Isaiah 40:12–26

Israel’s Incomparable God

¹²Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls

or measure the sky with his hands?

Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup

or weigh the mountains and hills on scales?

^13*Can anyone tell the Lord what to do?

Who can teach him or give him advice?

¹⁴With whom does God consult

in order to know and understand

and to learn how things should be done?

¹⁵To the Lord the nations are nothing,

no more than a drop of water;

the distant islands are as light as dust.

¹⁶All the animals in the forests of Lebanon

are not enough for a sacrifice to our God,

and its trees are too few to kindle the fire.

¹⁷The nations are nothing at all to him.

^18*To whom can God be compared?

How can you describe what he is like?

^19*He is not like an idol that workmen make,

that metalworkers cover with gold

and set in a base of silver.

²⁰The man who cannot afford silver or gold^l

chooses wood that will not rot.

He finds a skilful craftsman

to make an image that won’t fall down.

²¹Do you not know?

Were you not told long ago?

Have you not heard how the world began? ²²It was made by the one who sits on his throne

above the earth and beyond the sky;

the people below look as tiny as ants.

He stretched out the sky like a curtain,

like a tent in which to live.

²³He brings down powerful rulers

and reduces them to nothing.

²⁴They are like young plants,

just set out and barely rooted.

When the Lord sends a wind,

they dry up and blow away like straw.

²⁵To whom can the holy God be compared?

Is there anyone else like him?

²⁶Look up at the sky!

Who created the stars you see?

The one who leads them out like an army,

he knows how many there are

and calls each one by name!

His power is so great—

not one of them is ever missing!