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Isaiah 45
New English Translation

45 “This is what the Lord says to his chosen one,[a]

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold[b]
in order to subdue nations before him,
and disarm kings,[c]
to open doors before him,
so gates remain unclosed:

2 ‘I will go before you
and level mountains.[d]
Bronze doors I will shatter
and iron bars[e] I will hack through.
3 I will give you hidden treasures,[f]
riches stashed away in secret places,
so you may recognize that I am the Lord,
the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
Israel, my chosen one,
I call you by name
and give you a title of respect, even though you do not submit[g] to me.
5 I am the Lord, I have no peer,[h]
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle,[i] even though you do not recognize[j] me.
6 I do this[k] so people[l] will recognize from east to west
that there is no God but me;
I am the Lord, I have no peer.
7 I am[m] the one who forms light
and creates darkness;[n]
the one who brings about peace
and creates calamity.[o]
I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.
8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers[p] of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it[q] so salvation may grow,[r]
and deliverance may sprout up[s] along with it.
I, the Lord, create it.’”[t]

The Lord Gives a Warning

9 One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger,[u]
one who is like a mere[v] shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter,[w]
“What in the world[x] are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!”[y]
10 Danger awaits one who says[z] to his father,
“What in the world[aa] are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?”[ab]
11 This is what the Lord says,
the Holy One of Israel,[ac] the one who formed him,
concerning things to come:[ad]
“How dare you question me[ae] about my children!
How dare you tell me what to do with[af] the work of my own hands!
12 I made the earth;
I created the people who live[ag] on it.
It was me—my hands[ah] stretched out the sky.[ai]
I give orders to all the heavenly lights.[aj]
13 It is me—I stir him up and commission him;[ak]
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit[al] of Egypt and the revenue[am] of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you[an] and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.[ao]
They will bow down to you
and pray to you:[ap]
‘Truly God is with[aq] you; he has no peer;[ar]
there is no other God!’”
15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.[as]
17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord;[at]
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated.[au]
18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky—
he is the true God,[av]
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order,[aw]
he formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place.[ax]
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’[ay]
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements.[az]
20 Gather together and come!
Approach together, you refugees from the nations.
Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,
those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
21 Tell me! Present the evidence![ba]
Let them consult with one another.
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers;[bb]
there is none but me.
22 Turn to me so you can be delivered,[bc]
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
23 I solemnly make this oath[bd]—
what I say is true and reliable:[be]
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm;[bf]
24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’”[bg]
All who are angry at him will cower before him.[bh]
25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord
and will boast in him.[bi]

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:1 tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”
  2. Isaiah 45:1 sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.
  3. Isaiah 45:1 tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”
  4. Isaiah 45:2 tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) is difficult. It may need to be emended to an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”). 1QIsaa and the LXX support an unambiguous text of “mountains.”
  5. Isaiah 45:2 tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”
  6. Isaiah 45:3 tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”
  7. Isaiah 45:4 tn Or “know” (NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT); NIV “acknowledge.” The common verb יָדַע (yadaʿ) means “to know.” Among homophonous roots DCH includes יָדַע II meaning “be submissive, humbled; be quiet, at rest” (cf. Job 21:19; Prov 5:6; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7).
  8. Isaiah 45:5 tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (ʿod) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.
  9. Isaiah 45:5 tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).
  10. Isaiah 45:5 tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”
  11. Isaiah 45:6 tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  12. Isaiah 45:6 tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”
  13. Isaiah 45:7 tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.
  14. Isaiah 45:7 tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”
  15. Isaiah 45:7 sn This verse affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).
  16. Isaiah 45:8 tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”
  17. Isaiah 45:8 tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”
  18. Isaiah 45:8 tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).
  19. Isaiah 45:8 tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).
  20. Isaiah 45:8 tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yashaʿ, “salvation”).
  21. Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
  22. Isaiah 45:9 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
  23. Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it,…?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
  24. Isaiah 45:9 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
  25. Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
  26. Isaiah 45:10 tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”
  27. Isaiah 45:10 tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.
  28. Isaiah 45:10 sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.
  29. Isaiah 45:11 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
  30. Isaiah 45:11 tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsero, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”
  31. Isaiah 45:11 tn Heb “Ask me.” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
  32. Isaiah 45:11 tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
  33. Isaiah 45:12 tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  34. Isaiah 45:12 tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.
  35. Isaiah 45:12 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
  36. Isaiah 45:12 tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.
  37. Isaiah 45:13 tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.
  38. Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
  39. Isaiah 45:14 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
  40. Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
  41. Isaiah 45:14 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
  42. Isaiah 45:14 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
  43. Isaiah 45:14 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
  44. Isaiah 45:14 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
  45. Isaiah 45:16 tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”
  46. Isaiah 45:17 tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”
  47. Isaiah 45:17 tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”
  48. Isaiah 45:18 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
  49. Isaiah 45:18 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
  50. Isaiah 45:19 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
  51. Isaiah 45:19 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
  52. Isaiah 45:19 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
  53. Isaiah 45:21 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
  54. Isaiah 45:21 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”
  55. Isaiah 45:22 tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”
  56. Isaiah 45:23 tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”
  57. Isaiah 45:23 tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”
  58. Isaiah 45:23 tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”
  59. Isaiah 45:24 tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”
  60. Isaiah 45:24 tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”
  61. Isaiah 45:25 tn Heb “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be vindicated and boast.”
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以赛亚书 45
Chinese New Version (Traditional)

耶和華興起古列

45 “我耶和華所膏立的古列，

我緊握著他的右手，

使列國降服在他面前；

我也鬆開列王的腰帶；

我使門戶在他面前敞開，使城門不得關閉；耶和華對古列這樣說：

2 我必親自領導你，把高低不平的路修平；

銅門，我必打破；鐵門，我必砍斷。

3 我必把隱藏的寶物

和在隱密處的財寶賜給你，

使你知道我就是按著你的名呼召了你的耶和華，

以色列的　神。

4 因我的僕人雅各

和我所揀選的以色列的緣故，

我按著你的名呼召了你；

你雖然不認識我，

我卻給你這個尊貴的名號。

耶和華以外沒有真神

5 “我是耶和華，再沒有別的神了；

除了我以外，並沒有真神；

你雖然不認識我，我必堅固你，

6 為要叫從日出之地到日落之地的人都知道，

除了我以外，沒有真神；

我是耶和華，再沒有別的神了。

7 我造光，也造黑暗；

我賜平安，也降災禍；

我耶和華是造成這一切事的。

8 諸天啊！你們要從上滴下公義，

讓雲層降下公義。

讓大地裂開，生出救恩，

使公義一同生長，

是我耶和華創造了這事。

9 那與他的創造主爭論的，有禍了！

他不過是地上瓦片中的一片瓦片，

泥土能對陶匠說：‘你在作甚麼？’

或你所作成的說：‘他沒有手’嗎？

10 那對父親說：‘你生的是甚麼’，

或對母親說：‘你產的是甚麼’的，有禍了！”

11 以色列的聖者，造以色列的主耶和華這樣說：

“你們可以問我將要來的事，

關於我的眾子和我手所作的，你們也可以吩咐我回答。

12 我造了地，又造了人在地上；

我親手展開了諸天，

又命定了天上的萬象。

13 我憑著公義興起了古列，

我必修平他的一切道路；

他必建造我的城，釋放我被擄的子民，

不必用工價，也不用賞賜，這是萬軍之耶和華說的。”

14 耶和華這樣說：

“埃及勞碌得來的和古實所得之利，

以及身量高大的西巴人，

都必過來歸你，也要屬你；

他們必帶著鎖鍊過來隨從你，

向你俯伏，

向你懇求，說：

‘　神真的在你們中間，此外，再沒有別的神，

沒有別的真神。’”

15 拯救者以色列的　神啊！

你實在是隱藏自己的　神。

16 製造偶像的都必蒙羞受辱，

都要一同歸於羞愧。

17 唯有以色列必靠著耶和華得救，

得著永遠的拯救；

你們必不蒙羞，也不受辱，直到永遠。

18 因為創造諸天的耶和華，他是　神，

塑造大地，把大地造成；他堅立大地；

他創造大地，不是荒涼的；

他塑造大地，是要給人居住；他這樣說：

“我是耶和華，再沒有別的　神。

19 我沒有在隱密處、

在黑暗之地說過話；

我沒有對雅各的後裔說過：

‘你們尋求我是徒然的。’

我耶和華講說公義，

宣揚正直。

耶和華是獨一的拯救者

20 “列國逃脫的人哪！你們要來集合，

一同近前來。

那些抬著木頭做的偶像，

向不能拯救人的神祈求的，

真是無知。

21 你們述說吧！提出理由吧！

讓他們彼此商議吧！

誰從古時使人聽見這事呢？

誰從上古把這事述說出來呢？

不是我耶和華嗎？

除了我以外，再沒有　神，

我是公義的　神，又是拯救者；

除了我以外，並沒有別的　神。

22 全地的人哪！你們都要歸向我，都要得救。

因為我是　神，再沒有別的　神。

23 我指著自己起誓，

我的口憑著公義說出的話，

決不改變：

‘萬膝都必向我跪拜，萬口都要指著我起誓。’

24 人論到我必說：‘只有在耶和華裡面才有公義和能力’；

向他發怒的，都必來到他面前，並且要蒙羞。

25 以色列所有的後裔，

都必靠耶和華得稱為義，並要誇勝。”

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Isaiah 44
Isaiah 46
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