²⁴Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
   who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
   who alone stretched out the heavens,
   who by myself spread out the earth;
²⁵who frustrates the omens of liars,
   and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise,
   and makes their knowledge foolish;
²⁶who confirms the word of his servant,
   and fulfils the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited’,
   and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,
   and I will raise up their ruins’;
²⁷who says to the deep, ‘Be dry—
   I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸who 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.’

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
   whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
   and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
   and the gates shall not be closed:
²I will go before you
   and level the mountains,^*
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
   and cut through the bars of iron,
³I will give you the treasures of darkness
   and riches hidden in secret places,
so 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 arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷I form light and create darkness,
   I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.