Isaiah 45
45
1This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, the one he has anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to direct him to defeat nations and to make kings weak, to open doors before him and gates that will not be shut. 2I will go ahead of you and level the mountains.#45:2. Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint reading. I will break down bronze gates and cut through iron bars. 3I will give you hidden treasure, treasure concealed in secret places, so that you can know for sure that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
4I call you by name and I have given you a title of honor, for the sake of Jacob my servant, and Israel the one I chose, even though you don't know me. 5I am the Lord, there is no God apart from me. Apart from me there is no God. I will make you strong, even though you don't know me, 6so that everyone, from the east to the west, will know that there is no God apart from me, that I am the Lord, and there is none apart from me. 7I create light, and I make darkness, I bring peace and I bring about disaster. I am the Lord and I do all this. 8Let the rain fall from the sky above, let goodness fall from the clouds, let the earth open up to receive goodness and salvation so they can grow together. I, the Lord, created them.
9What trouble people face when they fight with their Creator—they're just pots among all the other pots on earth! Does the clay tell the potter who is shaping it, “What are you doing?” or “What you're making is so bad it's like you have no hands!” 10How bad it would be if you said to your father, “Why did you have me?” or to your mother, “Why was I ever born?”!
11This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, your Creator: You can ask me about things to come. But are you going to lecture me about my children and what I do? 12I'm the one who made the earth, and I created human beings to live there. It was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordered all the stars to come into being.#45:12. “To come into being”: supplied for clarity.
13Because I do what's right, I will encourage him#45:13. Referring back to Cyrus mentioned in verse 1. and smooth out all the roads he takes. He will rebuild my city and will set my exiles free without being paid or bribed to do so, says the Lord Almighty.
14This is what the Lord says: The productive Egyptians and the Ethiopian traders, as well as the tall Sabean people, will come over to you and will belong to you. They will walk behind you in chains and bow down to you, pleading with you, saying, “God is certainly with you, and there is no other God besides him.”
15Yet you are a God who hides himself, God of Israel, Savior. 16Everyone who makes idols are ashamed and humiliated, all of them are disgraced. 17But Israel will be saved by the Lord with a salvation that lasts forever. You will never be ashamed or disgraced for all eternity.
18For this is what the Lord says, the God who created the heavens, who formed and made the earth, he founded it. He didn't make it to be left empty, but formed it to be inhabited. He is the one who says, I am the Lord, and there is no God apart from me. 19I haven't been talking in secret in an obscure place. I didn't tell the descendants of Jacob: Look for me in a place where no one can be found.#45:19. “In a place where no one can be found”: literally, “emptiness.” I, the Lord, tell the truth—I say what's right.
20Gather yourselves together, and come, come close, you refugees of the nations. Aren't they stupid, these people who carry around their wooden idols, and who pray to a god that can't save them? 21Discuss this together, and then speak up, present your case. Who predicted this long ago? Who said what would happen in the future back in the past? Wasn't that me, the Lord? There is no other God except me, no other God who does what is right, and who saves. There is no God apart from me. 22Everyone on earth, come to me and be saved, for I am God and there is no God apart from me. 23I have sworn by my own self, I have spoken what is right, and I won't ever go back on it. Everyone shall bow before me; everyone shall acknowledge me. 24They will say about me, “Salvation and strength can only be found in the Lord.” Everyone who has fought against him will come to him and will be ashamed. 25But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be made right, and they will glory in him.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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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