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Cyrus, God’s Anointed

45 Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed,
    whose right hand I have held—
to subdue nations before him
    and to loosen the loins of kings,
to open doors before him
    so that the gates will not be shut:
I will go before you
    and make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
    and shatter the bars of iron.
And I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and hidden riches of secret places
so that you may know that I, the Lord,
    who calls you by your name, am the God of Israel.
For Jacob My servant’s sake
    and Israel My chosen one,
I have even called you by your name;
    I have named you,
    though you have not known Me.
I am the Lord and there is no other;
    there is no God besides Me.
I strengthen you,
    though you have not known Me,
so that they may know from the rising of the sun
    and from the west
that there is no one besides Me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other;
I form the light and create darkness;
    I make peace and create calamity;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

Drip down, O heavens, from above,
    and let the clouds pour down righteousness;
let the earth open up,
    and let them bring forth salvation,
and let righteousness spring up together.
    I, the Lord, have created it.

Woe to him who strives with his Maker,
    the potsherd with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to the potter,
    “What are you making?”
Or the thing you are making say,
    “He has no hands”?
10 Woe to him who says to his father,
    “What are you begetting?”
Or to the woman,
    “To what are you giving birth?”

11 Thus says the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel and his Maker:
Ask Me of things to come
    concerning My sons,
    and you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
12 I have made the earth
    and created man on it.
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
    and I have ordained all their host.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness,
    and I will direct all his ways;
he shall build My city,
    and he shall let My captives go,
neither for price nor reward,
    says the Lord of Hosts.

The Only Savior

14 Thus says the Lord:

The products of Egypt and merchandise of Ethiopia
    and of the Sabeans—men of stature—
shall come over to you,
    and they shall be yours;
they shall come after you;
    in chains they shall come over,
and they shall fall down before you.
    They shall make supplication to you, saying,
“Surely God is with you, and there is no other;
    there is no other God.”

15 Truly You are a God who hides Yourself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 They shall be ashamed and also humiliated, all of them;
    the craftsmen of idols shall go away in confusion together,
17 but Israel shall be saved by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;
you shall not be ashamed nor humiliated
    to all eternity.

18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens,
    who is God,
who formed the earth and made it,
    who has established it,
who did not create it in vain,
    who formed it to be inhabited:
I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret
    in a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,
    “Seek Me in a waste place”;
I, the Lord, speak righteousness;
    I declare things that are right.

20 Assemble yourselves and come;
    draw near together, you fugitives of the nations.
They have no knowledge who set up the wood of their carved image,
    and pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Declare and set forth your case;
    let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient times?
    Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God besides Me,
a righteous God and Savior;
    there is no other besides Me.

22 Turn to Me and be saved,
    all the ends of the earth.
    For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself,
    the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness
    and shall not return,
that to Me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall take an oath.
24 Surely, one shall say, “Only in the Lord
    are righteousness and strength.”
Men shall come to him,
    and all who are incensed at Him shall be ashamed.
25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel
    be justified and shall glory.

45 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one,
    to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped
to subjugate nations before him,
    and I uncover[a] the loins of kings
to open doors before him,
    and the gates shall not be shut:
“I myself will go before you,
    and I will level the mountains.[b]
I will break the doors of bronze
    and cut throughthe bars of iron.
And I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and treasures of secret places
so that you may know that I am Yahweh,
    the one who calls you by your name, the God of Israel,
for the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen one.
And I call you by your name;
    I give you a name of honor, though[c] you do not know me.
I am Yahweh, and there is none besides me;
    besides me there is no god.
        I gird you though[d] you do not know me,
so that they may know from the rising of the sun
    and from the west that there is none besides me;
        I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.
I form light and I create darkness;
    I make peace and I create evil;
        I am Yahweh; I do all these things.
Trickle, O heavens, from above,
    and let clouds trickle with righteousness;
let the earth open so that[e] salvation may be fruitful,
    and let it cause righteousness to sprout along with it.[f]
        I myself, Yahweh, have created it.
Woe to the one who strives with his maker,[g]
    a potsherd among[h] potsherds of earth!
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it,
    ‘What are you making?’
    and ‘Your work has no hands’?
10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What you are begetting?’
    or[i] to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11 Thus says Yahweh, the holy one of Israel,
    and its maker:[j]
“Ask me of the things to come about[k] my children,
    and you command me about the work of my hands.
12 I myself made the earth,
    and I created humankind upon it.
I, my hands, stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their host.
13 I myself have stirred him up in righteousness,
    and I will make all his paths smooth.
He himself shall build my city,
    and he shall set my exiles free,

not for price or a gift,” says Yahweh of hosts.

Yahweh the Only Savior

14 Thus says Yahweh:
    “The acquisition of Egypt
and the merchandise of Cush
    and the Sabeans, tall men,
shall pass over to you;
    they shall be yours,
and they shall walk behind you.
    They shall pass over in chains,
and they shall bow down to you;
    they will pray to you:
‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other.
    Besides him there is no God.’”
15 Surely you are a God who keeps yourself hidden,
    God of Israel, the savior.
16 All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated;
    the craftsmen of idols go together in insult.
17 Israel is saved by Yahweh with everlasting salvation;
    you shall not be ashamed,
    and you shall not be humiliated to all eternity.[l]
18 For thus says Yahweh, who created[m] the heavens,
    he is God, who formed[n] the earth
and who made[o] it.
    He himself established it;
he did not create it as emptiness—
    he formed it for inhabiting.

“I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.

19 I have spoken not in secrecy, in a place, a land, of darkness,
    I have not said to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain!’[p]
I, Yahweh, am speaking righteousness,
    declaring uprightness.
20 Assemble and come;
    draw near together, survivors of the nations!
    They do not know, those who carry their wooden idols[q]
    and pray to a god who cannot save.
21 Declare and present your case,
    also let them consult together!
Who made this known[r] from former times,[s]
    declared it from of old?[t]
Was it not I, Yahweh?
    And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God besides me,
    and no savior besides me.
22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth,
    for I am God and there is none besides me.
23 I have sworn by myself;
    a word that[u] shall not return has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness:
‘Every knee shall kneel down to me;
    every tongue shall swear.’
24 ‘Only in Yahweh,’ one shall say to me, ‘are righteousness and strength.’
    He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed.
25 In Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be in the right,
    and they shall boast.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:1 Or “let loose”
  2. Isaiah 45:2 Literally “swells”
  3. Isaiah 45:4 Or “and”
  4. Isaiah 45:5 Or “and”
  5. Isaiah 45:8 Or “and”
  6. Isaiah 45:8 Or “together”
  7. Isaiah 45:9 Literally “one who forms”
  8. Isaiah 45:9 Or “with”
  9. Isaiah 45:10 Or “and”
  10. Isaiah 45:11 Literally “one who forms”
  11. Isaiah 45:11 Literally “over”
  12. Isaiah 45:17 Literally “for eternity, forever”
  13. Isaiah 45:18 Literally “creating”
  14. Isaiah 45:18 Literally “forming”
  15. Isaiah 45:18 Literally “making”
  16. Isaiah 45:19 Literally “in emptiness,” as in verse 18
  17. Isaiah 45:20 Literally “the wood of their idol”
  18. Isaiah 45:21 Literally “caused to hear this”
  19. Isaiah 45:21 Literally “before”
  20. Isaiah 45:21 Literally “then”
  21. Isaiah 45:23 Or “and”