Isaiah 45 (Listen)

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

1   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
    whose right hand I have grasped,
  to subdue nations before him
    and to loose the belts of kings,
  to open doors before him
    that gates may not be closed:
2   “I will go before you
    and level the exalted places,
  I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron,
3   I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and the hoards in secret places,
  that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
  I call you by your name,
    I name you, though you do not know me.
5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    I equip you, though you do not know me,
6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7   I form light and create darkness;
    I make well-being and create calamity;
    I am the LORD, who does all these things.
8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
  let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
    let the earth cause them both to sprout;
    I the LORD have created it.
9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
    a pot among earthen pots!
  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11   Thus says the LORD,
    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
  “Ask me of things to come;
    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
12   I made the earth
    and created man on it;
  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their host.
13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,
    and I will make all his ways level;
  he shall build my city
    and set my exiles free,
  not for price or reward,”
    says the LORD of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

14   Thus says the LORD:
  “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
    and the Sabeans, men of stature,
  shall come over to you and be yours;
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
  They will plead with you, saying:
    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
    no god besides him.’”
15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
16   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;
  you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.
18   For thus says the LORD,
  who created the heavens
    (he is God!),
  who formed the earth and made it
    (he established it;
  he did not create it empty,
    he formed it to be inhabited!):
  “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19   I did not speak in secret,
    in a land of darkness;
  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    ‘Seek me in vain.’
  I the LORD speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.
20   “Assemble yourselves and come;
    draw near together,
    you survivors of the nations!
  They have no knowledge
    who carry about their wooden idols,
  and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
21   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 and a Savior;
    there is none besides me.
22   “Turn to me and be saved,
    all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
23   By myself I have sworn;
    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
  ‘To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and strength;
  to him shall come and be ashamed
    all who were incensed against him.
25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
    shall be justified and shall glory.”

(ESV)

Isaiah 47 (Listen)

The Humiliation of Babylon

1   Come down and sit in the dust,
    O virgin daughter of Babylon;
  sit on the ground without a throne,
    O daughter of the Chaldeans!
  For you shall no more be called
    tender and delicate.
2   Take the millstones and grind flour,
    put off your veil,
  strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
    pass through the rivers.
3   Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
    and your disgrace shall be seen.
  I will take vengeance,
    and I will spare no one.
4   Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
    is the Holy One of Israel.
5   Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
    O daughter of the Chaldeans;
  for you shall no more be called
    the mistress of kingdoms.
6   I was angry with my people;
    I profaned my heritage;
  I gave them into your hand;
    you showed them no mercy;
  on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7   You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
    so that you did not lay these things to heart
    or remember their end.
8   Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
    who sit securely,
  who say in your heart,
    “I am, and there is no one besides me;
  I shall not sit as a widow
    or know the loss of children”:
9   These two things shall come to you
    in a moment, in one day;
  the loss of children and widowhood
    shall come upon you in full measure,
  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,
    “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;
  and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
    of which you know nothing.
12   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,
  those who divide the heavens,
    who gaze at the stars,
  who at the new moons make known
    what shall come upon you.
14   Behold, they are like stubble;
    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.

(ESV)