Isaiah 45:16-25

45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;

those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. ¹ 

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ² 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ³ 

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ⁴ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ⁵ 

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. ⁶ 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ⁷ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ⁸ 

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! ⁹ 

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; ¹⁰ 

there is none but me.

45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, ¹¹ 

all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!

For I am God, and I have no peer.

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ¹²  –

what I say is true and reliable: ¹³ 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ¹⁴ 

45:24 they will say about me,

“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” ¹⁵ 

All who are angry at him will cower before him. ¹⁶ 

45:25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord

and will boast in him. ¹⁷ 

[45:16]  ¹ tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”

[45:17]  ² tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”

[45:17]  ³ tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”

[45:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ⁵ 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.

[45:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ⁷ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  ⁸ 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.”

[45:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[45:22]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”

[45:23]  ¹² tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[45:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”

[45:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”

[45:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be vindicated and boast.”