Isaiah 40

1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God.

Give comfort, give comfort, to my people, says your God.

2 "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins."

Say kind words to the heart of Jerusalem, crying out to her that her time of trouble is ended, that her punishment is complete; that she has been rewarded by the Lord's hand twice over for all her sins.

3 The voice of one who calls out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the LORD. Make his roads straight.

A voice of one crying, Make ready in the waste land the way of the Lord, make level in the lowland a highway for our God.

4 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level, and the rough places a plain.

Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough places become level, and the hilltops become a valley,

5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see the salvation of God together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

And the glory of the Lord will be made clear, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has said it.

6 The voice of one saying, "Cry." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

A voice of one saying, Give a cry! And I said, What is my cry to be? All flesh is grass, and all its strength like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.

The grass becomes dry, the flower is dead; because the breath of the Lord goes over it: truly the people is grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the LORD stands forever."

The grass is dry, the flower is dead; but the word of our God is eternal.

9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Look, your God."

You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God!

10 Look, the LORD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Look, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him.

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

In the hollow of whose hand have the waters been measured? and who is able to take the heavens in his stretched-out fingers? who has got together the dust of the earth in a measure? who has taken the weight of the mountains, or put the hills into the scales?

13 Who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has instructed him as his counselor?

By whom has the spirit of the Lord been guided, or who has been his teacher?

14 From whom did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?

Who gave him suggestions, and made clear to him the right way? who gave him knowledge, guiding him in the way of wisdom?

15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Look, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.

See, the nations are to him like a drop hanging from a bucket, and like the small dust in the scales: he takes up the islands like small dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

And Lebanon is not enough to make a fire with, or all its cattle enough for a burned offering.

17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value.

18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?

Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?

19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it.

20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.

The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.

21 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?

Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? has not news of it been given to you from the first? has it not been clear to you from the time when the earth was placed on its base?

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;

It is he who is seated over the arch of the earth, and the people in it are as small as locusts; by him the heavens are stretched out like an arch, and made ready like a tent for a living-place.

23 who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

He makes rulers come to nothing; the judges of the earth are of no value.

24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass.

25 "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Who then seems to you to be my equal? says the Holy One.

26 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.

Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places.

27 Why do you say, Jacob, and why do you assert, Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"

Why do you say, O Jacob, such words as these, O Israel, The Lord's eyes are not on my way, and my God gives no attention to my cause?

28 And now, haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom.

29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.

He gives power to the feeble, increasing the strength of him who has no force.

30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;

Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength;

31 But those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.