I made the earth, and created man upon it: These two lines summarize God’s work of creation. The pronoun I is emphatic in Hebrew, placing focus on Yahweh. Good News Translation expresses it well with “I am the one who.” New International Version and Bible en français courant are similar with “It is I who.” Revised English Bible says “I alone” to show the emphasis. The Hebrew verbs rendered made and created are two of the three verbs used for creation in Gen 1–2. These two lines may be rendered “I alone made the earth and the people who live on it” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

It was my hands that stretched out the heavens is literally “I, my hands, stretched out the heavens.” There is another emphatic pronoun referring to God here. My hands may be rendered simply “I” (Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant; see the comments on the previous verse). Good News Translation says “my power,” which is a valid rendering. For stretched out the heavens, see the comments on 40.22 and 42.5. For this whole line Bible en français courant has “It is I who deployed the sky.”

And I commanded all their host is a poetic way of describing God’s control of the heavenly bodies. The Hebrew verb rendered commanded does not mean to give orders in this context, but rather to control (so Good News Translation). Here all their host most likely refers to the sun, moon and stars, as in Good News Translation (see the comments on 24.21 and 40.26), but some versions mention only the stars (so Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Bible en français courant).

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• I am the one who fashioned the world,
and created human beings to live there.
It was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I set the sun, moon and stars in place.

• It was I who made the earth,
and I who created people upon it.
It was I that put the sky in place,
controlling the sun, moon, and stars.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .