Isaiah 40:18-26
Holman Christian Standard Bible
18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?(A)
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?(B)
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?[a]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(C)
21 Do you not know?(D)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(E)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(F)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(G)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(H)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(I)
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(J)
25 “Who will you compare Me to,(K)
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up[b] and see:
who created(L) these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.(M)
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:20 Or who is too poor for such an offering, or who chooses mulberry wood as a votive gift; Hb obscure
- Isaiah 40:26 Lit Lift up your eyes on high
Isaiah 40:18-26
Common English Bible
18 So to whom will you equate God;
to what likeness will you compare him?
19 An idol? A craftsman pours it,
a metalworker covers it with gold,
and fashions silver chains.
20 The one who sets up an image chooses wood that won’t rot[a]
and then seeks a skilled artisan
to set up an idol that won’t move.
21 Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
Wasn’t it announced to you from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood since the earth was founded?
22 God inhabits the earth’s horizon—
its inhabitants are like locusts—
stretches out the skies like a curtain
and spreads it out like a tent for dwelling.
23 God makes dignitaries useless
and the earth’s judges into nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely is their shoot rooted in the earth
when God breathes on them, and they dry up;
the windstorm carries them off like straw.
25 So to whom will you compare me,
and who is my equal? says the holy one.
Power for the weary
26 Look up at the sky and consider:
Who created these?
The one who brings out their attendants one by one,
summoning each of them by name.
Because of God’s great strength
and mighty power, not one is missing.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:20 Heb uncertain
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible