Isaiah 40
1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare has been completed, That her punishment has been accepted, That she has received from the hand of YHWH Double for all her sins.
3 The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
A voice is crying in a wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH, Make straight in a desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
Every valley is raised up, And every mountain and hill become low, And the crooked place has become a plain, And the entangled places a valley.
5 The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”
And the glory of YHWH has been revealed, And all flesh have seen [it] together, For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
6 The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
A voice is saying, “Call,” And he said, “What do I call?” All flesh [is] grass, and all its goodness [Is] as a flower of the field:
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
Grass has withered, the flower faded, For the Spirit of YHWH blew on it, Surely the people [is] grass;
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
Grass has withered, the flower faded, But a word of our God rises forever.
9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, Proclaiming tidings, Lift up your voice with power, O Jerusalem, proclaiming tidings, Lift up, do not fear, say to cities of Judah, “Behold, your God.”
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
Behold, Lord YHWH comes with strength, And His arm is ruling for Him, Behold, His hire [is] with Him, and His wage 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. He will gently lead those who have their young.
He feeds His flock as a shepherd, He gathers lambs with His arm, And He carries [them] in His bosom: He leads suckling ones.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And has meted out the heavens by a span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, And has weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the LORD’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?
Who has meted out the Spirit of YHWH, And [being] His counselor, teaches Him?
14 Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
With whom [did] He consult, That he causes Him to understand? And teaches Him in the path of judgment, And teaches Him knowledge? And causes Him to know the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
Behold, nations [are] as a drop from a bucket, And have been reckoned as small dust of the balance, Behold, He takes up islands as a small thing.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
All the nations [are] as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
And to whom do you liken God, And what likeness do you compare to Him?
19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
An artisan has poured out the carved image, And a refiner spreads it over with gold, And he is refining chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
He who is poor [by] raised-offerings, Chooses a tree [that is] not rotten, He seeks a skillful artisan for it, To establish a carved image—not moved.
21 Have not you known? Have not you heard? Have not you been told from the beginning? Have not you understood from the foundations of the earth?
Do you not know—do you not hear? Has it not been declared from the first to you? Have you not understood [From] the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants [are] as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out the heavens as a thin thing, And spreads them as a tent to dwell in.
23 who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
He who is making princes become nothing, Has made judges of earth formless;
24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
Indeed, they have not been planted, Indeed, they have not been sown, Indeed, their stock is not taking root in the earth, And He has also blown on them, and they wither, And a whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
And to whom do you liken Me, And [to whom] I equal? Says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
Lift up your eyes on high, And see—who has created these? He who is bringing out their host by number, He calls to all of them by name, By the abundance of His strength And mighty power, Not one is lacking.
27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?
Why say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way has been hid from YHWH, And from my God my judgment passes over?”
28 Have not you known? Have not you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint. He is not weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The God of the age—YHWH, Preparer of the ends of the earth, Is not wearied nor fatigued, There is no searching of His understanding.
29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increases might.
30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
Even youths are wearied and fatigued, And young men utterly stumble,
31 but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
But those expecting YHWH pass [to] power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!
