45:12 I made the earth,
I created the people who live 1 on it.
It was me – my hands 2 stretched out the sky, 3
I give orders to all the heavenly lights. 4
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 5
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 6
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
1 tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 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.
3 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
4 tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.
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.