Isaiah 45
1 This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before him and disarm kings; to open doors before him, so that gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you and level the heights; I will break down bronze doors and cut through iron bars.
3 I will give you treasures hidden in darkness, riches kept in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you did not know me.
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no God. I have strengthened you, though you did not know me,
6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun to its setting, that there is nothing besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.”
8 “Rain down from above, you heavens; let the clouds pour out righteousness. Let the earth open and bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.
9 Woe to anyone who quarrels with the one who formed him—a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Does the clay say to the one who shapes it, ‘What are you making?’ or, ‘Your work has no hands’?
10 Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What have you fathered?’ or to a woman, ‘What have you given birth to?’
11 This is what the LORD says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him: “Ask me about the things to come. Will you give me orders concerning my children and the work of my hands?
12 I made the earth and created humankind on it. It was I—my hands—that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
13 I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, without payment or reward,” says the LORD of Hosts.
14 This is what the LORD says: “The labor of Egypt, the trade of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of great stature, will come over to you and be yours. They will follow you; they will come over in chains and bow down before you. They will plead with you, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.’”
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, Savior.
16 All of them have been put to shame and disgraced; together, the makers of idols have gone away in disgrace.
17 Israel has been saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or disgraced, forever and ever.
18 For this is what the LORD says, who created the heavens—he is God, who formed the earth and made it, who established it. He did not create it to be empty; he formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place on earth; I did not say to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in emptiness.’ I, the LORD, speak what is right; I declare what is upright.
20 Gather and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations. Those who carry the wood of their idols and pray to a god who cannot save know nothing.
21 Declare and present your case; let them consult together. Who made this known long ago, who announced it from the beginning? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no God besides me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but me.
22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn; righteousness has gone out from my mouth, a word that will not be taken back: to me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance.
24 It will be said of me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ To him they will come, and all who were enraged against him will be put to shame.”
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be justified and will boast.
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