Isaiah 45
1 Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him — and I will loose the loins of kings; to open before him the two-leaved doors, and the gates shall not be shut:
This 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.
2 I will go before thee, and make the elevated places plain; I will break in pieces the brazen doors, and cut asunder the bars of iron;
I will go ahead of you and level the mountains. I will break down bronze gates and cut through iron bars.
3 and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places; that thou mayest know that I, Jehovah, who call thee by name, [am] the God of Israel.
I 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.
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have called thee by thy name; I surnamed thee, though thou didst not know me;
I 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.
5 I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else; there is no God beside me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me;
I 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,
6 — that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the going down, that there is none beside me. I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else;
so 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.
7 forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, Jehovah, do all these things.
I create light, and I make darkness, I bring peace and I bring about disaster. I am the Lord and I do all this.
8 Drop down, [ye] heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and with it let righteousness spring up. I, Jehovah, have created it.
Let 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.
9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let a potsherd [strive] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that formeth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands?
What 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!”
10 Woe unto him that saith unto [his] father, What begettest thou? Or to [his] mother, What hast thou brought forth?
How bad it would be if you said to your father, “Why did you have me?” or to your mother, “Why was I ever born?”!
11 Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me.
This 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?
12 It is I that have made the earth, and created man upon it; it is I, my hands, that have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
I'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.
13 It is I that have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Because I do what's right, I will encourage him 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.
14 Thus saith Jehovah: The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall walk after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall bow down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, [saying, ] Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, no other God. ...
This 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.’”
15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. ...
Yet you are a God who hides himself, God of Israel, Savior.
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them; they shall go away in confusion together, the makers of idols.
Everyone who makes idols are ashamed and humiliated, all of them are disgraced.
17 Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, unto the ages of ages.
But Israel will be saved by the Lord with a salvation that lasts forever. You will never be ashamed or disgraced for all eternity.
18 For thus saith Jehovah who created the heavens, God himself who formed the earth and made it, he who established it, — not as waste did he create it: he formed it to be inhabited: — I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else.
For 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.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain: I [am] Jehovah, speaking righteousness, declaring things which are right.
I 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. I, the Lord, tell the truth—I say what's right.
20 Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
Gather 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?
21 Declare and bring [them] near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath caused this to be heard from ancient time? [who] hath declared it long ago? Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none besides me.
Discuss 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.
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and there is none else.
Everyone on earth, come to me and be saved, for I am God and there is no God apart from me.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] righteousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
I 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.
24 Only in Jehovah, shall one say, have I righteousness and strength. To him shall [men] come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
They 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.
25 In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be made right, and they will glory in him.
