Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

.Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

'I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
And who 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.
Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.' "
Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing?
Surely all his companions would be ashamed;

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.

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.
The 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.
He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
Then 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.
....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!"

They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

....And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"

..."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 forgotten by Me!
I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,

And like a cloud, your sins.

Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."
Isaiah 44:6-22 (NKJV)



KOINONIKOS