The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 45

 The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 45

1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him: I will loosen the loins of kings, to open doors before him, and gates will not be shut.

2 I will go before you and make straight the crooked places; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut in pieces the bars of iron.

3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, and of Israel my chosen, I will call you by your name; I have given you your surname, though you have not known me.

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God; I will gird you, though you have not known me.

 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am the Lord, and there is no other.

7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.

8 Drop down, you heavens from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, and salvation spring forth, and righteousness spring up together; I, the Lord, have created them.

9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker! A potsherd among potsherds of clay! Should the clay say to him who formed it, 'What are you making?' or to your work, 'Do you have no hands?'

10 Woe to him who says to his father, 'What are you bearing?' or to his wife, 'What are you giving birth to?'

11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, his Maker: Ask me of things to come; demand of me concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands.

12 I made the earth, and created man upon it; I made him; my hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their hosts.

13 I have awakened him in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight: he shall build my city, and he shall release my captives, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of hosts.

14 Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; they shall come after you, in fetters, and bow down before you; they shall make their supplication to you, saying, 'Surely God is in you, and there is no other god besides.'

15 Truly you are the God who hides yourself, the God of Israel, the Savior. 

16 They will be ashamed, they will all be confounded; they will fall together with shame who make idols.

17 But Israel is saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; therefore you will not be ashamed nor confounded forever and ever.

18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it; he established it; he did not create it in vain, but formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19 I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth; I have not said to the house of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain! I am the Lord, speaking righteousness, declaring what is right.'

20 Gather yourselves together, and come; draw near together, you who are escaped from the nations! They know nothing who carry their carved images of wood in procession and pray to a god who cannot save. 

21 Declare, and come near, and take counsel together: who hath declared this of old? Who hath declared it since then? It is not I; there is no righteous God and Savior beside me.

22 Look 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; the word of righteousness hath gone out of my mouth, and shall not return: that to me every knee shall bow, and to me every tongue shall swear.

24 Of me it shall be said, Surely in the Lord there are righteousness and strength: all who are incensed against him shall come, and be ashamed.

25 But in the Lord all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.