Isaiah 45:5-17

Revised Standard Version

⁸ “Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth,^[a]
    and let it cause righteousness to spring up also;
    I the Lord have created it.

⁹ “Woe to him who strives with his Maker,
    an earthen vessel with the potter!^[b]
Does the clay say to him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
¹⁰ Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in travail?’”
¹¹ Thus says the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
“Will you question me^[c] about my children,
    or command me concerning the work of my hands?
¹² I made the earth,
    and created man upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their host.
¹³ I have aroused him in righteousness,
    and I will make straight all his ways;
he shall build my city
    and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
    says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord:
“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,
    and the Sabe′ans, men of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours,
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying:
    ‘God is with you only, and there is no other,
    no god besides him.’”
¹⁵ Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶ All of them are put to shame and confounded,
    the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷ But Israel is saved by the Lord
    with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.