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13 It is me—I stir him up and commission him;[a]
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit[b] of Egypt and the revenue[c] of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you[d] and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.[e]
They will bow down to you
and pray to you:[f]
‘Truly God is with[g] you; he has no peer;[h]
there is no other God!’”
15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:13 tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.
  2. Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
  3. Isaiah 45:14 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
  4. Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Isaiah 45:14 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
  8. 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.