12 Who has measured the waters(A) in the hollow of his hand,(B)
    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?(C)
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
    or weighed the mountains on the scales
    and the hills in a balance?(D)
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[a](E) of the Lord,
    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?(F)
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,(G)
    or showed him the path of understanding?(H)

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
    they are regarded as dust on the scales;(I)
    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.(J)
16 Lebanon(K) is not sufficient for altar fires,
    nor its animals(L) enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations(M) are as nothing;(N)
    they are regarded by him as worthless
    and less than nothing.(O)

18 With whom, then, will you compare God?(P)
    To what image(Q) will you liken him?
19 As for an idol,(R) a metalworker casts it,
    and a goldsmith(S) overlays it with gold(T)
    and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
    selects wood(U) that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
    to set up an idol(V) that will not topple.(W)

21 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?(X)
Has it not been told(Y) you from the beginning?(Z)
    Have you not understood(AA) since the earth was founded?(AB)
22 He sits enthroned(AC) above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.(AD)
He stretches out the heavens(AE) like a canopy,(AF)
    and spreads them out like a tent(AG) to live in.(AH)
23 He brings princes(AI) to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.(AJ)
24 No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root(AK) in the ground,
than he blows(AL) on them and they wither,(AM)
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.(AN)

25 “To whom will you compare me?(AO)
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.(AP)
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:(AQ)
    Who created(AR) all these?
He who brings out the starry host(AS) one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,(AT)
    not one of them is missing.(AU)

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?(AV)
28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?(AW)
The Lord is the everlasting(AX) God,
    the Creator(AY) of the ends of the earth.(AZ)
He will not grow tired or weary,(BA)
    and his understanding no one can fathom.(BB)
29 He gives strength(BC) to the weary(BD)
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men(BE) stumble and fall;(BF)
31 but those who hope(BG) in the Lord
    will renew their strength.(BH)
They will soar on wings like eagles;(BI)
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.(BJ)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:13 Or mind

12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

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17 “Ah, Sovereign Lord,(A) you have made the heavens and the earth(B) by your great power and outstretched arm.(C) Nothing is too hard(D) for you. 18 You show love(E) to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps(F) of their children(G) after them. Great and mighty God,(H) whose name is the Lord Almighty,(I) 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.(J) Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind;(K) you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.(L) 20 You performed signs and wonders(M) in Egypt(N) and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown(O) that is still yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand(P) and an outstretched arm(Q) and with great terror.(R) 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.(S)

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17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name,

19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;

21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;

22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

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26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.(A) 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.(B)

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26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

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11 and brought Israel out(A) from among them
His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand(B) and outstretched arm;(C)
His love endures forever.

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11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:

12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

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