Isaiah 45
45
1“Cyrus is my anointed king.
I take hold of his right hand.
I give him the power
to bring nations under his control.
I help him strip kings of their power
to go to war against him.
I break city gates open so he can go through them.
I say to him,
2‘I will march out ahead of you.
I will make the mountains level.
I will break down bronze gates.
I will cut through their heavy iron bars.
3I will give you treasures that are hidden away.
I will give you riches that are stored up in secret places.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
I am the God of Israel.
I am sending for you by name.
4Cyrus, I am sending for you by name.
I am doing it for the good of the family of Jacob.
They are my servant.
I am doing it for Israel.
They are my chosen people.
You do not know anything about me.
But I am giving you a title of honor.
5I am the Lord. There is no other Lord.
I am the one and only God.
You do not know anything about me.
But I will make you strong.
6Then people will know there is no God but me.
Everyone from where the sun rises in the east
to where it sets in the west will know it.
I am the Lord.
There is no other Lord.
7I cause light to shine. I also create darkness.
I bring good times. I also create hard times.
I do all these things. I am the Lord.
8“ ‘Rain down my godliness, you heavens above.
Let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide to receive it.
Let freedom spring to life.
Let godliness grow richly along with it.
I have created all these things.
I am the Lord.’ ”
9How terrible it will be for anyone who argues with their Maker!
They are like a broken piece of pottery lying on the ground.
Does clay say to a potter,
“What are you making?”
Does a pot say,
“The potter doesn’t have any skill”?
10How terrible it will be for anyone who says to a father,
“Why did you give me life?”
How terrible for anyone who says to a mother,
“Why have you brought me into the world?”
11The Lord is the Holy One of Israel.
He made them.
He says to them,
“Are you asking me about what will happen to my children?
Are you telling me what I should do with what my hands have made?
12I made the earth.
I created human beings to live there.
My own hands spread out the heavens.
I put all the stars in their places.
13I will stir up Cyrus and help him win his battles.
I will make all his roads straight.
He will rebuild Jerusalem.
My people have been taken away from their country.
But he will set them free.
I will not pay him to do it.
He will not receive a reward for it,”
says the Lord who rules over all.
14The Lord says to the people of Jerusalem,
“You will get everything Egypt produces.
You will receive everything the people of Cush
and the tall Sabeans get in trade.
All of it will belong to you.
And all these people will walk behind you as slaves.
They will be put in chains and come over to you.
They will bow down to you.
They will admit,
‘God is with you.
There is no other God.’ ”
15You are a God who has been hiding yourself.
You are the God of Israel. You save us.
16All those who make statues of gods will be put to shame.
They will be dishonored.
They will be led away in shame together.
17But the Lord will save Israel.
He will save them forever.
They will never be put to shame or dishonored.
That will be true for all time to come.
18The Lord created the heavens.
He is God.
He formed the earth and made it.
He set it firmly in place.
He didn’t create it to be empty.
Instead, he formed it for people to live on.
He says, “I am the Lord.
There is no other Lord.
19I have not spoken in secret.
I have not spoken from a dark place.
I have not said to Jacob’s people,
‘It is useless to look for me.’
I am the Lord. I always speak the truth.
I always say what is right.
20“Come together, you people of the nations
who escaped from Babylon.
Gather together and come into court.
Only people who do not know anything
would carry around gods that are made out of wood.
They pray to false gods that can’t save them.
21Tell me what will happen. State your case.
Talk it over together.
Who spoke long ago about what would happen?
Who said it a long time ago?
I did. I am the Lord.
I am the one and only God.
I always do what is right.
I am the one who saves.
There is no God but me.
22“All you who live anywhere on earth,
turn to me and be saved.
I am God. There is no other God.
23I have made a promise in my own name.
I have spoken with complete honesty.
I will not take back a single word. I said,
‘Everyone will kneel down to me.
Everyone’s mouth will make promises in my name.’
24They will say, ‘The Lord is the only one who can save us.
Only he can make us strong.’ ”
All those who have been angry with the Lord will come to him.
And they will be put to shame.
25But the Lord will save all the people of Israel.
And so they will boast about the Lord.
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Isaiah 45: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 45
45
The LORD Appoints Cyrus
1The 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,
2“I myself will prepare your way,
levelling mountains and hills.
I will break down bronze gates
and smash their iron bars.
3I 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.
4I appoint you to help my servant Israel,
the people that I have chosen.
I have given you great honour,
although you do not know me.
5“I am the LORD; there is no other god.
I will give you the strength you need,
although you do not know me.
6I 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.
7I create both light and darkness;
I bring both blessing and disaster.
I, the LORD, do all these things.
8I 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
9 #
Rom 9.20
Does a clay pot dare to 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?
10Does anyone dare to say to his parents,
“Why did you make me like this?”
11The 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!
12I am the one who made the earth
and created the human race to live there.
By my power I stretched out the heavens;
I control the sun, the moon, and the stars.
13I myself have stirred Cyrus to action
to fulfil my purpose and put things right.
I will straighten 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.
14The LORD says to Israel,
“The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia#45.14 Ethiopia: See Word List. 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.
15The God of Israel, who saves his people,
is a God who conceals himself.
16Those who make idols will all be ashamed;
all of them will be disgraced.
17But Israel is saved by the LORD,
and her victory lasts for ever;
her people will never be disgraced.’ ”
18The 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 in.
It is he who says, “I am the LORD,
and there is no other god.
19I 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
20The 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!
21Come 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 #
Rom 14.11; Phil 2.10–11 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.
25I, the LORD, will rescue all the descendants of Jacob,
and they will give me praise.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.