Yeshayah (Isaiah) 40
40
1“Comfort, comfort My people!” says your Elohim.
2“Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, and cry out to her, that her hard service is completed, that her crookedness is pardoned, that she has received from the hand of יהוה double for all her sins.”
3The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of יהוה; make straight in the desert a highway for our Elohim.
4“Let every valley be raised, and every mountain and hill made low. And the steep ground shall become level, and the rough places smooth.
5“And the esteem of יהוה shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see it. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken.”
6The voice said, “Cry out!” and he said, “What do I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loving-commitment is like the flower of the field.
7“Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, when the Spirit of יהוה has blown on it! Truly the people is grass!
8“Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, but the Word of our Elohim stands forever.”#See 1Pe. 1:24, 25
9You who bring good news to Tsiyon, get up into the high mountain. You who bring good news to Yerushalayim, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid. Say to the cities of Yehuḏah, “See your Elohim!”
10See, the Master יהוה comes with strength, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.
11He feeds His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm, and carries them in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured the heavens with a span, and contained the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
13Who has meted out the Spirit of יהוה, or as His counsellor taught Him?
14With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of right-ruling? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?
15See, nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are reckoned as dust on the balance. See, He lifts up isles as fine dust.
16And Leḇanon is not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for an ascending offering.
17All nations before Him are as a non-entity, and they are reckoned by Him as less than a speck, and emptiness.
18And to whom would you liken Ěl? And what likeness would you compare to Him?
19The workman moulds a graven image, and the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains.
20He who is too poor for such an offering chooses a tree that does not rot. He seeks for himself a skilled craftsman to prepare a carved image that does not totter.
21Did you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not 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 naught, shall make the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24Hardly have they been planted, hardly have they been sown, hardly has their stock taken root in the earth, when He shall blow on them and they wither, and a whirlwind take them away like stubble.
25“And to whom then do you liken Me, or to whom am I compared?” says the Set-apart One.
26Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has created these? He is bringing out their host by number, He calls them all by name, by the greatness of ability and potent of power, a man is not lacking.
27Why do you say, O Ya‛aqoḇ, and speak, O Yisra’ĕl, “My way is hidden from יהוה, and my rights are overlooked by my Elohim”?
28Did you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting Elohim, יהוה, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might He increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men stumble and fall,
31but those who wait on יהוה renew their strength, they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint.
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Yeshayah (Isaiah) 40: TS2009
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Isaiah 40
40
Comfort for God’s People
1“Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over
for all her sins.”
3Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!
4Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The Lord has spoken!”#40:3-5 Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The Lord has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.
6A voice said, “Shout!”
I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.
7The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the Lord.
And so it is with people.
8The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
9O Zion, messenger of good news,
shout from the mountaintops!
Shout it louder, O Jerusalem.#40:9 Or O messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout it louder to Jerusalem.
Shout, and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah,
“Your God is coming!”
10Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
The Lord Has No Equal
12Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?
13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?#40:13 Greek version reads Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Compare Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16.
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
14Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
or show him the path of justice?
15No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand.
16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests
and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.
17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth.
18To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?
19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
20Or if people are too poor for that,
they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
to carve an image that won’t fall down!
21Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
22God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
23He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.
24They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.
25“To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
27O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
28Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
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