Isaiah 40:6–31

⁶A voice says, “Call out.”

Then ¹he answered, “What shall I call out?”

^aAll flesh is grass, and all its lovingkindness is like the flower of the field.

⁷The ^agrass ¹withers, the flower fades,

²When the ^bbreath of Yahweh blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

⁸The grass ¹withers, the flower fades,

But ^athe word of our God stands forever.

⁹Get yourself up on a ^ahigh mountain,

O Zion, bearer of ^bgood news,

Raise up your voice powerfully,

O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;

Raise it up, do not fear.

Say to the ^ccities of Judah,

“^dBehold your God!”

¹⁰Behold, Lord Yahweh will come ^awith strength,

With His ^barm ruling for Him.

Behold, His ^creward is with Him

And His recompense before Him.

¹¹Like a shepherd He will ^ashepherd His flock;

In His arm He will gather the lambs

And carry them in His bosom;

He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹²Who has ^ameasured the ¹waters in the hollow of His hand,

And ²encompassed the heavens by the ³span,

And ⁴calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,

And weighed the mountains in a balance

And the hills in a pair of scales?

^13aWho has ¹encompassed the Spirit of Yahweh,

Or as His ^bcounselor has informed Him?

^14aWith whom did He take counsel and who ^bgave Him understanding?

And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge

And made Him know the way of understanding?

¹⁵Behold, the ^anations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are counted as a speck of ^bdust on the scales;

Behold, He lifts up the coastlands like fine dust.

¹⁶Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,

Nor its ^abeasts enough for a burnt offering.

^17aAll the nations are as nothing before Him;

They are counted by Him as non-existent and utterly formless.

^18aTo whom then will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

¹⁹As for the ^agraven images, a craftsman casts it,

A goldsmith ^bplates it with gold,

And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

²⁰He who is too impoverished to make such a contribution

Chooses a ^atree that does not rot;

He seeks out for himself a wise craftsman

To ¹prepare a graven image that ^bwill not be shaken.

^21aDo you not know? Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood ^bfrom the foundations of the earth?

²²It is He who ¹inhabits above the ^2acircle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like ^bgrasshoppers;

It is He who ^cstretches out the heavens like a ^dcurtain

And spreads them out like a ^etent to inhabit.

²³It is He who reduces ^arulers to nothing,

Who ^bmakes the ¹judges of the earth utterly formless.

²⁴¹Scarcely have they been planted;

²Scarcely have they been sown;

³Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they ⁴wither,

And the ^astorm carries them away like stubble.

²⁵“^aTo whom then will you liken Me

That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

^26aLift up your eyes on high

And see ^bwho has created these stars,

The ^cOne who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the ^dgreatness of His vigor and the ¹strength of His power,

^eNot one of them is missing.

^27aWhy do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,

“My way is ^bhidden from Yahweh,

And the ^cjustice due me passes by ^dmy God”?

^28aDo you not know? Have you not heard?

The ^bEverlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth,

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is ^cunsearchable.

²⁹He gives power to the ^aweary,

And to him who lacks vigor He ^bincreases might.

³⁰Though ^ayouths grow weary and tired,

And choice ^byoung men stumble badly,

³¹Yet those who hope in Yahweh

Will ^again new power;

They will ^1bmount up with ²wings like eagles;

They will run and not get tired;

They will walk and not become weary.