MKJV - Isaiah - 44

44:1  Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen;

44:2  So 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.

44:3  For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground. I will pour My spirit on your seed, and My blessing on your offspring;

44:4  and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.

44:5  One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall write with his hand, For the LORD, and be named by the name of Israel.

44:6  So says the LORD, the King of Israel, and His redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides Me there is no God.

44:7  And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it and set it in order for Me, since I placed the people of old? And the things that are coming, and shall come, let them declares to them.

44:8  Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you and made you hear since then? So you are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Yea, there is none. I have not known a Rock.

44:9  Those who make a graven image are all of them vanity; and the things in which they delight shall not help; and they are their own witnesses. They do not see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

44:10  Who has formed a god, or melted a graven image that is good for nothing?

44:11  Behold, all his companions shall be ashamed; and the craftsmen; they are from men. They shall assemble; all of them shall stand; they shall dread; they shall be ashamed together.

44:12  He engraves iron with a tool. He works in the coals, and forms it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms. Then, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is weak.

44:13  He fashions wood, and stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with carving tools, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to sit in the house.

44:14  He cuts down cedars, and takes cypress and oak, which he makes the trees of the forest strong for him; he plants a tree, and the rain makes it grow.

44:15  And it shall be for a man to burn; for he will take some of it and warm himself. Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; yes, he makes a god and worships; he makes it a graven image and falls down to it.

44:16  He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts roast and is satisfied; yea, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.

44:17  And the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image; he falls down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me! for you are my god.

44:18  They have not known nor understood; for He has shut their eyes so that they cannot see; and their hearts so that they cannot understand.

44:19  And none thinks within his heart, nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread on the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten; and shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

44:20  He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside, so that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

44:21  Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for you are My servant; I have formed you; you are My servant; O Israel, you shall not be forgotten by Me.

44:22  I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return to Me; for I have redeemed you.

44:23  Sing, O heavens; for the LORD has done it. Shout, lower parts of the earth. Break out into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.

44:24  So says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb, I am the LORD who makes all things; who stretches out the heavens alone; who spreads out the earth; who was with Me?

44:25  who brings to nothing the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns the wise backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;

44:26  who makes the word of His servant sure, and makes good the counsel of His messengers; who says to Jerusalem, She shall have people; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places of it;

44:27  who says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers;

44:28  who says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall do all My pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.