45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. 1
45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; 2
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. 3
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 4
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 5
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 6
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 7
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 8
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! 9
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, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers; 10
there is none but me.
45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, 11
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
45:23 I solemnly make this oath 12 –
what I say is true and reliable: 13
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm; 14
45:24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” 15
All who are angry at him will cower before him. 16
45:25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord
and will boast in him. 17