13. I was right to give power to Cyrus, and I will make his work easy. He will rebuild my city, and he will set my people free without bribes or payment.” The Lord All-Powerful said this.
14. The Lord says, “Egypt and Ethiopia are rich, but, Israel, you will get those riches. The tall people from Seba will be yours. They will walk behind you with chains around their necks. They will bow down before you and ask you to pray for them and say, ‘The true God really is with you, and there is no other God.’”
15. You are the God people cannot see. You are the God who saves Israel.
16. Many people make false gods, but they will be disappointed. All of them will go away ashamed.
17. But Israel will be saved by the Lord. That salvation will continue forever. Never again will Israel be shamed.
18. The Lord is God. He made the skies and the earth. He put the earth in its place. He did not want the earth to be empty when he made it. He created it to be lived on. “I am the Lord. There is no other God.
19. I have spoken openly, not in secret. I did not hide my words in a dark and secret place. I did not tell the people of Jacob to look for me in empty places. I am the Lord, and I speak the truth. I say only what is right.
20. “You people who escaped from other nations, gather together before me. (These people carry statues of false gods. They pray to useless gods, but they don’t know what they are doing.
21. Tell them to come to me. Let them present their case and discuss these things.) “Who told you about this before it happened? Who told you this so long ago? I, the Lord, am the one who said these things. I am the only God, the one who does what is right. I am the one who saves, and there is no other!
22. So all you people in faraway places, turn to me and be saved, because I am God, and there is no other.
23. “When I make a promise, that promise is true. It will happen. And I swear by my own power that everyone will bow before me and will take an oath to obey me.
24. They will say, ‘Goodness and strength come only from the Lord.’” And all who show their anger against him will be humiliated.