1Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and to loosen the loins of kings, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2I myself will go before you and level the swells; I will shatter doors of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
3I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards hidden away, so that you may know that I am Yahweh, the one who calls you by your name, the God of Israel.
4For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen one, I have called you by your name; I give you a title of honor, though you have not known me.
5I am Yahweh, and there is no other; besides me there is no God. I gird you, though you have not known me,
6so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from its setting, that there is none apart from me. I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
7the one who forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates evil — I am Yahweh, who does all these things.
8Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, that they may bear the fruit of salvation, and let it sprout righteousness together — I, Yahweh, have created it.
9Woe to the one who contends with the one who formed him — a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Does the clay say to the one who shapes it, ‘What are you making?’ — or your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
10Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘What are you bringing to birth?’
11Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker: Ask me of things to come concerning my children; and concerning the work of my hands, will you command me?
12I myself made the earth and created humankind upon it; my own hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
13I myself have stirred him up in righteousness, and all his ways I will make straight. He will build my city and set free my exiles, not for a price and not for a bribe, says Yahweh of hosts.
14Thus says Yahweh: The labor of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of stature, will pass over to you and will be yours; they will walk behind you, they will pass over in chains, and to you they will bow down; to you they will plead: ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other; there is no God at all besides.’
15Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, Savior.
16They are put to shame, and indeed disgraced, all of them together; they walk off in disgrace, the makers of idols.
17Israel is saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or disgraced forever and ever.
18For thus says Yahweh, the creator of the heavens — he is God, the one who formed the earth and made it, he established it; he did not create it a wasteland, he formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
19I did not speak in secret, in a place of a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I am Yahweh, who speaks righteousness, who declares what is upright.
20Gather together and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge, those who carry about the wood of their carved image and pray to a god that cannot save.
21Declare and present your case; let them even take counsel together. Who announced this long ago, who declared it from of old? Was it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other God besides me — a righteous God and Savior; there is none apart from me.
22Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.
23By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out righteousness, a word that will not turn back: To me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
24Only in Yahweh, one will say of me, are righteousness and strength. To him they will come, and all who are enraged against him will be put to shame.
25In Yahweh all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory.
Open in the interactive reader →Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.