Isaiah 44:24-45:25

New International Version

Jerusalem to Be Inhabited

²⁴“This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer,^(A) who formed^(B) you in the womb:^(C)

I am the Lord,
    the Maker of all things,
    who stretches out the heavens,^(D)
    who spreads out the earth^(E) by myself,
²⁵who foils^(F) the signs of false prophets
    and makes fools of diviners,^(G)
who overthrows the learning of the wise^(H)
    and turns it into nonsense,^(I)
²⁶who carries out the words^(J) of his servants
    and fulfills^(K) the predictions of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem,^(L) ‘It shall be inhabited,’
    of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’
    and of their ruins,^(M) ‘I will restore them,’^(N)
²⁷who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,
    and I will dry up^(O) your streams,’
²⁸who says of Cyrus,^(P) ‘He is my shepherd
    and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem,^(Q) “Let it be rebuilt,”
    and of the temple,^(R) “Let its foundations^(S) be laid.”’

45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,^(T)
    to Cyrus,^(U) whose right hand I take hold^(V) of
to subdue nations^(W) before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
²I will go before you^(X)
    and will level^(Y) the mountains^[a];
I will break down gates^(Z) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.^(AA)
³I will give you hidden treasures,^(AB)
    riches stored in secret places,^(AC)
so that you may know^(AD) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.^(AE)
⁴For the sake of Jacob my servant,^(AF)
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge^(AG) me.
⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other;^(AH)
    apart from me there is no God.^(AI)
I will strengthen you,^(AJ)
    though you have not acknowledged me,
⁶so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting^(AK)
people may know^(AL) there is none besides me.^(AM)
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷I form the light and create darkness,^(AN)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;^(AO)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸“You heavens above, rain^(AP) down my righteousness;^(AQ)
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation^(AR) spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“Woe to those who quarrel^(AS) with their Maker,^(AT)
    those who are nothing but potsherds^(AU)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,^(AV)
    ‘What are you making?’^(AW)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?^(AX)
¹⁰Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

¹¹“This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One^(AY) of Israel, and its Maker:^(AZ)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?^(BA)
¹²It is I who made the earth^(BB)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;^(BC)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.^(BD)
¹³I will raise up Cyrus^[b]^(BE) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.^(BF)
He will rebuild my city^(BG)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,^(BH)
    says the Lord Almighty.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord says:

“The products^(BI) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,^[c]
    and those tall Sabeans^(BJ)—
they will come over to you^(BK)
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,^(BL)
    coming over to you in chains.^(BM)
They will bow down before you
    and plead^(BN) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,^(BO) and there is no other;
    there is no other god.^(BP)’”

¹⁵Truly you are a God who has been hiding^(BQ) himself,
    the God and Savior^(BR) of Israel.
¹⁶All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;^(BS)
    they will go off into disgrace together.
¹⁷But Israel will be saved^(BT) by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;^(BU)
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,^(BV)
    to ages everlasting.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,^(BW)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,^(BX)
    but formed it to be inhabited^(BY)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.^(BZ)
¹⁹I have not spoken in secret,^(CA)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;^(CB)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,^(CC)
    ‘Seek^(CD) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.^(CE)

²⁰“Gather together^(CF) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant^(CG) are those who carry^(CH) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.^(CI)
²¹Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold^(CJ) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?^(CK)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,^(CL)
a righteous God^(CM) and a Savior;^(CN)
    there is none but me.

²²“Turn^(CO) to me and be saved,^(CP)
    all you ends of the earth;^(CQ)
    for I am God, and there is no other.^(CR)
²³By myself I have sworn,^(CS)
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity^(CT)
    a word that will not be revoked:^(CU)
Before me every knee will bow;^(CV)
    by me every tongue will swear.^(CW)
²⁴They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance^(CX) and strength.^(CY)’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.^(CZ)
²⁵But all the descendants^(DA) of Israel
    will find deliverance^(DB) in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.^(DC)

Footnotes

Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
Isaiah 45:14 That is, the upper Nile region

Proverbs 5:1-6:19

New International Version

Warning Against Adultery

5 My son,^(A) pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words^(B) of insight,
²that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;^(C)
⁴but in the end she is bitter as gall,^(D)
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.^(E)
⁶She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.^(F)

⁷Now then, my sons, listen^(G) to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
⁸Keep to a path far from her,^(H)
    do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity^[a] to one who is cruel,
¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.^(I)
¹¹At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!^(J)
¹³I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴And I was soon in serious trouble^(K)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”^(L)

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸May your fountain^(M) be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.^(N)
¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful deer^(O)—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

²¹For your ways are in full view^(P) of the Lord,
    and he examines^(Q) all your paths.^(R)
²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;^(S)
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.^(T)
²³For lack of discipline they will die,^(U)
    led astray by their own great folly.^(V)

Warnings Against Folly

6 My son,^(W) if you have put up security^(X) for your neighbor,^(Y)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge^(Z) for a stranger,
²you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[b]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.^(AA)
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle^(AB) from the hand of the hunter,^(AC)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.^(AD)

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;^(AE)
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer^(AF)
    and gathers its food at harvest.^(AG)

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^(AH)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest^(AI)—
¹¹and poverty^(AJ) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³    who winks maliciously with his eye,^(AK)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,^(AL)
¹⁴    who plots evil^(AM) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.^(AN)
¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^(AO)
    he will suddenly^(AP) be destroyed—without remedy.^(AQ)

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,^(AR)
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,^(AS)
        a lying tongue,^(AT)
        hands that shed innocent blood,^(AU)
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,^(AV)
¹⁹        a false witness^(AW) who pours out lies^(AX)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.^(AY)