1 Y et now hear, O Jacob, My servant and Israel, whom I have chosen.

2 T hus says the Lord, Who made you and formed you from the womb, Who will help you: Fear not, O Jacob, My servant, and you Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

3 F or I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing upon your descendants.

4 A nd they shall spring up among the grass like willows or poplars by the watercourses.

5 O ne will say, I am the Lord’s; and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; and another will write upon his hand, I am the Lord’s, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

6 T hus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.

7 W ho is like Me? Let him proclaim it, declare it, and set in order before Me, since I made and established the people of antiquity. the things that are coming? Then let them declare yet future things.

8 F ear not, nor be afraid; have I not told it to you from of old and declared it? And you are My witnesses! Is there a God besides Me? There is no Rock; I know not any.

9 A ll who make graven idols are confusion, chaos, and worthlessness. Their objects (idols) in which they delight do not profit them, and their own witnesses (worshipers) do not see or know, so that they are put to shame.

10 W ho is to fashion a god or cast a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

11 B ehold, all his fellows shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen, they are but men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand forth; they shall be terrified, they shall be put to shame together.

12 T he ironsmith sharpens and uses a chisel and works it over the coals; he shapes with hammers and forges it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.

13 T he carpenter stretches out a line, he marks it out with a pencil or red ocher; he fashions with planes and marks it out with the compasses; and he shapes it to have the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, that it may dwell in a house.

14 H e hews for himself cedars, and takes the holm tree and the oak and lets them grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest; he plants a fir tree or an ash, and the rain nourishes it.

15 T hen it becomes fuel for a man to burn; a part of it he takes and warms himself, yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. he also makes a god and worships it! He makes it into a graven image and falls down and worships it!

16 H e burns part of the wood in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh, he roasts meat and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire!

17 A nd from what is left he makes a god, his graven idol. He falls down to it, he worships it and prays to it and says, Deliver me, for you are my god!

18 T hey do not know or understand, for their eyes God has let become besmeared so that they cannot see, and their minds as well so that they cannot understand.

19 A nd no one considers in his mind, nor has he knowledge and understanding to say, I have burned part of this log in the fire, and also I have baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. And shall I make the remainder of it into an abomination ? Shall I fall down and worship the stock of a tree ?

20 T hat kind of man feeds on ashes! A deluded mind has led him astray, so that he cannot release and save himself, or ask, Is not in my right hand a lie?

21 R emember these things, O Jacob, O Israel, for you are My servant! I formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you shall not be forgotten by Me.

22 I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions, and like a cloud your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

23 S ing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, you depths of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and He glorifies Himself in Israel.

24 T hus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He Who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord, Who made all things, Who alone stretched out the heavens, Who spread out the earth by Myself ?—

25 W ho frustrates the signs and confounds the omens of the liars and makes fools of diviners, Who turns the wise backward and makes their knowledge foolishness,

26 W ho confirms the word of His servant and performs the counsel of His messengers, Who says of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins,

27 W ho says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers,

28 W ho says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd (ruler), and he shall perform all My pleasure and fulfill all My purpose—even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built, and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.