Yesaya 45:13

45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ¹ 

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 commands armies.

Yesaya 45:19

45:19 I have not spoken in secret,

in some hidden place. ² 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ³ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ⁴ 

Yesaya 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ⁵ 

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; ⁶ 

there is none but me.

[45:13]  ¹ tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.

[45:19]  ² tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ³ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  ⁴ tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”

[45:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ⁶ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”