Isaiah 45:18-21

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.

[45:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  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.

[45:19]  ³ tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ⁴ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  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.”

[45:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ⁶ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”