< Isaiah 45 >

1 Cyrus is the one whom Yahweh has appointed [to be the emperor of Persia] and to whom he will give great power [IDM]; Yahweh will enable him to defeat other nations and to take away the power of their kings. He will cause gates of cities to be opened, and no one will ever be able to shut them.
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:
2 This is what Yahweh says to him: “Cyrus, I will go ahead of you and level the mountains. I will smash down bronze gates and cut through iron bars.
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;
3 I will give you treasures [that people have hidden] in dark secret places [DOU]. I will do that in order that you will know that I am Yahweh, the God to whom the Israelis belong, the God who calls you by your name.
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.
4 I have summoned you, calling out your name, for the sake of [the people of] Israel [DOU] whom I have chosen, who serve me. Even though you do not know me, I will give you a title which has great honor.
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;
5 I am Yahweh, and there is no other God [DOU]. Even though you do not know me, I will give you power
I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else; there is no God beside me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me;
6 in order that everyone in the world, from the east to the west, will know that there is no other [God]. I am Yahweh, and there is no other [God].
— 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;
7 I created the light and the darkness. I cause there to be peace and I cause there to be disasters. I, Yahweh, do all those things.”
forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, Jehovah, do all these things.
8 [And Yahweh also says, “I want my] rescue [of my people] [MET] to fall from the sky like rain. Just like the earth opens wide to accept rain, I will rescue/save my people and cause them to be treated justly. I, Yahweh, am the one who will cause both of those things to happen.
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.
9 Terrible things will happen to those who argue with me, the one who created them. [They are like] [MET] a clay pot and [I am like] the one who made it; so they certainly cannot [RHQ] criticize me. A lump of clay certainly cannot [RHQ] argue with the one who shapes it [to form a pot], saying, ‘Why are you making me like this?’ The pot cannot say ‘[You have no skill, because] what you made has no handles!’
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?
10 And it would be terrible if an unborn baby would say to its father, ‘Why are you [RHQ] causing me to be born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘The result of your labor pains will be useless?’”
Woe unto him that saith unto [his] father, What begettest thou? Or to [his] mother, What hast thou brought forth?
11 Yahweh, the Holy One of the Israeli people, the one who created Israel, says this to them: “(Why do you ask questions about [what I do for you], my children?/You should not ask questions about [what I do for you], my children.) [RHQ] (Why do you tell me about the work that I should do?/You should not tell me about the work that I should do.) [RHQ]
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.
12 I am the one who created the earth and created people to live on it. I stretched out the sky with my hands, and I put the stars in their places.
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.
13 And I will appoint Cyrus to do things that are right/just, and I will enable him to do all those things easily [MET]. His [workers] will rebuild my city, and he will free my people who have been (exiled/forced to leave their country). And he will do it without my rewarding/paying him! [Those things will surely happen because] I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it.
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.
14 And this is [also] what [I], Yahweh, say [to you, my people]: ‘You will rule the people of Egypt and Ethiopia, and the tall people of Seba [in Arabia] will become your slaves. They will come to you bringing all the things that they sell, and it will all be yours. [As prisoners], they will have chains on their arms as they follow you. They will prostrate themselves in front of you and say, “God is with/helping you and he is the only God; there is no other God.” '”
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. ...
15 God, although we cannot see you, you are the one to whom [we] Israeli people belong, the one who saves us.
Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. ...
16 All those who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.
They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them; they shall go away in confusion together, the makers of idols.
17 But you, Yahweh, will rescue [us, your] Israeli people, and we will be free forever. Never again will we again be humiliated and disgraced.
Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, unto the ages of ages.
18 Yahweh is God; he is the one who created the sky and created and formed the earth. He did not want it to remain with nothing living on it; he wanted people to live on it. [He says], “I am Yahweh; there is no other [God].
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.
19 [What I proclaimed], I did not speak secretly or [hide what I was saying by speaking] in a dark place. When I spoke to the descendants of Jacob, I did not tell them ‘It will be useless for you to (seek for/pray to) me!’ I, Yahweh, speak [only] what is true and what is right.
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.
20 You people who are still alive after experiencing great disasters, should come and gather together [and listen to this]: The people who carry around their wooden idols and pray to them are foolish, because those idols cannot rescue them!
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.
21 Talk among yourselves, and decide what you will say to prove that [your praying to idols is good]. [And when you do that, I will ask you], ‘Who predicted long ago [what has now happened]? Did any idol tell you [that those things would happen] [RHQ]?’ No, it was [RHQ] only I, Yahweh, who told you, because I am the only God; there is no other God. I am a God who acts righteously and saves people; there is no other one [who does these things].
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.
22 Everyone in the world should ask me to save them, because I am the only God who can do that; there is no other one.
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and there is none else.
23 I have solemnly declared, using my own name; I [SYN] have spoken what is true, and I will never change what I have said: [Some day], everyone [SYN] will bow in front of me, and they will all solemnly promise to be loyal to me.
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.
24 They will declare, ‘Yahweh is the one who enables us to live righteously and to be strong.’” And all those who have been angry at him will come to him, and they will be ashamed [for having been angry with him].
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.
25 Yahweh is the only one who will enable [us] Israeli people in the future to defeat our enemies, [and then] we will boast about what he [has done for us].
In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

< Isaiah 45 >