Read the Bible

¹ Yet hear now, O Jacob my slave, and Israel, who I have chosen:² Thus says Yahweh that made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you: Don't be afraid, O Jacob my slave; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.³ For I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring:⁴ and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.⁵ One shall say, I am Yahweh's; and another shall call the name of Jacob; and another shall write with his hand, For Yahweh, and shall name the name of Israel.⁶ Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.⁷ And who is like me? Let him call and declare it, and set it in order for me, since my establishing the ancient people. And let them declare the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, to [those among] them.⁸ Don't be afraid, neither be scared: Have I not declared to you of old, and shown it? and you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yes, there is no Rock; I don't know any.

⁹ Those that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses don't see, nor know: that they may be put to shame.¹⁰ Who has fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?¹¹ Look, all his fellows shall be put to shame; and the workmen, they are of man: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together.¹² The smith [makes] an ax, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.¹³ The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of man, to dwell in a house.¹⁴ He cuts down cedars, and takes the holm-tree and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir-tree, and the rain nourishes it.¹⁵ Then it shall be for man to burn; and he takes thereof, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto.¹⁶ He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied; yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.¹⁷ And the residue thereof he makes a god, even his graven image; he falls down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god.¹⁸ They don't know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can't see; and their hearts, that they can't understand.¹⁹ And none calls to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, I have also baked bread on the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make its residue [into] a disgusting thing? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

²¹ Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel; for you are my slave: I have formed you; you are my slave: O Israel, you shall not be forgotten of me.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.²³ Sing, O you heavens, for Yahweh has done it; shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.²⁴ Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb: I am Yahweh, that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?);²⁵ that frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes fortune-tellers insane; that turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;²⁶ that confirms the word of his slave, and performs the counsel of his messengers; that says 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;²⁷ that says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers;²⁸ That says of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.