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Isaiah 45

God declares his sole rule over creation and nations, appoints Cyrus to free Israel, and calls the whole earth to salvation.

YHWH addresses Cyrus as his anointed ruler, promising to overcome nations before him for Israel’s sake, even though Cyrus has not known him. God names himself as the sole Creator and Savior, rebukes those who dispute his purposes, and declares that Cyrus will rebuild his city and release his exiles. The address widens to survivors from the nations: idols cannot save, and the ends of the earth are called to turn to YHWH.

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1The LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their armor, to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
2“I will go before you and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of bronze in pieces and cut apart the bars of iron.
3I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, who calls you by your name, even the God of Israel.
4For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have given you a title, though you have not known me.
5I am the LORD, and there is no one else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me,
6that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else.
7I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I am the LORD, who does all these things.
8Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.
9Woe to him who strives with his Maker— a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands’?
10Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the father of?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you given birth to?’”
11The LORD, the Holy One of Israel and his Maker says: “You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands!
12I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens. I have commanded all their army.
13I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward,” says the LORD of Armies.
14The LORD says: “The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you, and they will be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains. They will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no one else. There is no other god.
15Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’”
16They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
17Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.
18For the LORD who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited says: “I am the LORD. There is no other.
19I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
20“Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
21Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, the LORD? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is no one besides me.
22“Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
23I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not be revoked, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.
24They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in the LORD.’” Even to him will men come. All those who raged against him will be disappointed.
25All the offspring of Israel will be justified in the LORD, and will rejoice!
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 45:18God’s purpose in forming an inhabited earth grounds his claim to be the only God.
Isaiah 45:22The call to salvation reaches the ends of the earth because YHWH alone is God.
Isaiah 45:24The closing confession locates righteousness and strength in YHWH alone, while those who rage against him face disappointment.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis shares the account of God forming the earth for human life, while Jeremiah shares the potter-and-clay image of God’s authority over his people. Romans quotes Isaiah’s declaration that every knee will bow, and Philippians echoes that language in its account of universal homage to Jesus.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What does God’s choice of Cyrus challenge in your expectations about how God might act?

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How do the warnings against idols shape your reading of the call to the ends of the earth?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 45

Why does Isaiah 45 call Cyrus God’s anointed?

Cyrus was a Persian king whom God appointed for a task: subduing nations and freeing Israel’s exiles. The title marks that commission. The chapter twice says Cyrus has not known YHWH, so his appointment does not establish personal faith or make him Israel’s promised final Savior.

Does Isaiah 45:7 say God creates evil?

The supplied translation says God creates “calamity.” The verse pairs light with darkness and peace with calamity, asserting God’s rule over the full range of events. Its subject is disaster and upheaval under God’s authority. It does not describe God committing sin or approving moral wickedness.

Does Isaiah 45:23 mean everyone will be saved?

The declaration that every knee will bow establishes universal acknowledgment of YHWH’s rule. The surrounding verses call everyone to look to him for salvation, yet also describe disappointment for those who rage against him. Universal homage, in this passage, does not amount to an explicit promise that every person will be saved.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).