45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ¹  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ²  so salvation may grow, ³ 

and deliverance may sprout up ⁴  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ⁵ 

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ⁶ 

one who is like a mere ⁷  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ⁸ 

“What in the world ⁹  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁰ 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ¹¹  to his father,

“What in the world ¹²  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ¹³ 

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁴  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ¹⁵ 

“How dare you question me ¹⁶  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ¹⁷  the work of my own hands!

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live ¹⁸  on it.

It was me – my hands ¹⁹  stretched out the sky, ²⁰ 

I give orders to all the heavenly lights. ²¹ 

45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ²² 

I will make all his ways level.

He will rebuild my city;

he will send my exiled people home,

but not for a price or a bribe,”

says the Lord who commands armies.

45:14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit ²³  of Egypt and the revenue ²⁴  of Ethiopia,

along with the Sabeans, those tall men,

will be brought to you ²⁵  and become yours.

They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. ²⁶ 

They will bow down to you

and pray to you: ²⁷ 

‘Truly God is with ²⁸  you; he has no peer; ²⁹ 

there is no other God!’”

45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,

O God of Israel, deliverer!

45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;

those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. ³⁰ 

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ³¹ 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ³² 

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ³³ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ³⁴ 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

45:19 I have not spoken in secret,

in some hidden place. ³⁵ 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ³⁶ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ³⁷