Old/New Testament
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]
The Lord Carries His People
46 Bel[bj] kneels down,
Nebo[bk] bends low.
Their images weigh down animals and beasts.[bl]
Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals.[bm]
2 Together they bend low and kneel down;
they are unable to rescue the images;[bn]
they themselves[bo] head off into captivity.[bp]
3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,[bq]
all you who are left from the family of Israel,[br]
you who have been carried from birth,[bs]
you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.[bt]
4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you,[bu]
even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.
I made you and I will support you;
I will carry you and rescue you.[bv]
5 To whom can you compare and liken me?
Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!
6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale[bw]
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not[bx] move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
8 Remember this, so you can be brave.[by]
Think about it, you rebels![bz]
9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity.[ca]
Truly I am God, I have no peer;[cb]
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand[cc] what has not yet occurred;
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire;’
11 who summons an eagle[cd] from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed,[ce]
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn people,[cf]
you who distance yourselves from doing what is right.[cg]
13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;
I am bringing my salvation near,[ch] it does not wait.
I will save Zion;[ci]
I will adorn Israel with my splendor.[cj]
3 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone. 2 We[a] sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God[b] in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, 3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.[c] 5 So[d] when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.
6 But now Timothy has come[e] to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection[f] and long to see us just as we also long to see you![g] 7 So[h] in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters,[i] through your faith. 8 For now we are alive again,[j] if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 For how can we thank God enough for you,[k] for all the joy we feel[l] because of you before our God? 10 We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person[m] and make up what may be lacking in your faith.
11 Now may God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you, 13 so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.[n]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.