Isaiah 45:8-10

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ¹  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ²  so salvation may grow, ³ 

and deliverance may sprout up ⁴  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ⁵ 

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ⁶ 

one who is like a mere ⁷  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ⁸ 

“What in the world ⁹  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁰ 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ¹¹  to his father,

“What in the world ¹²  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ¹³ 

[45:8]  ¹ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ² tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ³ tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).

[45:8]  ⁴ tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).

[45:8]  ⁵ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).

[45:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ⁷ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ⁹ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

[45:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”

[45:10]  ¹² tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.

[45:10]  ¹³ sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.