Isaiæ 45
1 Haec dicit Dominus christo meo Cyro, cuius apprehendi dexteram, ut subiiciam ante faciem eius Gentes, et dorsa regum vertam, et aperiam coram eo ianuas, et portae non claudentur.
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 Ego ante te ibo: et gloriosos terrae humiliabo: portas aereas conteram, et vectes ferreos confringam.
I will go ahead of you and level the mountains. I will break down bronze gates and cut through iron bars.
3 Et dabo tibi thesauros absconditos, et arcana secretorum: ut scias quia ego Dominus, qui voco nomen tuum, Deus 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 Propter servum meum Iacob, et Israel electum meum, vocavi te nomine tuo: assimilavi te, et non cognovisti 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 Ego Dominus, et non est amplius: extra me non est Deus: accinxi te, et non cognovisti 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 Ut sciant hi, qui ab ortu solis, et qui ab occidente, quoniam absque me non est Deus: ego Dominus, et non est alter,
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 formans lucem, et creans tenebras, faciens pacem, et creans malum: ego Dominus faciens omnia haec.
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 Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant iustum: aperiatur terra, et germinet salvatorem: et iustitia oriatur simul: ego Dominus creavi eum.
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 Vae qui contradicit fictori suo, testa de samiis terrae: numquid dicet lutum figulo suo: Quid facis, et opus tuum absque manibus est?
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 Vae qui dicit patri: Quid generas? et mulieri: Quid parturis?
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 Haec dicit Dominus sanctus Israel plastes eius: Ventura interrogate me, super filios meos, et super opus manuum mearum mandate mihi.
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 Ego feci terram, et hominem super eam creavi ego: manus meae tetenderunt caelos, et omni militiae eorum mandavi.
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 Ego suscitavi eum ad iustitiam, et omnes vias eius dirigam: ipse aedificabit civitatem meam, et captivitatem meam dimittet, non in pretio, neque in muneribus, dicit Dominus Deus exercituum.
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 Haec dicit Dominus: Labor Aegypti, et negotiatio Aethiopiae, et Sabaim viri sublimes, ad te transibunt, et tui erunt: Post te ambulabunt, vincti manicis pergent: et te adorabunt, teque deprecabuntur: Tantum in te est Deus, et non est absque te Deus.
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 Vere tu es Deus absconditus, Deus Israel salvator.
Yet you are a God who hides himself, God of Israel, Savior.
16 Confusi sunt, et erubuerunt omnes: simul abierunt in confusionem fabricatores errorum.
Everyone who makes idols are ashamed and humiliated, all of them are disgraced.
17 Israel salvatus est in Domino salute aeterna: non confundemini, et non erubescetis usque in saeculum saeculi.
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 Quia haec dicit Dominus creans caelos, ipse Deus formans terram, et faciens eam, ipse plastes eius: non in vanum creavit eam: ut habitaretur, formavit eam. ego Dominus, et non est alius.
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 Non in abscondito locutus sum in loco terrae tenebroso: non dixi semini Iacob: Frustra quaerite me. ego Dominus loquens iustitiam, annuncians recta.
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 Congregamini, et venite, et accedite simul qui salvati estis ex Gentibus: nescierunt qui levant lignum sculpturae suae, et rogant Deum non salvantem.
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 Annunciate, et venite, et consiliamini simul: quis auditum fecit hoc ab initio, et tunc praedixit illud? numquid non ego Dominus, et non est ultra deus absque me? Deus iustus, et salvans non est praeter 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 Convertimini ad me, et salvi eritis omnes fines terrae: quia ego Deus, et non est alius.
Everyone on earth, come to me and be saved, for I am God and there is no God apart from me.
23 In memetipso iuravi, egredietur de ore meo iustitiae verbum, et non revertetur: quia mihi curvabitur omne genu, et iurabit omnis lingua.
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 Ergo in Domino, dicet, meae sunt iustitiae et imperium: ad eum venient, et confundentur omnes qui repugnant ei.
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 Domino iustificabitur, et laudabitur omne semen Israel.
But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be made right, and they will glory in him.
