God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 45:7
7I make light and create darkness. I make blessings and create disasters. I, the Lord, do all these things.
Isaiah 45:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
- New International Version (NIV)I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’
Context of Isaiah 45:7
5I am the Lord, and there is no other. There is no other God besides me. I will strengthen you, although you don’t know me, 6so that from the east to the west people will know that there is no God except me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I make light and create darkness. I make blessings and create disasters. I, the Lord, do all these things. 8Rain down from above, you heavens, and pour down righteousness, you skies. Let the earth open. Let salvation and righteousness sprout. Let them spring up. I, the Lord, have created them. 9How horrible it will be for the one who quarrels with his maker. He is pottery among other earthenware pots. Does the clay ask the one who shapes it, “What are you making?” Does your work say to you, “There are no handles”?
Read all of Isaiah 45Isaiah 45:7 word by word
יוֹצֵ֥ר אוֹר֙ וּבוֹרֵ֣א חֹ֔שֶׁךְ עֹשֶׂ֥ה שָׁל֖וֹם וּב֣וֹרֵא רָ֑ע אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה עֹשֶׂ֥ה כָל־אֵֽלֶּה׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- I formיָצַרyâtsar · to form: formedH3335
- the lightאוֹר'ôr · lightH216
- and createבָּרָאbârâ' · to createH1254
- darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
- I makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- peaceשָׁלוֹםshâlôm shâlôm · peace: well-beingH7965
- evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
- I the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
Cross-references for Isaiah 45:7
- Genesis 1:3Then God said, “Let there be light!” So there was light.
- Psalms 8:3When I look at your heavens, the creation of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place—
- Psalms 104:20He brings darkness, and it is nighttime, when all the wild animals in the forest come out.
- Jeremiah 31:35The Lord provides the sun to be a light during the day. He orders the moon and stars to be lights during the night. He stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. His name is the Lord of Armies. This is what the Lord says:
- 2 Corinthians 4:6We are his servants because the same God who said that light should shine out of darkness has given us light. For that reason we bring to light the knowledge about God’s glory which shines from Christ’s face.
- James 1:17Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.
- Exodus 10:21Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward the sky, and a darkness ⌞so thick⌟ that it can be felt will come over Egypt.”
- Exodus 14:20between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp. The ⌞column of⌟ smoke was there when darkness came, and it lit up the night. Neither side came near the other all night long.
- Jeremiah 13:16Honor the Lord your God before it gets dark, before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight. You will look for light, but the Lord will turn it into the shadow of death and change it into deep darkness.
- Ezekiel 32:8I will darken all the lights shining in the sky above you. I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Almighty Lord.
- Joel 2:2It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and overcast skies. A large and mighty army will spread over the mountains like the dawn. Nothing like this has ever happened. Nothing like this will ever happen again.
- Amos 4:13God forms the mountains and creates the wind. He reveals his thoughts to humans. He makes dawn and dusk ⌞appear⌟. He walks on the high places of the earth. His name is the Lord God of Armies.
- Nahum 1:8He will put an end to Nineveh with a devastating flood. He will pursue his enemies with darkness.
- Jude 1:6He held angels for judgment on the great day. They were held in darkness, bound by eternal chains. These are the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but abandoned their assigned place.
- Isaiah 10:5“How horrible it will be for Assyria! It is the rod of my anger. My fury is the staff in the Assyrians’ hands.
- Job 2:10He said to her, “You’re talking like a godless fool. We accept the good that God gives us. Shouldn’t we also accept the bad?” Through all this Job’s lips did not utter one sinful word.
Commentaries on Isaiah 45:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7I form the light, and create darkness - It was the great principle of the Magian religion, which prevailed in Persia in the time of Cyrus, and in which probably he was educated, that there are two supreme, co-eternal, and independent causes always acting in opposition one to the other; one the author of all good, the other of all evil. The good being they called Light; the evil being, Darkness. That when Light had the ascendant, then good and happtness…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7I form the light, and create darkness - Light, in the Bible, is the emblem of knowledge, innocence, pure religion, and of prosperity in general; and darkness is the emblem of the opposite. Light here seems to be the emblem of peace and prosperity, and darkness the emblem of adversity; and the sentiment of the verse is, that all things prosperous and adverse are under the providential control and direction of God. Of light, it is literally true that God…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 There is no God beside Jehovah. There is nothing done without him. He makes peace, put here for all good; and creates evil, not the evil of sin, but the evil of punishment. He is the Author of all that is true, holy, good, or happy; and evil, error, and misery, came into the world by his permission, through the wilful apostacy of his creatures, but are restrained and overruled to his righteous purpose. This doctrine is applied, for the comfort…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7light … darkness … prosperity … calamity: Everything is under God’s control.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. form ... create--yatzar, to give "form" to previously existing matter. Bara, to "create" from nothing the chaotic dark material. light ... darkness--literally (Ge 1:1-3), emblematical also, prosperity to Cyrus, calamity to Babylon and the nations to be vanquished [Grotius] ... Isaiah refers also to the Oriental belief in two coexistent, eternal principles, ever struggling with each other, light or good, and darkness or evil, Oromasden and Ahrimanen…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 45:7
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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