44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
O Israel, for you are my servant.
I formed you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you! 1
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 2
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 3
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
22:11 You made a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the old pool –
but you did not trust in 4 the one who made it; 5
you did not depend on 6 the one who formed it long ago!
27:11 When its branches get brittle, 7 they break;
women come and use them for kindling. 8
For these people lack understanding, 9
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,
the one who created you, O Jacob,
and formed you, O Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect 10 you.
I call you by name, you are mine.
43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider 11 and believe in me,
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and none will outlive me. 12
44:2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says –
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun, 13 whom I have chosen!
44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, 14 says,
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself, 15
1 tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
2 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
3 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
4 tn Heb “look at”; NAB, NRSV “did not look to.”
5 tn The antecedent of the third feminine singular suffix here and in the next line is unclear. The closest feminine noun is “pool” in the first half of the verse. Perhaps this “old pool” symbolizes the entire city, which had prospered because of God’s provision and protection through the years.
6 tn Heb “did not see.”
7 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
8 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.
9 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”
10 tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”
11 tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
12 tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”
13 sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.
14 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
15 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.