Is this portion of Isaiah 44:28 being spoken by God, or Cyrus?

Question

"who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

I could see the bolded texts being God, or Cyrus saying them. Do the Hebrew manuscripts clear this up? Is there some sort of break that would separate "he shall fulfill all my purpose" and the bolded quotes? Meaning these quotes are not Cyrus talking but god?

Westminster Leningrad Codex

הָאֹמֵ֤ר לְכֹ֙ורֶשׁ֙ רֹעִ֔י וְכָל־חֶפְצִ֖י יַשְׁלִ֑ם וְלֵאמֹ֤ר לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ תִּבָּנֶ֔ה וְהֵיכָ֖ל תִּוָּסֵֽד׃ ס

WLC (Consonants Only)

האמר לכורש רעי וכל־חפצי ישלם ולאמר לירושלם תבנה והיכל תוסד׃ ס

Aleppo Codex

כח האמר לכורש רעי וכל חפצי ישלם ולאמר לירושלם תבנה והיכל תוסד {פ}

Answer 1

The answer to this question is explicitly supplied by the previous verses where Jehovah makes a series of pronouncements, including the prophecy of what Cyrus would decree. Let me set this out in point form from Isa 44 -

V24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth, 25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense, 26 who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers,

• who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’
• and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
• 27 who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’
• 28 who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’
• who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’ ”

That is, it is the LORD who says that Cyrus would decree that Jerusalem would be rebuilt. That is, the LORD inspired Cyrus to issue the decree to command Jerusalem to be rebuilt. This was accurately fulfilled as recorded in Ezra 1:1-4

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.

Whoever among you belongs to His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let every survivor, wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.’ ”

Answer 2

Although the verse can be read to mean that God is predicting Cyrus' decree, I believe it is more likely the verse means that God is predicting that Jerusalem will be rebuilt. This argument is based on reading the verse poetically in context rather than grammatically focusing on the immediate verses. From the NRSVA:

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
    who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
    who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who by myself spread out the earth;
25 who frustrates the omens of liars,
    and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise,
    and makes their knowledge foolish;
26 who confirms the word of his servant,
    and fulfils the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited’,
    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,
    and I will raise up their ruins’;
27 who says to the deep, ‘Be dry—
    I will dry up your rivers’;
28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
    and he shall carry out all my purpose’;
and who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt’,
    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’

Admittedly, other translations to not agree, making it possible to read "who says of Jerusalem" in vs. 28 as referring to Cyrus. However, throughout the poem, it is the LORD who acts or decrees. Indeed this seems to be Isaiah's main point. When the poem turns to Jerusalem it is still God who acts in every line: He says that Jerusalem will be inhabited and the cities of Judah will be rebuilt. He says "be dry" to the deep and predicts that the rivers shall dry up. He says of Cyrus "he is my shepherd and shall carry out all my purpose." He says of Jerusalem "it shall be rebuilt." And of the temple "your foundation shall be laid."

The next chapter (an artificial break in the poem) turns to specific words from the LORD to Cyrus. Again the sole agency of God is proclaimed consistently. God calls Cyrus by name and concludes:

I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    I gird you, though you do not know me,
6 that men may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness,
    I make weal and create woe,
    I am the Lord, who do all these things.

I argue that the structure of the poem in 44:24-28, as well as the beginning of ch. 45, intends to portray God as the sole speaker. God declares that Cyrus is his servant, but Cyrus has no decisive or predictive role. It is God who decrees everything, including that Jerusalem shall be rebuilt. I admit it cannot be ruled out God predicts that Cyrus shall decree the rebuilding. Indeed, some translators go out of their way to put it that way. However, given the context of the poem in chs. 44-45, I tend to see Isaiah as saying that God, rather than Cyrus, predicts Jerusalem's restoration.