Isaiah 40

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Comfort you, comfort you my people, says God.

2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her time of suffering is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.

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.

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God!

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.

4 Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain.

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.

5 And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see [it] together: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.

And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken [it].

6 A voice saith, Cry. And he saith, What shall I cry? — All flesh is grass, and all the comeliness thereof as the flower of the field.

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:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, for 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 abideth for ever.

The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.

9 O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up into a high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest glad tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

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!

10 Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come with might, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.

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.

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom; he will gently lead those that give suck.

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.

12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with [his] span, and grasped the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales?

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?

13 Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and, [as] his counsellor, hath taught him?

Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?

14 With whom took he counsel, and [who] gave him intelligence, and instructed him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding?

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;

15 Behold, the nations are esteemed as a drop of the bucket, and as the fine dust on the scales; behold, he taketh up the isles as an atom.

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?

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering:

17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are esteemed by him less than a cipher, and vanity.

and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing.

18 To whom then will ye liken God? and what likeness will ye compare unto him?

To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him?

19 The workman casteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains [for it].

Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted gold, gilt it over, [and] made it a similitude?

20 He that is impoverished, so that he hath no offering, chooseth a tree that doth not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilled workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

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.

21 — Do ye not know? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundation of the earth?

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?

22 [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;

[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:

23 that bringeth the princes to nothing, that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely hath their stock taken root in the earth, but he also bloweth upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

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.

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see! Who hath created these things, bringing out their host by number? He calleth them all by name; through the greatness of his might and strength of power, not one faileth.

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.

27 Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and my right is passed away from my God?

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?

28 Dost thou not know, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not nor tireth? There is no searching of his understanding.

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.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.

He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not suffering.

30 Even the youths shall faint and shall tire, and the young men shall stumble and fall;

For the young [men] shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice [men] shall be powerless:

31 but they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew [their] strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not tire; they shall walk, and not faint.

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.