Isaiah 40
1 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
“Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.
2 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.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.
3 A voice is crying in a wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH, Make straight in a desert a highway for our God.
The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
4 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.
Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.
5 And the glory of YHWH has been revealed, And all flesh have seen [it] together, For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 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:
The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 Grass has withered, the flower faded, For the Spirit of YHWH blew on it, Surely the people [is] grass;
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass.
8 Grass has withered, the flower faded, But a word of our God rises forever.
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
9 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.”
You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”
10 Behold, Lord YHWH comes with strength, And His arm is ruling for Him, Behold, His hire [is] with Him, and His wage before Him.
Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.
11 He feeds His flock as a shepherd, He gathers lambs with His arm, And He carries [them] in His bosom: He leads suckling ones.
He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.
12 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?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?
13 Who has meted out the Spirit of YHWH, And [being] His counselor, teaches Him?
Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
14 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?
With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him?
15 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.
Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations [are] as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.
All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.
18 And to whom do you liken God, And what likeness do you compare to Him?
Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?
19 An artisan has poured out the carved image, And a refiner spreads it over with gold, And he is refining chains of silver.
Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
20 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.
He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.
21 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?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?
22 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.
He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell.
23 He who is making princes become nothing, Has made judges of earth formless;
He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.
24 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.
And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff.
25 And to whom do you liken Me, And [to whom] I equal? Says the Holy One.
“And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.
26 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.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind.
27 Why say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way has been hid from YHWH, And from my God my judgment passes over?”
Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”
28 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.
Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable.
29 He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increases might.
It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
30 Even youths are wearied and fatigued, And young men utterly stumble,
Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
31 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!
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.
