Isaiah 45

New International Version

45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,^(A)
    to Cyrus,^(B) whose right hand I take hold^(C) of
to subdue nations^(D) before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
²I will go before you^(E)
    and will level^(F) the mountains^[a];
I will break down gates^(G) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.^(H)
³I will give you hidden treasures,^(I)
    riches stored in secret places,^(J)
so that you may know^(K) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.^(L)
⁴For the sake of Jacob my servant,^(M)
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge^(N) me.
⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other;^(O)
    apart from me there is no God.^(P)
I will strengthen you,^(Q)
    though you have not acknowledged me,
⁶so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting^(R)
people may know^(S) there is none besides me.^(T)
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷I form the light and create darkness,^(U)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;^(V)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸“You heavens above, rain^(W) down my righteousness;^(X)
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation^(Y) spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹“Woe to those who quarrel^(Z) with their Maker,^(AA)
    those who are nothing but potsherds^(AB)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,^(AC)
    ‘What are you making?’^(AD)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?^(AE)
¹⁰Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

¹¹“This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One^(AF) of Israel, and its Maker:^(AG)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?^(AH)
¹²It is I who made the earth^(AI)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;^(AJ)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.^(AK)
¹³I will raise up Cyrus^[b]^(AL) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.^(AM)
He will rebuild my city^(AN)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,^(AO)
    says the Lord Almighty.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord says:

“The products^(AP) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,^[c]
    and those tall Sabeans^(AQ)—
they will come over to you^(AR)
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,^(AS)
    coming over to you in chains.^(AT)
They will bow down before you
    and plead^(AU) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,^(AV) and there is no other;
    there is no other god.^(AW)’”

¹⁵Truly you are a God who has been hiding^(AX) himself,
    the God and Savior^(AY) of Israel.
¹⁶All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;^(AZ)
    they will go off into disgrace together.
¹⁷But Israel will be saved^(BA) by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;^(BB)
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,^(BC)
    to ages everlasting.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,^(BD)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,^(BE)
    but formed it to be inhabited^(BF)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.^(BG)
¹⁹I have not spoken in secret,^(BH)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;^(BI)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,^(BJ)
    ‘Seek^(BK) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.^(BL)

²⁰“Gather together^(BM) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant^(BN) are those who carry^(BO) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.^(BP)
²¹Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold^(BQ) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?^(BR)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,^(BS)
a righteous God^(BT) and a Savior;^(BU)
    there is none but me.

²²“Turn^(BV) to me and be saved,^(BW)
    all you ends of the earth;^(BX)
    for I am God, and there is no other.^(BY)
²³By myself I have sworn,^(BZ)
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity^(CA)
    a word that will not be revoked:^(CB)
Before me every knee will bow;^(CC)
    by me every tongue will swear.^(CD)
²⁴They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance^(CE) and strength.^(CF)’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.^(CG)
²⁵But all the descendants^(CH) of Israel
    will find deliverance^(CI) in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.^(CJ)

Footnotes

Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
Isaiah 45:14 That is, the upper Nile region

Isaiah 46

New International Version

Gods of Babylon

46 Bel^(A) bows down, Nebo stoops low;
    their idols^(B) are borne by beasts of burden.^[a]
The images that are carried^(C) about are burdensome,
    a burden for the weary.
²They stoop and bow down together;
    unable to rescue the burden,
    they themselves go off into captivity.^(D)

³“Listen^(E) to me, you descendants of Jacob,
    all the remnant^(F) of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,^(G)
    and have carried^(H) since you were born.^(I)
⁴Even to your old age and gray hairs^(J)
    I am he,^(K) I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain^(L) you and I will rescue you.

⁵“With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
    To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?^(M)
⁶Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith^(N) to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.^(O)
⁷They lift it to their shoulders and carry^(P) it;
    they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
    From that spot it cannot move.^(Q)
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;^(R)
    it cannot save^(S) them from their troubles.

⁸“Remember^(T) this, keep it in mind,
    take it to heart, you rebels.^(U)
⁹Remember the former things,^(V) those of long ago;^(W)
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.^(X)
¹⁰I make known the end from the beginning,^(Y)
    from ancient times,^(Z) what is still to come.^(AA)
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,^(AB)
    and I will do all that I please.’
¹¹From the east I summon^(AC) a bird of prey;^(AD)
    from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
    what I have planned,^(AE) that I will do.^(AF)
¹²Listen^(AG) to me, you stubborn-hearted,^(AH)
    you who are now far from my righteousness.^(AI)
¹³I am bringing my righteousness^(AJ) near,
    it is not far away;
    and my salvation^(AK) will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,^(AL)
    my splendor^(AM) to Israel.

Footnotes

Isaiah 46:1 Or are but beasts and cattle

Isaiah 47

New International Version

The Fall of Babylon

47 “Go down, sit in the dust,^(A)
    Virgin Daughter^(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.^[a]^(C)
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.^(D)
²Take millstones^(E) and grind^(F) flour;
    take off your veil.^(G)
Lift up your skirts,^(H) bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
³Your nakedness^(I) will be exposed
    and your shame^(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;^(K)
    I will spare no one.^(L)”

⁴Our Redeemer^(M)—the Lord Almighty^(N) is his name^(O)—
is the Holy One^(P) of Israel.

⁵“Sit in silence,^(Q) go into darkness,^(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;^(S)
no more will you be called
    queen^(T) of kingdoms.^(U)
⁶I was angry^(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;^(W)
I gave them into your hand,^(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.^(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
⁷You said, ‘I am forever^(Z)—
    the eternal queen!’^(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect^(AB) on what might happen.^(AC)

⁸“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security^(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.^(AE)
I will never be a widow^(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
⁹Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,^(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children^(AH) and widowhood.^(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries^(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.^(AK)
¹⁰You have trusted^(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(AM)
Your wisdom^(AN) and knowledge mislead^(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹Disaster^(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(AQ) come upon you.

¹²“Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(AS)
    Let your astrologers^(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴Surely they are like stubble;^(AV)
    the fire^(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
¹⁵That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored^(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save^(AZ) you.