Isaiah 43

• 1. But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.
• 2. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
• 3. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba as a ransom for your freedom.
• 4. Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.
• 5. "Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west
• 6. and from north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth.
• 7. All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them."
• 8. Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.
• 9. Gather the nations together! Which of their idols has ever foretold such things? Can any of them predict something even a single day in advance? Where are the witnesses of such predictions? Who can verify that they spoke the truth?
• 10. "But you are my witnesses, O Israel!" says the LORD. "And you are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never has been and never will be.
• 11. I am the LORD, and there is no other Savior.
• 12. First I predicted your deliverance; I declared what I would do, and then I did it--I saved you. No foreign god has ever done this before. You are witnesses that I am the only God," says the LORD.
• 13. "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do. No one can reverse my actions."
• 14. The LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: "For your sakes I will send an invading army against Babylon. And the Babylonians will be forced to flee in those ships they are so proud of.
• 15. I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator and King.
• 16. I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.
• 17. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.
• 18. "But forget all that--it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
• 19. For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!
• 20. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and ostriches, too, for giving them water in the wilderness. Yes, I will make springs in the desert, so that my chosen people can be refreshed.
• 21. I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world.
• 22. "But, my dear people, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me!
• 23. You have not brought me lambs for burnt offerings. You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you with my requests for grain offerings and incense.
• 24. You have not brought me fragrant incense or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults.
• 25. "I--yes, I alone--am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.
• 26. Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case if you have one.
• 27. From the very beginning, your ancestors sinned against me--all your leaders broke my laws.
• 28. That is why I have disgraced your priests and assigned Israel a future of complete destruction and shame.

Isaiah 44

• 1. "But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.
• 2. The LORD who made you and helps you says: O Jacob, my servant, do not be afraid. O Israel, my chosen one, do not fear.
• 3. For I will give you abundant water to quench your thirst and to moisten your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children.
• 4. They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
• 5. Some will proudly claim, `I belong to the LORD.' Others will say, `I am a descendant of Jacob.' Some will write the LORD's name on their hands and will take the honored name of Israel as their own.
• 6. "This is what the LORD, Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty, says: I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.
• 7. Who else can tell you what is going to happen in the days ahead? Let them tell you if they can and thus prove their power. Let them do as I have done since ancient times.
• 8. Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Have I not proclaimed from ages past what my purposes are for you? You are my witnesses--is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock--not one!"
• 9. How foolish are those who manufacture idols to be their gods. These highly valued objects are really worthless. They themselves are witnesses that this is so, for their idols neither see nor know. No wonder those who worship them are put to shame.
• 10. Who but a fool would make his own god--an idol that cannot help him one bit!
• 11. All who worship idols will stand before the LORD in shame, along with all these craftsmen--mere humans--who claim they can make a god. Together they will stand in terror and shame.
• 12. The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. His work makes him hungry and thirsty, weak and faint.
• 13. Then the wood-carver measures and marks out a block of wood, takes the tool, and carves the figure of a man. Now he has a wonderful idol that cannot even move from where it is placed!
• 14. He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the cedar in the forest to be nourished by the rain.
• 15. And after his care, he uses part of the wood to make a fire to warm himself and bake his bread. Then--yes, it's true--he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god for people to worship! He makes an idol and bows down and praises it!
• 16. He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm.
• 17. Then he takes what's left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. "Rescue me!" he says. "You are my god!"
• 18. Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
• 19. The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, "Why, it's just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a chunk of wood?"
• 20. The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He is trusting something that can give him no help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, "Is this thing, this idol that I'm holding in my hand, a lie?"
• 21. "Pay attention, O Israel, for you are my servant. I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget to help you.
• 22. I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free."
• 23. Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done this wondrous thing. Shout, O earth! Break forth into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel.
• 24. The LORD, your Redeemer and Creator, says: "I am the LORD, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it.
• 25. I am the one who exposes the false prophets as liars by causing events to happen that are contrary to their predictions. I cause wise people to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools.
• 26. But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! When they say Jerusalem will be saved and the towns of Judah will be lived in once again, it will be done!
• 27. When I speak to the rivers and say, `Be dry!' they will be dry.
• 28. When I say of Cyrus, `He is my shepherd,' he will certainly do as I say. He will command that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the Temple be restored."

Isaiah 45

• 1. This is what the LORD says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never again to shut against him.
• 2. This is what the LORD says: "I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
• 3. And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness--secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
• 4. "And why have I called you for this work? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. I called you by name when you did not know me.
• 5. I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have prepared you, even though you do not know me,
• 6. so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other.
• 7. I am the one who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the one who sends good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.
• 8. Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the LORD, created them.
• 9. "Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, `Stop, you are doing it wrong!' Does the pot exclaim, `How clumsy can you be!'
• 10. How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father and mother, `Why was I born? Why did you make me this way?'"
• 11. This is what the LORD, the Creator and Holy One of Israel, says: "Do you question what I do? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?
• 12. I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the millions of stars are at my command.
• 13. I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide all his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people--and not for a reward! I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"
• 14. This is what the LORD says: "The Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans will be subject to you. They will come to you with all their merchandise, and it will all be yours. They will follow you as prisoners in chains. They will fall to their knees in front of you and say, `God is with you, and he is the only God.'"
• 15. Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in strange and mysterious ways.
• 16. All who make idols will be humiliated and disgraced.
• 17. But the LORD will save the people of Israel with eternal salvation. They will never again be humiliated and disgraced throughout everlasting ages.
• 18. For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. "I am the LORD," he says, "and there is no other.
• 19. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so no one can understand what I mean. And I did not tell the people of Israel to ask me for something I did not plan to give. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and right.
• 20. "Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save!
• 21. Consult together, argue your case, and state your proofs that idol worship pays. Who made these things known long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the LORD? For there is no other God but me--a just God and a Savior--no, not one!
• 22. Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.
• 23. I have sworn by my own name, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to my name."
• 24. The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.
• 25. In the LORD all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in him they will boast.

New Living Translation: 251 of 324 days.