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1“Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
2This is what the Lord , the one who made you, says –
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen!
3For I will pour water on the parched ground[#tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)]
and cause streams to flow on the dry land.
I will pour my spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
4They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,[#tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.]
like poplars beside channels of water.
5One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord ,’
and another will use the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord ’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”
6This is what the Lord , Israel’s king, says,
their protector, the Lord who commands armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
7Who is like me? Let him make his claim![#tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”]
Let him announce it and explain it to me –
since I established an ancient people –
let them announce future events!
8Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid![#tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa.]
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock; I know of none.
9All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
10Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless?
11Look, all his associates will be put to shame;[#tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.]
the craftsmen are mere humans.
Let them all assemble and take their stand!
They will panic and be put to shame.
12A blacksmith works with his tool[#tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.]
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;
he drinks no water and gets tired.
13A carpenter takes measurements;[#tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”]
he marks out an outline of its form;
he scrapes it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.
14He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress or an oak.
He gets trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow.
15A man uses it to make a fire;[#tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”]
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
16Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
17With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
18They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.
19No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’
20He feeds on ashes;[#tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”]
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’
21Remember these things, O Jacob,
O Israel, for you are my servant.
I formed you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you!
22I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud.
Come back to me, for I protect you.”
23Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes;[#tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”]
shout out, you subterranean regions of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees!
For the Lord protects Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel.
24This is what the Lord , your protector, says,[#tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.]
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord , who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself,
25who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers[#tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).]
and humiliates the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men
and makes their advice seem foolish,
26who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants[#tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.]
and brings to pass the announcements of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
27who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!
I will dry up your sea currents,’
28who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd[#tn Heb “says to.” It is possible that the sentence is not completed, as the description of Cyrus and his God-given role is developed in the rest of the verse. 45:1 picks up where 44:28a leaves off with the Lord’s actual words to Cyrus finally being quoted in 45:2.; #tn Heb “my shepherd.” The shepherd motif is sometimes applied, as here, to a royal figure who is responsible for the well-being of the people whom he rules.]
to carry out all my wishes
and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’
and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’”