Isaiah 45:1–48:22
45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To aCyrus, whose bright hand I have 1held—
cTo subdue nations before him
And dloose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
eAnd 2make the 3crooked places straight;
fI will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
gThat you may know that I, the Lord,
Who hcall you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
4 For iJacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
5 I jam the Lord, and kthere is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
lI will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 mThat they may nknow from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and ocreate calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’
8 “Rain pdown, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with qhis Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
rShall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
s“Ask Me of things to come concerning tMy sons;
And concerning uthe work of My hands, you command Me.
12 vI have made the earth,
And wcreated man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And xall their host I have commanded.
13 yI have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will 4direct all his ways;
He shall zbuild My city
And let My exiles go free,
aNot for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord:
b“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over cin chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, d‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
eThere is no other God.’ ”
15 Truly You are God, fwho hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be gashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 hBut Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an ieverlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or jdisgraced
Forever and ever.
kWho created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it 5in vain,
Who formed it to be linhabited:
m“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in nsecret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me 6in vain’;
oI, the Lord, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
pThey have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
qWho has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
rAnd there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
sAll you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 tI have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every uknee shall bow,
vEvery tongue shall take an oath.
7‘Surely in the Lord I have wrighteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And xall shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 yIn the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and zshall glory.’ ”
46 Bel abows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
bA burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
cBut have themselves gone into captivity.
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
dWho have been upheld by Me from 1birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, eI am He,
And even to gray hairs fI will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 “To gwhom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
6 hThey lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a igoldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
7 jThey bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though kone cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.
8 “Remember this, and 2show yourselves men;
lRecall to mind, O you transgressors.
9 mRemember the former things of old,
For I am God, and nthere is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 oDeclaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, p‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
11 Calling a bird of prey qfrom the east,
The man rwho executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed sI have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
12 “Listen to Me, you tstubborn-hearted,
uWho are far from righteousness:
13 vI bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation wshall not 3linger.
And I will place xsalvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.
47 “Come adown and bsit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of cBabylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and 1delicate.
2 dTake the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
3 eYour nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
fI will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4 As for gour Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in hsilence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
iFor you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 jI was angry with My people;
kI have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
lOn the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, ‘I shall be ma lady forever,’
So that you did not ntake these things to heart,
oNor remember the latter end of them.
8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
9 But these two things shall come to you
pIn a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, ‘No one qsees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have 2warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able 3to put it off.
And rdesolation shall come upon you ssuddenly,
Which you shall not know.
12 “Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
13 tYou are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now uthe 4astrologers, the stargazers,
And 5the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be vas stubble,
The fire shall wburn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
With whom you have labored,
xYour merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his 6quarter.
No one shall save you.
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
48 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the Lord,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But anot in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves bafter the holy city,
And clean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have ddeclared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, eand they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were 1obstinate,
And fyour neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called ga transgressor from the womb.
9 “For hMy name’s sake iI will 2defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, jI have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the kfurnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For lhow should My name be profaned?
And mI will not give My glory to another.
God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am also