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Jerusalem to Be Inhabited (continued)
45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before
him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him
the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
45:2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places
straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut
in sunder the bars of iron:
45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and
hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that
I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of
Israel.
45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I
have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee,
though thou hast not known me.
45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God
beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and
from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD,
and there is none else.
45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace,
and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies
pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them
bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up
together; I the LORD have created it.
45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the
potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the
clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy
work, He hath no hands?
45:10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What
begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought
forth?
45:11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his
Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and
concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I,
even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their
host have I commanded.
45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will
direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall
let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD
of hosts.
45:14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and
merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they
shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and
they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication
unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none
else, there is no God.
45:15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of
Israel, the Saviour.
45:16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of
them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of
idols.
45:17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an
everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor
confounded world without end.
45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God
himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath
established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to
be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the
earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in
vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that
are right.
45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye
that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that
set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god
that cannot save.
45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take
counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time?
who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and
there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour;
there is none beside me.
45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my
mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I
righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
45:25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be
justified, and shall glory. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
