Isaiah 45-47

New American Standard Bible

God Uses Cyrus

45 This is what the Lord says to ^(A)Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right ^(B)hand,
To ^(C)subdue nations before him
And ^[a]to ^(D)undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
²“I will go before you and ^(E)make the ^[b]rough places smooth;
I will ^(F)shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron ^(G)bars.
³I will give you the ^[c]^(H)treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who ^(I)calls you by your name.
⁴For the sake of ^(J)Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also ^(K)called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have ^(L)not known Me.
⁵I am the Lord, and ^(M)there is no one else;
^(N)There is no God except Me.
I will ^(O)^[d]arm you, though you have not known Me,
⁶So that ^(P)people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is ^(Q)no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
⁷The One ^(R)forming light and ^(S)creating darkness,
Causing ^[e]well-being and ^(T)creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.

God’s Supreme Power

⁸“^(U)Drip down, heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the ^(V)earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
^(W)And righteousness sprout with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“Woe to the one who ^(X)quarrels with ^[f]his Maker—
A piece of pottery ^[g]among the other earthenware pottery pieces!
Will the ^(Y)clay say to the ^[h]potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you ^[i]giving birth?’”

¹¹This is what the ^(Z)Lord says, the Holy One of Israel and ^[j]his ^(AA)Maker:

“^[k]^(AB)Ask Me about the things to come ^[l]concerning My ^(AC)sons,
And you shall commit to Me ^(AD)the work of My hands.
¹²It is I who ^(AE)made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I ^(AF)stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I ^[m]ordained ^(AG)all their ^[n]lights.
¹³I have stirred him in ^(AH)righteousness,
And I will ^(AI)make all his ways smooth.
He will ^(AJ)build My city and let My exiles go ^(AK)free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies.

¹⁴This is what the Lord says:

“The ^[o]products of ^(AL)Egypt and the merchandise of ^[p]^(AM)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will ^(AN)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in ^(AO)chains
And will ^(AP)bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘^[q]^(AQ)God certainly is ^[r]with you, and ^(AR)there is no one else,
No other God.’”
¹⁵Truly, You are a God who ^(AS)hides Himself,
God of Israel, ^(AT)Savior!
¹⁶They will be ^(AU)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The ^(AV)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
¹⁷Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an ^(AW)everlasting salvation;
You ^(AX)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says, He who ^(AY)created the heavens (He is the God who ^(AZ)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it ^[s]as a ^(BA)waste place, but formed it to be ^(BB)inhabited):

“I am the Lord, and ^(BC)there is no one else.
¹⁹^(BD)I have not spoken in secret,
In ^[t]some dark land;
I did not say to the ^[u]^(BE)offspring of Jacob,
‘^(BF)Seek Me in ^[v]a wasteland’;
I, the Lord, ^(BG)speak righteousness,
^(BH)Declaring things that are right.

²⁰“^(BI)Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
^(BJ)They have no knowledge,
Who ^(BK)carry around ^[w]their wooden idol
And ^(BL)pray to a god who cannot save.
²¹^(BM)Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
^(BN)Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is ^(BO)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a ^(BP)Savior;
There is none except Me.
²²^(BQ)Turn to Me and ^(BR)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
²³^(BS)I have sworn by Myself;
The ^(BT)word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me ^(BU)every knee will bow, every tongue will ^(BV)swear allegiance.
²⁴They will say of Me, ‘Only ^(BW)in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And ^(BX)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be ^(BY)justified and will ^(BZ)boast.”

Babylon’s Idols and the True God

46 ^(CA)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle.
The things ^[x]that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary animal.
²They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,
But ^[y]have themselves ^(CB)gone into captivity.

³“^(CC)Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all ^(CD)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been ^(CE)carried by Me from ^[z]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
⁴Even to your old age ^(CF)I ^[aa]will be the same,
And even to your ^[ab]^(CG)graying years I will ^[ac]carry you!
I have ^[ad]done it, and I will bear you;
And I will ^[ae]carry you and I will save you.

⁵“^(CH)To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal, and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
⁶Those who ^(CI)lavish gold from the bag
And weigh silver on the scale,
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They ^(CJ)bow down, indeed they worship it.
⁷They ^(CK)lift it on the shoulder, carry it,
And set it in its place, and it stands there.
^(CL)It does not move from its place.
Though one may shout to it, it ^(CM)cannot answer;
It ^(CN)cannot save him from his distress.

⁸“^(CO)Remember this, and be ^[af]assured;
^(CP)Recall it to ^[ag]mind, you ^(CQ)wrongdoers.
⁹Remember the ^(CR)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is ^(CS)no other;
I am God, and there is ^(CT)no one like Me,
¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘^(CU)My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
¹¹Calling a ^(CV)bird of prey from the ^(CW)east,
The man of ^[ah]My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have ^(CX)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.

¹²“^(CY)Listen to Me, you ^(CZ)stubborn-minded,
Who are ^(DA)far from righteousness.
¹³I ^(DB)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant ^(DC)salvation in Zion,
And My ^(DD)glory for Israel.

Mourning for Babylon

47 “^(DE)Come down and sit in the dust,
^(DF)Virgin ^(DG)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you will no longer be called ^(DH)tender and delicate.
²Take the ^(DI)millstones and ^(DJ)grind flour.
Remove your ^(DK)veil, ^(DL)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
³Your ^(DM)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will ^(DN)take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
⁴Our ^(DO)Redeemer, the Lord of armies is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
⁵“^(DP)Sit silently, and go into ^(DQ)darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The ^(DR)queen of ^(DS)kingdoms.
⁶I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And handed them over to you.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the ^(DT)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
⁷Yet you said, ‘I will be a ^(DU)queen forever.’
These things you did not ^(DV)consider
Nor remember the ^(DW)outcome of ^[ai]them.

⁸“Now, then, hear this, you ^(DX)luxuriant one,
Who ^(DY)lives securely,
Who says in her heart,
‘^(DZ)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will ^(EA)not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
⁹But these ^(EB)two things will come on you ^(EC)suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many ^(ED)sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
¹⁰You felt ^(EE)secure in your wickedness and said,
‘^(EF)No one sees me,’
Your ^(EG)wisdom and your knowledge, ^[aj]they have led you astray;
For you have said in your heart,
‘^(EH)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
¹¹But ^(EI)evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And ^(EJ)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you ^(EK)suddenly.

¹²“Persist now in your ^(EL)spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to benefit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
¹³You are ^(EM)wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the ^(EN)astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and ^(EO)save you from what will come upon you.
¹⁴Behold, they have become ^(EP)like stubble,
^(EQ)Fire burns them;
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be ^(ER)no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
¹⁵So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Those who have ^(ES)done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own ^[ak]way;
There is ^(ET)no one to save you.