Isaiah 40
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Comfort you, comfort you my people, says God.
2 Speak ye [comfort] to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out unto her, that her time of sorrow is accomplished, that her iniquity is atoned for; for she hath received from the hand of the Lord 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 A voice calleth out, In the wilderness make ye clear the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for 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, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made a straight path, 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 the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
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, Proclaim; and he saith, What shall I proclaim? all flesh is grass, and all its goodliness is 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; because the breath of the Lord hath blown upon it; surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God will stand firm for ever.
The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.
9 Upon a high mountain get thee up, thou that bringest good tidings to Zion; lift up with strength thy voice, thou who bringest good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, [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 Behold, the Lord Eternal will come with might, and his arm ruleth for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense 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 Like a shepherd will he feed his flock: with his arm will he gather the lambs, and in his bosom will he carry them, will he lead gently those that suckle their 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 hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters, and meted out the heavens with the span, and comprised in a measure the dust of the earth, and weighed in the scale-beam the mountains, and the hills in balances?
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 meted out the Spirit of the Lord? and [who was] his counsellor that he could have given him information?
Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?
14 With whom took he counsel, that he gave him understanding, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and caused him to know the way of understanding?
Or with whom has he taken counsel, and he has instructed him? or who has taught him judgment, or who has taught him the way of understanding;
15 Behold, nations are as a drop out of a bucket, and as the small dust of the balance are they accounted: behold, isles are like the flying dust.
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 for burning, and its beasts do not suffice for burnt-offering.
And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering:
17 All the nations are as naught before him; less than nothing, and vanity are they accounted to him.
and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him?
19 The graven image the artificer hath cast and the goldsmith hath overspread it with gold, and fabricated [on it] silver chains.
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 skilled in the choice chooseth a wood that will not rot; he seeketh unto himself a skilful 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 Know ye not? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not paid attention to the foundations 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 dwelleth above the circle of the earth, while its inhabitants are as grasshoppers; that stretched out the heavens as a 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 princes to naught; rendering the judges of the earth as vanity.
he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing.
24 Yes, they were not yet planted; yea, they were not yet sown; yea, their stem had not yet taken root in the earth: when he but breathed upon them, and they withered, and the storm-wind carrieth 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, that I should be equal to? 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? he that bringeth out their host by number; that calleth them all by name; from the Mighty One not one escapeth.
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 wilt thou say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my cause hath passed from the cognizance of 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? The God of everlasting is the Lord, is the Creator of the ends of the earth; he will not be faint and weary; unsearchable is 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 to the faint strength; and to the powerless he imparteth much might.
He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not suffering.
30 Though youths should grow faint and be weary, and young men should utterly stumble:
For the young [men] shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice [men] shall be powerless:
31 Yet they that wait upon the Lord shall acquire new strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk, and not become 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.
