Isaiah 45:20

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

18The Lord created the heavens. He is the true God. He created the earth and he put it in its place. He built it to be strong. He did not create it as an empty place. He made it for people to live there. He says, ‘I am the Lord. There is nobody else who is like me. 19I have not spoken secretly, as I hid in a dark place. I did not say to Jacob's descendants, “Look for me, but you will not find me.” I am the Lord. I speak what is right. My message is true. So come, you people of the nations, you who have escaped from war. Bring yourselves in front of me together! People who carry wooden idols are fools! They pray to gods who cannot rescue them. 21Now decide together what you will say in court! Tell me what you think! Who said a long time ago what would happen? Who spoke about it long before it happened? It was I, the Lord! There is nobody else like me. There is no other God, except me. I am a righteous God and I save my people. There is no other God. 22So turn to me and I will make you safe. I say that to everybody all over the world. Turn to me, because I am God. There is nobody else like me.

Isaiah 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 people on the islands see what I am doing, and they are afraid. People all over the world shake with fear. They join together and they come near.
• Isaiah 43:9Tell the people of all nations to come together. Did any of their gods tell us what would happen? If anyone heard them speak the truth, they should bring those people to this court. Then they can tell us that they were right. People could say, “They spoke the truth.” ’
• Isaiah 4:2In that day, the branch of the Lord will be great and beautiful. The land will give fruit and crops. Those people who remain in Israel will be proud and happy because of the food that the land supplies.
• Jeremiah 25:15The Lord, Israel's God, said to me, ‘Take this cup from me. It is full of wine that shows my great anger. Take it to the nations where I send you. Make them drink this wine of punishment.
• Jeremiah 50:28Listen! People have run away from the war in Babylon. Now they are arriving in Jerusalem. They will tell the news in Zion about how the Lord is punishing Babylon. He is punishing the people of Babylon because they destroyed his temple.
• Jeremiah 51:6Run away from Babylonia! Run quickly to escape from there! Do not stay there to die along with Babylonia's people. The time has come for the Lord to pay them back for their sins. He will punish them as they deserve.
• Ephesians 2:12At that time, you did not know about Christ, God's special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel's people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God's help.
• Revelation 18:3She has been like a prostitute who makes men become drunk. Then she leads them to have sex in a wrong way. She has caused people from every nation to turn away from God. It is like all the kings of the earth have had sex with that bad woman. All the traders of the earth have become rich, because she has bought things from them to enjoy a wicked life.’
• Isaiah 42:17But I will push away people who trust idols to help them. Those people will become ashamed. They say to images that they have made, “You are our gods.”
• Isaiah 44:17He uses the rest of the wood to make an idol to be his god. He bends down in front of it and he worships it. He prays to it and he says, ‘Save me, because you are my god!’
• Isaiah 46:7They lift the idol onto their shoulders and they carry it home. They put it in its place and it stands there. It cannot move anywhere else. If someone calls out to it for help, it does not answer. It cannot save anyone from their trouble.
• Isaiah 48:7They are not things that started long ago. I am causing them to happen now. You did not hear about them before today. So you cannot say, “Yes, I already knew about them.”
• 1 Kings 18:26So Baal's prophets took a bull as Elijah had told them. They prepared it and they put it on the altar that they had made. Then they prayed to Baal all the time, from morning until noon. They shouted, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice that answered them. They jumped and they danced around the altar.
• Psalms 115:8The people that make those idols will become useless like them. The same is true for everyone who trusts their idols to help them.
• Jeremiah 2:27They worship a piece of wood, and they say, “You are my father.” They say to a stone, “You gave birth to me.” They have not turned to come to me. Instead, they have turned away from me. But when trouble comes to them, they call out to me to rescue them.
• Jeremiah 10:8The people of those nations are stupid and foolish. They think that wooden idols can teach them something!

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

• Carving
• Idolatry
• Isaiah

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Graven image
• Anointed
• Confusion
• Elect
• Look
• Crafts
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to

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