Restoration of Israel through Cyrus

24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer(A) who formed you from the womb,(B) says:

I am Yahweh, who made everything;
who stretched out the heavens by Myself;(C)
who alone spread out the earth;
25 who destroys the omens of the false prophets
and makes fools of diviners;
who confounds the wise
and makes their knowledge foolishness;(D)
26 who confirms the message of His servant
and fulfills the counsel of His messengers;
who says to Jerusalem, “She will be inhabited,”
and to the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,”
and I will restore her ruins;
27 who says to the depths of the sea, “Be dry,”
and I will dry up your rivers;
28 who says to Cyrus,(E) “My shepherd,
he will fulfill all My pleasure”(F)
and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,”(G)
and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”

45 The Lord says this to Cyrus, His anointed,(H)
whose right hand I have grasped(I)
to subdue nations before him,
to disarm[a] kings,(J)
to open the doors before him
and the gates will not be shut:
“I will go before you
and level the uneven places;[b](K)
I will shatter the bronze doors
and cut the iron bars in two.(L)
I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches from secret places,(M)
so that you may know that I, Yahweh,
the God of Israel call you by your name.(N)
I call you by your name,
because of Jacob My servant(O)
and Israel My chosen one.
I give a name to you,
though you do not know Me.
I am Yahweh, and there is no other;(P)
there is no God but Me.(Q)
I will strengthen[c] you,
though you do not know Me,
so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
that there is no one but Me.(R)
I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,(S)
I make success and create disaster;(T)
I, Yahweh, do all these things.

“Heavens, sprinkle from above,
and let the skies shower righteousness.(U)
Let the earth open up
so that salvation will sprout
and righteousness will spring up with it.(V)
I, Yahweh, have created it.

“Woe to the one who argues with his Maker—
one clay pot among many.[d]
Does clay say to the one forming it,
‘What are you making?’(W)
Or does your work say,
‘He has no hands’?[e]
10 How absurd is the one who says to his father,
‘What are you fathering?’
or to his mother,
‘What are you giving birth to?’”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:1 Lit unloosen the loins
  2. Isaiah 45:2 DSS, LXX read the mountains
  3. Isaiah 45:5 Lit gird
  4. Isaiah 45:9 Lit a clay pot with clay pots of the ground
  5. Isaiah 45:9 Or making? Your work has no hands.

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