6  A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said,¹ “What shall I cry?”

ⁱAll flesh is grass,

and all its beauty² is like the flower of the field.

7  The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

8  ^jThe grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

9  Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, ^kherald of good news;³

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;⁴

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

10  ^lBehold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

^mbehold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

11  ⁿHe will tend his flock like a shepherd;

^ohe will gather the lambs in his arms;

^phe will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

12  ^qWho 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  ^rWho has measured⁵ the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel?

14  Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

^sWho 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 ^tas the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up ^uthe coastlands like fine dust.

16  Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are ^vits beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17  ^wAll the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9  ^pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10  ^q“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

^rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but ^sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12  ^t“For you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

^uthe mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13  ^vInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the Lord,

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”