Cyrus, Yahweh’s Anointed
Thus says Yahweh to aCyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken hold of by his right bhand,
To csubdue nations before him
And to dloose the loins of kings,
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you and amake the rough places smooth;
I will bshatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron cbars.
3 I will give you the atreasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
Yahweh, the God of Israel, who bcalls you by your name.
4 For the sake of aJacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also bcalled you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have cnot known Me.
5 I am Yahweh, and athere is no other;
bBesides Me there is no God.
I will cgird you, though you have not known Me,
6 That athey may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is bno one besides Me.
I am Yahweh, and there is no other,
7 The One aforming light and bcreating darkness,
Producing peace and ccreating calamity;
I am Yahweh who does all these.
Yahweh the Maker
8 “aDrip down, O heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the bearth open up and salvation bear fruit,
cAnd righteousness spring up with it.
I, Yahweh, have created it.
9 “Woe to the one who acontends with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the bclay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor pains?’”
11 Thus says aYahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his bMaker:
“cAsk Me about the things that are to come concerning My dsons,
And you shall commit to Me ethe work of My hands.
12 It is I who amade the earth and created man upon it.
I bstretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I commanded call their host.
13 I have awakened him in arighteousness,
And I will bmake all his ways smooth;
He will cbuild My city and will dlet My exiles go,
Without any payment or reward,” says Yahweh of hosts.
14 Thus says Yahweh,
“The fruit of the labor of aEgypt and the profit of bEthiopia
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will ccome over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you; they will come over in dchains
And will ebow down to you;
They will make supplication to you:
‘Surely, fGod is with you, and gthere is none else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who ahides Himself,
O God of Israel, bSavior!
16 They will be aput to shame and even dishonored, all of them;
The bcraftsmen of idols will go away together in dishonor.
17 Israel has been saved by Yahweh
With an aeverlasting salvation;
You bwill not be put to shame or dishonored
To all eternity.
18 For thus says Yahweh, who acreated the heavens (He is the God who bformed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it a cformless place, but formed it to be dinhabited),
“I am Yahweh, and ethere is none else.
19 aI have not spoken in secret,
In some dark land;
I did not say to the bseed of Jacob,
‘cSeek Me in a formless place’;
I, Yahweh, dspeak righteousness,
eDeclaring things that are upright.
20 “aGather yourselves and come;
Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations;
bThey do not know,
Who ccarry about their graven image of wood
And dpray to a god who cannot save.
21 aDeclare and draw near with your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
bWho has made this heard from of old?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, Yahweh?
And there is cno other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a dSavior;
There is none except Me.
22 aTurn to Me and bbe saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 aI have sworn by Myself,
The bword has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me cevery knee will bow, every tongue will dswear allegiance.
24 They will say of Me, ‘Only ain Yahweh are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him,
And ball who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25 In Yahweh all the seed of Israel
Will be ajustified and will bboast.”