Isaiah 45 New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
    whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
    and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
    and the gates shall not be closed:
²I will go before you
    and level the mountains,^[a]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron,
³I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
    I surname you, though you do not know me.
⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    besides me there is no god.
    I arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷I form light and create darkness,
    I make weal and create woe;
    I the Lord do all these things.

⁸Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,^[b]
    and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
    I the Lord have created it.

⁹Woe to you who strive with your Maker,
    earthen vessels with the potter!^[c]
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
¹⁰Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labour?’
¹¹Thus says the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Will you question me^[d] about my children,
    or command me concerning the work of my hands?
¹²I made the earth,
    and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their host.
¹³I have aroused Cyrus^[e] in righteousness,
    and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
    and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
    says the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,^[f]
    and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours,
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
    ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other;
    there is no god besides him.’
¹⁵Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Saviour.
¹⁶All of them are put to shame and confounded,
    the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷But Israel is saved by the Lord
    with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.

¹⁸For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
    (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
    (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
    he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹I did not speak in secret,
    in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    ‘Seek me in chaos.’
I the Lord speak the truth,
    I declare what is right.

Idols Cannot Save Babylon

²⁰Assemble yourselves and come together,
    draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
    those who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
²¹Declare and present your case;
    let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
    Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
    There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Saviour;
    there is no one besides me.

²²Turn to me and be saved,
    all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
²³By myself I have sworn,
    from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear.’

²⁴Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
    shall come to him and be ashamed.
²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
    shall triumph and glory.

Footnotes

Isaiah 45:2 Q Ms Gk: MT the swellings
Isaiah 45:8 Q Ms: MT that they may bring forth salvation
Isaiah 45:9 Cn: Heb with the potsherds, or with the potters
Isaiah 45:11 Cn: Heb Ask me of things to come
Isaiah 45:13 Heb him
Isaiah 45:14 Or Nubia; Heb Cush

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition (NRSVACE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.