Spiritual Gems
ISAIAH 43-44
Bible Reading assignment: Isa 44:9-20
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Isaiah 43:
1 You belong to me.
2 Nor will the flame singe you.
3 E·thi·oʹpi·a and Seʹba in exchange for you.
4 And nations in exchange for your life.
5 And gather you together from the west.
6 Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth,
7 Whom I have formed and made.’
8 And who are deaf, though they have ears.
9 Or let them hear and say, ‘It is the truth!’”
10 And after me there has been none.
11 I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.”
12 So you are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “and I am God.
13 When I act, who can prevent it?”
14 And the Chal·deʹans, in their ships, will cry out in distress.
15 I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 And a path even through turbulent waters,
17 They will be extinguished, snuffed out like a burning wick.”
18 And do not dwell on the past.
19 And rivers through the desert.
20 For my people, my chosen one, to drink,
21 So that they might declare my praise.
22 Because you grew weary of me, O Israel.
23 Nor have I made you weary by demanding frankincense.
24 And made me weary with your errors.
25 And I will not remember your sins.
26 Tell your side of it to prove you are in the right.
27 And your own spokesmen have rebelled against me.
28 And subject Israel to insulting words.
Isaiah 44:
1 And you, O Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 And you, Jeshʹu·run, whom I have chosen.
3 And my blessing on your descendants.
4 Like poplars by the streams of water.
5 And he will adopt the name of Israel.’
6 There is no God but me.
7 And what will yet happen.
8 No, there is no other Rock; I know of none.’”
9 So those who made them will be put to shame.
10 That can bring no benefit?
11 They will be terrified and be put to shame together.
12 He drinks no water and grows tired.
13 To sit in a house.
14 He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow.
15 He makes it into a carved image, and he bows down before it.
16 “Ah! I am warm as I watch the fire.”
17 “Save me, for you are my god.”
18 And their heart has no insight.
19 Should I worship a block of wood from a tree?”
20 “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
21 O Israel, I will not forget you.
22 Return to me, for I will repurchase you.
23 And on Israel he displays his splendor.”
24 Who was with me?
25 And turning their knowledge into foolishness;
26 And I will restore her ruins’;
27 And I will dry up all your rivers’;
28 And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”