¹¹ My days are like an ^(A)outstretched shadow,
And as for me, I ^(B)dry up like ^[a]grass.

⁷ The ^(A)grass ^[a]withers, the flower fades,
^[b]When the ^(B)breath of Yahweh blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass ^[c]withers, the flower fades,
But ^(C)the word of our God stands forever.

⁹ Get yourself up on a ^(D)high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of ^(E)good news,
Raise up your voice powerfully,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Raise it up, do not fear.
Say to the ^(F)cities of Judah,
“^(G)Behold your God!”
¹⁰ Behold, Lord Yahweh will come ^(H)with strength,
With His ^(I)arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His ^(J)reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
¹¹ Like a shepherd He will ^(K)shepherd His flock;
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹² Who has ^(L)measured the ^[d]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And ^[e]encompassed the heavens by the ^[f]span,
And ^[g]calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
^13 (M)Who has ^[h]encompassed the Spirit of Yahweh,
Or as His ^(N)counselor has informed Him?
^14 (O)With whom did He take counsel and who ^(P)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And made Him know the way of understanding?
¹⁵ Behold, the ^(Q)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are counted as a speck of ^(R)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the coastlands like fine dust.
¹⁶ Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
Nor its ^(S)beasts enough for a burnt offering.
^17 (T)All the nations are as nothing before Him;
They are counted by Him as non-existent and utterly formless.

^18 (U)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
¹⁹ As for the ^(V)graven images, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith ^(W)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
²⁰ He who is too impoverished to make such a contribution
Chooses a ^(X)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a wise craftsman
To ^[i]prepare a graven image that ^(Y)will not be shaken.

^21 (Z)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood ^(AA)from the foundations of the earth?
²² It is He who ^[j]inhabits above the ^[k](AB)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like ^(AC)grasshoppers;
It is He who ^(AD)stretches out the heavens like a ^(AE)curtain
And spreads them out like a ^(AF)tent to inhabit.
²³ It is He who reduces ^(AG)rulers to nothing,
Who ^(AH)makes the ^[l]judges of the earth utterly formless.
^24 [m]Scarcely have they been planted;
^[n]Scarcely have they been sown;
^[o]Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they ^[p]wither,
And the ^(AI)storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵ “^(AJ)To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
^26 (AK)Lift up your eyes on high
And see ^(AL)who has created these stars,
The ^(AM)One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the ^(AN)greatness of His vigor and the ^[q]strength of His power,
^(AO)Not one of them is missing.

^27 (AP)Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is ^(AQ)hidden from Yahweh,
And the ^(AR)justice due me passes by ^(AS)my God”?
^28 (AT)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The ^(AU)Everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is ^(AV)unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the ^(AW)weary,
And to him who lacks vigor He ^(AX)increases might.
³⁰ Though ^(AY)youths grow weary and tired,
And choice ^(AZ)young men stumble badly,
³¹ Yet those who hope in Yahweh
Will ^(BA)gain new power;
They will ^[r](BB)mount up with ^[s]wings like eagles;
They will run and not get tired;
They will walk and not become weary.