45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right hand,
To subdue nations before him
And ①to undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
▷ ①Lit I will loose
45:2 “I will go before you and make the ①rough places smooth;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
▷ ①Another reading is mountains
45:3 I will give you the ①treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
▷ ①Or hoarded treasures
45:4 For the sake of Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have not known Me.
45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will ①arm you, though you have not known Me,
▷ ①Or embrace
45:6 So that people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no one else,
45:7 The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing ①well-being and creating disaster;
I am the LORD who does all these things.
▷ ①Or peace
45:8 “Drip down, heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
And righteousness sprout with it.
I, the LORD, have created it.
45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with ①his Maker—
A piece of pottery ②among the other earthenware pottery pieces!
Will the clay say to the ③potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
▷ ①Lit He who formed him ②Lit with ③Lit he who formed him
45:10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you ①giving birth?’ ”
▷ ①Lit in labor pains with
45:11 This is what the LORD says, the Holy One of Israel and ①his Maker:
“ ②Ask Me about the things to come ③concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
▷ ①Lit He who formed him ②Or Will you ask ③Or upon
45:12 It is I who made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I ①ordained all their ②lights.
▷ ①Or commanded ②Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
45:13 I have stirred him in righteousness,
And I will make all his ways smooth.
He will build My city and let My exiles go free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the LORD of armies.
45:14 This is what the LORD says:
“The ①products of Egypt and the merchandise of ②Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains
And will bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
‘ ③God certainly is ④with you, and there is no one else,
No other God.’ ”
▷ ①Lit labor ②Or Ethiopia ③Or God is with you alone ④Or in
45:15 Truly, You are a God who hides Himself,
God of Israel, Savior!
45:16 They will be put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
45:17 Israel has been saved by the LORD
With an everlasting salvation;
You will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
45:18 For this is what the LORD says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it ①as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited):
“I am the LORD, and there is no one else.
▷ ①LXX in vain
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
In ①some dark land;
I did not say to the ②offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in ③a wasteland’;
I, the LORD, speak righteousness,
Declaring things that are right.
▷ ①Lit a place of a land of darkness ②Lit seed ③Or vain
45:20 “Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge,
Who carry around ①their wooden idol
And pray to a god who cannot save.
▷ ①Lit the wood of their carved image
45:21 Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
45:22 Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
45:23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
45:24 They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
45:25 In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
Will be justified and will boast.”