Isaiah 40

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins.3 The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God.4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain:5 and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.6 The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.9 O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!10 Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that have their young.12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?13 Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?19 The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains.20 He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved.21 Have ye not known? have yet not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?22 It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;23 that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.24 Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.25 To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One.26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:31 but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

ISAIAH 40

Encourage God's People

1 Our God has said:
“Encourage my people!
Give them comfort.

2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem
and announce:
Your slavery is past;
your punishment is over.
I, the [Lord], made you pay
double for your sins.”

3  t t Someone is shouting:
“Clear a path in the desert!
Make a straight road
for the [Lord] our God.

4 Fill in the valleys;
flatten every hill
and mountain.
Level the rough
and rugged ground.

5 Then the glory of the [Lord]
will appear for all to see.
The [Lord] has promised this!”

6  t Someone told me to shout,
and I asked,
“What should I shout?”
We humans are merely grass,
and we last no longer
than wild flowers.

7 At the [Lord]'s command,
flowers and grass disappear,
and so do we.

8 Flowers and grass fade away,
but what our God has said
will never change.

Your God Is Here!

9 There is good news
for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you cant
from the highest mountain.
Don't be afraid to shout
to the towns of Judah:
“Your God is here!”

10  t Look! The powerful [Lord] God
is coming to rule
with his mighty arm.
He brings with him
what he has taken in war,
and he rewards his people.

11  t The [Lord] cares for his nation,
just as shepherds care
for their flocks.
He carries the lambs
in his arms,
while gently leading
the mother sheep.

Who Compares with God?

12 Did any of you measure
the ocean by yourself
or stretch out the sky
with your own hands?
Did you put the soil
of the earth in a bucket
or weigh the hills and mountains
on balance scales?

13  t Has anyone told the [Lord]t
what he must do
or given him advice?

14 Did the [Lord] ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
and understanding?

15  t To the [Lord], all nations
are merely a drop in a bucket
or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
are but a handful of sand.

16 The cattle on the mountains
of Lebanon
would not be enough to offer
as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
be enough for the fire.

17 God thinks of the nations
as far less than nothing.

18  t Who compares with God?
Is anything like him?

19 Is an idol at all like God?
It is made of bronze
with a thin layer of gold,
and decorated with silver.

20  t Or special wood may be chosent
because it doesn't rot—
then skilled hands
take care to make an idol
that won't fall on its face.

God Rules the Whole Earth

21 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Hasn't it been clear
since the time of creation?t

22 God is the one who rules
the whole earth,
and we that live here
are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.

23 God brings down rulers
and turns them into nothing.

24 They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt and are carried off
like straw in a storm.

25 The holy God asks,
“Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”

26  t Look at the evening sky!
Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
Who leads them like an army?
The [Lord] is so powerful
that none of the stars
are ever missing.

The [Lord] Gives Strength

27 You people of Israel say,
“God pays no attention to us!
He doesn't care if we
are treated unjustly.”
But how can you say that?

28 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The [Lord] is the eternal God,
Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.

29 The [Lord] gives strength
to those who are weary.

30 Even young people get tired,
then stumble and fall.

31 But those who trust the [Lord]
will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
without getting tired.