To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?
Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
God sits above the circle of the earth…
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
…”Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.
The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the LORD.
And so it is with people.
The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
Blessings of embracing what is permanent
So the LORD must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the LORD is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
…He will be gracious if you ask for help.
He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
whether to the right or to the left.
But those who die in the LORD will live;
their bodies will rise again!
Those who sleep in the earth
will rise up and sing for joy!
For your life-giving light will fall like dew
on your people in the place of the dead!
…he will remove the cloud of gloom,
the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.
He will swallow up death forever!
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears…
In that day the people will proclaim,
“This is our God!
We trusted in him, and he saved us!
This is the LORD, in whom we trusted.
Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”
What sorrow for those who say
that evil is good and good is evil,
that dark is light and light is dark,
that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.
Look to God’s instructions and teachings!
People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.
…Fear God and obey his commands,
for this is everyone’s duty.
God will judge us for everything we do,
including every secret thing,
whether good or bad.
Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud,
they never harvest.
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind
or the mystery of a tiny baby
growing in its mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the activity of God,
who does all things.
Plant your seed in the morning
and keep busy all afternoon,
for you don’t know if profit will come
from one activity or another—
or maybe both.
…how can people avoid what they don’t know
is going to happen?
None of us can hold back our spirit from departing.
None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death.
there is no escaping that obligation…
…no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun.
Not even the wisest people discover everything,
no matter what they claim.
…‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says:
Return to me
and I will return to you,
says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.’
