Old/New Testament
Cyrus, God’s Anointed
45 Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed,
whose right hand I have held—
to subdue nations before him
and to loosen the loins of kings,
to open doors before him
so that the gates will not be shut:
2 I will go before you
and make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
and shatter the bars of iron.
3 And I will give you the treasures of darkness
and hidden riches of secret places
so that you may know that I, the Lord,
who calls you by your name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob My servant’s sake
and Israel My chosen one,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you,
though you have not known Me.
5 I am the Lord and there is no other;
there is no God besides Me.
I strengthen you,
though you have not known Me,
6 so that they may know from the rising of the sun
and from the west
that there is no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness;
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.
8 Drip down, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds pour down righteousness;
let the earth open up,
and let them bring forth salvation,
and let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker,
the potsherd with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to the potter,
“What are you making?”
Or the thing you are making say,
“He has no hands”?
10 Woe to him who says to his father,
“What are you begetting?”
Or to the woman,
“To what are you giving birth?”
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and his Maker:
Ask Me of things to come
concerning My sons,
and you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
12 I have made the earth
and created man on it.
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and I have ordained all their host.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness,
and I will direct all his ways;
he shall build My city,
and he shall let My captives go,
neither for price nor reward,
says the Lord of Hosts.
The Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
The products of Egypt and merchandise of Ethiopia
and of the Sabeans—men of stature—
shall come over to you,
and they shall be yours;
they shall come after you;
in chains they shall come over,
and they shall fall down before you.
They shall make supplication to you, saying,
“Surely God is with you, and there is no other;
there is no other God.”
15 Truly You are a God who hides Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 They shall be ashamed and also humiliated, all of them;
the craftsmen of idols shall go away in confusion together,
17 but Israel shall be saved by the Lord
with an everlasting salvation;
you shall not be ashamed nor humiliated
to all eternity.
18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens,
who is God,
who formed the earth and made it,
who has established it,
who did not create it in vain,
who formed it to be inhabited:
I am the Lord,
and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret
in a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,
“Seek Me in a waste place”;
I, the Lord, speak righteousness;
I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together, you fugitives of the nations.
They have no knowledge who set up the wood of their carved image,
and pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Declare and set forth your case;
let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient times?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
And there is no God besides Me,
a righteous God and Savior;
there is no other besides Me.
22 Turn to Me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth.
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself,
the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness
and shall not return,
that to Me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall take an oath.
24 Surely, one shall say, “Only in the Lord
are righteousness and strength.”
Men shall come to him,
and all who are incensed at Him shall be ashamed.
25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel
be justified and shall glory.
The Idols of Babylon
46 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops,
their idols are appointed to the beasts and the cattle.
The things that you carry are burdensome;
they are a burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together;
they could not deliver the burden,
but themselves have gone into captivity.
3 Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
and all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who are borne by Me from birth
and are carried from the womb:
4 And even to your old age I am He,
and even to your graying years I will carry you;
I have done it, and I will bear you;
even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal,
and compare Me that we may be alike?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag,
and weigh silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
they fall down and worship it.
7 They lift it on the shoulder, they carry it,
and they set it in its place, and it stands;
from its place it does not move.
If one shall cry to it, it cannot answer
nor save him out of his trouble.
8 Remember this, and show yourselves men;
bring it to mind again, O transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
“My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all My good pleasure,”
11 calling a ravenous bird from the east,
the man who executes My counsel from a far country.
Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it; I will also do it.
12 Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted,
who are far from righteousness;
13 I bring My righteousness near;
it shall not be far off,
and My salvation shall not tarry.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
and My glory for Israel.
3 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish and comfort you with regard to your faith, 3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this. 4 Indeed, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it came to pass, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to inquire about your faith, lest by some means the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor might have been in vain.
6 But just now Timothy has come from you to us and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good memories of us, desiring greatly to see us, as we also desire to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, during all our afflictions and distress, we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand strong in the Lord. 9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes before our God, 10 night and day praying earnestly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all men, even as we do for you. 13 To this end may He establish your hearts to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.