Isaiah 44-45: Who is the King of the North?

² Thus saith the LORD that made thee and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my slave, and thou, Jesurun, {Heb. the upright one} whom I have chosen.

³ For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring:

⁴ And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

⁵ One shall say, I am the LORD’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.

⁶ Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer, the LORD of the hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

⁷ And who shall call as I do and declare this in advance and set it in order for me, since I made the people of the world? Let them declare unto them the things that are near and the things that shall come.

⁸ Do not fear, neither be afraid; have I not caused thee to hear from of old and declared unto thee beforehand that which was to come? Then ye are my witnesses that there is no God but me, and there is no Strong One that I do not know.

⁹ ¶ Those that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and that which is most precious to them is useful for nothing; and they are their own witnesses that they do not see, nor understand; therefore, they shall be ashamed.

¹⁰ Who has formed God? And who cast a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

¹¹ Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; for the workmen, they are of men; even if all of them are gathered together and stand, they shall fear and shall be ashamed together.

¹² The smith shall take the tongs; he shall work among the coals; he shall give it form with the hammers and bring forth in it the arm of his strength; though he is hungry and his strength fails: he shall not drink water, even if he faints.

¹³ The carpenter stretches out his rule; he measures it with a line; he fits it with planes; he marks it out with the compass; he makes it after the form of a noble man, in the likeness of the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

¹⁴ He shall hew down cedars and take the cypress and the oak, and he shall strengthen himself with the trees of the forest; he shall plant a fir tree, which shall be nourished with the rain.

¹⁵ The man shall then use of it for firewood; for he will take thereof and warm himself; he will kindle it and bake bread; he will also make a god and worship it; he will fabricate an idol and shall kneel down before it.

¹⁶ He shall burn part of it in the fire; with another part thereof he shall eat flesh; he shall roast meat and shall satisfy himself. Afterwards he shall warm himself and say, Aha, I have warmed myself, I have seen fire;

¹⁷ the residue of it he turns into god, into his graven image; he humbles himself before it and worships it and prays unto it and says, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

¹⁸ They did not know nor understand; for he has anointed their eyes that they not see and their hearts that they not understand.

¹⁹ He does not return to his right mind; he does not have knowledge nor intelligence to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; I have also baked bread upon the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Do I have to humble myself before the trunk of a tree?

²⁰ The ashes feed him; his deceived heart inclines him, that he not deliver his soul and say, Is not the lie at my right hand?

²¹ ¶ Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel: that thou art my slave: I have formed thee; thou art my slave, O Israel, do not forget me.

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

²³ Sing praises, O ye heavens; for the LORD has done it; shout with joy, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into praise, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel he shall be glorified.

²⁴ Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things, that stretches forth the heavens alone, that spreads abroad the earth by myself;

²⁵ that undoes the signs of the fortune tellers and makes the diviners mad; that turns the wise men backward and makes their wisdom fade away;

²⁶ that awakes the word of his slave and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, that says unto Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be rebuilt, and I will raise up thy ruins

²⁷ that says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers

²⁸ that calls Cyrus, my shepherd, and all that I desire, he shall fulfil, by saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

45 ¶ Thus saith the LORD to his Messiah, to Cyrus, whom I have taken by his right hand to subdue Gentiles before him and to loose the loins of kings. To open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut:

² I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

³ And I will give thee the hidden treasures and the well-guarded secrets that thou may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who gives thee thy name.

⁴ For Jacob my slave’s sake and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

⁵ ¶ I am the LORD, and there is no one else; there is no God beside me; I shall gird thee, though thou hast not known me

⁶ that it may be known from the rising of the sun and from where it goes down that there is no one beside me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else.

⁷ I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil: I am the LORD that does all this.

⁸ Release, ye heavens, from above, and the clouds shall pour down righteousness; let the earth open up, and let salvation and righteousness bear their fruit; let them produce fruit together; I the LORD have created it.

⁹ Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What doth thou make; thy work has no form?

¹⁰ Woe unto him that says unto his father, Why dost thou beget? or to the woman, Why hast thou brought forth?

¹¹ ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come; inquire of me concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands.

¹² I have made the earth, and created man upon it, I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens and I have commanded all their host.

¹³ I have awakened him in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall loose my captives, not for price nor for bribes, saith the LORD of the hosts.

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 no one else; there is none other beside God.

¹⁵ Verily thou art God, that thou might hide thyself; God of Israel, who saves.

¹⁶ They shall be ashamed and also confounded, all of them; all the makers of idols shall go forth ashamed.

¹⁷ Israel is saved in the LORD, eternal salvation; ye shall never be ashamed nor confounded through all ages.

¹⁸ For thus has the LORD said that creates the heavens; God himself that forms the earth, he who made it and established it. He did not create it in vain; he created it to be inhabited; I am the LORD; and there is no one else.

¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. Not without substance did I say unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me; I am the LORD who speaks righteousness, who declares things that are right.

²⁰ ¶ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, all ye that are escaped of the Gentiles. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image and pray unto the god that does not save.

²¹ Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together; who caused this to be heard from the beginning and has declared it from that time, except me, the LORD? and there is no God beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is no one besides me.

²² Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no one else.

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.

²⁴ And unto me he shall say, Surely in the LORD is the righteousness and the strength; until he shall come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

²⁵ In the LORD shall all the generation of Israel be justified and shall glory.