Isaiah 40:18–31

¹⁸With whom, then, will you compare God?^s

To what image^t will you liken him?

¹⁹As for an idol,^u a metalworker casts it,

and a goldsmith^v overlays it with gold^w

and fashions silver chains for it.

²⁰A person too poor to present such an offering

selects wood^x that will not rot;

they look for a skilled worker

to set up an idol^y that will not topple.^z

²¹Do you not know?

Have you not heard?^a

Has it not been told^b you from the beginning?^c

Have you not understood^d since the earth was founded?^e

²²He sits enthroned^f above the circle of the earth,

and its people are like grasshoppers.^g

He stretches out the heavens^h like a canopy,ⁱ

and spreads them out like a tent^j to live in.^k

²³He brings princes^l to naught

and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.^m

²⁴No sooner are they planted,

no sooner are they sown,

no sooner do they take rootⁿ in the ground,

than he blows^o on them and they wither,^p

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.^q

²⁵“To whom will you compare me?^r

Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.^s

²⁶Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:^t

Who created^u all these?

He who brings out the starry host^v one by one

and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,^w

not one of them is missing.^x

²⁷Why do you complain, Jacob?

Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

my cause is disregarded by my God”?^y

²⁸Do you not know?

Have you not heard?^z

The Lord is the everlasting^a God,

the Creator^b of the ends of the earth.^c

He will not grow tired or weary,^d

and his understanding no one can fathom.^e

²⁹He gives strength^f to the weary^g

and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men^h stumble and fall;ⁱ

³¹but those who hope^j in the Lord

will renew their strength.^k

They will soar on wings like eagles;^l

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.^m