Isaiah 45:1–7; Isaiah 45:18–25; Philippians 2:5–11

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Isaiah 45:1–7

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

Thus says the Lord to phis anointed, to Cyrus,

qwhose right hand I have grasped,

to subdue nations before him

and rto loose the belts of kings,

to open doors before him

that gates may not be closed:

I will go before you

and slevel the exalted places,1

tI will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,

uI will give you the treasures of darkness

and the hoards in secret places,

that you may know that it is I, the Lord,

the God of Israel, vwho call you by your name.

For the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen,

vI call you by your name,

wI name you, though you do not know me.

xI am the Lord, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

yI equip you, though you do not know me,

zthat people 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 other.

I form light and create darkness;

I make well-being and acreate calamity;

I am the Lord, who does all these things.


Isaiah 45:18–25

18  vFor thus says the Lord,

who created the heavens

(he is God!),

who formed the earth and made it

(he established it;

he wdid not create it empty,

xhe formed it to be inhabited!):

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19  yI did not speak in secret,

in a land of darkness;

I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,

zSeek me in vain.1

I the Lord speak athe truth;

I declare what is right.

20  bAssemble yourselves and come;

draw near together,

you survivors of the nations!

cThey have no knowledge

who dcarry about their wooden idols,

eand keep on praying to a god

that cannot save.

21  fDeclare and present your case;

let them take counsel together!

Who told this long ago?

Who declared it of old?

Was it not I, the Lord?

And there is no other god besides me,

a righteous God gand a Savior;

there is none besides me.

22  Turn to me and be saved,

hall the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

23  iBy myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone out in jrighteousness

a word that shall not return:

kTo me every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear allegiance.2

24  lOnly in the Lord, it shall be said of me,

are righteousness and mstrength;

to him shall come and be ashamed

nall who were incensed against him.

25  In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

shall be justified and shall glory.


Philippians 2:5–11

oHave this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,1 pwho, though he was in qthe form of God, did not count equality with God ra thing to be grasped,2 but semptied himself, by taking the form of a tservant,3 ubeing born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by vbecoming obedient to the point of death, weven death on a cross. xTherefore yGod has zhighly exalted him and bestowed on him athe name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus bevery knee should bow, cin heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and devery tongue confess that Jesus Christ is eLord, to the glory of God the Father.