Isaiah 45

Cyrus, the Lord’s Chosen One

45This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again.H559H3068H4899H3566H3225H2388H7286H1471H6440H6605H4975H4428H6605H6440H1817H8179H54622This is what the Lord says. “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains

. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.H3212H6440H3474H1921H3474H3474H7665H1817H5154H1438H1280H12703And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.H5414H214H2822H4301H4565H3045H3068H7121H8034H430H34784“And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.H3290H5650H3478H972H7121H8034H3655H30455I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me,H3068H430H2108H247H30456so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other.H3045H4217H8121H4628H657H1107H30687I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.H3335H216H1254H2822H6213H7965H1254H7451H3068H62138“Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them.H7491H8064H4605H7834H5140H6664H776H6605H6509H3468H6666H6779H3162H3068H12549“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’H1945H7378H3335H2789H2789H127H2563H559H3335H6213H6467H302710How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”H1945H559H1H3205H802H234211This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel and your Creator. “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?H559H3068H6918H3478H3335H7592H857H1121H6467H3027H668012I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.H6213H776H1254H120H3027H5186H8064H6635H668013I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people—without seeking a reward! I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”H5782H6664H3474H1870H1129H5892H7971H1546H4242H7810H559H3068H6635

Future Conversion of Gentiles

14This is what the Lord says. “You will rule the Egyptians, the Ethiopians

, and the Sabeans. They will come to you with all their merchandise, and it will all be yours. They will follow you as prisoners in chains. They will fall to their knees in front of you and say, ‘God is with you, and he is the only God. There is no other.’”H559H3068H3018H4714H5505H3568H5436H582H4060H5674H3212H310H2131H5674H7812H6419H410H657H43015Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways.H403H410H5641H430H3478H346716All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.H954H3637H1980H3639H3162H2796H673617But the Lord will save the people of Israel with eternal salvation. Throughout everlasting ages, they will never again be humiliated and disgraced.H3478H3467H3068H5769H8668H954H3637H5769H570318For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.H559H3068H1254H8064H430H3335H776H6213H3559H1254H8414H3335H3427H306819I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel

to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.H1696H5643H2822H4725H776H559H2233H3290H1245H8414H3068H1696H6664H5046H433920“Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save!H6908H935H5066H3162H6412H1471H3045H5375H6086H6459H6419H410H346721Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say. Who made these things known so long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the Lord? For there is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none but me.H5046H5066H3289H3162H8085H6924H5046H3068H430H1107H6662H410H3467H369H210822Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.H6437H3467H657H776H41023I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word. Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me

.”H7650H1697H3318H6310H6666H7725H1290H3766H3956H765024The people will declare, “The Lord is the source of all my righteousness and strength.” And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.H559H3068H6666H5797H935H2734H95425In the Lord all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in him they will boast.H3068H2233H3478H6663H1984