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
44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. 2
Come back to me, for I protect 3 you.”
44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; 4
shout out, you subterranean regions 5 of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees! 6
For the Lord protects 7 Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel. 8
44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, 9 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, 10
44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers 11
and humiliates 12 the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men 13
and makes their advice 14 seem foolish,
44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants 15
and brings to pass the announcements 16 of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, 17 ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’