The Greatness of God

Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, (A)herald of good news;[a]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[b]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
10 (B)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
(C)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
11 (D)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    (E)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
(F)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

12 (G)Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?
13 (H)Who has measured[c] the Spirit of the Lord,
    or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
    and who made him understand?
(I)Who taught him the path of justice,
    and taught him knowledge,
    and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
    and are accounted (J)as the dust on the scales;
    behold, he takes up (K)the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
    nor are (L)its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 (M)All the nations are as nothing before him,
    they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 (N)To whom then will you liken God,
    (O)or what likeness compare with him?
19 (P)An idol! A craftsman casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and casts for it silver chains.
20 (Q)He who is too impoverished for an offering
    chooses wood[d] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
    to set up an idol that will not move.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
  2. Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem
  3. Isaiah 40:13 Or has directed
  4. Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood

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