1 sAt that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, tsent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, uthe silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. vThere was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 wBehold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 xAnd some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, y“There will be peace and security in my days.”
Isaiah 45:1–13
1 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:
2 “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,
3 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.
4 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.
5 xI am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
yI equip you, though you do not know me,
6 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.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and acreate calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
8 b“Shower, O heavens, from above,
and clet the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the Lord have created it.
9 d“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
eDoes the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11 Thus says fthe Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
g“Ask me of things to come;
will you command me hconcerning my children and ithe work of my hands?2
12 jI made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hands kthat stretched out the heavens,
and lI commanded all their host.
13 mI have stirred him up in righteousness,
nand I will make all his ways level;
ohe shall build my city
pand set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
says the Lord of hosts.
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