18 sTo whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
19 An idol! A tcraftsman casts it,
and a ugoldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood1 that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will vnot move.
21 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 like grasshoppers;
who wstretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them xlike a tent to dwell in;
23 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,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 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?
yHe 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.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
z“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
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;
ahis understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings blike eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Fear Not, for I Am with You
1 cListen 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.
2 Who dstirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every step?2
He egives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, fthe first,
and with the last; gI am he.
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, hmy servant,
Jacob, whom I have ichosen,
the offspring of Abraham, jmy friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are kmy servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 lfear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
1 When the Lamb opened the rseventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much sincense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on tthe golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar uand threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,1 vflashes of lightning, and an wearthquake.
The Seven Trumpets
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed xhail and yfire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And za third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, aburning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea bbecame blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea cdied, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star dfell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood.2 A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of ethe sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be fdarkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, g“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
