1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
2 Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
5 One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall 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 shew unto them.
8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
24 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
<html><b>And now, hearken</b> to return to My Torah, Jacob My servant.</html>
<html><b>As I will pour water on the thirsty</b> Just as I pour water on the thirsty, so will I pour My spirit on your seed.</html>
<html><b>And they shall sprout among the grass</b> among Esau (mss. and K’li Paz). [The Jewish nation will grow] through the proselytes who will join them. [The expression,] “among the grass” refers to Esau, for it is stated concerning Edom (supra 34:13): “And it shall be the habitat of jackals, an abode (חָצִיר) for ostriches.” (Editions reading, “Amalek,” are erroneous cf. reference.)</html>
<html><b>This one shall say, “I am the Lord’s.”</b> These are the perfectly righteous. <b>and this one shall call himself by the name of Jacob.</b> These are the children, the sons of the wicked. <b>and this one shall write [with] his hand, “To the Lord,”</b> These are the repentant. <b>and adopt the name Israel</b> These are the proselytes. So it was taught in Avoth d’Rabbi Nathan (36:1).</html>
<html><b>And who will call [that he is] like Me</b> And who will call that he is like Me and tell and arrange for me all that transpired since I placed the ancient people and until now? <b>the ancient people</b> All the creatures. <b>and the signs</b> Marvelous things. <b>and those that will come</b> And those destined to come, let them tell, as I do now, for the Temple has not yet been destroyed, and you have not been exiled, and neither has Cyrus been born, but I am reporting it to you.</html>
<html><b>and be not dismayed</b> Heb. תִּרְהוּ. There is no similar word, and its interpretation according to its context is like תֵּחַתּוּ, be not dismayed from making My name known among the heathens (nations [K’li Paz and mss.]). <b>let you hear</b> from Mount Sinai, and I told you there that there is no God besides Me. <b>and you are My witnesses</b> that I opened for you seven heavens and showed you that there is no other, and you are My witnesses to this thing that there is no God besides Me. <b>and there is no rock I did not know</b> Jonathan renders: And there is no strong one unless he is given strength by Me. <b>I did not know</b> Heb. יָדַעְתִּי. An expression similar to (Exodus 33:17) “And I knew you by name (וָאֵדָעֲךָ)”; (Deut. 2:7) “He knew (יָדַע) your going”; (Hosea 13:5) “I knew you (יְדַעְתִּיךָ) in the desert.”</html>
<html><b>and they are their witnesses</b> The idols are witnesses of the shame of their worshipers, for we see that they neither see nor know, yet they were worshiping them. <b>so that they be ashamed</b> Those who worship them.</html>
<html><b>molded</b> Heb. נָסָךְ, an expression of pouring and a molten image (מַסֵּכָה). The ‘nun’ in the word is a radical sometimes omitted, e.g., the ‘nun’ of נשך, biting, and of נגף, plaguing.</html>
<html><b>Behold, all his colleagues</b> of that fashioner and molder of graven images, who join him to worship his creation and his molten image, shall be ashamed. <b>and they are smiths</b> those fashioners and molders, and they are of men, surely their creation is vanity.</html>
<html><b>The ironsmith</b> a smith of iron. <b>an axe</b> Heb. מַעֲצָָד. That is one of the tools of the blacksmiths. <b>and he works</b> the image. <b>with coal</b> Heb. פֶּחָם, charbon in French. <b>and with sledge hammers</b> Heb. מַקָּבוֹת, marteau in French. <b>he fashions it</b> Heb. יִצְּרֵהוּ, an expression of fashioning. <b>and he made it with his strong arm; yea he is hungry etc.</b> Even he, the fashioner, lacks strength and is weak, for if he becomes hungry he has no strength, or if he does not drink water, he becomes faint immediately. Surely his product has no power to help.</html>
<html><b>The carpenter</b> And if he comes to make it of wood, and he is a carpenter, the following is his method. <b>stretched out a line</b> as is the custom of the carpenters, and according to the line, יְתָאֲרֵהוּ בַשֶּׂרֶד, he straightens it with a saw, which they call doloire in French. <b>he beautifies it</b> Heb. יְתָאֲרֵהוּ, he beautifies it. <b>he fixes it with planes</b> Heb. מַקְצֻעוֹת. He smoothes it with a plane and a blade. Jonathan renders מַקְצֻעוֹת as אִיזְמֵלַיָּא, knives or blades. <b>and with a compass he rounds it</b> Heb. יְתָאֳרֵהוּ, an expression similar to (Josh. 15:9): “And the border circled (וְתָאַר).” If he comes to make circular drawings, he draws around it with a compass, compas in French. <b>like the beauty of a man</b> That is a woman, who is the beauty of her husband.</html>
<html><b>ilex and an oak</b> kinds of non-fruit-producing trees. <b>and he reinforced it with forest trees</b> He makes for it types of reinforcements, either for strength or for beauty, with types of trees, one different from the other in their appearance. <b>he planted a sapling</b> When he finds a branch or a sapling that is fit for that, he plants it for that and the rain makes it grow. <b>a sapling</b> Heb. אֹרֶן, a young sapling, ploncon in O.F.</html>
<html><b>And it was for man to ignite</b> And part of that very tree was for man’s necessities, [viz.] to ignite. <b>and he took</b> from the trees. <b>and he warmed</b> his body opposite them. <b>he even heated</b> an oven with them and baked bread. <b>he even made a God</b> from what was left over.</html>
<html><b>And he does not give it thought</b> [lit. and he does not return to his heart.] Half of it I burnt with fire. <b>and he has neither knowledge nor understanding</b> [lit. and there is neither knowledge nor understanding] in him to say this. <b>to rotten wood</b> Heb. לְבוּל עֵץ, to decay of wood.</html>
<html><b>[To] a provider [made] of ashes, a deceived heart has perverted him</b> His heart, which was deceived, turned him aside to make for himself a provider of ashes. The image, half of which was burned and made into ashes, this fool says that it is his provider and patron. Another explanation: רוֹעֶה אֵפֶר is an expression of companionship. One who worships idols associates himself with the idol, which is ash. <b>and he shall not save</b> [i.e.,] the misled one shall not save his soul, saying, “Is there not falsehood in my right hand?” and separate from it.</html>
<html><b>do not forget Me</b> Do not forget My fear.</html>
<html><b>I erased your transgressions like a thick cloud</b> in Egypt and in the desert. Now too, return to Me.</html>
<html><b>burst out</b> An expression of opening the mouth.</html>
<html><b>and the One Who formed you from the womb</b> From the time that (Gen. 25:22) “the children struggled within her,” I was your help and I chose you.</html>
<html><b>Who stretched forth the heavens alone…Who frustrates the signs of imposters</b> Since I stretched forth the heavens, I can, therefore, frustrate their signs. <b>imposters</b> Heb. בַּדִּים. They are stargazers, who predict the future through signs of the heavens, and since many times they lie, they are called בַּדִּים, imposters, for I change the heavenly princes, and these who ask of them err, and since the astrologers of Babylon were stargazers, as Scripture states (infra 47:13), “Let them stand now, and let the gazers into the heavens save you.” He, therefore, states that He will frustrate the signs of their imposters, for I am He Who frustrated the signs of the imposters of Egypt.</html>
<html><b>He fulfills the word of His servant</b> Moses. <b>and the counsel of His messengers</b> One angel said to Jacob (Gen. 32:27), “Israel shall be your name,” and I fulfilled his words. Here too, I will fulfill the counsel of My prophets who say concerning Jerusalem, “It shall be settled.”</html>
<html><b>Who says to the deep, “Be dry”</b> Who says to Babylon, “Be dry.” <b>and I will dry up your rivers</b> Since it is situated on rivers, he compares the slaying of its population to the drying up of rivers.</html>
<html><b>My shepherd</b> My king.</html>