Isaiah 45-46

English Standard Version

Cyrus, God's Instrument

45 Thus says the Lord to ^(A)his anointed, to Cyrus,
    ^(B)whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
    and ^(C)to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
    that gates may not be closed:
²“I will go before you
    and ^(D)level the exalted places,^[a]
^(E)I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron,
³^(F)I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, ^(G)who call you by your name.
⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
^(H)I call you by your name,
    ^(I)I name you, though you do not know me.
⁵^(J)I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    ^(K)I equip you, though you do not know me,
⁶^(L)that people 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.
⁷I form light and create darkness;
    I make well-being and ^(M)create calamity;
    I am the Lord, who does all these things.

⁸^(N)“Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and ^(O)let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
    let the earth cause them both to sprout;
    I the Lord have created it.

⁹^(P)“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
    a pot among earthen pots!
^(Q)Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”

¹¹Thus says ^(R)the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
^(S)“Ask me of things to come;
    will you command me ^(T)concerning my children and ^(U)the work of my hands?^[b]
¹²^(V)I made the earth
    and created man on it;
it was my hands ^(W)that stretched out the heavens,
    and ^(X)I commanded all their host.
¹³^(Y)I have stirred him up in righteousness,
    ^(Z)and I will make all his ways level;
^(AA)he shall build my city
    ^(AB)and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
    says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

¹⁴Thus says the Lord:
^(AC)“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
    and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you ^(AD)and be yours;
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
    no god besides him.’”

¹⁵^(AE)Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶^(AF)All 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;
^(AG)you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.

¹⁸^(AH)For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
    (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
    (he established it;
he ^(AI)did not create it empty,
    ^(AJ)he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹^(AK)I did not speak in secret,
    in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    ^(AL)‘Seek me in vain.’^[c]
I the Lord speak ^(AM)the truth;
    I declare what is right.

²⁰^(AN)“Assemble yourselves and come;
    draw near together,
    you survivors of the nations!
^(AO)They have no knowledge
    who ^(AP)carry about their wooden idols,
^(AQ)and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
²¹^(AR)Declare 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?
    And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God ^(AS)and a Savior;
    there is none besides me.

²²“Turn to me and be saved,
    ^(AT)all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
²³^(AU)By myself I have sworn;
    from my mouth has gone out in ^(AV)righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
^(AW)‘To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear allegiance.’^[d]

²⁴^(AX)“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and ^(AY)strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
    ^(AZ)all who were incensed against him.
²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
    shall be justified and shall glory.”

The Idols of Babylon and the One True God

46 ^(BA)Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
    their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
    as burdens on weary beasts.
²They stoop; they bow down together;
    they cannot save the burden,
    but ^(BB)themselves go into captivity.

³“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,
^(BC)who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
⁴^(BD)even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.

⁵^(BE)“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
    and compare me, that we may be alike?
⁶^(BF)Those who lavish gold from the purse,
    and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
    ^(BG)then they fall down and worship!
⁷^(BH)They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
    they set it in its place, and it stands there;
    ^(BI)it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
    or save him from his trouble.

⁸“Remember this and stand firm,
    recall it to mind, ^(BJ)you transgressors,
⁹    remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me,
¹⁰^(BK)declaring the end from the beginning
    and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ^(BL)‘My counsel shall stand,
    and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
¹¹^(BM)calling a bird of prey from the east,
    the man of my counsel from a far country.
^(BN)I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
    I have purposed, and I will do it.

¹²“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
    you who are far from righteousness:
¹³^(BO)I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
    and my salvation will not delay;
^(BP)I will put salvation in Zion,
    for Israel my glory.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 45:2 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains
Isaiah 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?
Isaiah 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness
Isaiah 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God

Romans 8:22-39

English Standard Version

²²For we know that ^(A)the whole creation ^(B)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^(C)the firstfruits of the Spirit, ^(D)groan inwardly as ^(E)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^(F)the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For ^(G)in this hope we were saved. Now ^(H)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^(I)wait for it with patience.

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^(J)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^(K)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷And ^(L)he who searches hearts knows what is ^(M)the mind of the Spirit, because^[a] the Spirit ^(N)intercedes for the saints ^(O)according to the will of God. ²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^(P)for good,^[b] for ^(Q)those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he ^(R)foreknew he also ^(S)predestined ^(T)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^(U)the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ^(V)justified, and those whom he justified he also ^(W)glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹What then shall we say to these things? ^(X)If God is for us, who can be^[c] against us? ³²^(Y)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(Z)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(AA)It is God who justifies. ³⁴^(AB)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(AC)who is at the right hand of God, ^(AD)who indeed is interceding for us.^[d] ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶As it is written,

^(AE)“For your sake ^(AF)we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than ^(AG)conquerors through ^(AH)him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Footnotes

Romans 8:27 Or that
Romans 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good
Romans 8:31 Or who is
Romans 8:34 Or Is it Christ Jesus who died… for us?