44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; 3
shout out, you subterranean regions 4 of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees! 5
For the Lord protects 6 Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel. 7
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 8
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 9
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
51:13 Why do you forget 10 the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky 11
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long 12
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor? 13
55:10 14 The rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return,
but instead water the earth
and make it produce and yield crops,
and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.
1 sn Cherubim (singular “cherub”) refers to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.
2 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
3 tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”
4 tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.
5 tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”
6 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
7 tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”
5 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
6 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
7 tn Heb “and that you forget.”
8 tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
9 tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”
10 tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.
9 tn This verse begins in the Hebrew text with כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר (ki ka’asher, “for, just as”), which is completed by כֵּן (ken, “so, in the same way”) at the beginning of v. 11. For stylistic reasons, this lengthy sentence is divided up into separate sentences in the translation.