Isaiah 45:1-19

Common English Bible

Cyrus as God’s anointed

45 The Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus,
    whom I have grasped by the strong hand,
    to conquer nations before him,
    disarming kings,
    and opening doors before him,
    so no gates will be shut:
²I myself will go before you,
    and I will level mountains.
I will shatter bronze doors;
    I will cut through iron bars.
³I will give you hidden treasures of secret riches,
    so you will know that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen,
    I called you by name.
I gave you an honored title,
    though you didn’t know me.
⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    besides me there is no God.
I strengthen you—
    though you don’t know me—
⁶so all will know, from the rising of the sun to its setting,
    that there is nothing apart from me.
I am the Lord; there’s no other.
⁷    I form light and create darkness,
    make prosperity and create doom;
    I am the Lord, who does all these things.

⁸Pour down, you heavens above,
    and let the clouds flow with righteousness.
Let the earth open for salvation to bear fruit;
    let righteousness sprout as well.
    I, the Lord, have created these things.

Potter and clay

⁹Doom to the one who argues with the potter,^[a]
    as if he were just another clay pot!
Does the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?”
    or “Your work has no handles”?
¹⁰Doom to one who says to a father,
    “What have you fathered?”
    and to a woman,
    “With what are you in labor?”
¹¹The Lord, the holy one of Israel and its maker,^[b] says:
Are you questioning me^[c] about my own children?
    Are you telling me what to do with the work of my hands?
¹²I myself made the earth,
    and created humans upon it.
    My own hands stretched out the heavens.
    I commanded all their forces.
¹³I have a right to awaken Cyrus;
    I will smooth all his paths.
He will build my city
    and set my exiles free,
    not for a price and not for a bribe,
    says the Lord of heavenly forces.

¹⁴The Lord says:
Egypt will grow weary, Cush will be sold,^[d]
    and the tall Sabeans will cross over to you.
They will be yours, and after you they will go.
    In chains they will come;
    to you they will bow down.
    They will plead with you:
“Truly God is with you;
    there’s no other, no other God.”
¹⁵Surely you are a god who hides himself,
    Israel’s God and savior.

Idols contrasted with God

¹⁶They will all be shamed and disgraced;
    the makers of idols will end up disgraced together.
¹⁷Israel has been saved by the Lord of everlasting salvation.
You won’t be shamed,
    and you won’t be disgraced forever and always.
¹⁸For this is what the Lord said, who created the heavens,
    who is God,
    who formed the earth and made it,
    who established it,
    who didn’t create it a wasteland but formed it as a habitation:
    I, the Lord, and none other!
¹⁹I didn’t speak in secret
    or in some land of darkness;
I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob,
    “Seek me in chaos.”
I am the Lord, the one who speaks truth,
    who announces what is correct.