Isaiah 45 - International Standard Version (ISV)

Cyrus: God’s Deliverer

45 This is what the Lord says to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him,
as I strip kings of their armor,^[a]
to open doors^[b] before him
and gates that cannot keep closed:

² “I myself will go before you,
and he^[c] will make the mountains^[d] level;
I’ll shatter bronze doors
and cut through iron bars.
³ I’ll give you concealed treasures^[e]
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you’ll know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
⁴ For the sake of Jacob my servant,
Israel^[f] my chosen,
I’ve called you,
and he has established you with a name,^[g]
although you have not acknowledged me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other besides me:
and there are no gods.^[h]
I’m strengthening you,
although you have not acknowledged me,
⁶ so that from the sun’s rising^[i] to the west
people may know that there is none besides me.

“I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

God is Sovereign

⁷ “I form light and create darkness,
I make goodness^[j] and create disaster.
I am the Lord, who does all these things.

⁸ “Shout,^[k] you skies above, and you clouds,
and let righteousness stream down.^[l]
I am^[m] the one who says to the earth, ‘Let salvation blossom,
and let righteousness sprout forth.’^[n]

⁹ “Woe to the one who quarrels with his makers,^[o]
a mere potsherd with the potsherds of the^[p] earth!
Woe to the one who says^[q] to the one forming him,
‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no human^[r] hands?’!
¹⁰ Woe to the^[s] one who says to his father,
‘What are you begetting?’
or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’!”

¹¹ This is what the Lord^[t] says,
the Creator of the signs:

“Question me about my children,^[u]
or give me orders about the work of my hands.
¹² I myself made the earth
and personally created humankind upon it.
My own hands stretched out the skies;
I marshaled all their starry hosts.”

God will Bless Cyrus

¹³ “I have aroused him^[v] in righteousness,
and I’ll make all his pathways smooth.
It is he who will rebuild my city
and set my exiles free,
but not for a price nor reward, ”
says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.

¹⁴ This is what the Lord says:
“The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia,
those^[w] Sabeans, men of great heights.^[x]
They’ll come over to you and will be yours;
They’ll trudge behind you—
coming over in chains, they’ll bow down to you.
They’ll plead with you,
‘Surely God is in you;
and there is no other God at all.’”

God as Savior of Israel

¹⁵ “Truly you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶ All of them will be put to shame—indeed, disgraced!
The makers of idols will go off in disgrace together.
¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you won’t be put to shame or disgraced ever again.”

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says,
who created the heavens—
he is God,
and^[y] the one who formed the earth and made it,
and^[z] he is the one who established it;
he didn’t create it for^[aa] chaos,
but formed it to be inhabited—

“I am the Lord and there is no other.
¹⁹ I didn’t speak in secret,
from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I didn’t say to Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in chaos.’
I, the Lord, speak truth,
declaring what is right.

²⁰ “Gather together and come;
draw near and enter,^[ab]
your fugitives from the nations.
Those who carry around their wooden idols
know nothing,
nor do those who keep praying to a god
that cannot save.
²¹ Explain and present a case!
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who announced this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides me,
a righteous God and Savior;
and^[ac] there is none besides me.
²² Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth.
For I am God, and there is no other.

Every Knee will Bow

²³ By myself I have sworn—
from my mouth has gone out integrity,
a promise^[ad] that won’t be revoked:
‘To me every knee will bow,
and^[ae] every tongue will swear.’
²⁴ One will say of me,^[af]
‘Only in the Lord are victories and might.’
All who raged against him will come^[ag] to him
and will be put to shame.
²⁵ In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
will triumph and make their boast.”

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 45:1 Lit. I expose the loins of kings
2. Isaiah 45:1 So 1QIsa^a (pl.); MT (dual)
3. Isaiah 45:2 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read I
4. Isaiah 45:2 So 1QIsa^a 1QIsa^b LXX; MT reads hills
5. Isaiah 45:3 Lit. treasures of darkness
6. Isaiah 45:4 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read and Israel
7. Isaiah 45:4 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads I have called you by your name, given you a title; LXX reads I will call you by your name, and receive you
8. Isaiah 45:5 So 1QIsa^a; MT 1QIsa^b read there is no other: besides me there are no gods
9. Isaiah 45:6 I.e. the east
10. Isaiah 45:7 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads well-being; LXX reads peace
11. Isaiah 45:8 So 1QIsa^a LXX; MT reads Shower
12. Isaiah 45:8 So 1QIsa^a; 1QIsa^b MT LXX read Shower, you skies above, and let the clouds stream down righteousness
13. Isaiah 45:8 1QIsa^a MT LXX lack I am
14. Isaiah 45:8 So 1QIsa^a; 1QIsa^b 1QIsa^c MT read Let the earth open up, let them bear the fruit of salvation, and let righteousness sprout forth also. I the Lord have created it
15. Isaiah 45:9 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads maker
16. Isaiah 45:9 So 1QIsa^a; MT lacks the
17. Isaiah 45:9 So 1QIsa^a; 1QIsa^b MT LXX read Will clay say
18. Isaiah 45:9 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack human
19. Isaiah 45:10 So 1QIsa^a; MT lacks the
20. Isaiah 45:11 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX 1QIsa^a corrector reads the Lord, the Holy One of Israel
21. Isaiah 45:11 So 1QIsa^a LXX; Lit. my sons and daughters; MT reads says, and its creator: Question me of things to come about my children
22. Isaiah 45:13 I.e. Cyrus, king of Persia
23. Isaiah 45:14 Lit. and those; so 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read and the
24. Isaiah 45:14 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads height
25. Isaiah 45:18 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack and
26. Isaiah 45:18 So 1QIsa^a; MT lacks and
27. Isaiah 45:18 Or it to remain in a state of; so 1QIsa^a LXX; MT lacks for
28. Isaiah 45:20 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read together
29. Isaiah 45:21 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack and
30. Isaiah 45:23 Lit. word
31. Isaiah 45:23 So 1QIsa^a; MT lacks and
32. Isaiah 45:24 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads one said of me; LXX reads saying
33. Isaiah 45:24 So 1QIsa^a MT^mss LXX (pl.); MT (sing.)