Isaiah 45 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

Salvation Will Come Only by the LORD

Isa 45:1“Thus says the LORD to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:

Isa 45:2

Isa 45:2‘I will go before you
And make the crooked places[fn] straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.

Isa 45:3

Isa 45:3I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.

Isa 45:4

Isa 45:4For Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.

Isa 45:5

Isa 45:5I am the LORD, and there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me,

Isa 45:6

Isa 45:6That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;

Isa 45:7

Isa 45:7I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the LORD, do all these things.’

Isa 45:8

Isa 45:8“Rain down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the LORD, have created it.

Isa 45:9

Isa 45:9“Woe to him who strives with his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

Isa 45:10

Isa 45:10Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

Isa 45:11

Isa 45:11Thus says the LORD,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
“Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons;
And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.

Isa 45:12

Isa 45:12I have made the earth,
And created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.

Isa 45:13

Isa 45:13I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build My city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward,”
Says the LORD of hosts.

The LORD, the Only Savior

Isa 45:14

Isa 45:14Thus says the LORD:

“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
There is no other God.’ ”

Isa 45:15

Isa 45:15Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!

Isa 45:16

Isa 45:16They shall be ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.

Isa 45:17

Isa 45:17But Israel shall be saved by the LORD
With an everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or disgraced
Forever and ever.

Isa 45:18

Isa 45:18For thus says the LORD,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 45:19

Isa 45:19I have not spoken in secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in vain’;
I, the LORD, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.

Isa 45:20

Isa 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.

Isa 45:21

Isa 45:21Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.

Isa 45:22

Isa 45:22“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

Isa 45:23

Isa 45:23I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.

Isa 45:24

Isa 45:24He shall say,
‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.

Isa 45:25

Isa 45:25In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.’ ”

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(45:2)

Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint read mountains; Targum reads I will trample down the walls; Vulgate reads I will humble the great ones of the earth.

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