Isaiah 44:28–45:13

²⁸who 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.’ ”

Chapter 45

¹Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped,

to subdue nations before him

and ungird the loins of kings,

to open doors before him

that gates may not be closed:

²“I will go before you

and level the mountains,^d

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut asunder the bars of iron,

³I will give you the treasures of darkness

and the hoards in secret places,

that you may know that it is I, the Lord,

the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen,

I call you by your name,

I surname you, though you do not know me.

⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

I gird you, though you do not know me,

⁶that men may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

⁷I form light and create darkness,

I make weal and create woe,

I am the Lord, who do all these things.

⁸“Shower, O heavens, from above,

and let the skies rain down righteousness;

let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth,^e

and let it cause righteousness to spring up also;

I the Lord have created it.

⁹“Woe to him who strives with his Maker,

an earthen vessel with the potter!^f

Does the clay say to him who fashions it, ‘What are you making’?

or ‘Your work has no handles’?

¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’

or to a woman, ‘With what are you in travail?’ ”

¹¹Thus says the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

“Will you question me about my children,

or command me concerning the work of my hands?

¹²I made the earth,

and created man upon it;

it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,

and I commanded all their host.

¹³I have aroused him in righteousness,

and I will make straight all his ways;

he shall build my city

and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,”

says the Lord of hosts.