| Isaiah
(Yeshayahu) 44
"This is what the LORD says- Israel's King
and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first
and I am the last; apart from me there is no
God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me what has
happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come- yes, let him foretell
what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long
ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God
besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know
not one."
All
who make idols are nothing, and the things they
treasure are worthless. Those who would speak
up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to
their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts
an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and
his kind will be put to shame;
craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them all
come together and take their stand; they will
be brought down to terror and infamy.
The
blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in
the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he
forges it with the might of his arm. He gets
hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter
measures with a line and makes an outline with
a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and
marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the
form of man, of man in all his glory, that it
may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or
perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow
among the trees of the forest, or planted a
pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man's
fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms
himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of
the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares
his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I
am warm; I see the fire." From the rest
he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships. He prays to
it and says, "Save me; you are my god."
They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot
see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge
or understanding to say, "Half of it I
used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable
thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to
a block of wood?" He feeds on ashes, a
deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself,
or say, "Is not this thing in my right
hand a lie?"
"Remember
these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant,
O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept
away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist. Return to me,
for I have redeemed you."
Sing
for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song,
you mountains, you forests and all your trees,
for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays
his glory in Israel.
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