Isaiah 44:23-45:8

Amplified Bible

²³
Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout in triumph, you depths of the earth;
Break forth into jubilant rejoicing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And He shows His glory in Israel.

²⁴For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says this,

“I am the Lord, Maker of all things,
Who alone stretches out the heavens,
Who spreads out the earth ^[a]by Myself,
²⁵
Frustrating the signs and confounding the omens of boasters (false prophets),
Making fools out of ^[b]fortune-tellers,
Counteracting the wise
And making their knowledge ridiculous,^(A)
²⁶
Confirming the word of His servant
And carrying out the plan of His messengers.
It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be inhabited!’
And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall [again] be built.’
And I will raise up and restore her ruins.
²⁷
“It is I who says to the deep, ‘Be dried up!’
And I will make your rivers dry.
²⁸
“It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd (ruler),
And he will carry out all that I desire—’
Saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be built,’
And of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall [again] be laid.’”

God Uses Cyrus

45 This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia],
Whose right hand I have held
To subdue nations before him,
And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them];
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
²
“I will go before you and level the mountains;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
³
“I will give you the treasures of darkness [the hoarded treasures]
And the hidden riches of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you (Cyrus the Great) by your name.
⁴
“For the sake of Jacob My servant,
And of Israel My chosen,
I have also called you by your name;
I have given you an honorable name
Though you have not known Me.
⁵
“I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,
⁶
That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun [the world over]
That there is no one except Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
⁷
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing peace and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.

God’s Supreme Power

⁸
“Rain down, O heavens, from above,
Let the clouds pour down righteousness [all the blessings of God];
Let the earth open up, let salvation bear fruit,
And righteousness spring up with it;
I, the Lord, have created it.

Footnotes

Isaiah 44:24 Lit who was with Me?
Isaiah 44:25 The Hebrew is a synonym of diviner, referring to people who claimed to tell the future by such methods as casting lots and examining the livers of certain animals.