Isaiah 45:11-48

English Standard Version

¹¹ Thus says ^(A)the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
^(B)“Ask me of things to come;
    will you command me ^(C)concerning my children and ^(D)the work of my hands?^[a]
12 (E)I made the earth
    and created man on it;
it was my hands ^(F)that stretched out the heavens,
    and ^(G)I commanded all their host.
^13 (H)I have stirred him up in righteousness,
    ^(I)and I will make all his ways level;
^(J)he shall build my city
    ^(K)and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
    says the Lord of hosts.

^15 (N)Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
^16 (O)All of them are put to shame and confounded;
    the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷ But Israel is saved by the Lord
    with everlasting salvation;
^(P)you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.

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

^20 (W)“Assemble yourselves and come;
    draw near together,
    you survivors of the nations!
^(X)They have no knowledge
    who ^(Y)carry about their wooden idols,
^(Z)and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
^21 (AA)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 ^(AB)and a Savior;
    there is none besides me.

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

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

³ “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,
^(AL)who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
^4 (AM)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 (AN)“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
    and compare me, that we may be alike?
^6 (AO)Those who lavish gold from the purse,
    and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
    ^(AP)then they fall down and worship!
^7 (AQ)They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
    they set it in its place, and it stands there;
    ^(AR)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, ^(AS)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 (AT)declaring the end from the beginning
    and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ^(AU)‘My counsel shall stand,
    and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
^11 (AV)calling a bird of prey from the east,
    the man of my counsel from a far country.
^(AW)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 (AX)I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
    and my salvation will not delay;
^(AY)I will put salvation in Zion,
    for Israel my glory.”

^5 (BH)Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
    O daughter of ^(BI)the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
    ^(BJ)the mistress of kingdoms.
^6 (BK)I was angry with my people;
    I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
    ^(BL)you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
⁷ You said, “I shall be ^(BM)mistress forever,”
    so that you did not lay these things to heart
    or remember their end.

⁸ Now therefore hear this, ^(BN)you lover of pleasures,
    ^(BO)who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
    ^(BP)“I am, and there is no one besides me;
^(BQ)I shall not sit as a widow
    or know the loss of children”:
^9 (BR)These two things shall come to you
    in a moment, ^(BS)in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
    shall come upon you in full measure,
^(BT)in spite of your many sorceries
    and the great power of your enchantments.

¹⁰ You felt secure in your wickedness;
    you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
    ^(BU)“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
¹¹ But evil shall come upon you,
    which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
    for which you will not be able to atone;
^(BV)and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
    of which you know nothing.

^12 (BW)Stand fast in your enchantments
    and your many sorceries,
    with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
    perhaps you may inspire terror.
¹³ You are wearied with your many counsels;
    let them stand forth and save you,
^(BX)those who divide the heavens,
    who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
    what shall come upon you.

¹⁴ Behold, ^(BY)they are like stubble;
    ^(BZ)the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
    from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
    no fire to sit before!
¹⁵ Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
    who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
    there is no one to save you.

³ “The former things ^(CE)I declared of old;
    they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
    then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
⁴ Because I know that ^(CF)you are obstinate,
    and your neck is an iron sinew
    and your forehead brass,
^5 (CG)I declared them to you from of old,
    before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, ^(CH)‘My idol did them,
    my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’

⁶ “You have heard; now see all this;
    and will you not declare it?
From this time forth ^(CI)I announce to you new things,
    hidden things that you have not known.
⁷ They are created now, not long ago;
    before today you have never heard of them,
    lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
⁸ You have never heard, you have never known,
    from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
    and that ^(CJ)from before birth you were called a rebel.

^9 (CK)“For my name's sake I defer my anger;
    for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
    that I may not cut you off.
¹⁰ Behold, I have refined you, ^(CL)but not as silver;
    ^(CM)I have tried^[d] you in the furnace of affliction.
^11 (CN)For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
    for how should my name^[e] be profaned?
    ^(CO)My glory I will not give to another.