Beginning

45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,^(A)
    to Cyrus,^(B) whose right hand I take hold^(C) of
to subdue nations^(D) before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
² I will go before you^(E)
    and will level^(F) the mountains^[a];
I will break down gates^(G) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.^(H)
3 I will give you hidden treasures,^(I)
    riches stored in secret places,^(J)
so that you may know^(K) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.^(L)
4 For the sake of Jacob my servant,^(M)
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge^(N) me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;^(O)
    apart from me there is no God.^(P)
I will strengthen you,^(Q)
    though you have not acknowledged me,
⁶ so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting^(R)
people may know^(S) there is none besides me.^(T)
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form the light and create darkness,^(U)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;^(V)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

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

⁹ “Woe to those who quarrel^(Z) with their Maker,^(AA)
    those who are nothing but potsherds^(AB)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,^(AC)
    ‘What are you making?’^(AD)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?^(AE)
10 Woe 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^(AF) of Israel, and its Maker:^(AG)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?^(AH)
12 It is I who made the earth^(AI)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;^(AJ)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.^(AK)
13 I will raise up Cyrus^[b](AL) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.^(AM)
He will rebuild my city^(AN)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,^(AO)
    says the Lord Almighty.”

“The products^(AP) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,^[c]
    and those tall Sabeans^(AQ)—
they will come over to you^(AR)
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,^(AS)
    coming over to you in chains.^(AT)
They will bow down before you
    and plead^(AU) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,^(AV) and there is no other;
    there is no other god.^(AW)’”

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

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,^(BD)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,^(BE)
    but formed it to be inhabited^(BF)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.^(BG)
19 I have not spoken in secret,^(BH)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;^(BI)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,^(BJ)
    ‘Seek^(BK) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.^(BL)

²⁰ “Gather together^(BM) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant^(BN) are those who carry^(BO) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.^(BP)
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold^(BQ) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?^(BR)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,^(BS)
a righteous God^(BT) and a Savior;^(BU)
    there is none but me.

²² “Turn^(BV) to me and be saved,^(BW)
    all you ends of the earth;^(BX)
    for I am God, and there is no other.^(BY)
23 By myself I have sworn,^(BZ)
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity^(CA)
    a word that will not be revoked:^(CB)
Before me every knee will bow;^(CC)
    by me every tongue will swear.^(CD)
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance^(CE) and strength.^(CF)’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.^(CG)
25 But all the descendants^(CH) of Israel
    will find deliverance^(CI) in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.^(CJ)

³ “Listen^(CO) to me, you descendants of Jacob,
    all the remnant^(CP) of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,^(CQ)
    and have carried^(CR) since you were born.^(CS)
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs^(CT)
    I am he,^(CU) I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain^(CV) you and I will rescue you.

⁵ “With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
    To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?^(CW)
6 Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith^(CX) to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.^(CY)
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry^(CZ) it;
    they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
    From that spot it cannot move.^(DA)
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;^(DB)
    it cannot save^(DC) them from their troubles.

⁸ “Remember^(DD) this, keep it in mind,
    take it to heart, you rebels.^(DE)
9 Remember the former things,^(DF) those of long ago;^(DG)
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.^(DH)
10 I make known the end from the beginning,^(DI)
    from ancient times,^(DJ) what is still to come.^(DK)
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,^(DL)
    and I will do all that I please.’
¹¹ From the east I summon^(DM) a bird of prey;^(DN)
    from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
    what I have planned,^(DO) that I will do.^(DP)
12 Listen^(DQ) to me, you stubborn-hearted,^(DR)
    you who are now far from my righteousness.^(DS)
13 I am bringing my righteousness^(DT) near,
    it is not far away;
    and my salvation^(DU) will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,^(DV)
    my splendor^(DW) to Israel.

⁴ Our Redeemer^(EJ)—the Lord Almighty^(EK) is his name^(EL)—
    is the Holy One^(EM) of Israel.

⁵ “Sit in silence,^(EN) go into darkness,^(EO)
    queen city of the Babylonians;^(EP)
no more will you be called
    queen^(EQ) of kingdoms.^(ER)
6 I was angry^(ES) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;^(ET)
I gave them into your hand,^(EU)
    and you showed them no mercy.^(EV)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
⁷ You said, ‘I am forever^(EW)—
    the eternal queen!’^(EX)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect^(EY) on what might happen.^(EZ)

⁸ “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security^(FA)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.^(FB)
I will never be a widow^(FC)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
⁹ Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,^(FD) on a single day:
    loss of children^(FE) and widowhood.^(FF)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries^(FG)
    and all your potent spells.^(FH)
10 You have trusted^(FI) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(FJ)
Your wisdom^(FK) and knowledge mislead^(FL) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹ Disaster^(FM) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(FN) come upon you.

¹² “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(FO)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³ All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(FP)
    Let your astrologers^(FQ) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(FR) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴ Surely they are like stubble;^(FS)
    the fire^(FT) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(FU)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
¹⁵ That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored^(FV) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save^(FW) you.

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(GO)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷ They are created^(GP) now, and not long ago;^(GQ)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(GR) of them.’
⁸ You have neither heard nor understood;^(GS)
    from of old your ears^(GT) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(GU) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(GV) from birth.
⁹ For my own name’s sake^(GW) I delay my wrath;^(GX)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(GY)
10 See, I have refined^(GZ) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(HA) you in the furnace^(HB) of affliction.
¹¹ For my own sake,^(HC) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(HD)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(HE)

¹⁴ “Come together,^(HM) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(HN) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(HO)
    will carry out his purpose^(HP) against Babylon;^(HQ)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[f]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(HR) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(HS) in his mission.

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(HV)
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(HW) has sent^(HX) me,
    endowed with his Spirit.^(HY)

¹⁷ This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(HZ) the Holy One^(IA) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(IB) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(IC) you in the way^(ID) you should go.
¹⁸ If only you had paid attention^(IE) to my commands,
    your peace^(IF) would have been like a river,^(IG)
    your well-being^(IH) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹ Your descendants^(II) would have been like the sand,^(IJ)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(IK)
their name would never be blotted out^(IL)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰ Leave Babylon,
    flee^(IM) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(IN)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(IO)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(IP) his servant Jacob.”
²¹ They did not thirst^(IQ) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(IR) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(IS)

²² “There is no peace,”^(IT) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”^(IU)