[Sidenote:  Isa. 40:16, 17]
Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket,
And as dust on a balance are they reckoned. 
Lo the isles! as a mote he uplifteth,
And Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
And its wild beasts for a burnt-offering. 
All the nations are as nothing before him,
They are reckoned by him as void and nothingness.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 40:18-20]
To whom then will ye liken God,
And what likeness place beside him? 
An image! a craftsman cast it,
And a smelter o’erlays it with gold. 
He who is too poor to do this
Chooses a tree that is not decayed,
Seeks for himself a skilled craftsman,
To set up an image that shall not totter.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 40:21, 22]
Do ye not know?  Do ye not hear? 
Hath it not been told you from the beginning? 
Have ye not been aware from the founding of the earth? 
It is he who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,
And its inhabitants are as locusts;
Who stretcheth out the heavens as a thin veil,
And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 40:23, 24]
It is he who bringeth princes to naught,
The rulers of the earth he maketh as waste. 
Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth,
But he bloweth upon them and they wither,
And a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 40:25, 26]
To whom then will ye liken me
That I should equal him? saith the Holy One. 
Lift up your eyes on high and see: 
Who hath created these? 
He who bringeth forth their host by number,
And calleth each by his name;
Of the many mighty and strong,
Not one is missing.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 40:27-31]
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: 
My way is hid from Jehovah
And my right is unnoticed by my God? 
Hast thou not known?  Hast thou not heard? 
An everlasting God is Jehovah. 
The creator of the ends of the earth. 
He fainteth not, neither is weary,
His wisdom cannot be fathomed,
He giveth vigor to the fainting,
And upon the powerless he lavisheth strength. 
Young men may faint and grow weary,
And the strongest youths may stumble,
But they who trust in Jehovah renew their vigor,
They mount on pinions like eagles,
They run but are never weary,
They walk but never faint.

[Sidenote:  Isa. 41:1-4]
Listen to me in silence, ye coastlands,
Let the peoples come near; then let them speak;
Together let us approach the tribunal. 
Who raised up that one from the east
Whose steps victory ever attended,
Giving up peoples before him,
And letting him trample down kings? 
His sword made them as dust,
And his bow like driven stubble;
He pursued them, passing on in safety,
Not treading the path with his feet. 
Who hath wrought and accomplished this? 
He who called the generations from the beginning,
I, Jehovah, who am the first,
And with those who come after I am the same.