The Living Bible (231 page)

Isaiah
44

Listen to me, O my servant Israel, O my chosen ones:

    
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 The Lord who made you, who will help you, says: O servant of mine, don’t be afraid. O Jerusalem, my chosen ones, don’t be afraid.
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 For I will give you abundant water for your thirst and for your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children.
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 They shall thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
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 “I am the Lord’s,” they’ll proudly
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say, or, “I am a Jew,” and tattoo upon their hands the name of God or the honored name of Israel.

    
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 The Lord, the King of Israel, says—yes, it is Israel’s Redeemer, the Lord Almighty, who says it—I am the First and Last; there is no other God.
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 Who else can tell you what is going to happen in the days ahead? Let them tell you if they can and prove their power. Let them do as I have done since ancient times.
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 Don’t, don’t be afraid. Haven’t I proclaimed from ages past that I would save you
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? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! None that I know about! There is no other Rock!

    
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 What fools they are who manufacture idols for their gods. Their hopes remain unanswered. They themselves are witnesses that this is so, for their idols neither see nor know. No wonder those who worship them are so ashamed.
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 Who but a fool would make his own god—an idol that can help him not one whit!
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 All that worship these will stand before the Lord in shame, along with all these carpenters—mere men—who claim that they have made a god. Together they will stand in terror.
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 The metalsmith stands at his forge to make an ax, pounding on it with all his might. He grows hungry and thirsty, weak and faint.
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 Then the wood-carver takes the ax and uses it to make an idol. He measures and marks out a block of wood and carves the figure of a man. Now he has a wonderful idol that can’t so much as move from where it is placed.
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 He cuts down cedars, he selects the cypress and the oak, he plants the ash in the forest to be nourished by the rain.
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 And after his care, he uses part of the wood to make a fire to warm himself and bake his bread, and then—he really does—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god—a god for men to worship! An idol to fall down before and praise!
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 Part of the tree he burns to roast his meat and to keep him warm and fed and well content,
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 and with what’s left he makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down before it and worships it and prays to it. “Deliver me,” he says. “You are my god!”

    
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 Such stupidity and ignorance! God has shut their eyes so that they cannot see and closed their minds from understanding.
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 The man never stops to think or figure out, “Why, it’s just a block of wood! I’ve burned it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I fall down before a chunk of wood?”
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 The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes; he is trusting what can never give him any help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this thing, this idol that I’m holding in my hand, a lie?”

    
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 Pay attention, Israel, for you are my servant; I made you, and I will not forget to help you.
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 I’ve blotted out your sins; they are gone like morning mist at noon! Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.

    
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 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout, O earth; break forth into song, O mountains and forests, yes, and every tree; for the Lord redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel!
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 The Lord, your Redeemer who made you, says: All things were made by me; I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it.

    
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 I am the one who shows what liars all false prophets are, by causing something else to happen than the things they say. I make wise men give opposite advice to what they should and make them into fools.
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 But what my prophets say, I do; when they say Jerusalem will be delivered and the cities of Judah lived in once again—it shall be done!
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 When I speak to the rivers and say, “Be dry!” they shall be dry.
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 When I say of Cyrus,
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“He is my shepherd,” he will certainly do as I say; and Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the Temple restored, for I have spoken it.

Isaiah
45

This is Jehovah’s message to Cyrus, God’s anointed, whom he has chosen to conquer many lands. God shall empower his right hand, and he shall crush the strength of mighty kings. God shall open the gates of Babylon to him; the gates shall not be shut against him anymore.
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 I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains and smash down the city gates of brass and iron bars.
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 And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches; and you will know that I am doing this—I, the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by your name.

    
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 And why have I named you for this work? For the sake of Jacob, my servant—Israel, my chosen. I called you by name when you didn’t know me.
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 I am Jehovah; there is no other God. I will strengthen you and send you out to victory even though you don’t know me,
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 and all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am Jehovah and there is no one else. I alone am God.
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 I form the light and make the dark. I send good times and bad. I, Jehovah, am he who does these things.
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 Open up, O heavens. Let the skies pour out their righteousness. Let salvation and righteousness sprout up together from the earth. I, Jehovah, created them.

    
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 Woe to the man who fights with his Creator. Does the pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with him who forms it, saying, “Stop, you’re doing it wrong!” or the pot exclaim, “How clumsy can you be!”?
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 Woe to the baby just being born who squalls to his father and mother, “Why have you produced me? Can’t you do anything right at all?”

    
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 Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Israel’s Creator, says: What right have you to question what I do? Who are you to command me concerning the work of my hands?
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 I have made the earth and created man upon it. With my hands I have stretched out the heavens and commanded all the vast myriads of stars.
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 I have raised up Cyrus
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to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will direct all his paths. He shall restore my city and free my captive people—and not for a reward!

    
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 Jehovah says: The Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans shall be subject to you. They shall come to you with all their merchandise, and it shall all be yours. They shall follow you as prisoners in chains and fall down on their knees before you and say, “The only God there is, is your God!”

    
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 Truly, O God of Israel, Savior, you work in strange, mysterious ways.
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 All who worship idols shall be disappointed and ashamed.
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 But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with eternal salvation; they shall never be disappointed in their God through all eternity.
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 For Jehovah created the heavens and earth and put everything in place, and he made the world to be lived in, not to be an empty chaos. I am Jehovah, he says, and there is no other!
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 I publicly proclaim bold promises; I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so that no one can know what I mean. And I didn’t tell Israel to ask me for what I didn’t plan to give! No, for I, Jehovah, speak only truth and righteousness.

    
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 Gather together and come, you nations that escape from Cyrus’s hand. What fools they are who carry around the wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save!
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 Consult together, argue your case and state your proofs that idol worship pays! Who but God has said that these things concerning Cyrus would come true? What idol ever told you they would happen? For there is no other God but me—a just God and a Savior—no, not one!
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 Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.
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 I have sworn by myself, and I will never go back on my word, for it is true—that every knee in all the world shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear allegiance to my name.

    
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 “In Jehovah is all my righteousness and strength,” the people shall declare. And all who were angry with him shall come to him and be ashamed.
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 In Jehovah all the generations of Israel shall be justified, triumphant.

Isaiah
46

The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo,
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are being hauled away on ox carts! But look! The beasts are stumbling! The cart is turning over! The gods are falling out onto the ground! Is that the best that they can do? If they cannot even save themselves from such a fall, how can they save their worshipers from Cyrus?

    
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 “Listen to me, all Israel who are left; I have created you and cared for you since you were born.
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 I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.

    
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 “With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me?
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 Will you compare me with an idol made lavishly with silver and with gold? They hire a goldsmith to take your wealth and make a god from it! Then they fall down and worship it!
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 They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there, for it cannot move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer, for it cannot get him out of his trouble.

    
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 “Don’t forget this, O guilty ones.
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 And don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God—I only—and there is no other like me
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 who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
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 I will call that swift bird of prey from the east—that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will.
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 Listen to me, you stubborn, evil men!
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 For I am offering you my deliverance; not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save you, and I will restore Jerusalem and Israel, who is my glory.