.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Sing, O heavens, for the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> has done it;</span><br /><span class="indent">shout, O depths of the earth;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">break forth into singing, O mountains,</span><br /><span class="indent">O forest, and every tree in it!</span><br /><span class="ln-group">For the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> has redeemed Jacob,</span><br /><span class="indent">and will be glorified<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or will display his beauty">c</a></sup></span> in Israel.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Thus says the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, your Redeemer,</span><br /><span class="indent">who formed you from the womb:</span><br /><span class="ln-group">“I am the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, who made all things,</span><br /><span class="indent">who alone stretched out the heavens,</span><br /><span class="indent">who spread out the earth by myself,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">who frustrates the signs of liars</span><br /><span class="indent">and makes fools of diviners,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">who turns wise men back</span><br /><span class="indent">and makes their knowledge foolish,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">who confirms the word of his servant</span><br /><span class="indent">and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’</span><br /><span class="indent">and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,</span><br /><span class="indent">and I will raise up their ruins’;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;</span><br /><span class="indent">I will dry up your rivers’;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/44-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,</span><br /><span class="indent">and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’</span><br /><span class="indent">and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”</span></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">7</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">Who</span> like me can proclaim it?</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">13</span> Hebrew <i>stylus</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">23</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">will</span> display his beauty</i><br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 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