⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;^(A)
    apart from me there is no God.^(B)
I will strengthen you,^(C)
    though you have not acknowledged me,

⁷ I form the light and create darkness,^(A)
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;^(B)
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸ “You heavens above, rain^(A) down my righteousness;^(B)
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation^(C) spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹ “Woe to those who quarrel^(A) with their Maker,^(B)
    those who are nothing but potsherds^(C)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,^(D)
    ‘What are you making?’^(E)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?^(F)

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One^(A) of Israel, and its Maker:^(B)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?^(C)
12 It is I who made the earth^(D)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;^(E)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.^(F)
13 I will raise up Cyrus^[a](G) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.^(H)
He will rebuild my city^(I)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,^(J)
    says the Lord Almighty.”