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.
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
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.
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.
2 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
3 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
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.”
5 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
6 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”