Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 45:20
20“Come, gather together, and approach, you fugitives of the nations. Those who carry their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save have no knowledge.
Isaiah 45:20 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save.
Context of Isaiah 45:20
18For this is what the Lord says — the Creator of the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, the one who established it (he did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) — he says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19I have not spoken in secret, somewhere in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob: Seek me in a wasteland. I am the Lord, who speaks righteously, who declares what is right. “Come, gather together, and approach, you fugitives of the nations. Those who carry their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save have no knowledge. 21Speak up and present your case — yes, let them consult each other. Who predicted 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 no one except me. 22Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.
Read all of Isaiah 45Isaiah 45:20 word by word
הִקָּבְצ֥וּ וָבֹ֛אוּ הִֽתְנַגְּשׁ֥וּ יַחְדָּ֖ו פְּלִיטֵ֣י הַגּוֹיִ֑ם לֹ֣א יָדְע֗וּ הַנֹּֽשְׂאִים֙ אֶת־עֵ֣ץ פִּסְלָ֔ם וּמִתְפַּלְלִ֔ים אֶל־אֵ֖ל לֹ֥א יוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Assembleקָבַץqâbats · to gatherH6908
- yourselves and comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- draw nearנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: approachH5066
- togetherיָחְדָּוyachad · togetherH3162
- escapedפָּלִיטpâlîyţ pâlêyţ pâlêţ · survivorH6412
- of the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- they have no knowledgeיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- that set upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
- the woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
- of their graven imageפֶּ֫סֶלpesel · idolH6459
- and prayפָּלַלpâlal · to prayH6419
- unto a godאֵל'êl · godH410
- cannot saveיָשַׁעyâsha‛ · to saveH3467
Cross-references for Isaiah 45:20
- Isaiah 41:5The coasts and islands see and are afraid, the whole earth trembles. They approach and arrive.
- Isaiah 43:9All the nations are gathered together, and the peoples are assembled. Who among them can declare this, and tell us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate themselves, so that people may hear and say, “It is true.”
- Isaiah 4:2On 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.
- Jeremiah 25:15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.
- Jeremiah 50:28There is a voice of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon. The voice announces in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance for his temple.
- Jeremiah 51:6Leave Babylon; save your lives, each of you! Don’t perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance — he will pay her what she deserves.
- Ephesians 2:12At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- Revelation 18:3For all the nations have drunk the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath. The kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.
- Isaiah 42:17They will be turned back and utterly ashamed — those who trust in an idol and say to a cast image, ‘You are our gods! ’
- Isaiah 44:17He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”
- Isaiah 46:7They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands; it does not budge from its place. They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer; it saves no one from his trouble.
- Isaiah 48:7They have been created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today, so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’
- 1 Kings 18:26So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.
- Psalms 115:8Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.
- Jeremiah 2:27say to a tree, “You are my father,” and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.” For they have turned their back to me and not their face, yet in their time of disaster they beg, “Rise up and save us!”
- Jeremiah 10:8They are both stupid and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
Commentaries on Isaiah 45:20
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Assemble yourselves, and come - This, like the passage in Isaiah 41:1 ff, is a solemn appeal to the worshippers of idols, to come and produce the evidences of their being endowed with omniscience, and with almighty power, and of their having claims to the homage of their worshippers. Ye that are escaped of the nations - This phrase has been very variously interpreted. Kimchi supposes that it means those who were distinguished among the nations, their…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-25Verses 20-25 The nations are exhorted to draw near to Jehovah. None besides is able to help; he is the Saviour, who can save without the assistance of any, but without whom none can save. If the heart is brought into the obedience of Christ, the knee will cheerfully obey his commands. To Christ men shall come from every nation for blessings; all that hate his cause shall be put to shame, and all believers shall rejoice in him as their Friend and Portion…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-25Salvation comes only from the Lord. He is the creator, the revealer, and the one who carries out his will in human history. He promised to start a new era of salvation and righteousness (see Isaiah 45:8). Every person will submit to God, either by choice or not (Isaiah 45:23–24).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. escaped of the nations--those of the nations who shall have escaped the slaughter inflicted by Cyrus. Now, at last, ye shall see the folly of "praying to a god that cannot save" (Is 45:16). Ultimately, those that shall be "left of all the nations which shall come against Jerusalem" are meant (Zec 14:16). They shall then all be converted to the Lord (Is 66:23, 24; Jr 3:17; Zec 8:20-23).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 45:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 45
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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