Bible in Basic English
And Lebanon is not enough to make a fire with, or all its cattle enough for a burned offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value.
Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?
The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it.
The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.
Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? has not news of it been given to you from the first? has it not been clear to you from the time when the earth was placed on its base?
It is he who is seated over the arch of the earth, and the people in it are as small as locusts; by him the heavens are stretched out like an arch, and made ready like a tent for a living-place.
He makes rulers come to nothing; the judges of the earth are of no value.
They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass.
Who then seems to you to be my equal? says the Holy One.
Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places.
Why do you say, O Jacob, such words as these, O Israel, The Lord's eyes are not on my way, and my God gives no attention to my cause?
Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom.
He gives power to the feeble, increasing the strength of him who has no force.
Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength;
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.
— Isaiah 40:16-1964, Bible in Basic English
“Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing. To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him? A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it. To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made? He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, and spreads it out like a pitched tent. He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant. Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw. “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?” says the Holy One. Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel,“The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me, My God is not concerned with my vindication”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. But those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.”
“And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity. To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him? Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved. Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity. And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. And to whom have ye likened me, or made me equal, saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things: who bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by their names: by the greatness of his might, and strength, and power, not one of them was missing. 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? Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth: he shall not faint, nor labour, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom. It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth force and might to them that are not. You shall faint, and labour, and young men shall fall by infirmity. But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. ”
By whom has the spirit of the Lord been guided, or who has been his teacher?
Who gave him suggestions, and made clear to him the right way? who gave him knowledge, guiding him in the way of wisdom?
See, the nations are to him like a drop hanging from a bucket, and like the small dust in the scales: he takes up the islands like small dust.
And Lebanon is not enough to make a fire with, or all its cattle enough for a burned offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value.
Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?
The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it.
The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.
Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? has not news of it been given to you from the first? has it not been clear to you from the time when the earth was placed on its base?
It is he who is seated over the arch of the earth, and the people in it are as small as locusts; by him the heavens are stretched out like an arch, and made ready like a tent for a living-place.
He makes rulers come to nothing; the judges of the earth are of no value.
They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass.
Who then seems to you to be my equal? says the Holy One.
Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places.
Why do you say, O Jacob, such words as these, O Israel, The Lord's eyes are not on my way, and my God gives no attention to my cause?
Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom.
He gives power to the feeble, increasing the strength of him who has no force.
Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength;
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.