Isaiah:45-48

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* Thus saith the LORD to his anointed , to Cyrus , whose right hand I have holden , to subdue nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of kings , to open before him the two leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut ; * I will go before thee , and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass , and cut in sunder the bars of iron : * And I will give thee the treasures of darkness , and hidden riches of secret places , that thou mayest know that I , the LORD , which call thee by thy name , am the God of Israel . * For Jacob my servant 's sake , and Israel mine elect , I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee , though thou hast not known me . * I am the LORD , and there is none else , there is no God beside me : I girded thee , though thou hast not known me : * That they may know from the rising of the sun , and from the west , that there is none beside me . I am the LORD , and there is none else . * I form the light , and create darkness : I make peace , and create evil : I the LORD do all these things . * Drop down , ye heavens , from above , and let the skies pour down righteousness : let the earth open , and let them bring forth salvation , and let righteousness spring up together ; I the LORD have created it . * Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker ! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth . Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it , What makest thou ? or thy work , He hath no hands ? * Woe unto him that saith unto his father , What begettest thou ? or to the woman , What hast thou brought forth ? * Thus saith 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 command ye me . * I have made the earth , and created man upon it : I , even my hands , have stretched out the heavens , and all their host have I commanded . * I have raised him up in righteousness , and I will direct all his ways : he shall build my city , and he shall let go my captives , not for price nor reward , saith the LORD of hosts . * Thus saith the LORD , The labour of Egypt , and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans , men of stature , shall come over unto thee , and they shall be thine : they shall come after thee ; in chains they shall come over , and they shall fall down unto thee , they shall make supplication unto thee , saying , Surely God is in thee ; and there is none else , there is no God . * Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself , O God of Israel , the Saviour . * They shall be ashamed , and also confounded , all of them : they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols . * But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation : ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end . * For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens ; God himself that formed the earth and made it ; he hath established it , he created it not in vain , he formed it to be inhabited : I am the LORD ; and there is none else . * I have not spoken in secret , in a dark place of the earth : I said not unto the seed of Jacob , Seek ye me in vain : I the LORD speak righteousness , I declare things that are right . * Assemble yourselves and come ; draw near together , ye that are escaped of the nations : they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image , and pray unto a god that cannot save . * Tell ye , and bring them near ; yea , let them take counsel together : who hath declared this from ancient time ? who hath told it from that time ? have not I the LORD ? and there is no God else beside me ; a just God and a Saviour ; there is none beside me . * Look unto me , and be ye saved , all the ends of the earth : for I am God , and there is none else . * I have sworn by myself , the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness , and shall not return , That unto me every knee shall bow , every tongue shall swear . * Surely , shall one say , in the LORD have I righteousness and strength : even to him shall men come ; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed . * In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified , and shall glory . * Bel boweth down , Nebo stoopeth , their idols were upon the beasts , and upon the cattle : your carriages were heavy loaden ; they are a burden to the weary beast . * They stoop , they bow down together ; they could not deliver the burden , but themselves are gone into captivity . * Hearken unto me , O house of Jacob , and all the remnant of the house of Israel , which are borne by me from the belly , which are carried from the womb : * And even to your old age I am he ; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you : I have made , and I will bear ; even I will carry , and will deliver you . * To whom will ye liken me , and make me equal , and compare me , that we may be like ? * They lavish gold out of the bag , and weigh silver in the balance , and hire a goldsmith ; and he maketh it a god : they fall down , yea , they worship . * They bear him upon the shoulder , they carry him , and set him in his place , and he standeth ; from his place shall he not remove : yea , one shall cry unto him , yet can he not answer , nor save him out of his trouble . * Remember this , and shew yourselves men : bring it again to mind , O ye transgressors . * Remember the former things of old : for I am God , and there is none else ; I am God , and there is none like me , * Declaring the end from the beginning , and from ancient times the things that are not yet done , saying , My counsel shall stand , and I will do all my pleasure : * Calling a ravenous bird from the east , the man that executeth my counsel from a far country : yea , I have spoken it , I will also bring it to pass ; I have purposed it , I will also do it . * Hearken unto me , ye stouthearted , that are far from righteousness : * I bring near my righteousness ; it shall not be far off , and my salvation shall not tarry : and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory . * Come down , and sit in the dust , O virgin daughter of Babylon , sit on the ground : there is no throne , O daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate . * Take the millstones , and grind meal : uncover thy locks , make bare the leg , uncover the thigh , pass over the rivers . * Thy nakedness shall be uncovered , yea , thy shame shall be seen : I will take vengeance , and I will not meet thee as a man . * As for our redeemer , the LORD of hosts is his name , the Holy One of Israel . * Sit thou silent , and get thee into darkness , O daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called , The lady of kingdoms . * I was wroth with my people , I have polluted mine inheritance , and given them into thine hand : thou didst shew them no mercy ; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke . * And thou saidst , I shall be a lady for ever : so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart , neither didst remember the latter end of it . * Therefore hear now this , thou that art given to pleasures , that dwellest carelessly , that sayest in thine heart , I am , and none else beside me ; I shall not sit as a widow , neither shall I know the loss of children : * But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day , the loss of children , and widowhood : they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries , and for the great abundance of thine enchantments . * For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness : thou hast said , None seeth me . Thy wisdom and thy knowledge , it hath perverted thee ; and thou hast said in thine heart , I am , and none else beside me . * Therefore shall evil come upon thee ; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth : and mischief shall fall upon thee ; thou shalt not be able to put it off : and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly , which thou shalt not know . * Stand now with thine enchantments , and with the multitude of thy sorceries , wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth ; if so be thou shalt be able to profit , if so be thou mayest prevail . * Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels . Let now the astrologers , the stargazers , the monthly prognosticators , stand up , and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee . * Behold , they shall be as stubble ; the fire shall burn them ; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame : there shall not be a coal to warm at , nor fire to sit before it . * Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured , even thy merchants , from thy youth : they shall wander every one to his quarter ; none shall save thee . * Hear ye this , O house of Jacob , which are called by the name of Israel , and are come forth out of the waters of Judah , which swear by the name of the LORD , and make mention of the God of Israel , but not in truth , nor in righteousness . * For they call themselves of the holy city , and stay themselves upon the God of Israel ; The LORD of hosts is his name . * I have declared the former things from the beginning ; and they went forth out of my mouth , and I shewed them ; I did them suddenly , and they came to pass . * Because I knew that thou art obstinate , and thy neck is an iron sinew , and thy brow brass ; * I have even from the beginning declared it to thee ; before it came to pass I shewed it thee : lest thou shouldest say , Mine idol hath done them , and my graven image , and my molten image , hath commanded them . * Thou hast heard , see all this ; and will not ye declare it ? I have shewed thee new things from this time , even hidden things , and thou didst not know them . * They are created now , and not from the beginning ; even before the day when thou heardest them not ; lest thou shouldest say , Behold , I knew them . * Yea , thou heardest not ; yea , thou knewest not ; yea , from that time that thine ear was not opened : for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously , and wast called a transgressor from the womb . * For my name 's sake will I defer mine anger , and for my praise will I refrain for thee , that I cut thee not off . * Behold , I have refined thee , but not with silver ; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction . * For mine own sake , even for mine own sake , will I do it : for how should my name be polluted ? and I will not give my glory unto another . * Hearken unto me , O Jacob and Israel , my called ; I am he ; I am the first , I also am the last . * Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth , and my right hand hath spanned the heavens : when I call unto them , they stand up together . * All ye , assemble yourselves , and hear ; which among them hath declared these things ? The LORD hath loved him : he will do his pleasure on Babylon , and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans . * I , even I , have spoken ; yea , I have called him : I have brought him , and he shall make his way prosperous . * Come ye near unto me , hear ye this ; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning ; from the time that it was , there am I : and now the Lord GOD , and his Spirit , hath sent me . * Thus saith the LORD , thy Redeemer , the Holy One of Israel ; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit , which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go . * O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments ! then had thy peace been as a river , and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea : * Thy seed also had been as the sand , and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof ; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me . * Go ye forth of Babylon , flee ye from the Chaldeans , with a voice of singing declare ye , tell this , utter it even to the end of the earth ; say ye , The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob . * And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts : he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them : he clave the rock also , and the waters gushed out . * There is no peace , saith the LORD , unto the wicked . * Listen , O isles , unto me ; and hearken , ye people , from far ; The LORD hath called me from the womb ; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name .

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