Jerusalem Restored through Cyrus

• 24 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer,
  • and he who formed you in[fn] the womb:
• “I am Yahweh, who made everything,
  • who stretched out the heavens alone,
  • who spread out the earth—who was with me?—
• 25 who frustrates[fn] the signs of oracle priests
  • and makes a fool of diviners,
• who drives the wise men back
  • and makes their knowledge foolish,
• 26 who keeps[fn] the word of his servant
  • and carries out the plan of his messengers,
• who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’
  • and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,
  • and I will restore its ruins’;
• 27 who says to the deep, ‘Dry up!
  • And I will cause your rivers to dry up’;
• 28 who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd,’
  • and he shall carry out all my wishes[fn];
• and saying of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt,’
  • and the temple, ‘It shall be founded.’ ”
  
  
• 45 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one,
  • to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped
• to subjugate nations before him,
  • and I uncover[fn] the loins of kings
• to open doors before him,
  • and the gates shall not be shut:
• 2 “I myself will go before you,
  • and I will level the mountains .[fn]
• I will break the doors of bronze
  • and cut through the bars of iron.
• 3 And I will give you the treasures of darkness
  • and treasures of secret places
• so that you may know that I am Yahweh,
  • the one who calls you by your name, the God of Israel,
• 4 for the sake of my servant Jacob,
  • and Israel my chosen one.
• And I call you by your name;
  • I give you a name of honor, though[fn] you do not know me.
• 5 I am Yahweh, and there is none besides me;
  • besides me there is no god.
    • I gird you though[fn] you do not know me,
• 6 so that they may know from the rising of the sun
  • and from the west that there is none besides me;
    • I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.
• 7 I form light and I create darkness;
  • I make peace and I create evil;
    • I am Yahweh; I do all these things.
• 8 Trickle, O heavens, from above,
  • and let clouds trickle with righteousness;
• let the earth open so that[fn] salvation may be fruitful,
  • and let it cause righteousness to sprout along with it.[fn]
    • I myself, Yahweh, have created it.
• 9 Woe to the one who strives with his maker ,[fn]
  • a potsherd among[fn] potsherds of earth!
• Does the clay say to the one who fashions it,
  • ‘What are you making?’
  • and ‘Your work has no hands’?
• 10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What you are begetting?’
  • or[fn] to a woman, ‘ With what are you in labor?’ ”
• 11 Thus says Yahweh, the holy one of Israel,
  • and its maker :[fn]
• “Ask me of the things to come about[fn] my children,
  • and you command me about the work of my hands.
• 12 I myself made the earth,
  • and I created humankind upon it.
• I, my hands, stretched out the heavens,
  • and I commanded all their host.
• 13 I myself have stirred him up in righteousness,
  • and I will make all his paths smooth.
• He himself shall build my city,
  • and he shall set my exiles free,

not for price or a gift,” says Yahweh of hosts.