Isaiah 45-48
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.
3 I 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.
4 For 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.
5 I 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,
6 So 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,
7 The 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’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you [i]giving birth?’”
11 This 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.
12 It 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.
13 I 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.
14 This 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.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (AS)hides Himself,
God of Israel, (AT)Savior!
16 They will be (AU)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The (AV)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an (AW)everlasting salvation;
You (AX)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
18 For 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.
24 They 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.
25 In 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.
2 They 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;
4 Even 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?
6 Those 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.
7 They (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.
9 Remember 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,
10 Declaring 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’;
11 Calling 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.
13 I (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.
2 Take the (DI)millstones and (DJ)grind flour.
Remove your (DK)veil, (DL)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 Your (DM)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will (DN)take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
4 Our (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.
6 I 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.
7 Yet 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.’
9 But 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.
10 You 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.’
11 But (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.
13 You 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.
14 Behold, 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!
15 So 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.
Israel’s Obstinacy
48 “(EU)Hear this, house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came from the (EV)waters of Judah,
Who (EW)swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in (EX)righteousness.
2 For they name themselves after the (EY)holy city,
And (EZ)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of armies is His name.
3 I (FA)declared the former things long ago,
And they went out of My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
(FB)Suddenly I acted, and they (FC)came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are [al](FD)obstinate,
And your (FE)neck is an iron tendon
And your (FF)forehead bronze,
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before [am]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My (FG)idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast metal image have commanded them.’
6 You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you (FH)new things from this time,
Hidden things which you have not known.
7 They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have not (FI)heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a [an](FJ)rebel from [ao]birth.
9 (FK)For the sake of My name I (FL)delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but (FM)not as silver;
I have tested you in the (FN)furnace of affliction.
11 (FO)For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My (FP)glory to another.
Rescue Promised
12 “Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel [ap]whom I called;
(FQ)I am He, (FR)I am the first, I am also the last.
13 Assuredly My hand (FS)founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I (FT)call to them, they stand together.
14 (FU)Assemble, all of you, and listen!
(FV)Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will (FW)carry out His good pleasure against (FX)Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, yes I, have spoken; indeed I have (FY)called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16 (FZ)Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have (GA)not spoken in secret,
(GB)From the time it took place, I was there.
And now (GC)the Lord [aq]God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
17 This is what the Lord says, He who is your (GD)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to benefit,
Who (GE)leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had (GF)paid attention to My commandments!
Then your [ar](GG)well-being would have been like a river,
And your (GH)righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your [as](GI)descendants would have been like the sand,
And [at]your offspring like its grains;
(GJ)Their name would never be eliminated or destroyed from My presence.”
20 (GK)Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of (GL)joyful shouting, proclaim this,
(GM)Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “(GN)The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21 They did not (GO)thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He (GP)made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and (GQ)the water gushed out.
22 “(GR)There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:1 Lit I will loose
- Isaiah 45:2 Another reading is mountains
- Isaiah 45:3 Or hoarded treasures
- Isaiah 45:5 Or embrace
- Isaiah 45:7 Or peace
- Isaiah 45:9 Lit He who formed him
- Isaiah 45:9 Lit with
- Isaiah 45:9 Lit he who formed him
- Isaiah 45:10 Lit in labor pains with
- Isaiah 45:11 Lit He who formed him
- Isaiah 45:11 Or Will you ask
- Isaiah 45:11 Or upon
- Isaiah 45:12 Or commanded
- Isaiah 45:12 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
- Isaiah 45:14 Lit labor
- Isaiah 45:14 Or Ethiopia
- Isaiah 45:14 Or God is with you alone
- Isaiah 45:14 Or in
- Isaiah 45:18 LXX in vain
- Isaiah 45:19 Lit a place of a land of darkness
- Isaiah 45:19 Lit seed
- Isaiah 45:19 Or vain
- Isaiah 45:20 Lit the wood of their carved image
- Isaiah 46:1 Lit carried by you
- Isaiah 46:2 Or their soul has
- Isaiah 46:3 Lit the belly
- Isaiah 46:4 Lit will be He
- Isaiah 46:4 Lit gray hairs
- Isaiah 46:4 Or support
- Isaiah 46:4 Or made you
- Isaiah 46:4 Or support
- Isaiah 46:8 Lit firm
- Isaiah 46:8 Lit heart
- Isaiah 46:11 Lit His
- Isaiah 47:7 Lit it
- Isaiah 47:10 Lit it has
- Isaiah 47:15 Lit side, region
- Isaiah 48:4 Or harsh
- Isaiah 48:5 Lit it
- Isaiah 48:8 Or transgressor
- Isaiah 48:8 Lit the belly
- Isaiah 48:12 Lit My called one
- Isaiah 48:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 48:18 Or peace
- Isaiah 48:19 Lit seed
- Isaiah 48:19 Lit the offspring of your inward parts
Isaiah 45-48
New King James Version
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To (A)Cyrus, whose (B)right hand I have [a]held—
(C)To subdue nations before him
And (D)loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2 ‘I will go before you
(E)And[b] make the [c]crooked places straight;
(F)I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
(G)That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who (H)call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
4 For (I)Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
5 I (J)am the Lord, and (K)there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
(L)I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6 (M)That they may (N)know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and (O)create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’
8 “Rain(P) down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with (Q)his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
(R)Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”
11 Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
(S)“Ask Me of things to come concerning (T)My sons;
And concerning (U)the work of My hands, you command Me.
12 (V)I have made the earth,
And (W)created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And (X)all their host I have commanded.
13 (Y)I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will [d]direct all his ways;
He shall (Z)build My city
And let My exiles go free,
(AA)Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord, the Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
(AB)“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over (AC)in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, (AD)‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
(AE)There is no other God.’ ”
15 Truly You are God, (AF)who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be (AG)ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 (AH)But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an (AI)everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or (AJ)disgraced
Forever and ever.
18 For thus says the Lord,
(AK)Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it [e]in vain,
Who formed it to be (AL)inhabited:
(AM)“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in (AN)secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me [f]in vain’;
(AO)I, the Lord, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
(AP)They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
(AQ)Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
(AR)And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
22 “Look to Me, and be saved,
(AS)All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 (AT)I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every (AU)knee shall bow,
(AV)Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
[g]‘Surely in the Lord I have (AW)righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And (AX)all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 (AY)In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and (AZ)shall glory.’ ”
Dead Idols and the Living God
46 Bel (BA)bows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
(BB)A burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
(BC)But have themselves gone into captivity.
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
(BD)Who have been upheld by Me from [h]birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, (BE)I am He,
And even to gray hairs (BF)I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 “To(BG) whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
6 (BH)They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a (BI)goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
7 (BJ)They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though (BK)one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.
8 “Remember this, and [i]show yourselves men;
(BL)Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
9 (BM)Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and (BN)there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 (BO)Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, (BP)‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
11 Calling a bird of prey (BQ)from the east,
The man (BR)who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed (BS)I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
12 “Listen to Me, you (BT)stubborn-hearted,
(BU)Who are far from righteousness:
13 (BV)I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation (BW)shall not [j]linger.
And I will place (BX)salvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 “Come (BY)down and (BZ)sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of (CA)Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and [k]delicate.
2 (CB)Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
3 (CC)Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
(CD)I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4 As for (CE)our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in (CF)silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
(CG)For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 (CH)I was angry with My people;
(CI)I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
(CJ)On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, ‘I shall be (CK)a lady forever,’
So that you did not (CL)take these things to heart,
(CM)Nor remember the latter end of them.
8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
9 But these two things shall come to you
(CN)In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, ‘No one (CO)sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have [l]warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able [m]to put it off.
And (CP)desolation shall come upon you (CQ)suddenly,
Which you shall not know.
12 “Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
13 (CR)You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now (CS)the[n] astrologers, the stargazers,
And [o]the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be (CT)as stubble,
The fire shall (CU)burn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
(CV)Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his [p]quarter.
No one shall save you.
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
48 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the Lord,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But (CW)not in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves (CX)after the holy city,
And (CY)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have (CZ)declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, (DA)and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were [q]obstinate,
And (DB)your neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called (DC)a transgressor from the womb.
9 “For(DD) My name’s sake (DE)I will [r]defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, (DF)I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the (DG)furnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For (DH)how should My name be profaned?
And (DI)I will not give My glory to another.
God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, (DJ)I am the (DK)First,
I am also the Last.
13 Indeed (DL)My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When (DM)I call to them,
They stand up together.
14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
(DN)The Lord loves him;
(DO)He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken;
Yes, (DP)I have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16 “Come near to Me, hear this:
(DQ)I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now (DR)the Lord God and His Spirit
[s]Have sent Me.”
17 Thus says (DS)the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
(DT)Who leads you by the way you should go.
18 (DU)Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
(DV)Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 (DW)Your descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20 (DX)Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has (DY)redeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21 And they (DZ)did not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He (EA)caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “There(EB) is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:1 strengthened or sustained
- Isaiah 45:2 Tg. I will trample down the walls; Vg. I will humble the great ones of the earth
- Isaiah 45:2 DSS, LXX mountains
- Isaiah 45:13 Or make all his ways straight
- Isaiah 45:18 Or empty, a waste
- Isaiah 45:19 Or in a waste place
- Isaiah 45:24 Or Only in the Lord are all righteousness and strength
- Isaiah 46:3 Lit. the belly
- Isaiah 46:8 be men, take courage
- Isaiah 46:13 delay
- Isaiah 47:1 dainty
- Isaiah 47:10 led you astray
- Isaiah 47:11 Lit. to cover it or atone for it
- Isaiah 47:13 Lit. viewers of the heavens
- Isaiah 47:13 Lit. those giving knowledge for new moons
- Isaiah 47:15 own side or way
- Isaiah 48:4 Heb. hard
- Isaiah 48:9 delay
- Isaiah 48:16 Heb. verb is sing.; or Has sent Me and His Spirit
1 Corinthians 13
New American Standard Bible
The Excellence of Love
13 If I speak with the (A)tongues of mankind and of (B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a (C)clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of (D)prophecy and know all (E)mysteries and all (F)knowledge, and if I have (G)all faith so as to (H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I (I)give away all my possessions to charity, and if I (J)surrender my body so that I may [a]glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.
4 Love (K)is patient, love is kind, it (L)is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not (M)arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it (N)does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, (O)does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 (P)it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but (Q)rejoices with the truth; 7 it [b](R)keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c](S)prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are (T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we (U)know in part and prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I [d]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we (V)see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then (W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also (X)have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the [f]greatest of these is (Y)love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 I.e., in martyrdom
- 1 Corinthians 13:7 Lit covers all things
- 1 Corinthians 13:8 Lit prophecies
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 Lit have become...have done away with
- 1 Corinthians 13:12 Lit in a riddle
- 1 Corinthians 13:13 Lit greater
1 Corinthians 13
New King James Version
The Greatest Gift
13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of (A)prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, (B)so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And (C)though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body [a]to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 (D)Love suffers long and is (E)kind; love (F)does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not [b]puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, (G)does not seek its own, is not provoked, [c]thinks no evil; 6 (H)does not rejoice in iniquity, but (I)rejoices in the truth; 7 (J)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 (K)For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is [d]perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For (L)now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then (M)face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 NU so I may boast
- 1 Corinthians 13:4 arrogant
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 keeps no accounts of evil
- 1 Corinthians 13:10 complete
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
