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
God’s People Comforted
1“Comfort, comfort my people,”#Is 12:1; 49:13; 51:3,12; 52:9; 61:2; 66:13; Jr 31:10–14; Zph 3:14–17; 2Co 1:4
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to#40:2 Lit Speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of hard service is over,
her iniquity#Is 13:11 has been pardoned,#Lv 26:41,43; Is 27:9
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.”#Ex 22:7–8; Jr 16:18; Zch 9:12; Rv 18:6
3A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;#Mal 3:1; 4:5–6
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.#Mt 3:3; Mk 1:3; Lk 3:4; Jn 1:23
4Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.#Lk 3:5–6
5And the glory of the Lord will appear,#Is 35:2
and all humanity#40:5 Lit flesh together will see it,#Is 52:10; Jl 2:28
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.#Is 1:20; 34:16; 58:14
6A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another said,#40:6 DSS, LXX, Vg read I said “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,#1Pt 1:24–25
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.#Jb 14:2; Ps 102:11; 103:15
7The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath#40:7 Or wind, or Spirit of the Lord blows on them;#40:7 Lit it
indeed, the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flowers fade,#Jms 1:11
but the word of our God remains forever.”#Is 55:11; 59:21; Mk 13:31; Lk 21:33
9Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.#Is 52:7
Jerusalem, herald of good news,#Is 61:1
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!” #Is 25:9; 35:2
10See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and his power establishes his rule.#Is 59:16–18
His wages are with him,#Is 62:11; Rv 22:12
and his reward accompanies him.
11He protects his flock like a shepherd;#Jr 31:10; Ezk 34:12–14,23,31; Mc 5:4; Jn 10:11,14–16
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?#Is 48:13; Heb 1:10–12
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
13Who has directed#40:13 Or measured, or comprehended the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave him counsel?#Rm 11:34; 1Co 2:16
14Who did he consult?
Who gave him understanding#Jb 21:22; Col 2:3
and taught him the paths of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.#Ps 50:9–11; Mc 6:6–7; Heb 10:5–9
17All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are considered by him
as empty nothingness.#Is 29:7
18With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?#Ex 8:10; 15:11; 1Sm 2:2; Is 40:25; 46:5; Mc 7:18; Ac 17:29
19An idol? — something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?#Is 2:20; 30:22; 41:7; 44:10
20A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.#40:20 Or who is too poor for such an offering, or who chooses mulberry wood as a votive gift; Hb obscure
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.#1Sm 5:3; Is 44:9–15; 46:6–7; Jr 10:3–5
21Do you not know?#Ps 19:1; 50:6; Is 37:26; Ac 14:17; Rm 1:19–20
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?#Is 48:13; 51:13
22God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.#Nm 13:33
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth#Jb 9:8; Is 37:16; 42:5; 44:24
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.#Jb 36:29; Ps 18:11; 19:4; 104:2
23He reduces princes to nothing#Jb 12:21; Ps 107:40; Is 34:12
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
24They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.#Ps 1:4; Is 41:2,16; 64:6; Ezk 17:10,24; Nah 1:4
25“To whom will you compare me,#Is 46:5; Ac 17:29
or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26Look up and see!
Who created#Is 42:5; 48:12–13 these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.#Ps 147:4–5
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?#Is 7:13; 49:4,14
28Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,#Gn 21:33; Ps 90:2
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.#Ps 147:5; Rm 11:33
29He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;#Jb 17:9; Ps 103:5; 2Co 4:8–10,16; 12:9
they will soar on wings like eagles;#Ex 19:4; Dt 32:11; Lk 18:1; 2Co 4:1,16; Gl 6:9; Heb 12:3
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
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