Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Koresh, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
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God's Message to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand To give the task of taming the nations, of terrifying their kings - He gave him free rein, no restrictions:
2 I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;
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"I'll go ahead of you, clearing and paving the road. I'll break down bronze city gates, smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
3 and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, who call you by your name, even the God of Yisra'el.
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I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables - Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
4 For Ya`akov my servant's sake, and Yisra'el my chosen, I have called you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.
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It's because of my dear servant Jacob, Israel my chosen, That I've singled you out, called you by name, and given you this privileged work. And you don't even know me!
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known me;
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I am God, the only God there is. Besides me there are no real gods. I'm the one who armed you for this work, though you don't even know me,
6 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am the LORD, and there is no one else.
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So that everyone, from east to west, will know that I have no god-rivals. I am God, the only God there is.
7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make shalom, and create evil. I am the LORD, who does all these things.
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I form light and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords. I, God, do all these things.
8 Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the eretz open, that it may bring forth yeshu`ah, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I, the LORD, have created it.
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"Open up, heavens, and rain. Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness! Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation; sprout right living. I, God, generate all this.
9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker -- a potsherd among the potsherds of the eretz! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, "What are you making?" or your work, "He has no hands?"
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But doom to you who fight your Maker - you're a pot at odds with the potter! Does clay talk back to the potter: 'What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!'
10 Woe to him who says to a father, "What have you become the father of?" or to a woman, "With what do you travail?"
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Would a sperm say to a father, 'Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?' Or a fetus to a mother, 'Why have you cooped me up in this belly?'"
11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Yisra'el, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command you me.
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Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel's Maker, says: "Do you question who or what I'm making? Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
12 I have made the eretz, and created man on it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and all their host have I commanded.
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I made earth, and I created man and woman to live on it. I handcrafted the skies and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says the LORD of Hosts.
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And now I've got Cyrus on the move. I've rolled out the red carpet before him. He will build my city. He will bring home my exiles. I didn't hire him to do this. I told him. I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies."
14 Thus says the LORD: "The labor of Mitzrayim, and the merchandise of Kush, and the Seva'im, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They shall go after you. In chains they shall come over; and they shall fall down to you. They shall make supplication to you: 'Surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no other god.
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God says: "The workers of Egypt, the merchants of Ethiopia, and those statuesque Sabeans Will all come over to you - all yours. Docile in chains, they'll follow you, Hands folded in reverence, praying before you: 'Amazing! God is with you! There is no other God - none.'" Look at the Evidence
15 Most assuredly you are a God who hid yourself, God of Yisra'el, the Savior.'
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Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes, God of Israel, Savior God.
16 They shall be put to shame, yes, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together who are makers of idols.
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Humiliated, all those others will be ashamed to show their faces in public. Out of work and at loose ends, the makers of no-god idols won't know what to do with themselves.
17 [But] Yisra'el shall be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.
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The people of Israel, though, are saved by you, God, saved with an eternal salvation. They won't be ashamed, they won't be at loose ends, ever.
18 For thus says the LORD who created the heavens, the God who formed the eretz and made it, who established it and didn't create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is no one else.
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God, Creator of the heavens - he is, remember, God. Maker of earth - he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch. He didn't go to all that trouble to just leave it empty, nothing in it. He made it to be lived in. This God says: "I am God, the one and only.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I didn't say to the seed of Ya`akov, Seek you me in vain: I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
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I don't just talk to myself or mumble under my breath. I never told Jacob, 'Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.' I am God. I work out in the open, saying what's right, setting things right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations: they have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can't save.
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So gather around, come on in, all you refugees and castoffs. They don't seem to know much, do they - those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood, praying for help to a dead stick?
21 Declare you, and bring [it] forth; yes, let them take counsel together: who has shown this from ancient time? who has declared it of old? Haven't I, the LORD? and there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Savior; there is no one besides me.
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So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what's going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn't I the one? God? It had to be me. I'm the only God there is - The only God who does things right and knows how to help.
22 Look to me, and be you saved, all the ends of the eretz; for I am God, and there is none else.
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So turn to me and be helped - saved! - everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am God, the only God there is, the one and only.
23 By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
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I promise in my own name: Every word out of my mouth does what it says. I never take back what I say. Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me,
24 Only in the LORD, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be put to shame.
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'Yes! Salvation and strength are in God!'" All who have raged against him will be brought before him, disgraced by their unbelief.
25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Yisra'el be justified, and shall glory.
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And all who are connected with Israel will have a robust, praising, good life in God!
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.