Historical
God Uses Cyrus
45 This is what the Lord says to (A)Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right (B)hand,
To (C)subdue nations before him
And [a]to (D)undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you and (E)make the [b]rough places smooth;
I will (F)shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron (G)bars.
3 I will give you the [c](H)treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who (I)calls you by your name.
4 For the sake of (J)Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also (K)called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have (L)not known Me.
5 I am the Lord, and (M)there is no one else;
(N)There is no God except Me.
I will (O)[d]arm you, though you have not known Me,
6 So that (P)people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is (Q)no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
7 The One (R)forming light and (S)creating darkness,
Causing [e]well-being and (T)creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.
God’s Supreme Power
8 “(U)Drip down, heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the (V)earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
(W)And righteousness sprout with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to the one who (X)quarrels with [f]his Maker—
A piece of pottery [g]among the other earthenware pottery pieces!
Will the (Y)clay say to the [h]potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you [i]giving birth?’”
11 This is what the (Z)Lord says, the Holy One of Israel and [j]his (AA)Maker:
“[k](AB)Ask Me about the things to come [l]concerning My (AC)sons,
And you shall commit to Me (AD)the work of My hands.
12 It is I who (AE)made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I (AF)stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I [m]ordained (AG)all their [n]lights.
13 I have stirred him in (AH)righteousness,
And I will (AI)make all his ways smooth.
He will (AJ)build My city and let My exiles go (AK)free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies.
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The [o]products of (AL)Egypt and the merchandise of [p](AM)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will (AN)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in (AO)chains
And will (AP)bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘[q](AQ)God certainly is [r]with you, and (AR)there is no one else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (AS)hides Himself,
God of Israel, (AT)Savior!
16 They will be (AU)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The (AV)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an (AW)everlasting salvation;
You (AX)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
18 For this is what the Lord says, He who (AY)created the heavens (He is the God who (AZ)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it [s]as a (BA)waste place, but formed it to be (BB)inhabited):
“I am the Lord, and (BC)there is no one else.
19 (BD)I have not spoken in secret,
In [t]some dark land;
I did not say to the [u](BE)offspring of Jacob,
‘(BF)Seek Me in [v]a wasteland’;
I, the Lord, (BG)speak righteousness,
(BH)Declaring things that are right.
20 “(BI)Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
(BJ)They have no knowledge,
Who (BK)carry around [w]their wooden idol
And (BL)pray to a god who cannot save.
21 (BM)Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
(BN)Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is (BO)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a (BP)Savior;
There is none except Me.
22 (BQ)Turn to Me and (BR)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 (BS)I have sworn by Myself;
The (BT)word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me (BU)every knee will bow, every tongue will (BV)swear allegiance.
24 They will say of Me, ‘Only (BW)in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And (BX)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be (BY)justified and will (BZ)boast.”
Babylon’s Idols and the True God
46 (CA)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle.
The things [x]that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary animal.
2 They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,
But [y]have themselves (CB)gone into captivity.
3 “(CC)Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all (CD)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been (CE)carried by Me from [z]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
4 Even to your old age (CF)I [aa]will be the same,
And even to your [ab](CG)graying years I will [ac]carry you!
I have [ad]done it, and I will bear you;
And I will [ae]carry you and I will save you.
5 “(CH)To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal, and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
6 Those who (CI)lavish gold from the bag
And weigh silver on the scale,
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They (CJ)bow down, indeed they worship it.
7 They (CK)lift it on the shoulder, carry it,
And set it in its place, and it stands there.
(CL)It does not move from its place.
Though one may shout to it, it (CM)cannot answer;
It (CN)cannot save him from his distress.
8 “(CO)Remember this, and be [af]assured;
(CP)Recall it to [ag]mind, you (CQ)wrongdoers.
9 Remember the (CR)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is (CS)no other;
I am God, and there is (CT)no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘(CU)My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a (CV)bird of prey from the (CW)east,
The man of [ah]My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have (CX)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.
12 “(CY)Listen to Me, you (CZ)stubborn-minded,
Who are (DA)far from righteousness.
13 I (DB)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant (DC)salvation in Zion,
And My (DD)glory for Israel.
Mourning for Babylon
47 “(DE)Come down and sit in the dust,
(DF)Virgin (DG)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you will no longer be called (DH)tender and delicate.
2 Take the (DI)millstones and (DJ)grind flour.
Remove your (DK)veil, (DL)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 Your (DM)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will (DN)take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
4 Our (DO)Redeemer, the Lord of armies is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “(DP)Sit silently, and go into (DQ)darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The (DR)queen of (DS)kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And handed them over to you.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the (DT)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 Yet you said, ‘I will be a (DU)queen forever.’
These things you did not (DV)consider
Nor remember the (DW)outcome of [ai]them.
8 “Now, then, hear this, you (DX)luxuriant one,
Who (DY)lives securely,
Who says in her heart,
‘(DZ)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will (EA)not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
9 But these (EB)two things will come on you (EC)suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many (ED)sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10 You felt (EE)secure in your wickedness and said,
‘(EF)No one sees me,’
Your (EG)wisdom and your knowledge, [aj]they have led you astray;
For you have said in your heart,
‘(EH)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 But (EI)evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And (EJ)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you (EK)suddenly.
12 “Persist now in your (EL)spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to benefit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
13 You are (EM)wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the (EN)astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and (EO)save you from what will come upon you.
14 Behold, they have become (EP)like stubble,
(EQ)Fire burns them;
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be (ER)no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Those who have (ES)done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [ak]way;
There is (ET)no one to save you.
Israel’s Obstinacy
48 “(EU)Hear this, house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came from the (EV)waters of Judah,
Who (EW)swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in (EX)righteousness.
2 For they name themselves after the (EY)holy city,
And (EZ)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of armies is His name.
3 I (FA)declared the former things long ago,
And they went out of My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
(FB)Suddenly I acted, and they (FC)came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are [al](FD)obstinate,
And your (FE)neck is an iron tendon
And your (FF)forehead bronze,
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before [am]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My (FG)idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast metal image have commanded them.’
6 You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you (FH)new things from this time,
Hidden things which you have not known.
7 They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have not (FI)heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a [an](FJ)rebel from [ao]birth.
9 (FK)For the sake of My name I (FL)delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but (FM)not as silver;
I have tested you in the (FN)furnace of affliction.
11 (FO)For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My (FP)glory to another.
Rescue Promised
12 “Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel [ap]whom I called;
(FQ)I am He, (FR)I am the first, I am also the last.
13 Assuredly My hand (FS)founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I (FT)call to them, they stand together.
14 (FU)Assemble, all of you, and listen!
(FV)Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will (FW)carry out His good pleasure against (FX)Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, yes I, have spoken; indeed I have (FY)called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16 (FZ)Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have (GA)not spoken in secret,
(GB)From the time it took place, I was there.
And now (GC)the Lord [aq]God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
17 This is what the Lord says, He who is your (GD)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to benefit,
Who (GE)leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had (GF)paid attention to My commandments!
Then your [ar](GG)well-being would have been like a river,
And your (GH)righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your [as](GI)descendants would have been like the sand,
And [at]your offspring like its grains;
(GJ)Their name would never be eliminated or destroyed from My presence.”
20 (GK)Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of (GL)joyful shouting, proclaim this,
(GM)Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “(GN)The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21 They did not (GO)thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He (GP)made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and (GQ)the water gushed out.
22 “(GR)There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
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