Isaiah 40

Words of Hope

1 “Comfort my people,” says our God. “Comfort them!

2 Encourage the people of Jerusalem. Tell them they have suffered long enough and their sins are now forgiven. t I have punished them in full for all their sins.”

3  t t A voice cries out, “Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God!

4 Fill every valley; level every mountain. The hills will become a plain, and the rough country will be made smooth.

5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it. The Lord himself has promised this.”

6  t A voice cries out, “Proclaim a message!” “What message shall I proclaim?” I ask. “Proclaim that all human beings are like grass; they last no longer than wild flowers.

7 Grass withers and flowers fade when the Lord sends the wind blowing over them. People are no more enduring than grass.

8 Yes, grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever.”

9 Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news! Call out with a loud voice, Zion; announce the good news! t Speak out and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming!

10  t The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, bringing with him the people he has rescued. t

11  t He will take care of his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms; he will gently lead their mothers.

Israel's Incomparable God

12 Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls or measure the sky with his hands? Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup or weigh the mountains and hills on scales?

13  t Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice?

14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done?

15  t To the Lord the nations are nothing, no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust.

16 All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire.

17 The nations are nothing at all to him.

18  t To whom can God be compared? How can you describe what he is like?

19 He is not like an idol that workers make, that metalworkers cover with gold and set in a base of silver.

20  t Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold t chooses wood that will not rot. He finds a skillful worker to make an image that won't fall down.

21 Do you not know? Were you not told long ago? Have you not heard how the world began?

22 It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the earth and beyond the sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a curtain, like a tent in which to live.

23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing.

24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw.

25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him?

26  t Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great— not one of them is ever missing!

27 Israel, why then do you complain that the Lord doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice?

28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts.

29 He strengthens those who are weak and tired.

30 Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted.

31 But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

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.