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Isaiah 45:11-48
New International Version
Isaiah 45:11-48
New International Version
11 “This is what the Lord says—
the Holy One(A) of Israel, and its Maker:(B)
Concerning things to come,
do you question me about my children,
or give me orders about the work of my hands?(C)
12 It is I who made the earth(D)
and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;(E)
I marshaled their starry hosts.(F)
13 I will raise up Cyrus[a](G) in my righteousness:
I will make all his ways straight.(H)
He will rebuild my city(I)
and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,(J)
says the Lord Almighty.”
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The products(K) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,[b]
and those tall Sabeans(L)—
they will come over to you(M)
and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,(N)
coming over to you in chains.(O)
They will bow down before you
and plead(P) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,(Q) and there is no other;
there is no other god.(R)’”
15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding(S) himself,
the God and Savior(T) of Israel.
16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;(U)
they will go off into disgrace together.
17 But Israel will be saved(V) by the Lord
with an everlasting salvation;(W)
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,(X)
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,(Y)
he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,(Z)
but formed it to be inhabited(AA)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
and there is no other.(AB)
19 I have not spoken in secret,(AC)
from somewhere in a land of darkness;(AD)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,(AE)
‘Seek(AF) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
I declare what is right.(AG)
20 “Gather together(AH) and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant(AI) are those who carry(AJ) about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.(AK)
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold(AL) this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?(AM)
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no God apart from me,(AN)
a righteous God(AO) and a Savior;(AP)
there is none but me.
22 “Turn(AQ) to me and be saved,(AR)
all you ends of the earth;(AS)
for I am God, and there is no other.(AT)
23 By myself I have sworn,(AU)
my mouth has uttered in all integrity(AV)
a word that will not be revoked:(AW)
Before me every knee will bow;(AX)
by me every tongue will swear.(AY)
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
are deliverance(AZ) and strength.(BA)’”
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.(BB)
25 But all the descendants(BC) of Israel
will find deliverance(BD) in the Lord
and will make their boast in him.(BE)
Gods of Babylon
46 Bel(BF) bows down, Nebo stoops low;
their idols(BG) are borne by beasts of burden.[c]
The images that are carried(BH) about are burdensome,
a burden for the weary.
2 They stoop and bow down together;
unable to rescue the burden,
they themselves go off into captivity.(BI)
3 “Listen(BJ) to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant(BK) of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,(BL)
and have carried(BM) since you were born.(BN)
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs(BO)
I am he,(BP) I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain(BQ) you and I will rescue you.
5 “With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?(BR)
6 Some pour out gold from their bags
and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith(BS) to make it into a god,
and they bow down and worship it.(BT)
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry(BU) it;
they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
From that spot it cannot move.(BV)
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;(BW)
it cannot save(BX) them from their troubles.
8 “Remember(BY) this, keep it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels.(BZ)
9 Remember the former things,(CA) those of long ago;(CB)
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.(CC)
10 I make known the end from the beginning,(CD)
from ancient times,(CE) what is still to come.(CF)
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,(CG)
and I will do all that I please.’
11 From the east I summon(CH) a bird of prey;(CI)
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
what I have planned,(CJ) that I will do.(CK)
12 Listen(CL) to me, you stubborn-hearted,(CM)
you who are now far from my righteousness.(CN)
13 I am bringing my righteousness(CO) near,
it is not far away;
and my salvation(CP) will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,(CQ)
my splendor(CR) to Israel.
The Fall of Babylon
47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(CS)
Virgin Daughter(CT) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
queen city of the Babylonians.[d](CU)
No more will you be called
tender or delicate.(CV)
2 Take millstones(CW) and grind(CX) flour;
take off your veil.(CY)
Lift up your skirts,(CZ) bare your legs,
and wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness(DA) will be exposed
and your shame(DB) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(DC)
I will spare no one.(DD)”
5 “Sit in silence,(DI) go into darkness,(DJ)
queen city of the Babylonians;(DK)
no more will you be called
queen(DL) of kingdoms.(DM)
6 I was angry(DN) with my people
and desecrated my inheritance;(DO)
I gave them into your hand,(DP)
and you showed them no mercy.(DQ)
Even on the aged
you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, ‘I am forever(DR)—
the eternal queen!’(DS)
But you did not consider these things
or reflect(DT) on what might happen.(DU)
8 “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security(DV)
and saying to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.(DW)
I will never be a widow(DX)
or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you
in a moment,(DY) on a single day:
loss of children(DZ) and widowhood.(EA)
They will come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries(EB)
and all your potent spells.(EC)
10 You have trusted(ED) in your wickedness
and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(EE)
Your wisdom(EF) and knowledge mislead(EG) you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(EH) will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly(EI) come upon you.
12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
and with your many sorceries,(EJ)
which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(EK)
Let your astrologers(EL) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
let them save(EM) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(EN)
the fire(EO) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
from the power of the flame.(EP)
These are not coals for warmth;
this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
these you have dealt with
and labored(EQ) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
there is not one that can save(ER) you.
Stubborn Israel
48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel(ES)
and come from the line of Judah,(ET)
you who take oaths(EU) in the name of the Lord(EV)
and invoke(EW) the God of Israel—
but not in truth(EX) or righteousness—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(EY)
and claim to rely(EZ) on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:(FA)
3 I foretold the former things(FB) long ago,
my mouth announced(FC) them and I made them known;
then suddenly(FD) I acted, and they came to pass.
4 For I knew how stubborn(FE) you were;
your neck muscles(FF) were iron,
your forehead(FG) was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced(FH) them to you
so that you could not say,
‘My images brought them about;(FI)
my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,(FJ)
of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created(FK) now, and not long ago;(FL)
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
‘Yes, I knew(FM) of them.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;(FN)
from of old your ears(FO) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(FP) you are;
you were called a rebel(FQ) from birth.
9 For my own name’s sake(FR) I delay my wrath;(FS)
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.(FT)
10 See, I have refined(FU) you, though not as silver;
I have tested(FV) you in the furnace(FW) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(FX) for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?(FY)
I will not yield my glory to another.(FZ)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
- Isaiah 45:14 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 46:1 Or are but beasts and cattle
- Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
Isaiah 45:11-48
New King James Version
Isaiah 45:11-48
New King James Version
11 Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
(A)“Ask Me of things to come concerning (B)My sons;
And concerning (C)the work of My hands, you command Me.
12 (D)I have made the earth,
And (E)created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And (F)all their host I have commanded.
13 (G)I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will [a]direct all his ways;
He shall (H)build My city
And let My exiles go free,
(I)Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord, the Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
(J)“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 (K)in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, (L)‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
(M)There is no other God.’ ”
15 Truly You are God, (N)who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be (O)ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 (P)But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an (Q)everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or (R)disgraced
Forever and ever.
18 For thus says the Lord,
(S)Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it [b]in vain,
Who formed it to be (T)inhabited:
(U)“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in (V)secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me [c]in vain’;
(W)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.
(X)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.
(Y)Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
(Z)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,
(AA)All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 (AB)I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every (AC)knee shall bow,
(AD)Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
[d]‘Surely in the Lord I have (AE)righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And (AF)all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 (AG)In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and (AH)shall glory.’ ”
Dead Idols and the Living God
46 Bel (AI)bows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
(AJ)A burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
(AK)But have themselves gone into captivity.
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
(AL)Who have been upheld by Me from [e]birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, (AM)I am He,
And even to gray hairs (AN)I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 “To(AO) whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
6 (AP)They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a (AQ)goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
7 (AR)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 (AS)one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.
8 “Remember this, and [f]show yourselves men;
(AT)Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
9 (AU)Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and (AV)there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 (AW)Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, (AX)‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
11 Calling a bird of prey (AY)from the east,
The man (AZ)who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed (BA)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 (BB)stubborn-hearted,
(BC)Who are far from righteousness:
13 (BD)I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation (BE)shall not [g]linger.
And I will place (BF)salvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 “Come (BG)down and (BH)sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of (BI)Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and [h]delicate.
2 (BJ)Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
3 (BK)Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
(BL)I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4 As for (BM)our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in (BN)silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
(BO)For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 (BP)I was angry with My people;
(BQ)I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
(BR)On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, ‘I shall be (BS)a lady forever,’
So that you did not (BT)take these things to heart,
(BU)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
(BV)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 (BW)sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have [i]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 [j]to put it off.
And (BX)desolation shall come upon you (BY)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 (BZ)You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now (CA)the[k] astrologers, the stargazers,
And [l]the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be (CB)as stubble,
The fire shall (CC)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,
(CD)Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his [m]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 (CE)not in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves (CF)after the holy city,
And (CG)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have (CH)declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, (CI)and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were [n]obstinate,
And (CJ)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 (CK)a transgressor from the womb.
9 “For(CL) My name’s sake (CM)I will [o]defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, (CN)I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the (CO)furnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For (CP)how should My name be profaned?
And (CQ)I will not give My glory to another.
Footnotes
- 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 45:11-48
New American Standard Bible
Isaiah 45:11-48
New American Standard Bible
11 This is what the (A)Lord says, the Holy One of Israel and [a]his (B)Maker:
“[b](C)Ask Me about the things to come [c]concerning My (D)sons,
And you shall commit to Me (E)the work of My hands.
12 It is I who (F)made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I (G)stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I [d]ordained (H)all their [e]lights.
13 I have stirred him in (I)righteousness,
And I will (J)make all his ways smooth.
He will (K)build My city and let My exiles go (L)free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies.
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The [f]products of (M)Egypt and the merchandise of [g](N)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will (O)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in (P)chains
And will (Q)bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘[h](R)God certainly is [i]with you, and (S)there is no one else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (T)hides Himself,
God of Israel, (U)Savior!
16 They will be (V)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The (W)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an (X)everlasting salvation;
You (Y)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
18 For this is what the Lord says, He who (Z)created the heavens (He is the God who (AA)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it [j]as a (AB)waste place, but formed it to be (AC)inhabited):
“I am the Lord, and (AD)there is no one else.
19 (AE)I have not spoken in secret,
In [k]some dark land;
I did not say to the [l](AF)offspring of Jacob,
‘(AG)Seek Me in [m]a wasteland’;
I, the Lord, (AH)speak righteousness,
(AI)Declaring things that are right.
20 “(AJ)Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
(AK)They have no knowledge,
Who (AL)carry around [n]their wooden idol
And (AM)pray to a god who cannot save.
21 (AN)Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
(AO)Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is (AP)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a (AQ)Savior;
There is none except Me.
22 (AR)Turn to Me and (AS)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 (AT)I have sworn by Myself;
The (AU)word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me (AV)every knee will bow, every tongue will (AW)swear allegiance.
24 They will say of Me, ‘Only (AX)in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And (AY)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be (AZ)justified and will (BA)boast.”
Babylon’s Idols and the True God
46 (BB)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle.
The things [o]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 [p]have themselves (BC)gone into captivity.
3 “(BD)Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all (BE)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been (BF)carried by Me from [q]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
4 Even to your old age (BG)I [r]will be the same,
And even to your [s](BH)graying years I will [t]carry you!
I have [u]done it, and I will bear you;
And I will [v]carry you and I will save you.
5 “(BI)To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal, and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
6 Those who (BJ)lavish gold from the bag
And weigh silver on the scale,
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They (BK)bow down, indeed they worship it.
7 They (BL)lift it on the shoulder, carry it,
And set it in its place, and it stands there.
(BM)It does not move from its place.
Though one may shout to it, it (BN)cannot answer;
It (BO)cannot save him from his distress.
8 “(BP)Remember this, and be [w]assured;
(BQ)Recall it to [x]mind, you (BR)wrongdoers.
9 Remember the (BS)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is (BT)no other;
I am God, and there is (BU)no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘(BV)My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a (BW)bird of prey from the (BX)east,
The man of [y]My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have (BY)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.
12 “(BZ)Listen to Me, you (CA)stubborn-minded,
Who are (CB)far from righteousness.
13 I (CC)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant (CD)salvation in Zion,
And My (CE)glory for Israel.
Mourning for Babylon
47 “(CF)Come down and sit in the dust,
(CG)Virgin (CH)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you will no longer be called (CI)tender and delicate.
2 Take the (CJ)millstones and (CK)grind flour.
Remove your (CL)veil, (CM)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 Your (CN)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will (CO)take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
4 Our (CP)Redeemer, the Lord of armies is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “(CQ)Sit silently, and go into (CR)darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The (CS)queen of (CT)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 (CU)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 Yet you said, ‘I will be a (CV)queen forever.’
These things you did not (CW)consider
Nor remember the (CX)outcome of [z]them.
8 “Now, then, hear this, you (CY)luxuriant one,
Who (CZ)lives securely,
Who says in her heart,
‘(DA)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will (DB)not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
9 But these (DC)two things will come on you (DD)suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many (DE)sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10 You felt (DF)secure in your wickedness and said,
‘(DG)No one sees me,’
Your (DH)wisdom and your knowledge, [aa]they have led you astray;
For you have said in your heart,
‘(DI)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 But (DJ)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 (DK)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you (DL)suddenly.
12 “Persist now in your (DM)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 (DN)wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the (DO)astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and (DP)save you from what will come upon you.
14 Behold, they have become (DQ)like stubble,
(DR)Fire burns them;
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be (DS)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 (DT)done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [ab]way;
There is (DU)no one to save you.
Israel’s Obstinacy
48 “(DV)Hear this, house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came from the (DW)waters of Judah,
Who (DX)swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in (DY)righteousness.
2 For they name themselves after the (DZ)holy city,
And (EA)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of armies is His name.
3 I (EB)declared the former things long ago,
And they went out of My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
(EC)Suddenly I acted, and they (ED)came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are [ac](EE)obstinate,
And your (EF)neck is an iron tendon
And your (EG)forehead bronze,
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before [ad]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My (EH)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 (EI)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 (EJ)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 [ae](EK)rebel from [af]birth.
9 (EL)For the sake of My name I (EM)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 (EN)not as silver;
I have tested you in the (EO)furnace of affliction.
11 (EP)For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My (EQ)glory to another.
Footnotes
- 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 45:11-48
New Living Translation
Isaiah 45:11-48
New Living Translation
11 This is what the Lord says—
the Holy One of Israel and your Creator:
“Do you question what I do for my children?
Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?
12 I am the one who made the earth
and created people to live on it.
With my hands I stretched out the heavens.
All the stars are at my command.
13 I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose,
and I will guide his actions.
He will restore my city and free my captive people—
without seeking a reward!
I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Future Conversion of Gentiles
14 This is what the Lord says:
“You will rule the Egyptians,
the Ethiopians,[a] and the Sabeans.
They will come to you with all their merchandise,
and it will all be yours.
They will follow you as prisoners in chains.
They will fall to their knees in front of you and say,
‘God is with you, and he is the only God.
There is no other.’”
15 Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior,
you work in mysterious ways.
16 All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated.
They will all be disgraced together.
17 But the Lord will save the people of Israel
with eternal salvation.
Throughout everlasting ages,
they will never again be humiliated and disgraced.
18 For the Lord is God,
and he created the heavens and earth
and put everything in place.
He made the world to be lived in,
not to be a place of empty chaos.
“I am the Lord,” he says,
“and there is no other.
19 I publicly proclaim bold promises.
I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner.
I would not have told the people of Israel[b] to seek me
if I could not be found.
I, the Lord, speak only what is true
and declare only what is right.
20 “Gather together and come,
you fugitives from surrounding nations.
What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols
and pray to gods that cannot save!
21 Consult together, argue your case.
Get together and decide what to say.
Who made these things known so long ago?
What idol ever told you they would happen?
Was it not I, the Lord?
For there is no other God but me,
a righteous God and Savior.
There is none but me.
22 Let all the world look to me for salvation!
For I am God; there is no other.
23 I have sworn by my own name;
I have spoken the truth,
and I will never go back on my word:
Every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will declare allegiance to me.[c]”
24 The people will declare,
“The Lord is the source of all my righteousness and strength.”
And all who were angry with him
will come to him and be ashamed.
25 In the Lord all the generations of Israel will be justified,
and in him they will boast.
Babylon’s False Gods
46 Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon,
bow as they are lowered to the ground.
They are being hauled away on ox carts.
The poor beasts stagger under the weight.
2 Both the idols and their owners are bowed down.
The gods cannot protect the people,
and the people cannot protect the gods.
They go off into captivity together.
3 “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.
4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.
5 “To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?
6 Some people pour out their silver and gold
and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
Then they bow down and worship it!
7 They carry it around on their shoulders,
and when they set it down, it stays there.
It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.
8 “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind!
Remember this, you guilty ones.
9 Remember the things I have done in the past.
For I alone am God!
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
11 I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—
a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding.
I have said what I would do,
and I will do it.
12 “Listen to me, you stubborn people
who are so far from doing right.
13 For I am ready to set things right,
not in the distant future, but right now!
I am ready to save Jerusalem[d]
and show my glory to Israel.
Prediction of Babylon’s Fall
47 “Come down, virgin daughter of Babylon, and sit in the dust.
For your days of sitting on a throne have ended.
O daughter of Babylonia,[e] never again will you be
the lovely princess, tender and delicate.
2 Take heavy millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil, and strip off your robe.
Expose yourself to public view.[f]
3 You will be naked and burdened with shame.
I will take vengeance against you without pity.”
4 Our Redeemer, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
is the Holy One of Israel.
5 “O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence.
Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.
6 For I was angry with my chosen people
and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.
But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.
You oppressed even the elderly.
7 You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’
You did not reflect on your actions
or think about their consequences.
8 “Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,
living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.
I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
9 Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:
widowhood and the loss of your children.
Yes, these calamities will come upon you,
despite all your witchcraft and magic.
10 “You felt secure in your wickedness.
‘No one sees me,’ you said.
But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,
and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
11 So disaster will overtake you,
and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
and you won’t be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
one for which you are not prepared.
12 “Now use your magical charms!
Use the spells you have worked at all these years!
Maybe they will do you some good.
Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
13 All the advice you receive has made you tired.
Where are all your astrologers,
those stargazers who make predictions each month?
Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.
14 But they are like straw burning in a fire;
they cannot save themselves from the flame.
You will get no help from them at all;
their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.
15 And all your friends,
those with whom you’ve done business since childhood,
will go their own ways,
turning a deaf ear to your cries.
God’s Stubborn People
48 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel
and born into the family of Judah.
Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord
and call on the God of Israel.
You don’t keep your promises,
2 even though you call yourself the holy city
and talk about depending on the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
3 Long ago I told you what was going to happen.
Then suddenly I took action,
and all my predictions came true.
4 For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are.
Your necks are as unbending as iron.
Your heads are as hard as bronze.
5 That is why I told you what would happen;
I told you beforehand what I was going to do.
Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it.
My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’
6 You have heard my predictions and seen them fulfilled,
but you refuse to admit it.
Now I will tell you new things,
secrets you have not yet heard.
7 They are brand new, not things from the past.
So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’
8 “Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely new,
things you never heard of before.
For I know so well what traitors you are.
You have been rebels from birth.
9 Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name,
I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.
10 I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.
Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.
11 I will rescue you for my sake—
yes, for my own sake!
I will not let my reputation be tarnished,
and I will not share my glory with idols!
Isaiah 45:11-48
The Message
Isaiah 45:11-48
The Message
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.”
* * *
14 God says:
“The workers of Egypt, the merchants of Ethiopia,
and those statuesque Sabeans
Will all come over to you—all yours.
Docile in chains, they’ll follow you,
Hands folded in reverence, praying before you:
‘Amazing! God is with you!
There is no other God—none.’”
Look at the Evidence
15-17 Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes,
God of Israel, Savior God.
Humiliated, all those others
will be ashamed to show their faces in public.
Out of work and at loose ends, the makers of no-god idols
won’t know what to do with themselves.
The people of Israel, though, are saved by you, God,
saved with an eternal salvation.
They won’t be ashamed,
they won’t be at loose ends, ever.
18-24 God, Creator of the heavens—
he is, remember, God.
Maker of earth—
he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch.
He didn’t go to all that trouble
to just leave it empty, nothing in it.
He made it to be lived in.
This God says:
“I am God,
the one and only.
I don’t just talk to myself
or mumble under my breath.
I never told Jacob,
‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.’
I am God. I work out in the open,
saying what’s right, setting things right.
So gather around, come on in,
all you refugees and castoffs.
They don’t seem to know much, do they—
those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood,
praying for help to a dead stick?
So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence.
Put your heads together. Make your case.
Who told you, and a long time ago, what’s going on here?
Who made sense of things for you?
Wasn’t I the one? God?
It had to be me. I’m the only God there is—
The only God who does things right
and knows how to help.
So turn to me and be helped—saved!—
everyone, whoever and wherever you are.
I am God,
the only God there is, the one and only.
I promise in my own name:
Every word out of my mouth does what it says.
I never take back what I say.
Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me.
Everyone is going to end up saying of me,
‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God!’”
24-25 All who have raged against him
will be brought before him,
disgraced by their unbelief.
And all who are connected with Israel
will have a robust, praising, good life in God!
This Is Serious Business, Rebels
46 1-2 The god Bel falls down, god Nebo slumps.
The no-god hunks of wood are loaded on mules
And have to be hauled off,
wearing out the poor mules—
Dead weight, burdens who can’t bear burdens,
hauled off to captivity.
3-4 “Listen to me, family of Jacob,
everyone that’s left of the family of Israel.
I’ve been carrying you on my back
from the day you were born,
And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.
I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray.
I’ve done it and will keep on doing it,
carrying you on my back, saving you.
5-7 “So to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable?
Can you picture me without reducing me?
People with a lot of money
hire craftsmen to make them gods.
The artisan delivers the god,
and they kneel and worship it!
They carry it around in holy parades,
then take it home and put it on a shelf.
And there it sits, day in and day out,
a dependable god, always right where you put it.
Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.
Of course, it never does anything either!
8-11 “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it.
This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart.
Remember your history,
your long and rich history.
I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—
incomparable, irreplaceable—
From the very beginning
telling you what the ending will be,
All along letting you in
on what is going to happen,
Assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul,
I’ll do exactly what I set out to do,’
Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east,
from a far country the man I chose to help me.
I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it.
I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done.
12-13 “Now listen to me:
You’re a hardheaded bunch and hard to help.
I’m ready to help you right now.
Deliverance is not a long-range plan.
Salvation isn’t on hold.
I’m putting salvation to work in Zion now,
and glory in Israel.”
The Party’s Over
47 1-3 “Get off your high horse and sit in the dirt,
virgin daughter of Babylon.
No more throne for you—sit on the ground,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
Nobody will be calling you ‘charming’
and ‘alluring’ anymore. Get used to it.
Get a job, any old job:
Clean gutters, scrub toilets.
Pawn your gowns and scarves,
put on your working pants—the party’s over.
Your nude body will be on public display,
exposed to vulgar taunts.
It’s vengeance time, and I’m taking vengeance.
No one gets let off the hook.”
You’re Acting Like the Center of the Universe
4-13 Our Redeemer speaks,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, The Holy of Israel:
“Shut up and get out of the way,
daughter of Chaldeans.
You’ll no longer be called
‘First Lady of the Kingdoms.’
I was fed up with my people,
thoroughly disgusted with my progeny.
I turned them over to you,
but you had no compassion.
You put old men and women
to cruel, hard labor.
You said, ‘I’m the First Lady.
I’ll always be the pampered darling.’
You took nothing seriously, took nothing to heart,
never gave tomorrow a thought.
Well, start thinking, party girl.
You’re acting like the center of the universe,
Smugly saying to yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.
I’ll never be a widow, I’ll never lose my children.’
Those two things are going to hit you both at once,
suddenly, on the same day:
Spouse and children gone, a total loss,
despite your many enchantments and charms.
You were so confident and comfortable in your evil life,
saying, ‘No one sees me.’
You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out.
What delusion!
Smugly telling yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.’
Ruin descends—
you can’t charm it away.
Disaster strikes—
you can’t cast it off with spells.
Catastrophe, sudden and total—
and you’re totally at sea, totally bewildered!
But don’t give up. From your great repertoire
of enchantments there must be one you haven’t yet tried.
You’ve been at this a long time.
Surely something will work.
I know you’re exhausted trying out remedies,
but don’t give up.
Call in the astrologers and stargazers.
They’re good at this. Surely they can work up something!
14-15 “Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws
that are already in the fire,
A fire that is even now raging.
Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out.
It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew,
not a fire to warm you on a winter night!
That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician cronies
you’ve been colluding with all your life.
They reel, confused, bumping into one another.
None of them bother to help you.”
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction
48 1-11 “And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
you who use God’s name to back up your promises
and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
For a long time now, I’ve let you in on the way I work:
I told you what I was going to do beforehand,
then I did it and it was done, and that’s that.
I know you’re a bunch of hardheads,
obstinate and flint-faced,
So I got a running start and began telling you
what was going on before it even happened.
That is why you can’t say,
‘My god-idol did this.’
‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.’
You have all this evidence
confirmed by your own eyes and ears.
Shouldn’t you be talking about it?
And that was just the beginning.
I have a lot more to tell you,
things you never knew existed.
This isn’t a variation on the same old thing.
This is new, brand-new,
something you’d never guess or dream up.
When you hear this you won’t be able to say,
‘I knew that all along.’
You’ve never been good listeners to me.
You have a history of ignoring me,
A sorry track record of fickle attachments—
rebels from the womb.
But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,
because of who I am,
I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.
I don’t wash my hands of you.
Do you see what I’ve done?
I’ve refined you, but not without fire.
I’ve tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.
Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.
I have my reputation to keep up.
I’m not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson