Isaiah 45:1-13

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ² 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ³ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

45:2 “I will go before you

and level mountains. ⁴ 

Bronze doors I will shatter

and iron bars ⁵  I will hack through.

45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, ⁶ 

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.

45:4 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 recognize ⁷  me.

45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, ⁸ 

there is no God but me.

I arm you for battle, ⁹  even though you do not recognize ¹⁰  me.

45:6 I do this ¹¹  so people ¹²  will recognize from east to west

that there is no God but me;

I am the Lord, I have no peer.

45:7 I am ¹³  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ¹⁴ 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ¹⁵ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ¹⁶  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ¹⁷  so salvation may grow, ¹⁸ 

and deliverance may sprout up ¹⁹  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ²⁰ 

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ²¹ 

one who is like a mere ²²  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ²³ 

“What in the world ²⁴  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ²⁵ 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ²⁶  to his father,

“What in the world ²⁷  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ²⁸ 

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ²⁹  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ³⁰ 

“How dare you question me ³¹  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ³²  the work of my own hands!

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live ³³  on it.

It was me – my hands ³⁴  stretched out the sky, ³⁵ 

I give orders to all the heavenly lights. ³⁶ 

45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ³⁷ 

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 who commands armies.

[45:1]  ¹ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ² sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ³ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[45:2]  ⁴ tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) makes little, if any, sense here. It is probably a corruption of an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”).

[45:2]  ⁵ tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”

[45:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”

[45:4]  ⁷ tn Or “know” (NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT); NIV “acknowledge.”

[45:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.

[45:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).

[45:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”

[45:6]  ¹¹ tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:6]  ¹² tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”

[45:7]  ¹³ 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.

[45:7]  ¹⁴ 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.”

[45:7]  ¹⁵ sn This verses 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).

[45:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ¹⁸ 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).

[45:8]  ¹⁹ 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).

[45:8]  ²⁰ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).

[45:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ²² tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ²³ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ²⁴ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ²⁵ 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.”

[45:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”

[45:10]  ²⁷ tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.

[45:10]  ²⁸ sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.

[45:11]  ²⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[45:11]  ³⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “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.”

[45:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:11]  ³² tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:12]  ³³ tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:12]  ³⁴ 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.

[45:12]  ³⁵ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[45:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.

[45:13]  ³⁷ 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.