Isaiah 40:12–26

God Is Supreme

¹²Who has measured the oceans in the palm of his hand?

Who has used his hand to measure the sky?

Who has used a bowl to measure all the dust of the earth

and scales to weigh the mountains and hills?

¹³Who has known the mind of the Lord

or been able to give him advice?

¹⁴Whom did he ask for help?

Who taught him the right way?

Who taught him knowledge

and showed him the way to understanding?

¹⁵The nations are like one small drop in a bucket;

they are no more than the dust on his measuring scales.

To him the islands are no more than fine dust on his scales.

¹⁶All the trees in Lebanon are not enough for the altar fires,

and all the animals in Lebanon are not enough for burnt offerings.

¹⁷Compared to the Lord all the nations are worth nothing;

to him they are less than nothing.

¹⁸Can you compare God to anything?

Can you compare him to an image of anything?

¹⁹An idol is formed by a craftsman,

and a goldsmith covers it with gold

and makes silver chains for it.

²⁰A poor person cannot buy those expensive statues,

so he finds a tree that will not rot.

Then he finds a skilled craftsman

to make it into an idol that will not fall over.

²¹Surely you know. Surely you have heard.

Surely from the beginning someone told you.

Surely you understand how the earth was created.

²²God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth,

and compared to him, people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the skies like a piece of cloth

and spreads them out like a tent to sit under.

²³He makes rulers unimportant

and the judges of this world worth nothing.

²⁴They are like plants that are placed in the ground,

like seeds that are planted.

As soon as they begin to grow strong,

he blows on them and they die,

and the wind blows them away like chaff.

²⁵God, the Holy One, says, “Can you compare me to anyone?

Is anyone equal to me?”

²⁶Look up to the skies.

Who created all these stars?

He leads out the army of heaven one by one

and calls all the stars by name.

Because he is strong and powerful,

not one of them is missing.