Previous Chapter Full Page Full Page Next Chapter

Isaiah 45 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

Isa 45:1

Isa 45:1Thus 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:

Isa 45:2

Isa 45:2“I will go before you
and level the exalted places,[fn]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,

Isa 45:3

Isa 45:3I 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.

Isa 45:4

Isa 45:4For 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.

Isa 45:5

Isa 45:5I am the LORD, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,

Isa 45:6

Isa 45:6that 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.

Isa 45:7

Isa 45:7I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Isa 45:8

Isa 45:8“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.

Isa 45:9

Isa 45:9“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’?

Isa 45:10

Isa 45:10Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”

Isa 45:11

Isa 45:11Thus 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?[fn]

Isa 45:12

Isa 45:12I made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.

Isa 45:13

Isa 45:13I 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

Isa 45:14

Isa 45:14Thus 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.’”

Isa 45:15

Isa 45:15Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.

Isa 45:16

Isa 45:16All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in confusion together.

Isa 45:17

Isa 45:17But Israel is saved by the LORD
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
to all eternity.

Isa 45:18

Isa 45:18For 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.

Isa 45:19

Isa 45:19I did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek me in vain.’[fn]
I the LORD speak the truth;
I declare what is right.

Isa 45:20

Isa 45:20“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.

Isa 45:21

Isa 45:21Declare 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.

Isa 45:22

Isa 45:22“Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

Isa 45:23

Isa 45:23By 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.’[fn]

Isa 45:24

Isa 45:24“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.

Isa 45:25

Isa 45:25In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains
A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?
Hebrew in emptiness
Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God
Translation Copyright Logo

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Translations available: King James Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 2020, New American Standard Bible 1995, Legacy Standard Bible 2021, New English Translation, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Webster's Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Reina-Valera 1960, Latin Vulgate, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Septuagint, Morphological Greek New Testament, and Textus Receptus.