²⁴ God, your Redeemer,
    who shaped your life in your mother’s womb, says:
“I am God. I made all that is.
    With no help from you I spread out the skies
    and laid out the earth.”

^25-28 He makes the magicians look ridiculous
    and turns fortunetellers into jokes.
He makes the experts look trivial
    and their latest knowledge look silly.
But he backs the word of his servant
    and confirms the counsel of his messengers.
He says to Jerusalem, “Be inhabited,”
    and to the cities of Judah, “Be rebuilt,”
    and to the ruins, “I raise you up.”
He says to Ocean, “Dry up.
    I’m drying up your rivers.”
He says to Cyrus, “My shepherd—
    everything I want, you’ll do it.”
He says to Jerusalem, “Be built,”
    and to the Temple, “Be established.”