Isaiah 40:18–31

^18aTo whom then will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

¹⁹As for the ^1aidol, a craftsman casts it,

A goldsmith ^bplates it with gold,

And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

²⁰He who is too impoverished for such an offering

Selects a ^atree that does not rot;

He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman

To ¹prepare ²an idol that ^bwill not totter.

^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 ¹sits above the ^2acircle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like ^bgrasshoppers,

Who ^cstretches out the heavens like a ^dcurtain

And spreads them out like a ^etent to dwell in.

²³He it is who reduces ^arulers to nothing,

Who ^bmakes the judges of the earth ¹meaningless.

²⁴¹Scarcely have they been planted,

Scarcely have they been sown,

Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they wither,

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 might 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 the Lord,

And the ^cjustice due me ¹escapes the notice of ^dmy God”?

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

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

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is ^cinscrutable.

²⁹He gives strength to the ^aweary,

And to him who lacks might He ^bincreases power.

³⁰Though ^ayouths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous ^byoung men stumble badly,

³¹Yet those who ¹wait for the Lord

Will ^again new strength;

They will ^2bmount up with ³wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.