Isaiah 44:24-45:17

World English Bible

²⁴ Yahweh, your Redeemer,
    and he who formed you from the womb says:
“I am Yahweh, who makes all things;
    who alone stretches out the heavens;
    who spreads out the earth by myself;
²⁵ who frustrates the signs of the liars,
    and makes diviners mad;
who turns wise men backward,
    and makes their knowledge foolish;
²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant,
    and performs the counsel of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’
    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’
    and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’
²⁷ who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’
    and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
²⁸ Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’
    even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’
    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

² “I will go before you
    and make the rough places smooth.
I will break the doors of bronze in pieces
    and cut apart the bars of iron.
³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and hidden riches of secret places,
that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who calls you by your name,
    even the God of Israel.
⁴ For Jacob my servant’s sake,
    and Israel my chosen,
I have called you by your name.
    I have given you a title,
    though you have not known me.
⁵ I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
    Besides me, there is no God.
I will strengthen^[a] 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 no one besides me.
    I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
⁷ I form the light
    and create darkness.
I make peace
    and create calamity.
I am Yahweh,
    who does all these things.

⁸ Rain, you heavens, from above,
    and let the skies pour down righteousness.
Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation,
    and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it.
I, Yahweh, have created it.

⁹ Woe to him who strives with his Maker—
    a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth!
Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’
    or your work, ‘He has no hands?’
¹⁰ Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the father of?’
    or to a mother, ‘What have you given birth to?’”

¹¹ Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel
    and his Maker says:
“You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons,
    and you command me concerning the work of my hands!
¹² I have made the earth, and created man on it.
    I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens.
    I have commanded all their army.
¹³ I have raised him up in righteousness,
    and I will make all his ways straight.
He shall build my city,
    and he shall let my exiles go free,
    not for price nor reward,” says Yahweh of Armies.

¹⁴ Yahweh says: “The labor of Egypt,
    and the merchandise of Ethiopia,
    and the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you,
    and they will be yours.
They will go after you.
    They shall come over in chains.
    They will bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you:
    ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no one else.
    There is no other god.
¹⁵ Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself,
    God of Israel, the Savior.’”
¹⁶ They will be disappointed,
    yes, confounded, all of them.
    Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
¹⁷ Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation.
    You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.