¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,^(A)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,^(B)
    but formed it to be inhabited^(C)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.^(D)

¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret,^(A)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;^(B)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,^(C)
    ‘Seek^(D) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.^(E)