< Esias 40 >

1 Comfort you, comfort you my people, says God.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God.
2 Speak, you priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double [the amount of] her sins.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her warfare has been completed, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.
The voice of a man crying out in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked [ways] shall become straight, and the rough [places] plains.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places smooth.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken [it].
And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it.
6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness of it is as the flower of the field.
7
The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of Jehovah blows upon it. Surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
9 O you that bring glad tidings to Zion, go up on the high mountain; lift up your voice with strength, you that bring glad tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Juda, Behold your God!
O thou who tell good news to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain. O thou who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid, say to the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!
10 Behold the Lord! The Lord is coming with strength, and [his] arm is with power: behold, his reward is with him, and [his] work before him.
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 shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and shall soothe them that are with young.
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 who have their young.
12 Who has measured the water in his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in scales, and the forests in a balance?
Who has 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 has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?
Who has known the mind of Jehovah, or being his counselor has taught him?
14 Or with whom has he taken counsel, and he has instructed him? or who has taught him judgement, or who has taught him the way of understanding;
With whom did he take 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 since all the nations are counted as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, [and] shall be counted as spittle?
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering:
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing.
All the nations are as nothing before him. They are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him?
To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare to him?
19 Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted gold, gilt it over, [and] made it a similitude?
The image, a workman has cast it, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains.
20 For the artificer chooses out a wood that will not rot, and will wisely enquire how he shall set up his image, and [that so] that it should not be moved.
He who is too impoverished for such an oblation chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for him a skilful workman to set up a graven image that shall not be moved.
21 Will you not know? will you not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have you not known the foundations of the earth?
Have ye not known? Have yet not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 [It is] he that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a chamber, and stretched [it] out as a tent to dwell in:
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in,
23 he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing.
who brings rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 For they shall not plant, neither shall they sow, neither shall their root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a storm shall carry them away like sticks.
Yea, they have not been planted. Yea, they have not been sown. Yea, their stock has not taken root in the earth. Moreover he blows upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One.
To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has displayed all these things? [even] he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them all by name by [means of his] great glory, and by the power of his might: nothing has escaped you.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their host 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.
27 For say not you, O Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel, [saying], My way is hid from God, and my God has taken away [my] judgement, and has departed?
Why do thou say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah. And the justice due to me is passed away from my God?
28 And now, have you not known? have you not heard? the eternal God, the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding.
Have thou not known? Have thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, nor is weary. There is no searching of his understanding.
29 He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not suffering.
He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 For the young [men] shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice [men] shall be powerless:
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.
31 but they that wait on God shall renew [their] strength; they shall put forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not hunger.
But those who 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.

< Esias 40 >