9  Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, ^kherald of good news;¹

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;²

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 measured³ 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.

18  ^xTo whom then will you liken God,

^yor what likeness compare with him?

19  ^yAn idol! A craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and casts for it silver chains.

20  ^zHe who is too impoverished for an offering

chooses wood⁴ that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

to set up an idol that will not move.