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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//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 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></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="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</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">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Is the Only God</h3><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_1"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.1" class="v23_44_1">1</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> says,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_1">“Listen now, Israel, my servant,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_1">my chosen people, the descendants of Jacob.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_2"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.2" class="v23_44_2">2</span>I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span> who created you;</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_2">from the time you were born, I have helped you.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_2">Do not be afraid; you are my servant,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_2">my chosen people whom I love.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_3"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.3" class="v23_44_3">3</span>“I will give water to the thirsty land</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_3">and make streams flow on the dry ground.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_3">I will pour out my spirit on your children</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_3">and my blessing on your descendants.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_4"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.4" class="v23_44_4">4</span>They will thrive like well-watered grass,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_4">like willows by streams of running water.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_5"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.5" class="v23_44_5">5</span>“One by one, people will say, ‘I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s.’</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_5">They will come to join the people of Israel.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_5">They each will mark the name of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> on their arms</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_5">and call themselves one of God's people.”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_6"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.6" class="v23_44_6">6</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.44.6!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The <span class="nd">Lord</span>, who rules and protects Israel,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_6">the <span class="nd">Lord</span> Almighty, has this to say:</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_6">“I am the first, the last, the only God;</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_6">there is no other god but me.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_7"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.7" class="v23_44_7">7</span>Could anyone else have done what I did?</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_7">Who could have predicted all that would happen</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_7">from the very beginning to the end of time?<a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.44.7!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_8"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.8" class="v23_44_8">8</span>Do not be afraid, my people!</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_8">You know that from ancient times until now</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_8">I have predicted all that would happen,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_8">and you are my witnesses.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_8">Is there any other god?</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_8">Is there some powerful god I never heard of?”</span></p><h3 class="s">Idolatry Is Ridiculed</h3><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_9"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.9" class="v23_44_9">9</span>All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant—and they will be disgraced. </span><span class="v23_44_10"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.10" class="v23_44_10">10</span>It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! </span><span class="v23_44_11"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.11" class="v23_44_11">11</span>Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial—they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_12"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.12" class="v23_44_12">12</span>The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_13"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.13" class="v23_44_13">13</span>The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. </span><span class="v23_44_14"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.14" class="v23_44_14">14</span>He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. </span><span class="v23_44_15"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.15" class="v23_44_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.44.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. </span><span class="v23_44_16"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.16" class="v23_44_16">16</span>With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, “How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!” </span><span class="v23_44_17"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.17" class="v23_44_17">17</span>The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, “You are my god—save me!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_18"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.18" class="v23_44_18">18</span>Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. </span><span class="v23_44_19"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.19" class="v23_44_19">19</span>The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, “Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_20"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.20" class="v23_44_20">20</span>It makes as much sense<a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.44.20!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.</span></p><h3 class="s">The <span class="nd">Lord</span>, the Creator and Savior</h3><p class="par"><span class="v23_44_21"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.21" class="v23_44_21">21</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> says,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_21">“Israel, remember this;</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_21">remember that you are my servant.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_21">I created you to be my servant,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_21">and I will never forget you.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_22"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.22" class="v23_44_22">22</span>I have swept your sins away like a cloud.</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_22">Come back to me; I am the one who saves you.”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_23"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.23" class="v23_44_23">23</span>Shout for joy, you heavens!</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_23">Shout, deep places of the earth!</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_23">Shout for joy, mountains, and every tree of the forest!</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_23">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> has shown his greatness</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_23">by saving his people Israel.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_24"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.24" class="v23_44_24">24</span>“I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, your savior;</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_24">I am the one who created you.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_24">I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, the Creator of all things.</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_24">I alone stretched out the heavens;</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_24">when I made the earth, no one helped me.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_25"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.25" class="v23_44_25">25</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.44.25!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I make fools of fortunetellers</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_25">and frustrate the predictions of astrologers.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_25">The words of the wise I refute</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_25">and show that their wisdom is foolishness.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_26"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.26" class="v23_44_26">26</span>But when my servant makes a prediction,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_26">when I send a messenger to reveal my plans,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_26">I make those plans and predictions come true.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_26">I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_26">and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt.</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_26">Those cities will rise from the ruins.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_27"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.27" class="v23_44_27">27</span>With a word of command I dry up the ocean.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v23_44_28"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.44.28" class="v23_44_28">28</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.44.28!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who will rule for me;</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_28">you will do what I want you to do:</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_28">you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v23_44_28">and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.’”</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">44.7: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Verse 7 in Hebrew is unclear.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">44.20: </char><char style="fq" closed="false">It makes as much sense; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">or </char><char style="fq" closed="false">It will do him as much good.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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