Isaiah 45–46

God Chooses Cyrus to Free Israel

45This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his appointed king:

“I hold your right hand

and will help you defeat nations

and take away other kings’ power.

I will open doors for you

so city gates will not stop you.

²I will go before you

and make the mountains flat.

I will break down the bronze gates of the cities

and cut through their iron bars.

³I will give you the wealth that is stored away

and the hidden riches

so you will know I am the Lord,

the God of Israel, who calls you by name.

⁴I do these things for my servants, the people of Jacob,

and for my chosen people, the Israelites.

Cyrus, I call you by name,

and I give you a title of honor even though you don’t know me.

⁵I am the Lord. There is no other God;

I am the only God.

I will make you strong,

even though you don’t know me,

⁶so that everyone will know

there is no other God.

From the east to the west they will know

I alone am the Lord.

⁷I made the light and the darkness.

I bring peace, and I cause troubles.

I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸“Sky above, make victory fall like rain;

clouds, pour down victory.

Let the earth receive it,

and let salvation grow,

and let victory grow with it.

I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“How terrible it will be for those who argue with the God who made them.

They are like a piece of broken pottery among many pieces.

The clay does not ask the potter,

‘What are you doing?’

The thing that is made doesn’t say to its maker,

‘You have no hands.’

¹⁰How terrible it will be for the child who says to his father,

‘Why are you giving me life?’

How terrible it will be for the child who says to his mother,

‘Why are you giving birth to me?’ ”

¹¹This is what the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker, says:

“You ask me about what will happen.

You question me about my children.

You give me orders about what I have made.

¹²I made the earth

and all the people living on it.

With my own hands I stretched out the skies,

and I commanded all the armies in the sky.

¹³I will bring Cyrus to do good things,

and I will make his work easy.

He will rebuild my city

and set my people free

without any payment or reward.

The Lord All-Powerful says this.”

¹⁴The Lord says,

“The goods made in Egypt and Cush

and the tall people of Seba

will come to you

and will become yours.

The Sabeans will walk behind you,

coming along in chains.

They will bow down before you

and pray to you, saying,

‘God is with you,

and there is no other God.’ ”

¹⁵God and Savior of Israel,

you are a God that people cannot see.

¹⁶All the people who make idols will be put to great shame;

they will go off together in disgrace.

¹⁷But Israel will be saved by the Lord,

and that salvation will continue forever.

Never again will Israel be put to shame.

¹⁸The Lord created the heavens.

He is the God who formed the earth and made it.

He did not want it to be empty,

but he wanted life on the earth.

This is what the Lord says:

“I am the Lord. There is no other God.

¹⁹I did not speak in secret

or hide my words in some dark place.

I did not tell the family of Jacob

to look for me in empty places.

I am the Lord, and I speak the truth;

I say what is right.

²⁰“You people who have escaped from other nations,

gather together and come before me;

come near together.

People who carry idols of wood don’t know what they are doing.

They pray to a god who cannot save them.

²¹Tell these people to come to me.

Let them talk about these things together.

Who told you long ago that this would happen?

Who told about it long ago?

I, the Lord, said these things.

There is no other God besides me.

I am the only good God. I am the Savior.

There is no other God.

²²“All people everywhere,

follow me and be saved.

I am God. There is no other God.

²³I will make a promise by my own power,

and my promise is true;

what I say will not be changed.

I promise that everyone will bow before me

and will promise to follow me.

²⁴People will say about me, ‘Goodness and power

come only from the Lord.’ ”

Everyone who has been angry with him

will come to him and be ashamed.

²⁵But with the Lord’s help, the people of Israel

will be found to be good,

and they will praise him.

False Gods Are Useless

46Bel and Nebo bow down.

Their idols are carried by animals.

The statues are only heavy loads that must be carried;

they only make people tired.

²These gods will all bow down.

They cannot save themselves

but will all be carried away like prisoners.

³“Family of Jacob, listen to me!

All you people from Israel who are still alive, listen!

I have carried you since you were born;

I have taken care of you from your birth.

⁴Even when you are old, I will be the same.

Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you.

I made you and will take care of you.

I will carry you and save you.

⁵“Can you compare me to anyone?

No one is equal to me or like me.

⁶Some people are rich with gold

and weigh their silver on the scales.

They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god.

Then they bow down and worship it.

⁷They put it on their shoulders and carry it.

They set it in its place, and there it stands;

it cannot move from its place.

People may yell at it, but it cannot answer.

It cannot save them from their troubles.

⁸“Remember this, and do not forget it!

Think about these things, you who turn against God.

⁹Remember what happened long ago.

Remember that I am God, and there is no other God.

I am God, and there is no one like me.

¹⁰From the beginning I told you what would happen in the end.

A long time ago I told you things that have not yet happened.

When I plan something, it happens.

What I want to do, I will do.

¹¹I am calling a man from the east to carry out my plan;

he will come like a hawk from a country far away.

I will make what I have said come true;

I will do what I have planned.

¹²Listen to me, you stubborn people,

who are far from what is right.

¹³I will soon do the things that are right.

I will bring salvation soon.

I will save Jerusalem

and bring glory to Israel.”