< Isaiah 45 >
1 Thus says Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him. And I will loose the loins of kings to open the doors before him. And the gates shall not be shut.
2 I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth. I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut apart the bars of iron.
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou may know that it is I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, though thou have not known me.
5 I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou have not known me,
6 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am Jehovah, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah who does all these things.
8 Distil, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together. I, Jehovah, have created it.
9 Woe to him who strives with his maker, a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What are thou making? or thy work, He has no hands?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, What are thou begetting? or to a woman, With what are thou travailing?
11 Thus says Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel and his maker: Ask me of the things that are to come concerning my sons. And command ye me concerning the work of my hands.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says Jehovah of hosts.
14 Thus says Jehovah: The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to thee, and they shall be thine. They shall go after thee. In chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down to thee. They shall make supplication to thee, saying, Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, no God.
15 Verily thou are a God who hides thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 They shall be put to shame, yea, confounded, all of them. They shall go into confusion together who are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.
18 For thus says Jehovah who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and did not create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah, and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain. I, Jehovah, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble 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 to a god that cannot save.
21 Declare ye, and bring it forth. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Have not I, Jehovah? And there is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is none besides me.
22 Look to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else.
23 By myself I have sworn, the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess to God.
24 Only in Jehovah, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength. Even to him men shall come, and all those who were incensed against him shall be put to shame.
25 In Jehovah all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.
