45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,(A)
    to Cyrus,(B) whose right hand I take hold(C) of
to subdue nations(D) before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
I will go before you(E)
    and will level(F) the mountains[a];
I will break down gates(G) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.(H)
I will give you hidden treasures,(I)
    riches stored in secret places,(J)
so that you may know(K) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.(L)
For the sake of Jacob my servant,(M)
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge(N) me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;(O)
    apart from me there is no God.(P)
I will strengthen you,(Q)
    though you have not acknowledged me,
so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting(R)
people may know(S) there is none besides me.(T)
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form the light and create darkness,(U)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;(V)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

“You heavens above, rain(W) down my righteousness;(X)
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation(Y) spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.

“Woe to those who quarrel(Z) with their Maker,(AA)
    those who are nothing but potsherds(AB)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,(AC)
    ‘What are you making?’(AD)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?(AE)
10 Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

11 “This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One(AF) of Israel, and its Maker:(AG)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?(AH)
12 It is I who made the earth(AI)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;(AJ)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.(AK)
13 I will raise up Cyrus[b](AL) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.(AM)
He will rebuild my city(AN)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,(AO)
    says the Lord Almighty.”

14 This is what the Lord says:

“The products(AP) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,[c]
    and those tall Sabeans(AQ)
they will come over to you(AR)
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,(AS)
    coming over to you in chains.(AT)
They will bow down before you
    and plead(AU) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,(AV) and there is no other;
    there is no other god.(AW)’”

15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding(AX) himself,
    the God and Savior(AY) of Israel.
16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;(AZ)
    they will go off into disgrace together.
17 But Israel will be saved(BA) by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;(BB)
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,(BC)
    to ages everlasting.

18 For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,(BD)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,(BE)
    but formed it to be inhabited(BF)
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.(BG)
19 I have not spoken in secret,(BH)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;(BI)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,(BJ)
    ‘Seek(BK) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.(BL)

20 “Gather together(BM) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant(BN) are those who carry(BO) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.(BP)
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold(BQ) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?(BR)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,(BS)
a righteous God(BT) and a Savior;(BU)
    there is none but me.

22 “Turn(BV) to me and be saved,(BW)
    all you ends of the earth;(BX)
    for I am God, and there is no other.(BY)
23 By myself I have sworn,(BZ)
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity(CA)
    a word that will not be revoked:(CB)
Before me every knee will bow;(CC)
    by me every tongue will swear.(CD)
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance(CE) and strength.(CF)’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.(CG)
25 But all the descendants(CH) of Israel
    will find deliverance(CI) in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.(CJ)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
  3. Isaiah 45:14 That is, the upper Nile region

45 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.

14 Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.

15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

18 For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.

19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

24 Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.