Isaiah 40:6–31

⁶The voice said, “Cry out!”

And ⁴he said, “What shall I cry?”

^g“All flesh is grass,

And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

⁷The grass withers, the flower fades,

Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,

But ^hthe word of our God stands forever.”

⁹O Zion,

You who bring good tidings,

Get up into the high mountain;

O Jerusalem,

You who bring good tidings,

Lift up your voice with strength,

Lift it up, be not afraid;

Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

¹⁰Behold, the Lord God shall come ⁵with a strong hand,

And ⁱHis arm shall rule for Him;

Behold, ^jHis reward is with Him,

And His ⁶work before Him.

¹¹He will ^kfeed His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs with His arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are with young.

^12lWho has measured the ⁷waters in the hollow of His hand,

Measured heaven with a ⁸span

And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?

Weighed the mountains in scales

And the hills in a balance?

^13mWho has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has taught Him?

¹⁴With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,

And ⁿtaught Him in the path of justice?

Who taught Him knowledge,

And showed Him the way of understanding?

¹⁵Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,

And are counted as the small dust on the scales;

Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.

¹⁶And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,

Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.

¹⁷All nations before Him are as ^onothing,

And ^pthey are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.

¹⁸To whom then will you ^qliken God?

Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

^19rThe workman molds an image,

The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,

And the silversmith casts silver chains.

²⁰Whoever is too impoverished for such ⁹a contribution

Chooses a tree that will not rot;

He seeks for himself a skillful workman

^sTo prepare a carved image that will not totter.

^21tHave you not known?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²²It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who ^ustretches out the heavens like a curtain,

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

²³He ¹brings the ^wprinces to nothing;

He makes the judges of the earth useless.

²⁴Scarcely shall they be planted,

Scarcely shall they be sown,

Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,

When He will also blow on them,

And they will wither,

And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

²⁵“To ^xwhom then will you liken Me,

Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high,

And see who has created these things,

Who brings out their host by number;

^yHe calls them all by name,

By the greatness of His might

And the strength of His power;

Not one is missing.

^27zWhy do you say, O Jacob,

And speak, O Israel:

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

And my just claim is passed over by my God”?

²⁸Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

^aHis understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

³⁰Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

³¹But those who ^bwait on the Lord

^cShall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.