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
1“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2“Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.”
3The voice of one who calls out,
“Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness!
Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The uneven shall be made level,
and the rough places a plain.
5Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
6The voice of one saying, “Cry out!”
One said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers,
the flower fades,
because Yahweh’s breath blows on it.
Surely the people are like grass.
8The grass withers,
the flower fades;
but the word of our God stands forever.”
9You 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! Don’t be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
10Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one,
and his arm will rule for him.
Behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11He 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.
12Who 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 measuring basket,
and weighed the mountains in scales,
and the hills in a balance?
13Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit,
or has taught him as his counselor?
14Who 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?
15Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket,
and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance.
Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are like nothing before him.
They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19A workman has cast an image,
and the goldsmith overlays it with gold,
and casts silver chains for it.
20He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot.
He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
21Haven’t you known?
Haven’t you heard?
Haven’t you been told from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22It 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,
23who brings princes to nothing,
who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24They 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.
25“To whom then will you liken me?
Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high,
and see who has created these,
who brings out their army 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.
27Why do you say, Jacob,
and speak, Israel,
“My way is hidden from Yahweh,
and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?
28Haven’t you known?
Haven’t you heard?
The everlasting God, Yahweh,
the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint.
He isn’t weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the weak.
He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30Even the youths faint and get weary,
and the young men utterly fall;
31but those who wait for Yahweh 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.
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