Haftarah Torah Portion Bereishit

Isaiah 42:5-43:10

5 God the Lord says—
    the one who created the heavens,
    the one who stretched them out,
    the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
    the one who gave breath to its people
    and life to those who walk on it—
6 I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason.
    I will grasp your hand and guard you,
    and give you as a covenant to the people,
    as a light to the nations,
7     to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
    and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
8 I am the Lord;
    that is my name;
    I don’t hand out my glory to others
        or my praise to idols.
9 The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
    but I’m declaring new things.
    Before they even appear,
    I tell you about them.

10 Sing to the Lord a new song!
    Sing his praise from the ends of the earth!
You who sail the sea and all that fills it,
    the coastlands and their residents.
11 Let the desert and its towns shout aloud,
    the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the cliff dwellers sing;
    from the top of the mountains let them shout.
12 Let them give the Lord glory
    and declare God’s praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord will go out like a soldier;
    like a warrior God will stir up rage.
God will shout, will roar;
    over enemies he will prevail.
14 I’ve kept still for a very long time.
    I’ve been silent and restrained myself.
Like a woman in labor I will moan;
    I will pant, I will gasp.
15 I will wither mountains and valleys,
    and I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into deserts,
    and I will dry up pools.
16 I will make the blind walk a road they don’t know,
    and I will guide them in paths they don’t know.
But I will make darkness before them into light
    and rough places into level ground.
These things I will do;
    I won’t abandon them.

17 Turned backward, utterly shamed
    are those who trust in idols,
    who say to a cast image,
    “You are our god!”
18 Hear, deaf ones,
    and blind ones, look and see!
19 Who is blind if not my servant
    and deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like the restored one,
    blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but don’t keep watch.
    With ears open, you don’t hear.
21 The Lord desired for the sake of his righteousness
    to expand and glorify the Instruction.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
    everyone trapped in holes and hidden in dungeons.
They have become plunder with no one to rescue,
    loot with no one to say, “Give it back.”

23 Which of you will listen to this,
    will pay attention and respond from now on?
24 Who gave Jacob to the looter,
    and Israel to the plunderers?
Wasn’t it the Lord,
    the one we sinned against?
They were not willing to walk in God’s ways,
    and wouldn’t listen to his teaching.
25 So God poured out on Jacob the heat of his anger
    and the fury of battle.
It scorched him, and he didn’t know it;
    it burned him, but he didn’t give it much thought.

43 But now, says the Lord—
the one who created you, Jacob,
    the one who formed you, Israel:
Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched
    and flame won’t burn you.
3 I am the Lord your God,
    the holy one of Israel, your savior.
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your place.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
    you are honored, and I love you.
    I give people in your place,
        and nations in exchange for your life.
5 Don’t fear,
    I am with you.
From the east I’ll bring your children;
    from the west I’ll gather you.
6 I’ll say to the north, “Give them back!”
    and to the south, “Don’t detain them.”
Bring my sons from far away,
    and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7     everyone who is called by my name
    and whom I created for my glory,
    whom I have formed and made.

8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
    the deaf ones who have ears.
9 All the nations are gathered together;
    the peoples are assembled.
Which of them announced this?
    Who predicted to us the past events?
Let them bring their witnesses as a defense;
    let them hear and say, “It’s true!”
10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
    my servant, whom I chose,
    so that you would know and believe me
    and understand that I am the one.
Before me no god was formed;
    after me there has been no other.