Beginning
45 1 The deliverance of the people by Cyrus. 9 God is just in all his works. 20 The calling of the Gentiles.
1 Thus saith the Lord unto [a]Cyrus his [b]anointed, whose right hand I have holden to [c]subdue nations before him: therefore will I weaken the loins of kings, and open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut.
2 I will go before thee, and make the [d]crooked straight: I will break the brazen doors, and burst the iron bars.
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and the things hid in secret places, that thou mayest [e]know that I am the Lord which call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant’s [f]sake, and Israel mine elect, I will even call thee by thy name, and name thee, though thou hast not known me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is none other; there is no God besides me: I [g]girded thee, though thou hast not known me.
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the West, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none other.
7 I form the [h]light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
8 Ye heavens send the dew from above, and let the clouds drop down [i]righteousness: let the earth open, and let salvation and justice grow forth: let it bring them forth together: I the Lord have [j]created him.
9 [k]Woe be unto him that striveth with his maker, the potsherd with the potsherds of the earth: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, [l]It hath none hands?
10 Woe unto him that saith to his father, What hast thou begotten? or to his mother, What hast thou brought forth?
11 Thus saith the Lord, the only one of Israel, and his maker, Ask me [m]of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the works of mine hands: commend you me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, whose hands have spread out the heavens, I have even commanded all their [n]army.
13 I have raised [o]him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for [p]price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus saith the Lord, The labor [q]of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of stature shall come unto thee, and they shall be [r]thine: they shall follow thee, and shall go in chains: they shall fall down before thee, and make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee, and there is none other God besides.
15 Verily, thou O God [s]hidest thyself, O God, the Savior of Israel.
16 All they shall be ashamed and also confounded: they shall go to confusion together, that are the makers of images.
17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord, with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
18 For this saith the Lord (that created heaven, God himself that formed the earth, and made it: he that prepared it, he created it not in vain: he formed it to be [t]inhabited) I am the Lord, and there is none other.
19 I have not spoken in secret, neither [u]in a place of darkness in the earth: I said not in vain unto the seed of Jacob, Seek you me: I the Lord do speak righteousness, and declare righteous things.
20 Assemble yourselves, and come: draw near together, [v]ye abject of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge, that set up the wood of their idol, and pray unto a god, that cannot save them.
21 Tell ye and bring them, and let them take counsel together, who hath declared this from the beginning, or hath told it of old? Have not I the Lord? and there is none other God beside me, a just God, and a Savior: there is none beside me.
22 Look unto me, and ye shall be saved: all [w]the ends of the earth shall be saved: for I am God, and there is none other.
23 I have sworn by myself: the word is gone out of my mouth in [x]righteousness, and shall not return, That every [y]knee shall bow unto me, and every tongue shall swear by me.
24 Surely [z]he shall say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength: he shall come unto him, and all that [aa]provoke him shall be ashamed.
25 The whole seed of Israel shall be justified, and glory in the Lord.
46 1 The destruction of Babylon and of their idols. 3 He calleth the Jews to the consideration of his works.
1 Bel is bowed down: [ab]Nebo is fallen: their idols were upon their [ac]beasts, and upon the cattle: they which did bear you, were laden with a weary burden.
2 [ad]They are bowed down, and fallen together, for they could not rid them of the burden, and their [ae]soul is gone into captivity.
3 Hear ye me, O house of Jacob, and all that remain of the house of Israel, which are [af]born of me from the womb, and brought up of me from the birth.
4 Therefore unto [ag]old age, I the same, even I will bear you until the hoary hairs: I have made you: I will also bear you, and I will carry you, and I will deliver you.
5 ¶ To whom will ye make me like, or make me equal, or [ah]compare me that I should be like him?
6 They draw gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith to make a god of it, and they bow down and worship it.
7 They bear it upon the shoulders: they carry him and set him in his place: so doth he stand, and cannot remove from his place. Though one cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor deliver him out of his tribulation.
8 Remember this, and be ashamed: bring it again to [ai]mind, O you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none other God, and there is nothing like me,
10 Which declare the last thing from the beginning, and from of old: the things that were not done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do whatsoever I will.
11 I call a [aj]bird from the East, and the man of my [ak]counsel from far: as I have spoken, so will I bring it to pass: I have purposed it, and I will do it.
12 Hear me ye stubborn hearted, that are far from [al]justice.
13 I bring [am]near my justice: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: for I will give salvation in Zion, and my glory unto Israel.
47 The destruction of Babylon, and the causes wherefore.
1 Come down and sit in the dust: O [an]virgin, daughter Babel, sit on the ground: there is no [ao]throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called, Tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and [ap]grind meal; loose thy locks: [aq]make bare the feet: uncover the leg, and pass through the floods.
3 Thy filthiness shall be discovered, and thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a [ar]man.
4 [as]Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his Name, the holy One of Israel.
5 [at]Sit still, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
6 I was wroth with my people: I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand, thou didst show them no [au]mercy, but thou didst lay thy very heavy yoke upon the ancient.
7 And thou saidest, I shall be a lady forever, so that thou didst not set thy mind to these things, neither didst thou remember the latter end thereof.
8 Therefore now hear, thou that art given to pleasures, and dwellest careless, She saith in her heart, I am and none else: I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall know the loss of children.
9 But these two things shall come to thee suddenly on one day, the loss of children and widowhood; they shall come upon thee in their [av]perfection, for the multitude of thy divinations, and for the great abundance of thine enchanters.
10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy [aw]wisdom and thy knowledge, they have caused thee to rebel, and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else.
11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee, and thou shalt not know the morning thereof; destruction shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to put away: destruction shall come upon thee suddenly, or thou beware.
12 Stand now among thine enchanters, and in the multitude of thy soothsayers (with whom thou hast [ax]wearied thyself from thy youth) if so be thou mayest have profit, or if so be thou mayest have strength.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and prognosticators stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble: the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver their own lives from the power of the flame: there shall be no coals [ay]to warm at, nor light to sit by.
15 Thus shall they serve thee, with whom thou hast wearied thee, even thy merchants from thy youth; every one shall wander to his own [az]quarters: none shall save thee.
48 1 The hypocrisy of the Jews is reproved. 12 The Lord alone will be worshipped. 20 Of their deliverance out of Babylon.
1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are [ba]called by the name of Israel, and are come out of [bb]the waters of Judah: which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness.
2 For they are called of the holy city, and stay themselves [bc]upon the God of Israel, whose Name is the Lord of hosts.
3 I have declared the former things of old, and they went out of my mouth, and I showed [bd]them: I did them suddenly and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that [be]thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass,
5 Therefore I have declared it to thee of old: before it came to pass, I showed [bf]it thee, lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my carved image, and my molten image hath commanded them.
6 Thou hast heard, behold all this, and will not ye [bg]declare it? I have showed thee new things, even now, and hid things, which thou knewest not.
7 They are created now, and not of old, and even before this thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I [bh]knew them.
8 Yet thou heardest them not, neither didst know them, neither yet was thine ear opened of old; for I knew that thou wouldest grievously transgress: therefore have I called thee a transgressor from the [bi]womb.
9 For my Name’s sake will I defer my wrath, and for my praise, will I refrain it from thee, [bj]that I cut thee not off.
10 Behold, I have fined thee, but [bk]not as silver: I have [bl]chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
11 For mine own sake, for mine own sake will I do it; for how should my Name [bm]be polluted? [bn]surely I will not give my glory unto another.
12 Hear me, O Jacob and Israel, my called, [bo]I am, I am the first, and I am the last.
13 Surely mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call them, [bp]they stand up together.
14 All you, assemble yourselves, and hear: which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved [bq]him, he will do his will in Babel, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I have spoken it, and I have called him, I have brought him, and his way shall prosper.
16 Come near unto me: hear ye this: I have not spoken it in secret from the [br]beginning: from the time that the thing was, I was there, and now the Lord God and his Spirit hath [bs]sent me.
17 Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy one of Israel, I am the Lord thy God, which teach thee [bt]to profit, and lead thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
18 Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy prosperity been as the flood, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the fruit of thy body like the gravel thereof: his [bu]name should not have been cut off nor destroyed before me.
20 [bv]Go ye out of Babel: flee ye from the Chaldeans with a voice of joy: tell and declare this: show it forth to the end of the earth: say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
21 And they [bw]were not thirsty: he led them through the wilderness: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: for he clave the rock and the water gushed out.
22 There is no [bx]peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.
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