Isaiah 40:12-26

The Greatness of God

12 q 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 r Who has measured 1 the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
 14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
s 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 t as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up u the coastlands like fine dust.
 16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are v its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
 17 w All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 x To whom then will you liken God,
y or what likeness compare with him?
 19 y An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
 20 z He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood 2 that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.

21 a Do you not know? Do you not hear?
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 b like grasshoppers;
c who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
 23 d who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
e and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25 f To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
g He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.

  1. Cross References
    Proverbs 30:4
    Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!
  2. Cross References
    Romans 11:34
    "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"
    1 Corinthians 2:16
    For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
  3. Cross References
    Job 21:22
    Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:5
    But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:1
    Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 50:10
    For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 62:9
    Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
    Daniel 4:35
    All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?
    Isaiah 41:12
    You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:25
    To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
    Isaiah 46:5
    To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
    Acts 17:29
    Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
  9. Cross References
    Hosea 13:2
    And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, "Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:18
    To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 46:6
    Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!
    Jeremiah 10:3 - 5
    For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
    Isaiah 44:9 - 15
    All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:28
    Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
    Acts 14:17
    Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
    Romans 1:19 - 20
    For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
  13. Cross References
    Numbers 13:33
    And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
  14. Cross References
    Job 9:8
    Who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea.
    Psalms 104:2
    Covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.
  15. Cross References
    Job 12:21
    He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.
    Psalms 107:40
    He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:2
    Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.
    Psalms 83:13
    O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:18
    To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 147:4
    He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.