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Isaiah 40:18-31
Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 40:18-31
Christian Standard Bible
18 With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?(A)
19 An idol?—something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?(B)
20 A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.[a]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(C)
21 Do you not know?(D)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(E)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(F)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(G)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(H)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(I)
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(J)
25 “To whom will you compare me,(K)
or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see!
Who created(L) these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.(M)
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?(N)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,(O)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.(P)
29 He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(Q)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(R)
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
Footnotes
- 40:20 Or who is too poor for such an offering, or who chooses mulberry wood as a votive gift; Hb obscure
Isaiah 40:18-31
New International Version
Isaiah 40:18-31
New International Version
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?(A)
To what image(B) will you liken him?
19 As for an idol,(C) a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith(D) overlays it with gold(E)
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood(F) that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol(G) that will not topple.(H)
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(I)
Has it not been told(J) you from the beginning?(K)
Have you not understood(L) since the earth was founded?(M)
22 He sits enthroned(N) above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.(O)
He stretches out the heavens(P) like a canopy,(Q)
and spreads them out like a tent(R) to live in.(S)
23 He brings princes(T) to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.(U)
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root(V) in the ground,
than he blows(W) on them and they wither,(X)
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.(Y)
25 “To whom will you compare me?(Z)
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.(AA)
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:(AB)
Who created(AC) all these?
He who brings out the starry host(AD) one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,(AE)
not one of them is missing.(AF)
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”?(AG)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(AH)
The Lord is the everlasting(AI) God,
the Creator(AJ) of the ends of the earth.(AK)
He will not grow tired or weary,(AL)
and his understanding no one can fathom.(AM)
29 He gives strength(AN) to the weary(AO)
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men(AP) stumble and fall;(AQ)
31 but those who hope(AR) in the Lord
will renew their strength.(AS)
They will soar on wings like eagles;(AT)
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.(AU)
Isaiah 40:18-31
King James Version
Isaiah 40:18-31
King James Version
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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Isaiah 46:1-7
Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 46:1-7
Christian Standard Bible
There Is No One Like God
46 Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.(A)
Idols depicting them are consigned to beasts and cattle.
The images you carry are loaded,
as a burden for the weary animal.
2 The gods cower; they crouch together;
they are not able to rescue the burden,
but they themselves go into captivity.(B)
3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been sustained from the womb,
carried along since birth.
4 I will be the same until your old age,(C)
and I will bear you up when you turn gray.
I have made you, and I will carry you;
I will bear and rescue you.
5 “To whom will you compare me or make me equal?
Who will you measure me with,
so that we should be like each other?(D)
6 Those who pour out their bags of gold
and weigh out silver on scales—
they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.
Then they kneel and bow down to it.(E)
7 They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;(F)
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.(G)
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.
Isaiah 46:1-7
New International Version
Isaiah 46:1-7
New International Version
Gods of Babylon
46 Bel(A) bows down, Nebo stoops low;
their idols(B) are borne by beasts of burden.[a]
The images that are carried(C) about are burdensome,
a burden for the weary.
2 They stoop and bow down together;
unable to rescue the burden,
they themselves go off into captivity.(D)
3 “Listen(E) to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant(F) of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,(G)
and have carried(H) since you were born.(I)
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs(J)
I am he,(K) I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain(L) you and I will rescue you.
5 “With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?(M)
6 Some pour out gold from their bags
and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith(N) to make it into a god,
and they bow down and worship it.(O)
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry(P) it;
they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
From that spot it cannot move.(Q)
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;(R)
it cannot save(S) them from their troubles.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 46:1 Or are but beasts and cattle
Isaiah 46:1-7
King James Version
Isaiah 46:1-7
King James Version
46 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
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Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.