The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
New International Version NIV
17 Before him all the nations are like nothing. He regards them as less than nothing.
17
Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
18 With whom, then, will you compare God? By what standard will you evaluate him?
18
With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?
19 An image made by a craftsman, which a goldsmith overlays with gold, for which he then casts silver chains?
19
As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A man too poor to afford an offering chooses a piece of wood that won't rot, then seeks out a skilled artisan to prepare an image that won't fall over.
20
A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Don't you know? Don't you hear? Haven't you been told from the start? Don't you understand how the earth is set up?
21
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He who sits above the circle of the earth - for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers - stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to live in.
22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the earth to emptiness.
23
He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely their stem taken root in the ground, when he blows on them, they dry up, and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.
24
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 "With whom, then, will you compare me? With whom am I equal?" asks the Holy One.
25
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Turn your eyes to the heavens! See who created these? He brings out the army of them in sequence, summoning each by name. Through his great might and his massive strength, not one of them is missing.
26
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Ya'akov; why do you say, Isra'el, "My way is hidden from ADONAI, my rights are ignored by my God"?
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”?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.