Isaiah 44-48 - Prayer Tents

44“But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.H8085H3290H5650H3478H977 2The Lord who made you and helps you says. Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, O dear Israel, my chosen one.H559H3068H6213H3335H990H5826H3372H3290H5650H3484H977 3For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.H3332H4325H6771H5140H3004H3332H7307H2233H1293H6631 4They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.H6779H996H2682H6155H4325H2988 5Some will proudly claim, ‘I belong to the Lord.’ Others will say, ‘I am a descendant of Jacob.’ Some will write the Lord’s name on their hands and will take the name of Israel as their own.”H559H3068H7121H8034H3290H3789H3027H3068H3655H8034H3478

The Foolishness of Idols

6This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.H559H3068H4428H3478H1350H3068H6635H7223H314H1107H430 7Who is like me? Let him step forward and prove to you his power. Let him do as I have done since ancient times when I established a people and explained its future.H7121H5046H6186H7760H5769H5971H857H935H5046 8Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one!”H6342H7297H7297H8085H227H5046H5707H3426H433H1107H6697H3045 9How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame.H3335H6459H8414H2530H3276H5707H7200H3045H954 10Who but a fool would make his own god—an idol that cannot help him one bit?H3335H410H5258H6459H3276H1115 11All who worship idols will be disgraced along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—who claim they can make a god. They may all stand together, but they will stand in terror and shame.H2270H954H2796H120H6908H5975H6342H954H3162 12The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. His work makes him hungry and weak. It makes him thirsty and faint.H1270H2796H4621H6466H6352H3335H4717H6466H3581H2220H7457H3581H369H8354H4325H3286 13Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine.H2796H6086H5186H6957H8388H8279H6213H4741H8388H4230H6213H8403H376H8597H120H3427H1004 14He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain.H3772H730H3947H8645H437H553H6086H3293H5193H766H1653H1431 15Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it!H120H1197H3947H2552H5400H644H3899H6466H410H7812H6213H6459H5456 16He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”H8313H2677H1119H784H2677H398H1320H6740H6748H7646H2552H559H1889H2552H7200H217 17Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”H7611H6213H410H6459H5456H7812H6419H559H5337H410 18Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.H3045H995H2902H5869H7200H3826H7919 19The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, “Why, it’s just a block of wood! I burned half of 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 bow down to worship a piece of wood?”H7725H3820H1847H8394H559H8313H2677H1119H784H644H3899H1513H6740H1320H398H6213H3499H8441H5456H944H6086 20The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”H7462H665H2048H3820H5186H5337H5315H559H8267H3225

Restoration for Jerusalem

21“Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you.H2142H3290H3478H5650H3335H5650H3478H5382 22I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”H4229H5645H6588H6051H2403H7725H1350 23Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout for joy, O depths of the earth! Break into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel.H7442H8064H3068H6213H7321H8482H776H6476H7440H2022H3293H6086H3068H1350H3290H6286H3478 24This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer and Creator. “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth?H559H3068H1350H3335H990H3068H6213H5186H8064H7554H776 25I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools.H6565H226H907H7080H1984H7725H2450H268H1847H5528 26But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’ and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt; I will restore all your ruins!’H6965H1697H5650H7999H6098H4397H559H3389H3427H5892H3063H1129H6965H2723 27When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry.H559H6683H2717H3001H5104 28When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”H559H3566H7462H7999H2656H559H3389H1129H1964H3245

Cyrus, the Lord’s Chosen One

45This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again.H559H3068H4899H3566H3225H2388H7286H1471H6440H6605H4975H4428H6605H6440H1817H8179H5462 2This is what the Lord says. “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.H3212H6440H3474H1921H3474H3474H7665H1817H5154H1438H1280H1270 3And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.H5414H214H2822H4301H4565H3045H3068H7121H8034H430H3478 4“And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.H3290H5650H3478H972H7121H8034H3655H3045 5I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me,H3068H430H2108H247H3045 6so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other.H3045H4217H8121H4628H657H1107H3068 7I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.H3335H216H1254H2822H6213H7965H1254H7451H3068H6213 8“Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them.H7491H8064H4605H7834H5140H6664H776H6605H6509H3468H6666H6779H3162H3068H1254 9“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’H1945H7378H3335H2789H2789H127H2563H559H3335H6213H6467H3027 10How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”H1945H559H1H3205H802H2342 11This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel and your Creator. “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?H559H3068H6918H3478H3335H7592H857H1121H6467H3027H6680 12I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.H6213H776H1254H120H3027H5186H8064H6635H6680 13I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people—without seeking a reward! I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”H5782H6664H3474H1870H1129H5892H7971H1546H4242H7810H559H3068H6635

Future Conversion of Gentiles

14This is what the Lord says. “You will rule the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans. They will come to you with all their merchandise, and it will all be yours. They will follow you as prisoners in chains. They will fall to their knees in front of you and say, ‘God is with you, and he is the only God. There is no other.’”H559H3068H3018H4714H5505H3568H5436H582H4060H5674H3212H310H2131H5674H7812H6419H410H657H430 15Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways.H403H410H5641H430H3478H3467 16All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.H954H3637H1980H3639H3162H2796H6736 17But the Lord will save the people of Israel with eternal salvation. Throughout everlasting ages, they will never again be humiliated and disgraced.H3478H3467H3068H5769H8668H954H3637H5769H5703 18For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.H559H3068H1254H8064H430H3335H776H6213H3559H1254H8414H3335H3427H3068 19I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.H1696H5643H2822H4725H776H559H2233H3290H1245H8414H3068H1696H6664H5046H4339 20“Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save!H6908H935H5066H3162H6412H1471H3045H5375H6086H6459H6419H410H3467 21Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say. Who made these things known so long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the Lord? For there is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none but me.H5046H5066H3289H3162H8085H6924H5046H3068H430H1107H6662H410H3467H369H2108 22Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.H6437H3467H657H776H410 23I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word. Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me.”H7650H1697H3318H6310H6666H7725H1290H3766H3956H7650 24The people will declare, “The Lord is the source of all my righteousness and strength.” And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.H559H3068H6666H5797H935H2734H954 25In the Lord all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in him they will boast.H3068H2233H3478H6663H1984

Babylon’s False Gods

46Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, bow as they are lowered to the ground. They are being hauled away on ox carts. The poor beasts stagger under the weight.H1078H3766H5015H7164H6091H2416H929H5385H6006H4853H5889 2Both the idols and their owners are bowed down. The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into captivity together.H7164H3766H3162H3201H4422H4853H5315H1980H7628 3“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born.H8085H1004H3290H7611H1004H3478H6006H990H5375H7356 4I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.H2209H7872H5445H6213H5375H5445H4422 5“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?H1819H7737H4911H1819 6Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it!H2107H2091H3599H8254H3701H7070H7936H6884H6213H410H5456H7812 7They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It can’t even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.H5375H3802H5445H3240H5975H4725H4185H6817H6030H3467H6869 8“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones.H2142H377H7725H3820H6586 9Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.H2142H7223H5769H410H430H657H3644 10Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.H5046H319H7225H6924H6213H559H6098H6965H6213H2656 11I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding. I have said what I would do, and I will do it.H7121H5861H4217H376H6098H4801H776H1696H935H3335H6213 12“Listen to me, you stubborn people who are so far from doing right.H8085H47H3820H7350H6666 13For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem and show my glory to Israel.H7126H6666H7368H8668H309H5414H8668H6726H3478H8597

Prediction of Babylon’s Fall

47“Come down, virgin daughter of Babylon, and sit in the dust. For your days of sitting on a throne have ended. O daughter of Babylonia, never again will you be the lovely princess, tender and delicate.H3381H3427H6083H1330H1323H894H3427H776H3678H1323H3778H3254H7121H7390H6028 2Take heavy millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, and strip off your robe. Expose yourself to public view.H3947H7347H2912H7058H1540H6777H2834H7640H1540H7785H5674H5104 3You will be naked and burdened with shame. I will take vengeance against you without pity.”H6172H1540H2781H7200H3947H5359H6293H120 4Our Redeemer, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, is the Holy One of Israel.H1350H3068H6635H8034H6918H3478 5“O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence. Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.H3427H1748H935H2822H1323H3778H3254H7121H1404H4467 6For I was angry with my chosen people and punished them by letting them fall into your hands. But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy. You oppressed even the elderly.H7107H5971H2490H5159H5414H3027H7760H7356H2205H3966H3513H5923 7You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’ You did not reflect on your actions or think about their consequences.H559H1404H5769H7760H3820H2142H319 8“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other. I will never be a widow or lose my children.’H8085H5719H3427H983H559H3824H657H3427H490H3045H7908 9Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment. widowhood and the loss of your children. Yes, these calamities will come upon you, despite all your witchcraft and magic.H8147H935H7281H259H3117H7908H489H935H8537H7230H3785H3966H6109H2267 10“You felt secure in your wickedness. ‘No one sees me,’ you said. But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray, and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’H982H7451H559H7200H2451H1847H7725H559H3820H657 11So disaster will overtake you, and you won’t be able to charm it away. Calamity will fall upon you, and you won’t be able to buy your way out. A catastrophe will strike you suddenly, one for which you are not prepared.H7451H935H3045H7837H1943H5307H3201H3722H7722H935H6597H3045 12“Now use your magical charms! Use the spells you have worked at all these years! Maybe they will do you some good. Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.H5975H2267H7230H3785H834H3021H5271H3201H3276H6206 13All the advice you receive has made you tired. Where are all your astrologers, those stargazers who make predictions each month? Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.H3811H7230H6098H1895H8064H2374H3556H2320H3045H5975H3467H935 14But they are like straw burning in a fire; they cannot save themselves from the flame. You will get no help from them at all; their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.H7179H784H8313H5337H5315H3027H3852H1513H2552H217H3427 15And all your friends, those with whom you’ve done business since childhood, will go their own ways, turning a deaf ear to your cries.H3021H5503H5271H8582H376H5676H3467

God’s Stubborn People

48“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises,H8085H1004H3290H7121H8034H3478H3318H4325H3063H7650H8034H3068H2142H430H3478H571H6666 2even though you call yourself the holy city and talk about depending on the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7121H6944H5892H5564H430H3478H3068H6635H8034 3Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true.H5046H7223H227H3318H6310H8085H6213H6597H935 4For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. Your heads are as hard as bronze.H1847H7186H6203H1270H1517H4696H5154 5That is why I told you what would happen; I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’H227H5046H935H8085H559H6090H6213H6459H5262H6680 6You have heard my predictions and seen them fulfilled, but you refuse to admit it. Now I will tell you new things, secrets you have not yet heard.H8085H2372H5046H8085H2319H6258H5341H3045 7They are brand new, not things from the past. So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’H1254H6440H3117H8085H559H3045 8“Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new, things you never heard of before. For I know so well what traitors you are. You have been rebels from birth.H8085H3045H241H6605H3045H898H898H7121H6586H990 9Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name, I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.H8034H748H639H8416H2413H3772 10I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.H6884H3701H977H3564H6040 11I will rescue you for my sake—yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols!H6213H2490H5414H3519H312

Freedom from Babylon

12“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last.H8085H3290H3478H7121H7223H314 13It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”H3027H3245H776H3225H2946H8064H7121H5975H3162 14Have any of your idols ever told you this? Come, all of you, and listen. The Lord has chosen Cyrus as his ally. He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon and to destroy the Babylonian armies.H6908H8085H5046H3068H157H6213H2656H894H2220H3778 15“I have said it: I am calling Cyrus! I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed.H1696H7121H935H1870H6743 16Come closer, and listen to this. From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.” And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit have sent me with this message.H7126H7126H8085H1696H5643H7218H6256H136H3069H7307H7971 17This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.H559H3068H1350H6918H3478H3068H430H3925H3276H1869H1870H3212 18Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.H3863H7181H4687H7965H5104H6666H1530H3220 19Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name.”H2233H2344H6631H4578H4579H8034H3772H8045H6440 20Yet even now, be free from your captivity! Leave Babylon and the Babylonians. Sing out this message! Shout it to the ends of the earth! The Lord has redeemed his servants, the people of Israel.H3318H894H1272H3778H6963H7440H5046H8085H3318H7097H776H559H3068H1350H5650H3290 21They were not thirsty when he led them through the desert. He divided the rock, and water gushed out for them to drink.H6770H3212H2723H4325H5140H6697H1234H6697H4325H2100 22“But there is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.H7965H559H3068H7563