Isaiah 40
40
Comfort for God’s People
1#Isa 51:12; 51:3 Comfort, O comfort, My people,
says your God.
2#Isa 61:7; Jer 16:18 Speak kindly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare has ended,
that her iniquity has been pardoned,
that she has received of the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
3#Mal 3:1; Jn 1:23; Mal 4:5–6 The voice of him who cries out,
“Prepare the way of the Lord
in the wilderness,
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4#Isa 45:2; Eze 21:26 Let every valley be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low,
and let the rough ground become a plain,
and the rough places a plain;
5#Isa 1:20; 52:10 then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spokenit.”
6#Job 14:2; Ps 102:11 The voice said, “Cry out.”
And he said, “What shall I cry out?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its loveliness is as the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades
because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8#Mt 5:18; 1Pe 1:25 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God shall stand forever.
9#Isa 25:9; 12:2 O Zion, bearer of good news,
get yourself up onto a high mountain;
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news,
lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10#Isa 62:11; Rev 22:12 See, the Lord God will come with a strong hand,
and His arm shall rule for Him;
see, His reward is with Him,
and His recompense before Him.
11#Eze 34:23; Mic 5:4 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12#Pr 30:4; Heb 1:10–12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
and meted out heaven with the span,
and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales,
and the hills in a balance?
13#Ro 11:34; 1Co 2:16 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or as His counselor has taught Him?
14#Col 2:3; Job 21:22 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
and taught Him in the path of justice,
and taught Him knowledge,
and showed to Him the way of understanding?
15#Jer 10:10 Certainly the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
and are counted as the small dust of the balance;
He takes up the coastlands as a very little thing.
16#Mic 6:6–7 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor the beasts sufficient as a burnt offering.
17#Ps 62:9 All nations before Him are as nothing,
and they are counted by Him as less than nothing
and meaningless.
18#Isa 46:5; Ac 17:29; Ex 8:10 To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19#Ps 115:4–8; Hab 2:18–19 The workman melts a graven image,
and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold,
and casts silver chains.
20#1Sa 5:3–4; Isa 41:7 He who is too impoverished for such an offering
chooses a tree that will not rot;
he seeks for himself a skillful workman
to prepare a graven image that shall not totter.
21#Ac 14:17 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22#Nu 13:33; Ps 104:2 It is He who sits upon the circle of the earth,
and the inhabitants are as grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens as a curtain,
and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in.
23#Job 12:21; Ps 107:40 He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24#Isa 41:16; 17:13 Scarcely shall they be planted;
scarcely shall they be sown;
scarcely shall their tree take root in the earth,
when He will also blow on them,
and they will wither,
and the whirlwind will take them away as stubble.
25#Isa 40:18 To whom then will you liken Me,
that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.
26#Ps 89:11–13; Isa 48:13 Lift up your eyes on high,
and see who has created these things,
who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power;
not one of them is missing.
27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my justice escapes the notice of my God”?
28#Ps 147:5; Ge 21:33; Isa 57:15 Have you not known?
Have you not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not faint, nor is He weary?
His understanding is inscrutable.
29#Isa 41:10 He gives power to the faint,
and to those who have no might He increases strength.
30#Isa 9:17 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall,
31#2Co 4:16; Ps 103:5; Ex 19:4 but those who wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint.
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Isaiah 40: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Isaiah 40
40
Prepare the Way for the Lord
(Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–20; John 1:19–28)
1“Comfort, comfort My people,”
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her forced labor has been completed;
her iniquity has been pardoned.
For she has received from the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.”
3A voice of one calling:
“Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness;#40:3 Or A voice of one calling in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.#40:3 LXX make straight the paths of our God; cited in Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23
4Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill made low;
the uneven ground will become smooth,
and the rugged land a plain.#40:4 LXX Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. All the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains. Cited in Luke 3:5
5And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all humanity together will see it.#40:5 Literally and all flesh together will see it. Cited in Luke 3:6
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Enduring Word
(1 Peter 1:22–25)
6A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I asked, “What should I cry out?”
“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
7The grass withers and the flowers fall
when the breath of the Lord blows on them;
indeed, the people are grass.
8The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”#40:8 Cited in 1 Peter 1:24–25
Here Is Your God!
(Romans 11:33–36)
9Go up on a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news.
Raise your voice loudly,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news.
Lift it up,#40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. O herald of good news to Jerusalem, lift it up,
do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and His arm establishes His rule.
His reward is with Him,
and His recompense accompanies Him.
11He tends His flock like a shepherd;
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them close to His heart.
He gently leads the nursing ewes.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on a scale
and the hills with a balance?
13Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,#40:13 Or mind of the Lord; see also LXX.
or informed Him as His counselor?#40:13 Cited in Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians 2:16
14Whom did He consult to enlighten Him,
and who taught Him the paths of justice?
Who imparted knowledge to Him
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered a speck of dust on the scales;
He lifts up the islands #40:15 Or coastlands like fine dust.
16Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel,
nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are as nothing before Him;
He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
18To whom will you liken God?
To what image will you compare Him?
19To an idol that a craftsman casts
and a metalworker overlays with gold
and fits with silver chains?
20To one bereft of an offering
who chooses wood that will not rot,
who seeks a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple?
21Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its dwellers are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23He brings the princes to nothing
and makes the rulers #40:23 Or judges of the earth meaningless.
24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown,
no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground,
than He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
25“To whom will you liken Me,
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high:
Who created all these?
He leads forth the starry host by number;
He calls each one by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and why do you assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?
28Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary;
His understanding is beyond searching out.
29He gives power to the faint
and increases the strength of the weak.
30Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall.
31But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength;
they will mount up with wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not faint.
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.