Isaiah 45

Cyrus and the LORD Who Creates

1The LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him,
to loosen kings’ belts,
to open doors before him so gates cannot be shut: 2“I will go ahead of you and straighten the rough places.
I will shatter bronze doors and cut through iron bars. 3I will give you treasures kept in darkness,
wealth hidden in secret places,
so you may know that I am the LORD,
Israel’s God, who calls you by name. 4For the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one,
I call you by name and give you a title,
though you do not know me.

5I am the LORD, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.
I equip you, though you do not know me, 6so people from the sun’s rising to its setting
may know there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other. 7I form light and create darkness,
make well-being and create disaster.
I, the LORD, do all these things. 8Drip down, heavens above;
let the skies rain righteousness.
Let the earth open and salvation bear fruit,
and let righteousness sprout with it.
I, the LORD, have created it.”

9Woe to one who quarrels with his Maker,
a potsherd among earth’s potsherds!
Does clay ask its potter, “What are you making?”
Does your work say, “He has no hands”? 10Woe to one who says to a father, “What are you begetting?”
or to a woman, “What are you laboring to bring forth?” 11The LORD, Israel’s Holy One and Maker, says:
“Ask me about things to come;
would you command me about my children
and the work of my hands? 12I made the earth and created humanity upon it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.

13I stirred him up in righteousness
and will make all his roads straight.
He will build my city and release my exiles,
without payment or bribe,”
says the LORD of hosts. 14The LORD says:
“Egypt’s labor and Cush’s trade,
and the tall Sabeans, will come over to you and be yours.
They will follow you, coming in chains,
bowing before you and pleading with you:
‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other;
there is no other God.’” 15Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
Israel’s God, Savior. 16All of them are ashamed and disgraced;
the makers of images go away in disgrace together.

17But Israel is saved by the LORD
with everlasting salvation.
You will not be ashamed or disgraced
forever and ever. 18For the LORD says,
the Creator of the heavens—he is God—
the one who formed and made the earth, who established it,
who did not create it as emptiness but formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the LORD, and there is no other. 19I did not speak in secret, in a dark land;
I did not tell Jacob’s offspring, ‘Seek me in emptiness.’
I, the LORD, speak righteousness,
declare what is straight. 20Gather and come, draw near together,
you survivors of the nations!
Those who carry their wooden idols know nothing;
they pray to a god who cannot save.

21Declare your case; present it! Let them consult together.
Who made this heard long ago, announced it in advance?
Was it not I, the LORD?
There is no other God beside me,
a righteous God and Savior; there is none except me. 22Turn to me and be saved, all earth’s ends,
for I am God, and there is no other. 23By myself I have sworn;
a righteous word has gone from my mouth and will not return:
to me every knee will bend,
every tongue will swear allegiance. 24‘Only in the LORD,’ people will say of me,
‘are righteousness and strength.’
To him all who rage against him will come and be ashamed.

25In the LORD all Israel’s offspring
will be vindicated and glory.”