Chapter 45

God Uses Cyrus

1 Thus says the Lord to aCyrus His anointed,

Whom I have taken by the right bhand,

To csubdue nations before him

And 1to dloose the loins of kings;

To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

2 “I will go before you and amake the 1rough places smooth;

I will bshatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron cbars.

3 “I will give you the 1atreasures of darkness

And hidden wealth of secret places,

So that you may know that it is I,

The Lord, the God of Israel, who bcalls you by your name.

4 “For the sake of aJacob My servant,

And Israel My chosen one,

I have also bcalled you by your name;

I have given you a title of honor

Though you have cnot known Me.

5 “I am the Lord, and athere is no other;

bBesides Me there is no God.

I will 1cgird you, though you have not known Me;

6 That 1amen may know from the rising to the setting of the sun

That there is bno one besides Me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other,

7 The One aforming light and bcreating darkness,

Causing 1well-being and ccreating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

God’s Supreme Power

8 “aDrip down, O heavens, from above,

And let the clouds pour down righteousness;

Let the bearth open up and salvation bear fruit,

cAnd righteousness spring up with it.

I, the Lord, have created it.

9 “Woe to the one who aquarrels with his 1Maker—

An earthenware vessel 2among the vessels of earth!

Will the bclay say to the 1potter, ‘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 begetting?’

Or to a woman, ‘To what are you 1giving birth?’ ”

11 Thus says the aLord, the Holy One of Israel, and his 1bMaker:

“2cAsk Me about the things to come 3concerning My dsons,

And you shall commit to Me ethe work of My hands.

12 “It is I who amade the earth, and created man upon it.

I bstretched out the heavens with My hands

And I 1ordained call their host.

13 “I have aroused him in arighteousness

And I will bmake all his ways smooth;

He will cbuild My city and will let My exiles go dfree,

Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.

14 Thus says the Lord,

“The 1products of aEgypt and the merchandise of 2bCush

And the Sabeans, men of stature,

Will ccome over to you and will be yours;

They will walk behind you, they will come over in dchains

And will ebow down to you;

They will make supplication to you:

‘3Surely, fGod is 4with you, and gthere is none else,

No other God.’ ”

15 Truly, You are a God who ahides Himself,

O God of Israel, bSavior!

16 They will be aput to shame and even humiliated, all of them;

The bmanufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.

17 Israel has been saved by the Lord

With an aeverlasting salvation;

You bwill not be put to shame or humiliated

To all eternity.

18 For thus says the Lord, who acreated the heavens (He is the God who bformed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it 1a cwaste place, but formed it to be dinhabited),

“I am the Lord, and ethere is none else.

19 “aI have not spoken in secret,

In 1some dark land;

I did not say to the 2boffspring of Jacob,

‘cSeek Me in 3a waste place’;

I, the Lord, dspeak righteousness,

eDeclaring things that are upright.

20 “aGather yourselves and come;

Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;

bThey have no knowledge,

Who ccarry about 1their wooden idol

And dpray to a god who cannot save.

21 “aDeclare and set forth your case;

Indeed, let them consult together.

bWho has announced this from of old?

Who has long since declared it?

Is it not I, the Lord?

And there is cno other God besides Me,

A righteous God and a dSavior;

There is none except Me.

22 “aTurn to Me and bbe saved, all the ends of the earth;

For I am God, and there is no other.

23 “aI have sworn by Myself,

The bword has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness

And will not turn back,

That to Me cevery knee will bow, every tongue will dswear allegiance.

24 “They will say of Me, ‘Only ain the Lord are righteousness and strength.’

Men will come to Him,

And ball who were angry at Him will be put to shame.

25 “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

Will be ajustified and will bglory.”

Chapter 47

Lament for Babylon

1 “aCome down and sit in the dust,

O bvirgin cdaughter of Babylon;

Sit on the ground without a throne,

O daughter of the Chaldeans!

For you shall no longer be called dtender and delicate.

2 “Take the amillstones and bgrind meal.

Remove your cveil, dstrip off the skirt,

Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.

3 “Your anakedness will be uncovered,

Your shame also will be exposed;

I will btake vengeance and will not 1spare a man.”

4 Our aRedeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,

The Holy One of Israel.

5 “aSit silently, and go into bdarkness,

O daughter of the Chaldeans,

For you will no longer be called

The cqueen of dkingdoms.

6 “I was angry with My people,

I profaned My heritage

And gave them into your hand.

You did not show mercy to them,

On the aaged you made your yoke very heavy.

7 “Yet you said, ‘I will be a aqueen forever.’

These things you did not bconsider

Nor remember the coutcome of 1them.

8 “Now, then, hear this, you asensual one,

Who bdwells securely,

Who says in 1your heart,

‘cI am, and there is no one besides me.

I will dnot sit as a widow,

Nor know loss of children.’

9 “But these atwo things will come on you bsuddenly in one day:

Loss of children and widowhood.

They will come on you in full measure

In spite of your many csorceries,

In spite of the great power of your spells.

10 “You felt asecure in your wickedness and said,

‘bNo one sees me,’

Your cwisdom and your knowledge, 1they have deluded you;

For you have said in your heart,

‘dI am, and there is no one besides me.’

11 “But aevil 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 bdestruction about which you do not know

Will come on you csuddenly.

12 “Stand fast now in your aspells

And in your many sorceries

With which you have labored from your youth;

Perhaps you will be able to profit,

Perhaps you may cause trembling.

13 “You are awearied with your many counsels;

Let now the bastrologers,

Those who prophesy by the stars,

Those who predict by the new moons,

Stand up and csave you from what will come upon you.

14 “Behold, they have become alike stubble,

bFire burns them;

They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;

There will be cno coal to warm by

Nor a fire to sit before!

15 “So have those become to you with whom you have labored,

Who have atrafficked with you from your youth;

Each has wandered in his own 1way;

There is bnone to save you.

Chapter 48

Israel’s Obstinacy

1 “aHear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel

And who came forth from the 1bloins of Judah,

Who cswear by the name of the Lord

And invoke the God of Israel,

But not in truth nor in drighteousness.

2 “For they call themselves after the aholy city

And blean on the God of Israel;

The Lord of hosts is His name.

3 “I adeclared the former things long ago

And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.

bSuddenly I acted, and they ccame to pass.

4 “Because I know that you are 1aobstinate,

And your bneck is an iron sinew

And your cforehead bronze,

5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,

Before 1they took place I proclaimed them to you,

So that you would not say, ‘My aidol has done them,

And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’

6 “You have heard; look at all this.

And you, will you not declare it?

I proclaim to you anew things from this time,

Even 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 aheard, 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 1brebel from 2birth.

9 “aFor the sake of My name I bdelay 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 anot as silver;

I have tested you in the bfurnace of affliction.

11 “aFor My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;

For how can My name be profaned?

And My bglory I will not give to another.

Deliverance Promised

12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel 1whom I called;

aI am He, bI am the first, I am also the last.

13 “Surely My hand afounded the earth,

And My right hand spread out the heavens;

When I bcall to them, they stand together.

14 “aAssemble, all of you, and listen!

bWho among them has declared these things?

The Lord loves him; he will ccarry out His good pleasure on dBabylon,

And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have acalled him,

I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.

16 “aCome near to Me, listen to this:

From the first I have bnot spoken in secret,

cFrom the time it took place, I was there.

And now dthe Lord 1God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

17 Thus says the Lord, your aRedeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,

Who bleads you in the way you should go.

18 “If only you had apaid attention to My …