The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  That you may know and rbelieve Me,

  And understand that I am He.

  Before Me there was no God formed,

  Nor shall there be after Me.

  11I, even I, sam the LORD,

  And besides Me there is no savior.

  12I have declared and saved,

  I have proclaimed,

  And there was no tforeign god among you;

  u Therefore you are My witnesses,”

  Says the LORD, “that I am God.

  13v Indeed before the day was, I am He;

  And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;

  I work, and who will wreverse it?”

  14Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,

  The Holy One of Israel:

  “For your sake I will send to Babylon,

  And bring them all down as fugitives—

  The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.

  15I am the LORD, your Holy One,

  The Creator of Israel, your xKing.”

  16Thus says the LORD, who ymakes a way in the sea

  And a zpath through the mighty waters,

  17Who abrings forth the chariot and horse,

  The army and the power

  (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise;

  They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):

  18“Dob not remember the former things,

  Nor consider the things of old.

  19Behold, I will do a cnew thing,

  Now it shall spring forth;

  Shall you not know it?

  d I will even make a road in the wilderness

  And rivers in the desert.

  20The beast of the field will honor Me,

  The jackals and the ostriches,

  Because eI give waters in the wilderness

  And rivers in the desert,

  To give drink to My people, My chosen.

  21f This people I have formed for Myself;

  They shall declare My gpraise.

  Pleading with Unfaithful Israel

  22“But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob;

  And you hhave been weary of Me, O Israel.

  23i You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings,

  Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.

  I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings,

  Nor wearied you with incense.

  24You have bought Me no sweet cane with money,

  Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

  But you have burdened Me with your sins,

  You have jwearied Me with your iniquities.

  25“I, even I, am He who kblots out your transgressions lfor My own sake;

  m And I will not remember your sins.

  26Put Me in remembrance;

  Let us contend together;

  State your case, that you may be 1acquitted.

  27Your first father sinned,

  And your 2mediators have transgressed against Me.

  28Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary;

  n I will give Jacob to the curse,

  And Israel to reproaches.

  God’s Blessing on Israel

  Isaiah 44

  The Folly of Idolatry

  1“Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,

  And Israel whom I have chosen.

  2Thus says the LORD who made you

  And formed you from the womb, who will help you:

  ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;

  And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

  3For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,

  And floods on the dry ground;

  I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,

  And My blessing on your offspring;

  4They will spring up among the grass

  Like willows by the watercourses.’

  5One will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’;

  Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;

  Another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’

  And name himself by the name of Israel.

  There Is No Other God

  6“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel,

  And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:

  a‘I am the First and I am the Last;

  Besides Me there is no God.

  7And bwho can proclaim as I do?

  Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,

  Since I appointed the ancient people.

  And the things that are coming and shall come,

  Let them show these to them.

  8Do not fear, nor be afraid;

  c Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?

  d You are My witnesses.

  Is there a God besides Me?

  Indeed ethere is no other Rock;

  I know not one.’ ”

  Idolatry Is Foolishness

  9f Those who make an image, all of them are useless,

  And their precious things shall not profit;

  They are their own witnesses;

  g They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

  10Who would form a god or mold an image

  h That profits him nothing?

  11Surely all his companions would be iashamed;

  And the workmen, they are mere men.

  Let them all be gathered together,

  Let them stand up;

  Yet they shall fear,

  They shall be ashamed together.

  12j The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,

  Fashions it with hammers,

  And works it with the strength of his arms.

  Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;

  He drinks no water and is faint.

  13The craftsman stretches out his rule,

  He marks one out with chalk;

  He fashions it with a plane,

  He marks it out with the compass,

  And makes it like the figure of a man,

  According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.

  14He cuts down cedars for himself,

  And takes the cypress and the oak;

  He 1secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.

  He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

  15Then it shall be for a man to burn,

  For he will take some of it and warm himself;

  Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;

  Indeed he makes a god and worships it;

  He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.

  16He burns half of it in the fire;

  With this half he eats meat;

  He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.

  He even warms himself and says,

  “Ah! I am warm,

  I have seen the fire.”

  17And the rest of it he makes into a god,

  His carved image.

  He falls down before it and worships it,

  Prays to it and says,

  “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

  18k They do not know nor understand;

  For lHe has 2shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,

  And their hearts, so that they cannot munderstand.

  19And no one nconsiders in his heart,

  Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,

  “I have burned half of it in the fire,

  Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;

  I have roasted meat and eaten it;

  And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?

  Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”

  20He feeds on ashes;

  o A deceived heart has turned him aside;

  And he cannot deliver his soul,

  Nor say, “Is there not a plie in my right hand?”

  Israel Is Not Forgotten

  21“Remember these, O Jacob,

  And Israel, for you are My servant;

  I have formed you, you are My servant;


  O Israel, you will not be qforgotten by Me!

  22r I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,

  And like a cloud, your sins.

  Return to Me, for sI have redeemed you.”

  23t Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it!

  Shout, you lower parts of the earth;

  Break forth into singing, you mountains,

  O forest, and every tree in it!

  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,

  And uglorified Himself in Israel.

  Judah Will Be Restored

  24Thus says the LORD, vyour Redeemer,

  And wHe who formed you from the womb:

  “I am the LORD, who makes all things,

  x Who stretches out the heavens 3all alone,

  Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;

  25Who yfrustrates the signs zof the babblers,

  And drives diviners mad;

  Who turns wise men backward,

  a And makes their knowledge foolishness;

  26b Who confirms the word of His servant,

  And performs the counsel of His messengers;

  Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’

  To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’

  And I will raise up her waste places;

  27c Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!

  And I will dry up your rivers’;

  28Who says of dCyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,

  And he shall perform all My pleasure,

  Saying to Jerusalem, e“You shall be built,”

  And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’

  Cyrus, God’s Instrument

  Isaiah 45

  Salvation Will Come Only by the LORD

  1“Thus says the LORD to His anointed,

  To aCyrus, whose bright hand I have 1held—

  c To subdue nations before him

  And dloose the armor of kings,

  To open before him the double doors,

  So that the gates will not be shut:

  2‘I will go before you

  e And2 make the 3crooked places straight;

  f I will break in pieces the gates of bronze

  And cut the bars of iron.

  3I will give you the treasures of darkness

  And hidden riches of secret places,

  g That you may know that I, the LORD,

  Who hcall you by your name,

  Am the God of Israel.

  4For iJacob My servant’s sake,

  And Israel My elect,

  I have even called you by your name;

  I have named you, though you have not known Me.

  5I jam the LORD, and kthere is no other;

  There is no God besides Me.

  l I will gird you, though you have not known Me,

  6m That they may nknow from the rising of the sun to its setting

  That there is none besides Me.

  I am the LORD, and there is no other;

  7I form the light and create darkness,

  I make peace and ocreate calamity;

  I, the LORD, do all these things.’

  8“Rainp down, you heavens, from above,

  And let the skies pour down righteousness;

  Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,

  And let righteousness spring up together.

  I, the LORD, have created it.

  9“Woe to him who strives with qhis Maker!

  Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!

  r Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’

  Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

  10Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’

  Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

  11Thus says the LORD,

  The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

  s“Ask Me of things to come concerning tMy sons;

  And concerning uthe work of My hands, you command Me.

  12v I have made the earth,

  And wcreated man on it.

  I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,

  And xall their host I have commanded.

  13y I have raised him up in righteousness,

  And I will 4direct all his ways;

  He shall zbuild My city

  And let My exiles go free,

  a Not for price nor reward,”

  Says the LORD of hosts.

  The LORD, the Only Savior

  14Thus says the LORD:

  b“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush

  And of the Sabeans, men of stature,

  Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;

  They shall walk behind you,

  They shall come over cin chains;

  And they shall bow down to you.

  They will make supplication to you, saying, d‘Surely God is in you,

  And there is no other;

  e There is no other God.’ ”

  15Truly You are God, fwho hide Yourself,

  O God of Israel, the Savior!

  16They shall be gashamed

  And also disgraced, all of them;

  They shall go in confusion together,

  Who are makers of idols.

  17h But Israel shall be saved by the LORD

  With an ieverlasting salvation;

  You shall not be ashamed or jdisgraced

  Forever and ever.

  18For thus says the LORD,

  k Who created the heavens,

  Who is God,

  Who formed the earth and made it,

  Who has established it,

  Who did not create it 5in vain,

  Who formed it to be linhabited:

  m“I am the LORD, and there is no other.

  19I have not spoken in nsecret,

  In a dark place of the earth;

  I did not say to the seed of Jacob,

  ‘Seek Me 6in vain’;

  o I, the LORD, speak righteousness,

  I declare things that are right.

  20“Assemble yourselves and come;

  Draw near together,

  You who have escaped from the nations.

  p They have no knowledge,

  Who carry the wood of their carved image,

  And pray to a god that cannot save.

  21Tell and bring forth your case;

  Yes, let them take counsel together.

  q Who has declared this from ancient time?

  Who has told it from that time?

  Have not I, the LORD?

  r And there is no other God besides Me,

  A just God and a Savior;

  There is none besides Me.

  22“Look to Me, and be saved,

  s All you ends of the earth!

  For I am God, and there is no other.

  23t I have sworn by Myself;

  The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,

  And shall not return,

  That to Me every uknee shall bow,

  v Every tongue shall take an oath.

  24He shall say,

  7‘Surely in the LORD I have wrighteousness and strength.

  To Him men shall come,

  And xall shall be ashamed

  Who are incensed against Him.

  25y In the LORD all the descendants of Israel

  Shall be justified, and zshall glory.’ ”

  Dead Idols and the Living God

  Isaiah 46

  The Power of the LORD and the Weakness of Idols

  1Bel abows down, Nebo stoops;

  Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.

  Your carriages were heavily loaded,

  b A burden to the weary beast.

  2They stoop, they bow down together;

  They could not deliver the burden,

  c But have themselves gone into captivity.

  3“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,

  And all the remnant of th
e house of Israel,

  d Who have been upheld by Me from 1birth,

  Who have been carried from the womb:

  4Even to your old age, eI am He,

  And even to gray hairs fI will carry you!

  I have made, and I will bear;

  Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

  5“Tog whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal

  And compare Me, that we should be alike?

  6h They lavish gold out of the bag,

  And weigh silver on the scales;

  They hire a igoldsmith, and he makes it a god;

  They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.

  7j They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it

  And set it in its place, and it stands;

  From its place it shall not move.

  Though kone cries out to it, yet it cannot answer

  Nor save him out of his trouble.

  8“Remember this, and 2show yourselves men;

  l Recall to mind, O you transgressors.

  9m Remember the former things of old,

  For I am God, and nthere is no other;

  I am God, and there is none like Me,

  10o Declaring the end from the beginning,

  And from ancient times things that are not yet done,

  Saying, p‘My counsel shall stand,

  And I will do all My pleasure,’

  11Calling a bird of prey qfrom the east,

  The man rwho executes My counsel, from a far country.

  Indeed sI have spoken it;

  I will also bring it to pass.

  I have purposed it;

  I will also do it.

  12“Listen to Me, you tstubborn-hearted,

  u Who are far from righteousness:

  13v I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;

  My salvation wshall not 3linger.

  And I will place xsalvation in Zion,

  For Israel My glory.

  The Humiliation of Babylon

  Isaiah 47

  Judgment on Babylon

  1“Come adown and bsit in the dust,

  O virgin daughter of cBabylon;

  Sit on the ground without a throne,

  O daughter of the Chaldeans!

  For you shall no more be called

  Tender and 1delicate.

  2d Take the millstones and grind meal.

  Remove your veil,

  Take off the skirt,

  Uncover the thigh,

  Pass through the rivers.

  3e Your nakedness shall be uncovered,

  Yes, your shame will be seen;

  f I will take vengeance,

  And I will not arbitrate with a man.”

  4As for gour Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name,

  The Holy One of Israel.

  5“Sit in hsilence, and go into darkness,