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

18For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky – he is the true God, the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, he formed it to be inhabited – “I am the Lord, I have no peer. 19I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver. 21Tell me! Present the evidence! Let them consult with one another! Who predicted this in the past? Who announced it beforehand? Was it not I, the Lord? I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; there is none but me. 22Turn to me so you can be delivered, all you who live in the earth’s remote regions! For I am God, and I have no peer.

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 coastlands see and are afraid; the whole earth trembles; they approach and come.
• Isaiah 43:9All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’
• Isaiah 4:2At that time the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight to those who remain in Israel.
• Jeremiah 25:15So the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.
• Jeremiah 50:28Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon. They are coming to Zion to declare there how the Lord our God is getting revenge, getting revenge for what they have done to his temple.
• Jeremiah 51:6Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. Flee to save your lives. Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins. For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge. He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done.
• Ephesians 2:12that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
• Revelation 18:3For all the nations have fallen from the wine of her immoral passion, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.”
• Isaiah 42:17Those who trust in idols will turn back and be utterly humiliated, those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”
• Isaiah 44:17With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
• Isaiah 46:7They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.
• Isaiah 48:7Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, ‘Yes, I know about them.’
• 1 Kings 18:26So they took a bull, as he had suggested, and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped around on the altar they had made.
• Psalms 115:8Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
• Jeremiah 2:27They say to a wooden idol, ‘You are my father.’ They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’
• Jeremiah 10:8The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!

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