^12 (A)Who has measured the ^[a]waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a ^[b]span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
^13 (B)Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
¹⁴ With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And ^(C)taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?

¹⁵ Behold, 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.
¹⁶ And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
¹⁷ All nations before Him are as ^(D)nothing,
And ^(E)they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.

¹⁸ To whom then will you ^(F)liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
^19 (G)The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
²⁰ Whoever is too impoverished for such ^[c]a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
^(H)To prepare a carved image that will not totter.

^21 (I)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?
²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who ^(J)stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a ^(K)tent to dwell in.
²³ He ^[d]brings the ^(L)princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.

²⁴ Scarcely 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^(M) whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
^(N)He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.

^27 (O)Why 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”?
²⁸ Have 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.
^(P)His understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.

³ “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
^(A)Who have been upheld by Me from ^[a]birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
⁴ Even to your old age, ^(B)I am He,
And even to gray hairs ^(C)I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

⁵ “To^(D) whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
^6 (E)They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a ^(F)goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
^7 (G)They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though ^(H)one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.

⁸ “Remember this, and ^[b]show yourselves men;
^(I)Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
^9 (J)Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and ^(K)there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
^10 (L)Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ^(M)‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
¹¹ Calling a bird of prey ^(N)from the east,
The man ^(O)who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed ^(P)I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.

⁶ Inasmuch as there is none ^(A)like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
^7 (B)Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For ^(C)among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.

¹² He ^(E)has made the earth by His power,
He has ^(F)established the world by His wisdom,
And ^(G)has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
^13 (H)When He utters His voice,
There is a ^[a]multitude of waters in the heavens:
^(I)“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

^(D)The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
^4 (E)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
^(F)Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
⁵ The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth ^[a]heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

⁶ Who can stand before His indignation?
And ^(G)who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.

^7 (H)The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And ^(I)He knows those who trust in Him.
⁸ But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.