143 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
143 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
Cyrus, God's Instrument
|
|
|
|
# Chapter 45
|
|
1. Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
|
|
whose right hand I have grasped,
|
|
to subdue nations before him
|
|
and to loose the belts of kings,
|
|
to open doors before him
|
|
that gates may not be closed:
|
|
|
|
2. "I will go before you
|
|
and level the exalted places,
|
|
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
|
|
and cut through the bars of iron,
|
|
|
|
3. I will give you the treasures of darkness
|
|
and the hoards in secret places,
|
|
that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
|
|
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
|
|
|
|
4. For the sake of my servant Jacob,
|
|
and Israel my chosen,
|
|
I call you by your name,
|
|
I name you, though you do not know me.
|
|
|
|
5. I am the LORD, and there is no other,
|
|
besides me there is no God;
|
|
I equip you, though you do not know me,
|
|
|
|
6. that people may know, from the rising of the sun
|
|
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
|
|
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
|
|
|
|
7. I form light and create darkness;
|
|
I make well-being and create calamity;
|
|
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
|
|
|
|
8. "Shower, O heavens, from above,
|
|
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
|
|
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
|
|
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
|
|
I the LORD have created it.
|
|
|
|
9. "Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
|
|
a pot among earthen pots!
|
|
Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?'
|
|
or 'Your work has no handles'?
|
|
|
|
10. Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?'
|
|
or to a woman, 'With what are you in labor?'"
|
|
|
|
11. Thus says the LORD,
|
|
the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
|
|
"Ask me of things to come;
|
|
will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
|
|
|
|
12. I made the earth
|
|
and created man on it;
|
|
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
|
|
and I commanded all their host.
|
|
|
|
13. I have stirred him up in righteousness,
|
|
and I will make all his ways level;
|
|
he shall build my city
|
|
and set my exiles free,
|
|
not for price or reward,"
|
|
says the LORD of hosts.The LORD, the Only Savior
|
|
|
|
14. Thus says the LORD:
|
|
"The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
|
|
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
|
|
shall come over to you and be yours;
|
|
they shall follow you;
|
|
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
|
|
They will plead with you, saying:
|
|
'Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
|
|
no god besides him.'"
|
|
|
|
15. Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
|
|
O God of Israel, the Savior.
|
|
|
|
16. All of them are put to shame and confounded;
|
|
the makers of idols go in confusion together.
|
|
|
|
17. But Israel is saved by the LORD
|
|
with everlasting salvation;
|
|
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
|
|
to all eternity.
|
|
|
|
18. For thus says the LORD,
|
|
who created the heavens
|
|
(he is God!),
|
|
who formed the earth and made it
|
|
(he established it;
|
|
he did not create it empty,
|
|
he formed it to be inhabited!):
|
|
"I am the LORD, and there is no other.
|
|
|
|
19. I did not speak in secret,
|
|
in a land of darkness;
|
|
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
|
|
'Seek me in vain.'
|
|
I the LORD speak the truth;
|
|
I declare what is right.
|
|
|
|
20. "Assemble yourselves and come;
|
|
draw near together,
|
|
you survivors of the nations!
|
|
They have no knowledge
|
|
who carry about their wooden idols,
|
|
and keep on praying to a god
|
|
that cannot save.
|
|
|
|
21. Declare and present your case;
|
|
let them take counsel together!
|
|
Who told this long ago?
|
|
Who declared it of old?
|
|
Was it not I, the LORD?
|
|
And there is no other god besides me,
|
|
a righteous God and a Savior;
|
|
there is none besides me.
|
|
|
|
22. "Turn to me and be saved,
|
|
all the ends of the earth!
|
|
For I am God, and there is no other.
|
|
|
|
23. By myself I have sworn;
|
|
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
|
|
a word that shall not return:
|
|
'To me every knee shall bow,
|
|
every tongue shall swear allegiance.'
|
|
|
|
24. "Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,
|
|
are righteousness and strength;
|
|
to him shall come and be ashamed
|
|
all who were incensed against him.
|
|
|
|
25. In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
|
|
shall be justified and shall glory."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|