Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel, who I have chosen:
Thus saith Jehovah that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water upon {Or, the thirsty land}him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
One shall say, I am Jehovah's; and another shall {Or, proclaim the name}call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall {Or, write on his hand, Unto Jehovah}subscribe with his hand unto Jehovah, and {Or, give for a title the name of Israel}surname himself by the name of Israel.
Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
{Or, And who, as I, can proclaim? let him declare it &c.}And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them {Or, declare unto them}declare.
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not declared unto thee of old, and showed it? and ye are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.
They that fashion a graven image are all of them {Or, confusion}vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses see not, nor know: that they may be put to shame.
Who hath fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?
Behold, {Or, all that join themselves thereto}all his fellows shall be put to shame; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together.
The smith {Or, sharpeneth a tool}maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint.
The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with {Or, red ochre}a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm-tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth {Or, an ash}a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it.
Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
He burneth {Or, the half}part thereof in the fire; with {Or, the half}part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.
And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath {Hebrew: daubed.}shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
And none calleth to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Sing, O ye heavens, for Jehovah hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth ( {Another reading is, by myself.}who is with me?);
that frustrateth the signs of the {Or, boasters}liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof;
that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers;
That saith of {Hebrew: Coresh.}Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; {Or, and the foundation of the temple shall be laid}and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Querverweise zu Jesaja 44,20 Jes 44,20
Should a wise man make answer with {Hebrew: knowledge of wind.}vain knowledge,And fill himself with the east wind?
And Jehovah said, Who shall {Or, decieve}entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner; and another said on that manner.
And there came forth {Hebrew: the spirit.}a spirit, and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him.
And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice him, and shalt prevail also: go forth, and do so.
Now therefore, behold, Jehovah hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets; and Jehovah hath spoken evil concerning thee.
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I {Or, have laid}lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste.
And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
For I have eaten ashes like bread,And mingled my drink with weeping,
Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself;For vanity shall be his recompense.
O Jehovah, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, even vanity and things wherein there is no profit.
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge;But the mouth of fools feedeth on folly.
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; {Or, so that they are}that they may be without excuse:
because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
even he, whose {Greek: presence.}coming is according to the working of Satan with all {Greek: power and signs and wonders of falsehood.}power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that {Or, are perishing}perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
And he would fain {Many ancient authorities read have been filled.}have filled his belly with {Greek: the pods of the carob tree.}the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
And even as they {Greek: did not approve.}refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, {Or, seared}branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.
And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole {Greek: inhabited earth.}world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the sword and lived.
and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.
and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.