Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options

Isaiah 45:1-13
New English Translation

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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:1 tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”
  2. Isaiah 45:1 sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.
  3. Isaiah 45:1 tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”
  4. Isaiah 45:2 tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) is difficult. It may need to be emended to an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”). 1QIsaa and the LXX support an unambiguous text of “mountains.”
  5. Isaiah 45:2 tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”
  6. Isaiah 45:3 tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”
  7. Isaiah 45:4 tn Or “know” (NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT); NIV “acknowledge.” The common verb יָדַע (yadaʿ) means “to know.” Among homophonous roots DCH includes יָדַע II meaning “be submissive, humbled; be quiet, at rest” (cf. Job 21:19; Prov 5:6; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7).
  8. Isaiah 45:5 tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (ʿod) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.
  9. Isaiah 45:5 tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).
  10. Isaiah 45:5 tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”
  11. Isaiah 45:6 tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  12. Isaiah 45:6 tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”
  13. Isaiah 45:7 tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.
  14. Isaiah 45:7 tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”
  15. Isaiah 45:7 sn This verse affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).
  16. Isaiah 45:8 tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”
  17. Isaiah 45:8 tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”
  18. Isaiah 45:8 tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).
  19. Isaiah 45:8 tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).
  20. Isaiah 45:8 tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yashaʿ, “salvation”).
  21. Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
  22. Isaiah 45:9 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
  23. Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it,…?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
  24. Isaiah 45:9 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
  25. Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
  26. Isaiah 45:10 tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”
  27. Isaiah 45:10 tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.
  28. Isaiah 45:10 sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.
  29. Isaiah 45:11 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
  30. Isaiah 45:11 tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsero, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”
  31. Isaiah 45:11 tn Heb “Ask me.” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
  32. Isaiah 45:11 tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
  33. Isaiah 45:12 tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  34. Isaiah 45:12 tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.
  35. Isaiah 45:12 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
  36. Isaiah 45:12 tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.
  37. Isaiah 45:13 tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.
Next
Isaiah 44
Isaiah 46
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.