Isaiah 40:18-26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 To whom, then, will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?(A)
19 An idol? A workman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.(B)
20 As a gift one chooses mulberry wood[a]
—wood that will not rot—
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to set up an image that will not topple.(C)
21 Have 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?(D)
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
and spreads them like a tent to live in,(E)
23 who brings princes to naught
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.(F)
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.(G)
25 To whom, then, will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.(H)
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.(I)
Footnotes
- 40.20 Meaning of Heb uncertain
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
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible