Isaiah 40:18-26
New Living Translation
18 To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?
19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
20 Or if people are too poor for that,
they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
to carve an image that won’t fall down!
21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
22 God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
23 He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.
24 They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
Isaiah 40:18-26
International Standard Version
18 “To whom, then, will you compare me,[a] the One who is[b] God?
Or to what image will you liken me?[c]
19 To an idol? A craftsman makes[d] the image,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts silver chains.
20 To the impoverished person?
He prepares[e] an offering—[f]
wood that won’t rot—
Or to the one who chooses a skilled craftsman[g]
and[h] seeks[i] to erect an idol that won’t topple?”
The Majesty of the Lord
21 “You know, don’t you?
You have heard, haven’t you?
Hasn’t it been told you from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the[j] earth?
22 He’s the one who sits above the disk of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He’s the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to live in,
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes void the rulers of the earth.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner have[k] their stems taken root in the earth,
than[l] he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest sweeps them away like stubble.
25 “To[m] whom, then, will you compare me,
and to whom should I be equal?”
asks the Holy One.
26 “Lift your eyes up to heaven and see
who created all these—
the one who leads out their vast array of stars by number,
calling them all by name—
because of his great might
and his[n] powerful strength[o]—
and[p] not one is missing.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:18 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack me
- Isaiah 40:18 1QIsaa LXX MT lack the One who is
- Isaiah 40:18 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read him
- Isaiah 40:19 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads casts
- Isaiah 40:20 1QIsaa MT LXX lack prepares
- Isaiah 40:20 So MT; later 1QIsaa scribe includes this line
- Isaiah 40:20 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read chooses wood
- Isaiah 40:20 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 40:20 So 1QIsaa; MT reads seeks a skilled craftsman
- Isaiah 40:21 So MT; implied in 1QIsaa
- Isaiah 40:24 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read has
- Isaiah 40:24 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT read and then; LXX lacks than
- Isaiah 40:25 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT read And to
- Isaiah 40:26 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack his
- Isaiah 40:26 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads strong
- Isaiah 40:26 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.