Isaiah 40
1 “Comfort, yes comfort my people!” says your God.
Comfort you, comfort you my people, says God.
2 “Speak lovingly to the people of Jerusalem, telling them that their hard times are over, that their sins have been forgiven, and that the Lord has paid them twice over for their 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 A voice is heard calling, “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make a straight highway for our God through the desert.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.
4 Fill in all the valleys; level all the mountains and hills; smooth out the uneven ground; make the rough places flat.
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 The Lord's glory will be revealed, and everyone will see it together. This is what the Lord has declared.”
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 is heard saying, “Shout it out.” I asked, “What shall I shout?” “All human beings are like grass, and all their trustworthiness is like the flowers 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 wilts and the flower fades when the Lord's breathes on them. Yes, the people are grass!
8 However, even though the grass wilts and the flower fades, the word of our God will endure forever.”
The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.
9 Zion, bringer of good news, go up a high mountain. Jerusalem, bringer of good news, raise your voice and shout out loud. Don't be afraid to shout really loud! Tell the towns of Judah, “Here is 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 Look! The Lord God is coming with power! He will rule with a firm hand. Look! He's bringing his reward with him, coming to give his gift.
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 looks after his flock like a shepherd. He picks up the lambs in his arms and holds them close to his chest. He leads those that are nursing young.
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 has measured the waters he holds in the palm of his hand? Who has marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has worked out the amount of dust of the earth? Who has weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?
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 has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or taught him what to do as his counselor?
Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?
14 Who did the Lord go to for advice to help him understand? Who taught him right from wrong? Who gave him knowledge and showed him the way of wisdom?
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 It's obvious that the nations are just a drop in a bucket. They're like dust on a set of scales. He can pick up islands as if they weigh next to nothing.
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 All the wood in Lebanon for a fire and all its animals as a sacrifice wouldn't be enough a burnt offering.
And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering:
17 To him all the nations are like nothing. He counts them as less than nothing—like they don't exist.
and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing.
18 Who do you think is like God? What image do you think he looks like?
To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him?
19 Is he a metal idol that a craftsman casts in a mold, and then a goldsmith overlays it with gold and makes 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 Those who are too poor to pay for that choose wood that won't rot, then they look for a skilled wood-carver to make an idol that won't fall over.
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 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? Hasn't it been explained to you from the very beginning? Haven't you understood from the time the world was created?
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 God sits on his throne above the horizon of the earth; the people that live there are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreading them out like a tent to live 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 He brings leaders down; he makes the rulers of the world like nothing.
he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing.
24 In fact they are hardly even planted, hardly even sown, hardly even taken root, when he blows on them and they wither, and the wind carries them away like straw.
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 “Who are you going to compare me with? Who is equal to me?” asks the Holy One.
Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One.
26 Look at the heavens. Who created all this? He leads the stars like an army, and calls each one by name. Because he has great power and incredible strength, not a single one of them is missing.
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 do you speak like this, Jacob, and why do you say, Israel, “The Lord doesn't see what's happening to me, and he's ignoring my rights!”
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 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He's never weak or tired; you can't find out all he knows.
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 gives strength to the weary and power the powerless.
He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not suffering.
30 Even young people grow weak and tired—they fall down when they're exhausted.
For the young [men] shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice [men] shall be powerless:
31 But those who trust in the Lord will have their strength renewed. They will fly high with wings like eagles. They will run and not be tired. They will walk and not be worn out.
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.
