20 He is a feeder on ashes; a deluded heart hath turned him aside, and he delivereth not his soul, nor saith, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

21 Remember these things, O Jacob; and Israel, for thou art my servant; I have formed thee, thou art my servant: Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

22 I have blotted out, as a mist, thy rebellions, and as a cloud thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

23 Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lowest parts of the earth; break forth, ye mountains, into singing; the forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and will beautify himself in Israel.

24 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth forth the earth: who was with me?

25 That shattereth the signs of the praters, and diviners he will madden; that tumeth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish:

26 That setteth up the word of his servant, and fulfilleth the counsel of his messengers: that saith to Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will set up the wastes thereof:

27 That saith to the deep, Be wasted, I will dry up thy rivers:

28 That saith to Cyrus, My shepherd, and all my pleasure shall he fulfil; 3 and saying to Jerusalem, She shall be built, and a temple shall be founded.

20. ‘a feeder on ashes’: as pointed, ‘a shepherd of . . . ’ Some render, ‘he followeth after ashes . . . ’24. ‘who was with me?’ So Heb. text: margin, ‘by myself.’26. Or, ‘that saith of Jerusalem’: and so to the end of the chapter, and beginning of chap. xlv.28. ‘pleasure’: or, ‘will,’ ‘purpose.’

XLV. 1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, of whose right hand I have taken hold, to bring down nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings, to loose before his face two-leaved doors, and gates shall not be shut:

2 I will go before thee, and make swelling ground a I will break in pieces doors of brass, and cut in sunder bars of iron:

3 And I will give thee treasures of darkness, and hidden things of secret places, that thou mayest know that I am the Lord, which call thee by thy name, the God of Israel.

4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel's mine elect, therefore I have called thee by thy name: I have named thee honourably, and thou hast not known me.

5 I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God. beside me: I have girded thee, and thou hast not known me.

6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the setting thereof, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else,

7 That form light, and create darkness, that make peace, and create evil: I am the Lord, that do all these things

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 her cause righteousness to spring up together: I the Lord have created it.

9, Ah, he that. striveth with him that formed him ! a potsherd among potsherds of the ground. Shall the clay say to the potter, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands!

4. ‘therefore,’ Heb. ‘and,’ marking principal clause.7. ‘evil,’ here explained as calamity.9. ‘him that formed.’ Same word as ‘potter,’ cf. xxix.

10 Ah, he that saith unto a father, What begettest thou? or to a woman, Wherewith travailest thou?

11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy one of Israel, and he that formed him; Ask me of coming things concerning my sons, and command me concerning the work of my hands.