Isaiah 45:14-25
New English Translation
The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit[a] of Egypt and the revenue[b] of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you[c] and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.[d]
They will bow down to you
and pray to you:[e]
‘Truly God is with[f] you; he has no peer;[g]
there is no other God!’”
15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.[h]
17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord;[i]
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated.[j]
18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky—
he is the true God,[k]
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order,[l]
he formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place.[m]
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’[n]
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements.[o]
20 Gather together and come!
Approach together, you refugees from the nations.
Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,
those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
21 Tell me! Present the evidence![p]
Let them consult with one another.
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers;[q]
there is none but me.
22 Turn to me so you can be delivered,[r]
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
23 I solemnly make this oath[s]—
what I say is true and reliable:[t]
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm;[u]
24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’”[v]
All who are angry at him will cower before him.[w]
25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord
and will boast in him.[x]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
- Isaiah 45:14 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
- Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
- Isaiah 45:14 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
- Isaiah 45:14 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
- Isaiah 45:14 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
- Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
- Isaiah 45:16 tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”
- Isaiah 45:17 tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”
- Isaiah 45:17 tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”
- Isaiah 45:18 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
- Isaiah 45:18 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
- Isaiah 45:19 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
- Isaiah 45:19 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
- Isaiah 45:19 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
- Isaiah 45:21 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
- Isaiah 45:21 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”
- Isaiah 45:22 tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”
- Isaiah 45:23 tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”
- Isaiah 45:23 tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”
- Isaiah 45:23 tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”
- Isaiah 45:24 tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”
- Isaiah 45:24 tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”
- Isaiah 45:25 tn Heb “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be vindicated and boast.”
Isaiah 45:14-25
Common English Bible
14 The Lord says:
Egypt will grow weary, Cush will be sold,[a]
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.”
15 Surely you are a god who hides himself,
Israel’s God and savior.
Idols contrasted with God
16 They will all be shamed and disgraced;
the makers of idols will end up disgraced together.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord of everlasting salvation.
You won’t be shamed,
and you won’t be disgraced forever and always.
18 For 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!
19 I 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.
20 Gather and come,
draw near together,
fugitives of the nations!
Those who carry their wooden idols don’t know;
those who pray to a god who won’t save.
21 Announce! Approach! Confer together!
Who proclaimed this from the beginning, announced it from long ago?
Wasn’t it I, the Lord?
There’s no other God except me,
a righteous God and a savior;
there’s none besides me!
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God, and there’s no other.
23 I have sworn a solemn pledge;
a word has left my mouth;
it is reliable and won’t fail.
Surely every knee will bow
and every tongue will confess;
24 they will say, “Righteousness and strength come only from the Lord.
All who are angry with him will come to shame.
25 All the Israelites
will be victorious and rejoice.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:14 Heb uncertain
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