I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army.
- KJV I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
- BSB It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.
- NASB “It is I who made the earth, and created mankind upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, And I ordained all their lights.
- NLT I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God who made the earth, mankind, and the starry heavens has every right to direct history as he pleases.
Overview
Yahweh grounds his authority over Cyrus and the nations in his work as Creator of earth, humanity, and the heavenly host. The one who stretched out the skies and commands the stars surely commands kings. This creational sovereignty is the bedrock for trusting the God who, in Christ, is reconciling all things to himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 27:5‘I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.
- Isa 42:5Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.
- Isa 44:24Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
- Gen 2:1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
- Neh 9:6You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.
- Jer 32:17“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
- Isa 45:18For Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited says: “I am Yahweh; and there is no other.
- Heb 11:3By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
- Isa 40:28Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
- Zech 12:1A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
- Isa 40:12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
- Isa 40:22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;
- Ps 102:25Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
- Gen 1:26–27God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 45:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.