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The True God and False Gods

[a]Thus says the Lord, Israel’s king,
    its redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first, I am the last;
    there is no God but me.[b](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 44:6–8 Prediction and fulfillment are here seen as the hallmarks of true divinity. See note on 43:9.
  2. 44:6 No god but me: with Second Isaiah, Israel’s faith is declared to be explicitly monotheistic. However implicit it may have been, earlier formulas did not exclude the existence of other gods, not even that of the first commandment: “You shall not have other gods besides me” (Ex 20:3). Cf. also note on 41:21–29.

12 Listen to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I called!
I, it is I who am the first,
    and am I the last.(A)
13 Yes, my hand laid the foundations of the earth;
    my right hand spread out the heavens.
When I summon them,
    they stand forth at once.(B)

14 All of you assemble and listen:
    Who among you declared these things?
The one the Lord loves[a] shall do his will
    against Babylon and the offspring of Chaldea.
15 I myself have spoken, I have summoned him,
    I have brought him, and his way succeeds!
16 Come near to me and hear this!
    From the beginning I did not speak in secret;
At the time it happens, I am there:
    “Now the Lord God has sent me, and his spirit.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 48:14 The one the Lord loves: the reference is no doubt to Cyrus, who does the Lord’s will by overcoming Babylon and releasing Israel from captivity.
  2. 48:16 “Now the Lord…spirit”: said by Cyrus; cf. v. 14.

12 Listen to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I called!
I, it is I who am the first,
    and am I the last.(A)
13 Yes, my hand laid the foundations of the earth;
    my right hand spread out the heavens.
When I summon them,
    they stand forth at once.(B)

14 All of you assemble and listen:
    Who among you declared these things?
The one the Lord loves[a] shall do his will
    against Babylon and the offspring of Chaldea.
15 I myself have spoken, I have summoned him,
    I have brought him, and his way succeeds!
16 Come near to me and hear this!
    From the beginning I did not speak in secret;
At the time it happens, I am there:
    “Now the Lord God has sent me, and his spirit.”[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 48:14 The one the Lord loves: the reference is no doubt to Cyrus, who does the Lord’s will by overcoming Babylon and releasing Israel from captivity.
  2. 48:16 “Now the Lord…spirit”: said by Cyrus; cf. v. 14.