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45 The Lord says this to Cyrus, the king that he has chosen to serve him:

‘I hold your right hand.
I give you power over other nations,
    to take away the weapons of their kings.
I will open the gates of cities in front of you,
    and they will stay open.
I will go in front of you,
    and I will make the mountains flat.
I will break bronze gates into pieces,
    and I will cut through iron bars.[a]
I will take valuable things that people have stored in secret places,
    and I will give them to you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord, Israel's God.
    I am the one who calls you by your name.
I have called you on behalf of my people,
    to help my servant, Jacob's descendants.
    They are Israel's people, that I have chosen for myself.
You do not know me as your God,
    but I have given to you an important name.
I am the Lord and there is nobody else like me.
    There is no other God, except me.
You do not know me as your God,
    but I will make you strong to fight battles.
Then all over the world, from east to west,
    people will know that there is no other God.
Yes, I am the Lord
    and there is nobody else like me.
I make light and I also make darkness.
    I make peace as well as trouble.
I am the Lord.
    I do all these things.
Let justice pour down from the sky like rain!
    Let the earth be ready to receive it!
Then salvation and righteousness will grow together,
    like strong plants.
I am the Lord,
    and I will cause it to happen.’

It will be very bad for people who quarrel with their Maker. They are like pieces of a pot that are lying on the ground among all the other pieces. The clay does not say to the potter, ‘What do you think you are you making?’ The pot does not say to the potter, ‘Your work is useless!’

10 It will be very bad for people who say to their fathers, ‘What kind of child have you become a father to?’ And it will be bad for people who say to their mothers, ‘What kind of baby are you giving birth to?’

11 The Lord is Israel's Holy God. He is the one who created Israel. He says this about the things that will happen:

‘You should not ask me questions about my children.
You should not tell me what to do
    with the people that I have made
12 It is I who made the earth.
    I created the people who live on it.
I hung up the sky like a curtain.
    I did that with my own hands!
I put all the stars in their places.
13 Now I have woken up Cyrus
    to do for me things that are right.
I will make all his paths easy to travel on.
He will build again my city,
    and he will make my people free to return home.
Nobody will have to pay him any money
    or give him a bribe to do that.’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

14 This is what the Lord says to his people:

‘I promise you that you will rule Egypt and Ethiopia,
    and also those tall people from Seba.
They will bring to you the things that they buy and sell.
    Those valuable things will belong to you.
They will walk behind you in chains,
    as your slaves.
They will bend down low in front of you,
    and they will even pray to you.
They will agree, “Surely God is with you.
    There is nobody else like him. There is no other God.” ’
15 Yes, you are a God who hides yourself!
    You are Israel's God, our Saviour!
16 People who make idols will all become ashamed.
    People will insult them as they leave together.
17 The Lord will make Israel safe.
    Israel will be safe and free for ever.
You will never be ashamed again.
    People will never insult you again.

18 The Lord created the heavens. He is the true God. He created the earth and he put it in its place. He built it to be strong. He did not create it as an empty place. He made it for people to live there. He says,

‘I am the Lord.
    There is nobody else who is like me.
19 I have not spoken secretly,
    as I hid in a dark place.
I did not say to Jacob's descendants,
    “Look for me, but you will not find me.”
I am the Lord. I speak what is right.
    My message is true.
20 So come, you people of the nations,
    you who have escaped from war.
Bring yourselves in front of me together!
People who carry wooden idols are fools!
    They pray to gods who cannot rescue them.
21 Now decide together what you will say in court!
    Tell me what you think!
Who said a long time ago what would happen?
    Who spoke about it long before it happened?
It was I, the Lord!
    There is nobody else like me.
    There is no other God, except me.
I am a righteous God and I save my people.
    There is no other God.
22 So turn to me and I will make you safe.
    I say that to everybody all over the world.
Turn to me, because I am God.
    There is nobody else like me.
23 This is my promise that I say is true.
    I have spoken it honestly and I will not change it.
I promise this:
    Everybody will go down on their knees in front of me.
    Everybody will promise to serve me.
24 They will all say this about me:
    “The Lord alone is true and strong.” ’
Everybody who has been angry with God will come to him.
    They will be ashamed that they were angry.
25 The Lord will bring justice
    for all the descendants of Israel.
They will say that the Lord is great!

Footnotes

  1. 45:2 See Psalms 107:16.

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