Isaiah 40
40
God Comforts His People
1“Comfort my people,” says your God.
“Comfort them.
2Speak tenderly to the people of Jerusalem.
Announce to them
that their hard labor has been completed.
Tell them that their sin has been paid for.
Tell them the Lord has punished them enough
for all their sins.”
3A messenger is calling out,
“In the desert prepare
the way for the Lord.
Make a straight road through it
for our God.
4Every valley will be filled in.
Every mountain and hill will be made level.
The rough ground will be smoothed out.
The rocky places will be made flat.
5Then the glory of the Lord will appear.
And everyone will see it together.
The Lord has spoken.”
6Another messenger says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What should I cry?”
“Cry out, ‘All people are like grass.
They don’t stay faithful to me any longer than wildflowers last.
7The grass dries up. The flowers fall to the ground.
That happens when the Lord makes his wind blow on them.
So people are just like grass.
8The grass dries up. The flowers fall to the ground.
But what our God says will stand forever.’ ”
9Zion, you are bringing good news to your people.
Go up on a high mountain and announce it.
Jerusalem, you are bringing good news to them.
Shout the message loudly.
Shout it out loud. Don’t be afraid.
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Your God is coming!”
10The Lord and King is coming with power.
He rules with a powerful arm.
He has set his people free.
He is bringing them back as his reward.
He has won the battle over their enemies.
11He takes care of his flock like a shepherd.
He gathers the lambs in his arms.
He carries them close to his heart.
He gently leads those that have little ones.
12Who has measured the oceans by using the palm of his hand?
Who has used the width of his hand to mark off the sky?
Who has measured out the dust of the earth in a basket?
Who has weighed the mountains on scales?
Who has weighed the hills in a balance?
13Who can ever understand the Spirit of the Lord?
Who can ever give him advice?
14Did the Lord have to ask anyone to help him understand?
Did he have to ask someone to teach him the right way?
Who taught him what he knows?
Who showed him how to understand?
15The nations are only a drop in a bucket to him.
He considers them as nothing but dust on the scales.
He weighs the islands as if they were only fine dust.
16Lebanon doesn’t have enough trees to keep his altar fires burning.
It doesn’t have enough animals to sacrifice as burnt offerings to him.
17To him, all the nations don’t amount to anything.
He considers them to be worthless.
In fact, they are less than nothing in his sight.
18So who will you compare God with?
Is there any other god like him?
19Will you compare him with a statue of a god?
Anyone who works with metal can make a statue.
Then another worker covers it with gold
and makes silver chains for it.
20But someone who is too poor to bring that kind of offering
will choose some wood that won’t rot.
Then they look for a skilled worker.
They pay the worker to make a statue of a god that won’t fall over.
21Don’t you know who made everything?
Haven’t you heard about him?
Hasn’t it been told to you from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood it ever since the earth was made?
22God sits on his throne high above the earth.
Its people look like grasshoppers to him.
He spreads out the heavens like a cover.
He sets it up like a tent to live in.
23He takes the power of princes away from them.
He reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24They are planted.
They are scattered like seeds.
They put down roots in the ground.
But as soon as that happens, God blows on them and they dry up.
Then a windstorm sweeps them away like straw.
25“So who will you compare me with?
Who is equal to me?” says the Holy One.
26Look up toward the sky.
Who created everything you see?
The Lord causes the stars to come out at night one by one.
He calls out each one of them by name.
His power and strength are great.
So none of the stars is missing.
27Family of Jacob, why do you complain,
“The Lord doesn’t notice our condition”?
People of Israel, why do you say,
“Our God doesn’t pay any attention to our rightful claims”?
28Don’t you know who made everything?
Haven’t you heard about him?
The Lord is the God who lives forever.
He created everything on earth.
He won’t become worn out or get tired.
No one will ever know how great his understanding is.
29He gives strength to those who are tired.
He gives power to those who are weak.
30Even young people become worn out and get tired.
Even the best of them trip and fall.
31But those who trust in the Lord
will receive new strength.
They will fly as high as eagles.
They will run and not get tired.
They will walk and not grow weak.
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Isaiah 40: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 40
40
Comfort for God’s People
1“Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over
for all her sins.”
3Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!
4Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The Lord has spoken!”#40:3-5 Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The Lord has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.
6A voice said, “Shout!”
I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.
7The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the Lord.
And so it is with people.
8The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
9O Zion, messenger of good news,
shout from the mountaintops!
Shout it louder, O Jerusalem.#40:9 Or O messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout it louder to Jerusalem.
Shout, and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah,
“Your God is coming!”
10Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
The Lord Has No Equal
12Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?
13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?#40:13 Greek version reads Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Compare Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16.
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
14Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
or show him the path of justice?
15No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand.
16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests
and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.
17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth.
18To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?
19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
20Or if people are too poor for that,
they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
to carve an image that won’t fall down!
21Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
22God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
23He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.
24They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.
25“To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
27O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
28Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
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