Isaiah 40
40
1“Comfort, yes comfort my people!” says your God. 2“Speak lovingly to the people of Jerusalem, telling them that their hard times are over, that their sins have been forgiven, and that the Lord has paid them twice over for their sins.”
3A voice is heard calling, “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make a straight highway for our God through the desert. 4Fill in all the valleys; level all the mountains and hills; smooth out the uneven ground; make the rough places flat. 5The Lord's glory will be revealed, and everyone will see it together. This is what the Lord has declared.”
6A voice is heard saying, “Shout it out.” I asked, “What shall I shout?” “All human beings are like grass, and all their trustworthiness is like the flowers of the field. 7The grass wilts and the flower fades when the Lord breathes on them. Yes, the people are grass! 8However, even though the grass wilts and the flower fades, the word of our God will endure forever.”
9Zion, bringer of good news, go up a high mountain. Jerusalem, bringer of good news, raise your voice and shout out loud. Don't be afraid to shout really loud! Tell the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10Look! The Lord God is coming with power! He will rule with a firm hand. Look! He's bringing his reward with him, coming to give his gift. 11He looks after his flock like a shepherd. He picks up the lambs in his arms and holds them close to his chest. He leads those that are nursing young.
12Who has measured the waters he holds in the palm of his hand? Who has marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has worked out the amount of dust of the earth? Who has weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance? 13Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or taught him what to do as his counselor? 14Who did the Lord go to for advice to help him understand? Who taught him right from wrong? Who gave him knowledge and showed him the way of wisdom?
15It's obvious that the nations are just a drop in a bucket. They're like dust on a set of scales. He can pick up islands as if they weigh next to nothing. 16All the wood in Lebanon for a fire and all its animals as a sacrifice wouldn't be enough to provide a burnt offering. 17To him all the nations are like nothing. He counts them as less than nothing—like they don't exist.
18Who do you think is like God? What image do you think he looks like? 19Is he a metal idol that a craftsman casts in a mold, and then a goldsmith overlays it with gold and makes silver chains for it? 20Those who are too poor to pay for that choose wood that won't rot, then they look for a skilled wood-carver to make an idol that won't fall over.
21Don't you know? Haven't you heard? Hasn't it been explained to you from the very beginning? Haven't you understood from the time the world was created?#40:21. “The world was created”: literally, “the foundations of the world.” 22God sits on his throne above the horizon of the earth; the people that live there are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreading them out like a tent to live in. 23He brings leaders down; he makes the rulers of the world like nothing. 24In fact they are hardly even planted, hardly even sown, hardly even taken root, when he blows on them and they wither, and the wind carries them away like straw.
25“Who are you going to compare me with? Who is equal to me?” asks the Holy One.
26Look at the heavens. Who created all this? He leads the stars like an army, and calls each one by name. Because he has great power and incredible strength, not a single one of them is missing.
27Why do you speak like this, Jacob, and why do you say, Israel, “The Lord doesn't see what's happening to me, and he's ignoring my rights!”
28Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He's never weak or tired; you can't find out all he knows. 29He gives strength to the weary and power to the powerless. 30Even young people grow weak and tired—they fall down when they're exhausted. 31But those who trust in the Lord will have their strength renewed. They will fly high with wings like eagles. They will run and not be tired. They will walk and not be worn out.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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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