Isaiah 45:20

Faith

¹⁸ For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.

¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.

Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

²¹ Speak up and present your case— yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

²² Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
KJV: Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
WEB: “Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
ASV: Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
DARBY: Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a God that cannot save.
BLB: Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, O fugitives of the nations! They do not know [it], those carrying the wood of their idol and praying to a god [that] cannot save.

ÅB: Samle dere og kom, tred fram alle sammen, dere som er sloppet unna hedningefolkene! De vet intet de som bærer sine trebilder og ber til en gud som ikke kan frelse.
OTB: Samle dere og kom; kom sammen, dere flyktninger fra nasjonene. Uvitende er de som bærer omkring treavguder og ber til guder som ikke kan frelse.
B1930: Samle eder og kom, tred frem alle sammen, I som er sloppet unda hedningefolkene! De vet intet de som bærer sine trebilleder og ber til en gud som ikke kan frelse.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 43:9
All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
Read in context
Isaiah 44:17–20
From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
Read in context
Jeremiah 10:5
Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
Read in context
Isaiah 4:2
On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
Read in context
Isaiah 46:1
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
Read in context
Psalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Read in context
Isaiah 41:21
“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
Read in context
Isaiah 46:6–7
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
Read in context