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Isaiah 44:24-45:13
New International Version
Isaiah 44:24-45:13
New International Version
Jerusalem to Be Inhabited
I am the Lord,
the Maker of all things,
who stretches out the heavens,(D)
who spreads out the earth(E) by myself,
25 who foils(F) the signs of false prophets
and makes fools of diviners,(G)
who overthrows the learning of the wise(H)
and turns it into nonsense,(I)
26 who carries out the words(J) of his servants
and fulfills(K) the predictions of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem,(L) ‘It shall be inhabited,’
of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’
and of their ruins,(M) ‘I will restore them,’(N)
27 who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,
and I will dry up(O) your streams,’
28 who says of Cyrus,(P) ‘He is my shepherd
and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem,(Q) “Let it be rebuilt,”
and of the temple,(R) “Let its foundations(S) be laid.”’
45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,(T)
to Cyrus,(U) whose right hand I take hold(V) of
to subdue nations(W) before him
and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
so that gates will not be shut:
2 I will go before you(X)
and will level(Y) the mountains[a];
I will break down gates(Z) of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.(AA)
3 I will give you hidden treasures,(AB)
riches stored in secret places,(AC)
so that you may know(AD) that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.(AE)
4 For the sake of Jacob my servant,(AF)
of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
and bestow on you a title of honor,
though you do not acknowledge(AG) me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;(AH)
apart from me there is no God.(AI)
I will strengthen you,(AJ)
though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting(AK)
people may know(AL) there is none besides me.(AM)
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,(AN)
I bring prosperity and create disaster;(AO)
I, the Lord, do all these things.
8 “You heavens above, rain(AP) down my righteousness;(AQ)
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
let salvation(AR) spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to those who quarrel(AS) with their Maker,(AT)
those who are nothing but potsherds(AU)
among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,(AV)
‘What are you making?’(AW)
Does your work say,
‘The potter has no hands’?(AX)
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(AY) of Israel, and its Maker:(AZ)
Concerning things to come,
do you question me about my children,
or give me orders about the work of my hands?(BA)
12 It is I who made the earth(BB)
and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;(BC)
I marshaled their starry hosts.(BD)
13 I will raise up Cyrus[b](BE) in my righteousness:
I will make all his ways straight.(BF)
He will rebuild my city(BG)
and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,(BH)
says the Lord Almighty.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
Isaiah 44:24-45:13
The Message
Isaiah 44:24-45:13
The Message
24 God, your Redeemer,
who shaped your life in your mother’s womb, says:
“I am God. I made all that is.
With no help from you I spread out the skies
and laid out the earth.”
25-28 He makes the magicians look ridiculous
and turns fortunetellers into jokes.
He makes the experts look trivial
and their latest knowledge look silly.
But he backs the word of his servant
and confirms the counsel of his messengers.
He says to Jerusalem, “Be inhabited,”
and to the cities of Judah, “Be rebuilt,”
and to the ruins, “I raise you up.”
He says to Ocean, “Dry up.
I’m drying up your rivers.”
He says to Cyrus, “My shepherd—
everything I want, you’ll do it.”
He says to Jerusalem, “Be built,”
and to the Temple, “Be established.”
The God Who Forms Light and Darkness
45 1-7 God’s Message to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations,
of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein,
no restrictions:
“I’ll go ahead of you,
clearing and paving the road.
I’ll break down bronze city gates,
smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I’ll lead you to buried treasures,
secret caches of valuables—
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God,
the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob,
Israel my chosen,
That I’ve singled you out, called you by name,
and given you this privileged work.
And you don’t even know me!
I am God, the only God there is.
Besides me there are no real gods.
I’m the one who armed you for this work,
though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know
that I have no god-rivals.
I am God, the only God there is.
I form light and create darkness,
I make harmonies and create discords.
I, God, do all these things.
8-10 “Open up, heavens, and rain.
Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
sprout right living.
I, God, generate all this.
But doom to you who fight your Maker—
you’re a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Would a sperm say to a father,
‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’
Or a fetus to a mother,
‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”
11-13 Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:
“Do you question who or what I’m making?
Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth,
and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies
and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.
I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
He will bring home my exiles.
I didn’t hire him to do this. I told him.
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”
* * *
New International Version (NIV) 
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The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson