Isaiah

Investiture of Cyrus

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus: “I have taken you by the right hand to subdue nations before you and strip kings of their armor, to open the gateways before you so that they will be closed no more.

I will go before you to level the slopes, I will break the gates of brass and destroy the iron bars;

I will give you treasures hidden in darkness and riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel who calls you by your name.

For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name and given you your mission although you do not know me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides me. I armed you when you did not know me,

so that, from the rising to the setting of the sun, all may know that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I form the light and create the dark; I usher in prosperity and bring calamity. I, the Lord, do all this.

Let the heavens send righteousness like dew and the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open and salvation blossom, so that justice also may sprout; I, the Lord, have created it.

Woe to him who argues with his Maker being but a pot among pots. Will the clay tell him who fashions it: “What are you making? You have no skill.”

Woe to him who asks a father: “What have you begotten!” or a mother: “To what have you given birth?”

Thus says the Lord, the Holy One, he who fashions Israel: Is it for you to question me about my children, or decide the work of my hands for me?

I am He who made the earth and created humankind upon it. I am He who stretched out the heavens with my own hands and gave order to their whole array.

I have raised Cyrus for the sake of justice. I will direct his ways and make him rebuild my city. He will send my exiles home without ransom or indemnity. It is the Lord Sabaoth who speaks.

Thus says the Lord: The peasants of Egypt, The traders of Ethiopia, and the tall men of Seba will pass near you in chains and bow down facing you. In worship, they will say, Surely God is with you. There is no one else, there is no other god.”

Truly you are the God who remains hidden, the God of Israel, the Savior.

All idol makers will be put to shame; they will go away humiliated.

But Israel will be saved by the Lord— delivered with an everlasting salvation. You will never be put to disgrace for everlasting ages.

Yes, this is what the Lord says, he who created the heavens, – for he is God, who formed and shaped the earth, – for he himself set it: “I did not let confusion in it, I wanted people to live there instead” —for I am the Lord and there is no other.

I have not spoken in secret, from a dark place of the earth; I have not said to the race of Jacob: “Seek me, but all will be confused,” —for I, the Lord, tell the truth and I speak openly—.

Come, gather together, and try to understand, survivors from among the nations: They are but fools they who follow idols of wood and pray to gods that cannot move—.

Let them present their arguments take counsel together and tell me: Who announced this from the beginning, who foretold it in the distant past? Is it not me, the Lord? There is no other God besides me, a Savior, a God of justice, there is no other one but me.

Turn to me and be saved, all you from the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.

By my own self, I swear it, and what comes from my mouth is the truth, a word I say will not be revoked. Before me, every knee will bend, by me, every tongue will swear,

saying, “In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.” All who have raged against him will come to him in shame.

But through the Lord, there will be victory and glory to the people of Israel.