Bible Strands
Isaiah 45:2
“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks to Cyrus, identifying him as His anointed, immediately after describing how He will subdue nations and open doors before him.
The words — אֲיַשֵּׁ֑ר ('o.shir) translates literally to "I will make smooth," and אֲשַׁבֵּ֔ר ('a.sha.Ber) translates to "I will break." These verbs state the physical removal of terrain and fortified barriers.
The thread — The leveling of mountains and hills appears in Isaiah 40:4 and is quoted in Luke 3:5, while the motif of divine guidance through obscured paths runs in Isaiah 42:16.
Why it lands — The text asserts that God personally clears obstacles and dismantles resistance to advance His chosen agent, requiring the reader to acknowledge His direct control over historical events.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.
- Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.
- Psalms 107:16 For He has broken down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
- Jeremiah 51:30 The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
- Isaiah 13:4 Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.
- Acts 1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said,