Isaiah 44:24

The Lord Empowers Cyrus

44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, says,

the one who formed you in the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made everything,

who alone stretched out the sky,

who fashioned the earth all by myself,

Isaiah 45:12

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live on it.

It was me – my hands stretched out the sky,

I give orders to all the heavenly lights.


tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.

tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.

tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.