45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 1
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 2
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 3
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 4
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 5
45:20 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.
45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! 6
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; 7
there is none but me.
1 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
2 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
3 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
4 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
5 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
5 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
6 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”