Isaiah 45
45
God Chooses Cyrus to Free Israel
1This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his appointed king:
“I hold your right hand.
I will help you defeat nations.
I will help you take other kings’ power away.
I will open doors for you
so city gates will not stop you.
2I will go before you.
And I will make the mountains flat.
I will break down the bronze gates of the cities.
I will cut through the iron bars on the gates.
3I will give you the wealth that is stored away.
And I will give you hidden riches.
I will do this so you will know I am the Lord.
I, the God of Israel, call you by name.
4I do these things for my servants, the people of Jacob.
I do these things for my chosen people, the Israelites.
Cyrus, I call you by name.
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.
6I do these things so 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.
May the earth receive it.
May salvation grow.
May 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 one 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?’”
11The Lord is the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker.
He says this:
“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 I made all the people living on it.
With my own hands I stretched out the skies.
I command all the armies in the sky.
13I will bring Cyrus to do good things.
And I will make his work easy.
Cyrus will rebuild my city,
and he will set my people free.
Cyrus has not been paid to do these things.
The Lord of heaven’s armies says this.”
14The Lord says,
“The things made in Egypt and Cush
and the tall people of Seba
will come to you.
They will become yours.
The Sabeans will walk behind you.
They will come along in chains.
They will bow down before you.
They will pray to you, saying,
‘God is with you.
And there is no other God.’”
15You are a God that people cannot see.
You are the God and Savior of Israel.
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.
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.
He made the earth.
But he did not want it to be empty.
He wanted life to be on the earth.
This is what the Lord says:
“I am the Lord. There is no other God.
19I did not speak in secret.
I did not hide my words somewhere in a 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 have escaped from other nations.
So 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.
Everyone will promise to follow me.
24People will say, ‘Goodness and power
come only from the Lord.’”
Everyone who has been angry with the Lord
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.
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Isaiah 45: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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.