Isaiah 45:13-15

45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ¹ 

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.

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

45:14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit ²  of Egypt and the revenue ³  of Ethiopia,

along with the Sabeans, those tall men,

will be brought to you ⁴  and become yours.

They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. ⁵ 

They will bow down to you

and pray to you: ⁶ 

‘Truly God is with ⁷  you; he has no peer; ⁸ 

there is no other God!’”

45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,

O God of Israel, deliverer!

[45:13]  ¹ 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.

[45:14]  ² tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”

[45:14]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”

[45:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”

[45:14]  ⁵ sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.

[45:14]  ⁶ sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.

[45:14]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”

[45:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.