A message from the Lord to the king he has anointed, to Cyrus. I have caught him by his right hand, ready to subdue nations at his coming, put kings to flight, open every gateway before him, so that no door can keep him out.

And now (says the Lord) I will still lead thee on thy way, bending the pride of earth low before thee; I will break open gates of bronze, and cleave through bars of iron;

their hidden treasures, their most secret hoards, I will hand over to thee. Know by this that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who am calling upon thee by thy name;

and that I do it for love of my servant Jacob, of Israel, my chosen people. Yes, I have called thee by thy name; I have found a title for thee,✻ when thou of me hadst no knowledge as yet.

It is the Lord that speaks, and there is no other to rival me, no God but I; I, still unknown to thee, was fain to make thee strong, to what end?

Because I would proclaim it from east to west that there is no other God. It is the Lord that speaks, and there is no other to rival me;

I, the fashioner of darkness, the creator of light, I, the maker of peace, the author of calamity. I, the Lord, am the doer of all this.

(You heavens, send dew from above, you skies, pour down upon us the rain we long for, him, the Just One; may he, the Saviour, spring from the closed womb of earth, and with him let right order take its being.✻ )

I, the Lord, have made my servant what he is.

At his peril does man, poor shard of earthly clay, bandy words with his own Fashioner; shall the clay dare ask the potter who moulds it, What ails thee? Or tell him he is no craftsman?

Strange, if a man should be asked by his own son, why he begot him, or a woman, why she gave birth!✻

Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and Israel’s maker, Of me you must learn, what times they be that are coming; trust me to do what I will with my sons, with my own creatures.

It was I framed the earth, and created man to dwell in it; it was my hands that spread out the heavens, my voice that marshalled the starry host;

I, too, have summoned this man to perform my designs faithfully; go he where he will, my guidance shall be his. He shall build up my own city, he shall let my captives go free, without bribe or ransom, says the Lord of hosts.

This, too, the Lord says: all the toil of Egypt, all the merchandise of Ethiopia, and tall slaves from Sabaea shall come into thy power and be thine; they shall walk behind thee, their hands manacled as they go, paying thee reverence, and crying out, God is with thee, with thee only; there is no God where thou art not.✻

Truly, God of Israel, our Saviour, thou art a God of hidden ways!

All the makers of false gods must needs be disappointed, must go away ashamed and abashed.

Israel has found deliverance in the Lord, eternal deliverance; while ages last, no shame, no disappointment for you.

The Lord has pronounced it; the Lord who made the heavens, and the whole frame and fashion of earth, moulded to his will. He did not create it to lie idle, he shaped it to be man’s home. And he says, It is the Lord that speaks, there is no other to rival me;

it was not in secret, not in some dark recess of earth, that my word was spoken. Not in vain I bade the sons of Jacob search for me; I am the Lord, faithful to my promises, truthful in all I proclaim.

Gather yourselves and come near, flock together to my side, heathen men that have found deliverance; who still, in your ignorance, set up wooden images of your own fashioning, and pray to a god that cannot save.

Tell us your thoughts, come, take counsel among yourselves; who was it that proclaimed this from the first, prophesied it long ago? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no God where I am not. Was it not I, the faithful God? There is no other that can save.

Turn back to me, and win deliverance, all you that dwell in the remotest corners of the earth; I am God, there is no other.

By my own honour I have sworn it, nor shall it echo in vain, this faithful promise I have made,

that every knee shall bow before me, and every tongue swear by my name.

Then shall men say of the Lord, that redress and dominion come from him;✻ all those who rebelled against him shall appear in his presence abashed.

Through the Lord, the whole race of Israel shall be righted and brought to honour.