Isaiah 44:28

Good News Translation

I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.'"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
who says to Cyrus, “My shepherd,he will fulfill all my pleasure”and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,”and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”

Hebrew Names Version
Who says of Koresh, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Yerushalayim, She shall be built; and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.

King James Version
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

English Standard Version
who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,' and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'"

New American Standard Bible
"It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he will carry out all My desire.' And he says of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.'"

New Century Version
I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will do all that I want him to do. He will say to Jerusalem, "You will be built again!" He will tell the Temple, "Your foundations will be rebuilt."'"

Amplified Bible
"It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd (ruler), And he will carry out all that I desire—' Saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall [again] be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation shall [again] be laid.'"

World English Bible
Who says of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.

Geneva Bible (1587)
He saith to Cyrus, Thou art my shepheard: and he shall performe all my desire: saying also to Ierusalem, Thou shalt be built: and to the Temple, Thy foundation shall be surely layed.

Legacy Standard Bible
It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!And all My good pleasure he will complete.'And saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,'And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.'"

Berean Standard Bible
who says of Cyrus, 'My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,' who says of Jerusalem, 'She will be rebuilt,' and of the temple, 'Let its foundation be laid.'"

Contemporary English Version
I am also the one who says, "Cyrus will lead my people and obey my orders. Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt."

Complete Jewish Bible
I say of Koresh, ‘He is my shepherd, he will do everything I want. He will say of Yerushalayim, "You will be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Your foundation will be laid."'"

Darby Translation
that saith of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

Easy-to-Read Version
He says to Cyrus, "You are my shepherd. You will do what I want. You will say to Jerusalem, ‘You will be rebuilt!' You will tell the Temple, ‘Your foundations will be put in place!'"

George Lamsa Translation
Who said of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundations shall be laid.

Lexham English Bible
who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd,' and he shall carry out all my wishes; and saying of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt,' and the temple, ‘It shall be founded.'"

Literal Translation
He says to Cyrus, You are My shepherd; and he shall complete all My pleasure, even for Me to say to Jerusalem, You are built; and to the temple, You are founded.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I saye to Cirus: thou art myne hyrd man, so that he shal fulfill all thinges after my will. I saye to Ierusalem: be thou buylded, and to the teple: be thou fast grounded.

American Standard Version
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

Bible in Basic English
Who says of Cyrus, He will take care of my sheep, and will do all my pleasure: who says of Jerusalem, I will give the word for your building; and of the Temple, Your bases will be put in place.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
That saith of Cyrus: 'He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure'; even saying of Jerusalem: 'She shall be built'; and to the temple: 'My foundation shall be laid.'

King James Version (1611)
That saith of Cyrus, Hee is my shepheard, and shall performe all my pleasure, euen saying to Ierusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the Temple, Thy foundation shalbe laid.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He saith of Cyrus, he is my heardman, so that he shall fulfill all thinges after my wyll: He saith also of Herusalem, it shalbe buylded, and of the temple, it shalbe fast grounded.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Who bids Cyrus be wise, and he shall perform all my will: who says to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and I will lay the foundation of my holy house.

English Revised Version
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and Y seie to Cirus, Thou art my scheepherde, and thou schalt fille al my wille; and Y seie to Jerusalem, Thou schalt be bildid; and to the temple, Thou schalt be foundid.

Update Bible Version
That says of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.

Webster's Bible Translation
That saith of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and [he] shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

New English Translation
who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd to carry out all my wishes and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,' and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.'"

New King James Version
Who says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'

New Living Translation
When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,' he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem'; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.'"

New Life Bible
It is I Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he will do all that I want him to do,' even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,' and of the house of God, ‘Your first stones will be laid again.'"

New Revised Standard
who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd, and he shall carry out all my purpose"; and who says of Jerusalem, "It shall be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Who saith of Cyrus - My Shepherd! and All my pleasure, shall he make good Even saying of Jerusalem - She shall be built! And of the temple - Be her foundation laid!

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who say to Cyrus: Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt perform all my pleasure. Who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built: and to the temple: Thy foundations shall be laid.

Revised Standard Version
who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfil all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'"

Young's Literal Translation
Who is saying of Cyrus, My shepherd, And all my delight He doth perfect, So as to say of Jerusalem, Thou art built, And of the temple, Thou art founded.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.' And he declares of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.'"

Contextual Overview

²¹ The Lord says, "Israel, remember this; remember that you are my servant. I created you to be my servant, and I will never forget you. ²² I have swept your sins away like a cloud. Come back to me; I am the one who saves you." ²³ Shout for joy, you heavens! Shout, deep places of the earth! Shout for joy, mountains, and every tree of the forest! The Lord has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel. ²⁴ "I am the Lord , your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the Lord , the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me. ²⁵ I make fools of fortunetellers and frustrate the predictions of astrologers. The words of the wise I refute and show that their wisdom is foolishness. ²⁶ But when my servant makes a prediction, when I send a messenger to reveal my plans, I make those plans and predictions come true. I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again, and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt. Those cities will rise from the ruins. ²⁷ With a word of command I dry up the ocean. ²⁸ I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cyrus: Isaiah 42:15, Isaiah 45:1, Isaiah 45:3, Isaiah 46:11, Isaiah 48:14, Isaiah 48:15, Daniel 10:1

my shepherd: Isaiah 63:11, Psalms 78:71, Psalms 78:72

saying: Isaiah 45:13, 2 Chronicles 36:22, 2 Chronicles 36:23, Ezra 1:1-3, Ezra 6:3-18

Reciprocal: Ezra 4:3 - king Cyrus Ezra 5:13 - General Ezra 6:14 - according Psalms 137:8 - happy Isaiah 13:3 - commanded Isaiah 41:25 - raised Isaiah 41:27 - I will give Isaiah 45:4 - I have even Jeremiah 25:9 - Nebuchadrezzar Jeremiah 27:6 - my Jeremiah 30:18 - the palace Jeremiah 31:38 - that Jeremiah 43:10 - my servant Jeremiah 50:21 - and do Daniel 2:39 - another kingdom Daniel 6:28 - and in Daniel 8:3 - one Micah 5:5 - then

Cross-References

Genesis 37:33
He recognized it and said, "Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!"

Genesis 42:36
Their father said to them, "Do you want to make me lose all my children? Joseph is gone; Simeon is gone; and now you want to take away Benjamin. I am the one who suffers!"

Genesis 42:38
But Jacob said, "My son cannot go with you; his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. Something might happen to him on the way. I am an old man, and the sorrow you would cause me would kill me."

Genesis 44:13
The brothers tore their clothes in sorrow, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.

Genesis 44:14
When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They bowed down before him,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

That saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd,.... Or Coresh, as his name in the Hebrew language is; and in the Persian tongue signifies the "sun"; from whence he had his name, as Ctesias q and Plutarch r say; to which the Hebrew word "cheres", which signifies the "sun", has some affinity; though Joseph Scaliger s would have the name of Cyrus to signify "food" in the Persian language, and which answers to his character as a shepherd. The father of this illustrious person was Cambyses, king of Persia; his mother's name was Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of Media t. This prophecy, concerning him, was nearly two hundred years before he was born. Josephus says u, that Cyrus read this prophecy himself, which Isaiah had delivered out two hundred and ten years before; and which is a proof both of God's prescience of future contingencies, and of the truth of divine revelation. The Lord honours him with the title and character of his "shepherd", who was to lead his flock, the people of Israel, out of the Babylonish captivity, and guide them into their own land. It is very usual, both in sacred and profane writings, for kings to be called shepherds; and if Cyrus signifies "food", as before observed, his name and office agree. Justin w says, he had this name given him, while he was among the shepherds, by whom he was brought up, having been exposed in his infancy. Cyrus himself compares a king to a shepherd, and observes a likeness between them x:

and shall perform all my pleasure; concerning the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, and the encouragement of them to go up to their own land, and rebuild their city and temple; and many other things which he did, agreeably to the secret will of God, though he knew it not; and what he did he did not do in obedience to his will, but as overruled by the power and providence of God:

even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; these are not the words of the Lord, as before, but of Cyrus, giving orders that Jerusalem should be built:

and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid; with great propriety this is said, since only the foundation was laid in his time; the Jews being discouraged and hindered by their enemies from going on with the building in his reign, until the times of Darius, king of Persia. See Ezra 1:1.

q Excerpta, p. 648. Ed. Gronov. r In Vita Artaxerxis, s Emendat. Temp. I. 6. t Xenophon. Cyropaedia, l. 1. sect. 1. u Antiqu. l. 11. c. 1. sect. 2. w Hist. ex Trogo l. 1. c. 5. x Xenophon, Cyropaedia, l. 8. sect. 18.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That saith of Cyrus - This is the first time in which Cyrus is expressly named by Isaiah, though he is often referred to. He is mentioned by him only in one other place expressly by name Isaiah 45:1. He is several times mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament 2 Chronicles 26:22-23; Ezra 1:1-2, Ezra 1:7; Ezra 3:7; Ezra 4:3; Ezra 5:13, Ezra 5:17; Daniel 1:21; Daniel 6:28; Daniel 10:1. He began his reign about 550 b.c., and this prophecy was therefore delivered not far from a hundred and fifty years before he ascended the throne. None but God himself, or he whom God inspired, could have mentioned so long before, the name of him who should deliver the Jewish people from bondage; and if this was delivered, therefore, by Isaiah, it proves that he was under divine inspiration. The name of Cyrus (כורשׁ kôresh; Greek Κῦrος Kuros) the Greek writers say, means ‘the sun.’ It is contracted from the Persian word khorschid, which in that language has this signification. Cyrus was the celebrated king of the Medes and Persians, and was the son of Cambyses the Persian, and of Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. For an account of his character and reign, see the notes at Isaiah 41:2, where I have anticipated all that is needful to be said here.

He is my shepherd - A shepherd is one who leads and guides a flock, and then the word denotes, by a natural and easy metaphor, a ruler, or leader of a people. Thus the name is given to Moses in Isaiah 43:2; compare Psalms 77:20, and Ezekiel 34:23. The name here is given to Cyrus because God would employ him to conduct his people again to their own land. The word ‘my’ implies, that he was under the direction of God, and was employed in his service.

And shall perform all my pleasure - In destroying the city and kingdom of Babylon; in delivering the Jewish captives; and in rebuilding Jerusalem, and the temple.

Even saying to Jerusalem - That is, I say to Jerusalem. The Vulgate, and the Septuagint renders this as meaning God, and not Cyrus, and doubtless this is the true construction. It was one of the things which God would do, to say to Jerusalem that it should be rebuilt.

And to the temple - Though now desolate and in ruins, yet it shall be reconstructed, and its foundation shall be firmly laid. The phrase ‘to Jerusalem,’ and ‘to the temple,’ should be rendered ‘of,’ in accordance with a common signification of the preposition ל (l), and as it is rendered in the former part of the verse when speaking of Cyrus (compare Genesis 20:13; Judges 9:54). It was indeed under the direction of Cyrus that the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt, and the temple reconstructed Ezra 1:1; but still it was to be traced to God, who raised him up for this purpose. That this passage was seen by Cyrus is the testimony of Josephus, and is morally certain from the nature of the case, since, otherwise, it is incredible that he should have aided the Jews in returning to their own land, and in rebuilding their city and temple (see the Introduction, Section 2). This is one of the numerous instances in the Bible, in which God claims control and jurisdiction even over pagan princes and monarchs, and in which he says that their plans are under his direction, and made subservient to his will. It is one of the proofs that God presides over all, and that he makes the voluntary purposes of people subservient to him, and a part of the means of executing his glorious designs in relation to his people. Indeed, all the proud monarchs and conquerors of the earth have been in some sense instruments in his hand of executing his pleasure.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 44:28. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd - "Who saith to Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd"] Pastor meus es; Vulg. The true reading seems to be רעי אתה roi attah; the word אתה attah, has probably been dropped out of the text. The same word is lost out of the text, Psalms 119:57. It is supplied in the Septuagint by the word ει, thou art.

Saying to Jerusalem — For ולאמר velemor, the Septuagint and Vulgate read האומר haomer.

And to the temple — ולהיכל uleheychal, as לירושלם lirushalayim, before; the preposition is necessary, and the Vulgate seems to read so. - Houbigant.

That saith of CYRUS, He is, or thou art, my shepherd - Saving to JERUSALEM, "Thou shalt be built;" and to the TEMPLE, "Thy foundation shall be laid." - There is a remarkable beauty and propriety in this verse.

1. Cyrus is called God's shepherd. Shepherd was an epithet which Cyrus took to himself; and what he gave to all good kings.

2. This Cyrus should say to the temple: "Thy foundation shall be laid." Not - thou shalt be built. The fact is, only the foundation was laid in the days of Cyrus, the Ammonites having prevented the building; nor was it resumed till the second year of Darius, one of his successors. There is often a precision in the expressions of the prophets which is as honourable to truth, as it is unnoticed by careless readers.