Isaiah 44:1-20

The Blessings of Israel

1 "But now listen, O Jacob, My ¹servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen:

2 Thus says the LORD who made you And ²formed you from the womb, who ³will help you, '⁴Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you ⁵Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

3 'For ⁶I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will ⁷pour out My Spirit on your ⁸offspring And My blessing on your descendants;

4 And they will spring up among the grass Like ⁹poplars by streams of water.'

5 "This one will say, 'I am the LORD'S '; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will ¹⁰write on his hand, 'Belonging to the LORD,' And will name Israel's name with honor.

6 "Thus says the LORD, the ¹¹King of Israel and his ¹²Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the ¹³first and I am the last, And there is no God ¹⁴besides * Me.

7 'Who is like Me? ¹⁵Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place.

8 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; ¹⁶Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And ¹⁷you are My witnesses. Is there any God ¹⁸besides * Me, Or is there any other ¹⁹Rock? I know of none.' "

The Folly of Idolatry

9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ²⁰put to shame.

10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to ²¹no profit?

11 Behold, all his companions will be ²²put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.

12 The ²³man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.

13 ²⁴Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ²⁵man, so that it may sit in a ²⁶house.

14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.

15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also ²⁷makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and ²⁸falls down before it.

16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire."

17 But the rest of it he ²⁹makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also ³⁰prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god."

18 They do not ³¹know, nor do they understand, for He has ³²smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.

19 No one recalls * *, nor is there ³³knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an ³⁴abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!"

20 He ³⁵feeds on ashes; a ³⁶deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, "³⁷Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

Isaiah 44:1-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 44

In this chapter the Lord comforts his people with the promise of the effusion of his Spirit, and the blessings of his grace upon them; the consequence of which would be fruitfulness in them, and the conversion of others, who should profess themselves the Lord's people, Isa 44:1-5, he proves his deity in opposition to all false gods from his eternity, omniscience, and foretelling future events, Isa 44:6-8, exposes the stupidity of idol makers and the worshippers of them, Isa 44:9-20, makes gracious promises of the remembrance of his people, the remission of their sins, and their redemption by Christ, Isa 44:21-23, of which redemption from Babylon was a type; and of that assurance is given, from the Lord's creating all things by his power; from his frustrating and infatuating diviners and wise men; from his fulfilling his predictions delivered by his prophets; and from his mentioning by name the instrument of their redemption, Cyrus, Isa 44:24-28, which makes way for a particular prophecy concerning him in the next chapter.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 41:8; Jeremiah 30:10; Jeremiah 46:27, 28
• 2. Isaiah 44:21, 24
• 3. Isaiah 41:10
• 4. Isaiah 43:5
• 5. Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 33:5, 26
• 6. Isaiah 41:17; Ezekiel 34:26; Joel 3:18
• 7. Isaiah 32:15; Joel 2:28
• 8. Isaiah 61:9; Isaiah 65:23
• 9. Leviticus 23:40; Job 40:22
• 10. Exodus 13:9; Nehemiah 9:38
• 11. Isaiah 41:21; Isaiah 43:15
• 12. Isaiah 41:14; Isaiah 43:1, 14
• 13. Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 1:8, 17; Revelation 22:13
• 14. Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 45:5, 6, 21
• 15. Isaiah 41:22, 26
• 16. Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 48:5
• 17. Isaiah 43:10
• 18. Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 45:5; Joel 2:27
• 19. Isaiah 17:10; Isaiah 26:4; Isaiah 30:29
• 20. Psalms 97:7; Isaiah 42:17; Isaiah 44:11; Isaiah 45:16
• 21. Isaiah 41:29; Jeremiah 10:5; Habakkuk 2:18; Acts 19:26
• 22. Psalms 97:7; Isaiah 42:17; Isaiah 44:9; Isaiah 45:16
• 23. Isaiah 40:19, 20; Isaiah 41:6, 7; Isaiah 46:6, 7; Jeremiah 10:3-5; Habakkuk 2:18
• 24. Isaiah 41:7
• 25. Psalms 115:5-7
• 26. Judges 17:4, 5; Ezekiel 8:10, 11
• 27. Isaiah 44:17
• 28. 2 Chronicles 25:14
• 29. Isaiah 44:15
• 30. 1 Kings 18:26, 28; Isaiah 45:20
• 31. Isaiah 1:3; Jeremiah 10:8, 14
• 32. Psalms 81:12; Isaiah 6:9, 10; Isaiah 29:10
• 33. Isaiah 5:13; Isaiah 44:18, 19; Isaiah 45:20
• 34. Deuteronomy 27:15; 1 Kings 11:5, 7; 2 Kings 23:13, 14
• 35. Psalms 102:9
• 36. Job 15:31; Hosea 4:12; Romans 1:21, 22; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; 2 Timothy 3:13
• 37. Isaiah 57:11; Isaiah 59:3, 4, 13; Romans 1:25

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "him who is thirsty"
• [b]. Another reading is "like grass among the waters"
• [c]. Another reading is "will be called by the name of Jacob"
• [d]. Or "with"
• [e]. Lit "From My establishing of"
• [f]. Or "people"
• [g]. Or "an idol"
• [h]. Or "a graven image"
• [i]. Lit "and fashions"
• [j]. Lit "there is no strength"
• [k]. Or "holm-oak"
• [l]. Lit "makes strong"
• [m]. Lit "returns to his heart"
• [n]. Or "shall I make?"
• [o]. Or "shall I fall...?"
• [p]. Or "is a companion of ashes"
• [q]. Lit "his soul"