Isaiah

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers¹⁶ of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it¹⁷ so salvation may grow,¹⁸
and deliverance may sprout up¹⁹ along with it.
I, the Lord, create it.²⁰

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in great danger,²¹
one who is like a mere²² shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter,²³
“What in the world²⁴ are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!”²⁵
45:10 Danger awaits one who says²⁶ to his father,
“What in the world²⁷ are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world²⁸ are you bringing forth?”²⁹

45:11 This is what the Lord says,
the sovereign king of Israel,³⁰ the one who brings the future into being:³¹
“How dare you question me³² about my children!
How dare you tell me what to do with³³ the work of my own hands!
45:12 I made the earth,
I created the people who live³⁴ on it.
It was me³⁵—my hands stretched out the sky,³⁶
I give orders to all the heavenly lights.³⁷
45:13 It is me³⁸—I stir him up and commission him;³⁹
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord who leads armies.

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit⁴⁰ of Egypt and the revenue⁴¹ of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you⁴² and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.⁴³
They will bow down to you
and pray to you:⁴⁴
‘Truly God is with⁴⁵ you; he has no peer;⁴⁶
there is no other God!’”
45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.⁴⁷
45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord;⁴⁸
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated.⁴⁹
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky—
he is the true God,⁵⁰
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order,⁵¹
he formed it to be inhabited—
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.⁵²
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place.⁵³
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain.’⁵⁴
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements.⁵⁵

45:20 Gather together and come!

Approach together, you refugees from the nations!
Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,
those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence!⁵⁶
Let them consult with one another!
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer,⁵⁷ there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers;⁵⁸
there is none but me.
45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered,⁵⁹
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.⁶⁰
45:23 I solemnly make this oath⁶¹—
what I say is true and reliable:⁶²
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm;⁶³
45:24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’”⁶⁴
All who are angry at him will cower before him.⁶⁵
45:25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord
and boast in him.⁶⁶

The Lord Will Vindicate His Servant

52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed!¹⁹
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted.²⁰
52:14 Just as many were horrified by the sight of you²¹—
he was so disfigured²² he no longer looked like a man;²³
52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human²⁴—
so now²⁵ he will startle²⁶ many nations.
Kings will be shocked by his exaltation,²⁷
for they will witness something unannounced to them,
and they will understand something they had not heard about.
53:1 Who would have believed¹ what we² just heard?³
When⁴ was the Lord’s power⁵ revealed through him?
53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God,⁶
like a root out of parched soil;⁷
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,⁸
no special appearance that we should want to follow him.⁹
53:3 He was despised and rejected by people,¹⁰
one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;
people hid their faces from him;¹¹
he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.¹²
53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain;¹³
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.¹⁴
53:5 He was wounded because of¹⁵ our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of¹⁶ our sins;
he endured punishment that made us well;¹⁷
because of his wounds we have been healed.¹⁸

53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;
each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.¹⁹
53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted,²⁰
but he did not even open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,
like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not even open his mouth.²¹
53:8 He was led away after an unjust trial²²—
but who even cared?²³

Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living;²⁴
because of the rebellion of his own²⁵ people he was wounded.
53:9 They intended to bury him with criminals,²⁶
but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb,²⁷
because²⁸ he had committed no violent deeds,
nor had he spoken deceitfully.
53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,
once restitution is made,²⁹
he will see descendants and enjoy long life,³⁰
and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,
he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.³¹
“My servant³² will acquit many,³³
for he carried their sins.³⁴
53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the mighty,
he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful,³⁵
because he willingly submitted³⁶ to death
and was numbered with the rebels,
when he lifted up the sin of many
and intervened ³⁷ on behalf of the rebels.”