Add parallel Print Page Options

The Lord Appoints Cyrus

45 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king.
He has appointed him to conquer nations;
    he sends him to strip kings of their power;
    the Lord will open the gates of cities for him.
To Cyrus the Lord says,
“I myself will prepare your way,
    leveling mountains and hills.
I will break down bronze gates
    and smash their iron bars.
I will give you treasures from dark, secret places;
    then you will know that I am the Lord
    and that the God of Israel has called you by name.
I appoint you to help my servant Israel,
    the people that I have chosen.
I have given you great honor,
    although you do not know me.

“I am the Lord; there is no other god.
    I will give you the strength you need,
    although you do not know me.
I do this so that everyone
    from one end of the world to the other
    may know that I am the Lord
    and that there is no other god.
I create both light and darkness;
    I bring both blessing and disaster.
    I, the Lord, do all these things.
I will send victory from the sky like rain;
    the earth will open to receive it
    and will blossom with freedom and justice.
I, the Lord, will make this happen.”

The Lord of Creation and History

(A)Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker,
    a pot that is like all the others?
Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing?
    Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill?
10 Do we dare say to our parents,
    “Why did you make me like this?”
11 The Lord, the holy God of Israel,
    the one who shapes the future, says:
“You have no right to question me about my children
    or to tell me what I ought to do!
12 I am the one who made the earth
    and created human beings to live there.
By my power I stretched out the heavens;
    I control the sun, the moon, and the stars.
13 I myself have stirred Cyrus to action
    to fulfill my purpose and put things right.
I will straighten out every road that he travels.
    He will rebuild my city, Jerusalem,
    and set my captive people free.
No one has hired him or bribed him to do this.”
The Lord Almighty has spoken.

14 The Lord says to Israel,

“The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia[a] will be yours,
    and the tall men of Seba will be your slaves;
    they will follow you in chains.
They will bow down to you and confess,
    ‘God is with you—he alone is God.
15 The God of Israel, who saves his people,
    is a God who conceals himself.
16 Those who make idols will all be ashamed;
    all of them will be disgraced.
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord,
    and her victory lasts forever;
    her people will never be disgraced.’”

18 The Lord created the heavens—
    he is the one who is God!
He formed and made the earth—
    he made it firm and lasting.
He did not make it a desolate waste,
    but a place for people to live.
It is he who says, “I am the Lord,
    and there is no other god.
19 I have not spoken in secret
    or kept my purpose hidden.
I did not require the people of Israel
    to look for me in a desolate waste.
I am the Lord, and I speak the truth;
    I make known what is right.”

The Lord of the World and the Idols of Babylon

20 The Lord says,

“Come together, people of the nations,
    all who survive the fall of the empire;
    present yourselves for the trial!
The people who parade with their idols of wood
    and pray to gods that cannot save them—
    those people know nothing at all!
21 Come and present your case in court;
    let the defendants consult one another.
Who predicted long ago what would happen?
Was it not I, the Lord, the God who saves his people?
    There is no other god.

22 “Turn to me now and be saved,
    people all over the world!
I am the only God there is.
23 (B)My promise is true,
    and it will not be changed.
I solemnly promise by all that I am:
    Everyone will come and kneel before me
    and vow to be loyal to me.

24 “They will say that only through me
    are victory and strength to be found;
    but all who hate me will suffer disgrace.
25 I, the Lord, will rescue all the descendants of Jacob,
    and they will give me praise.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:14 Hebrew Cush: Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).

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:
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)
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)
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.
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,
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.
I form the light and create darkness,(U)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;(V)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

“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.

“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.”

14 This is what the Lord says:

“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)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
  3. Isaiah 45:14 That is, the upper Nile region