God’s Plan for the World

Grace Church of Philly

Isaiah 45:14-25 (ESV)

The Lord, the Only Savior

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord:
“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
no god besides him.’”

¹⁵ Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶ All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷ But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
to all eternity.

¹⁸ For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it empty,
he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹ I did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek me in vain.’^[a]
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.

²⁰ “Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together,
you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge
who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.
²¹ Declare and present your case;
let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.

²² “Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
²³ By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’^[b]

²⁴ “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
all who were incensed against him.
²⁵ In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”

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Footnotes

1. Isaiah 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness
2. Isaiah 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God