Isaiah 40
40
Chapter 40
God's promises to his people
1Your God says, ‘Comfort my people.
Yes, comfort them.
2Speak kindly to the people in Jerusalem.
Tell them that their time of trouble has now finished.
Their punishment has been enough.
The Lord has made them pay for their sins.
He has made them pay twice.’
3Somebody's voice is shouting,
‘Prepare a way in the wilderness for the Lord.
Make a straight road in the desert for our God.
4Raise up every valley,
and bring down every mountain and hill.
The rough ground and the ground that has rocks
will become flat.
5Then the great glory of the Lord will appear!
All people will see it at the same time.
The Lord himself has promised this.’
6A voice is saying, ‘Shout!’
But I say, ‘What should I shout?’
‘Shout that all people are like grass.
Their promises are like the flowers in a field.
7Grass quickly dies,
and flowers fall to the ground.
The Lord causes this to happen,
when he sends a wind to blow on them.
It is true. People are like grass.
8Grass quickly dies,
and flowers fall to the ground.
But God's promise will be true for ever.’
9Zion, you have good news to tell to people!
So go up onto a high mountain.
Yes, Jerusalem, shout the good news!
Shout aloud, and do not be afraid.
Say to the towns in Judah, ‘Here is your God!’
10Look! The Almighty Lord is coming with power.
He will use his great strength to rule the people.
Look again! He is bringing his gifts with him.
He brings the prize that he has won in battle.
11He takes care of his people,
like a shepherd who takes care of his sheep. #40:11 A shepherd is a picture of somebody who takes care of his people. God often thinks about his people as sheep who need a shepherd.
He picks up the young lambs
and he carries them near to his heart.
He carefully leads the mother sheep that have lambs.
12Nobody has done what God has done!
He measured all the water of the seas in one hand.
He used his hand to measure the whole sky.
He carefully weighed the soil of the earth.
He carefully weighed the mountains in his scales,
and the hills too.
13Nobody understands the mind of the Lord.
Nobody can be his advisor,
to tell him what he should do.
14He does not ask anyone to be his guide.
Nobody can teach him the proper way to do things.
Nobody can give him knowledge.
Nobody can teach him how to understand things.
15The Lord looks at the nations
as if they are a little bit of water in a bucket.
They are like dust on his scales.
He weighs the islands as he would weigh dust.
16All the trees from Lebanon's forests are not enough
to make a fire for his altar.
All its animals are not enough to offer to him
as burnt offerings.
17All the nations in the world are not important to the Lord.
He sees them as empty and useless.
18You cannot find anyone else who is like God.
There is no image that you can make to be like him.
19A worker may use special skill to make an idol.
Another worker may cover it with gold.
He may use silver chains to make it beautiful.
20A poor person may choose special wood for his idol.
He chooses wood that will not quickly become spoiled.
Then he finds a worker to make an idol for him.
He makes it so that it will not fall over!
21You must surely know what is true!
You must have heard about it.
Somebody must have told you these things
from the beginning.
You should have understood it all
since the time that God made the earth.
22God sits high above on his throne
where the earth and the sky meet.
The people on the earth seem like grasshoppers to him.
He hangs out the sky like a curtain.
He makes it like a tent for him to live in.
23He takes away the power of kings.
He causes the rulers of the world to be useless.
24They are like plants that soon disappear.
Somebody plants them in the ground.
But while their roots are still growing into the soil,
God blows on them and they become dry.
Then the wind carries them away like straw.
25The Holy God says,
‘You cannot find anyone who is like me.
Nobody is the same as me.’
26Look up at the sky!
Think about the one who made all the stars.
God is the one who brought together that great army!
He knows how many they are
and he knows each of their names!
When he calls them, each one is there,
because he is so strong and powerful.
27You Israelites, descendants of Jacob, say,
‘The Lord does not know about our troubles.
He does not bring justice to us.’
Why do you say that?
28You must surely know what is true!
You must have heard about it.
The Lord is the God who lives for ever.
He made the whole earth, near and far.
He never becomes tired or weak.
He knows and he understands everything.
29He makes tired people strong again.
When people have become weak,
he gives them more strength.
30Even young people become tired and weak.
Even strong young men may slip and fall down.
31But people who wait for the Lord to help them
will receive new strength.
They will rise up high,
as if they have the wings of eagles.
They will run and they will not become tired.
They will walk and they will not become weak.
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MissionAssist 2018
Isaiah 40
40
Comfort for God’s People
1“Comfort; comfort my people,” says your God.
2“Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,
that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,
that she has received#Literally “taken” from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.”
3A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh!
Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!
4Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill shall become low,
And the rough ground shall be like a plain,
and the rugged ground like a valley-plain.
5And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,
and all humankind#Literally “flesh” together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
6A voice is saying, “Call!”
And he said, “What shall I call?”
All humankind#Literally “flesh” are grass,
and all his loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
7Grass withers; the flower withers
when the breath of Yahweh blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
8Grass withers; the flower withers,
but#Or “and” the word of our God will stand forever.
9Get yourself#Literally “Go for you” up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news!
Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news!
Lift it up; you must not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with strength,#Literally “strong”
and his arm rules for him.
Look! His reward is with him,
and his recompense in his presence.#Literally “before his face”
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arm,
and he will carry them in his bosom;
he will lead those who nurse.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
comprehended the dust of the earth in a third of a measure
and weighed out the mountains in the scales,#Hebrew “scale” and the hills in a balance?
13Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh
or informed him as his counselor#Literally “the man of his counsel”?
14With whom has he consulted, that#Or “and” he enlightened him#Or “made him understand”
and taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and made the way of understanding known to him?
15Look! The nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and they are counted like dust of the balances!
Look! He weighs the islands like a thin covering.
16And Lebanon is not enough to light a fire,
and its animals#Hebrew “animal” not enough for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are like nothing before him;
they are counted by him as#Or “from” nothing and emptiness.
18And to whom will you liken God?
And to what likeness will you compare him?
19A craftsman pours out the idol,
and a goldsmith#Literally “refiner” overlays it with gold,
and he smelts chains of silver.
20The one who is too impoverished for a gift chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to set up an image that will not be knocked over.
21Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?#Literally “head”
Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?
22He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
the one who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to live in,
23the one who brings#Or “gives” princes to nothing;
he makes rulers of the earth like nothing.
24Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown;
indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth
when#Or “also” he blows on them and they wither,
and the tempest carries them like stubble.
25“And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?” says the holy one.
26Lift your eyes up on high, and see! Who created these?
The one who brings out their host by number.
He calls all them by name.
Because he is great of power
and mighty of power, no man is missing.
27Why#Literally “To what” do you say, Jacob,
and you speak, Israel,
“My way is hidden from Yahweh,
and my judgment is passed over by my God?”
28Have you not known,
or have you not heard?
Yahweh is the God of eternity,
the creator of the ends of the earth!
He is not faint, and he does not grow weary!
There is no searching his understanding.
29He gives power to the weary,
and he increases power for the powerless.#Literally “not power”
30Even#Or “And” young people will be faint and grow weary,
and the young will stumble, exhausted.
31But#Or “And” those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength.
They shall go up with wings#Hebrew “wing” like eagles;
they shall run and not grow weary;
they shall walk and not be faint.
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