Isaiah 40
40
Comfort for God’s people
1Comfort, comfort my people!
says your God.
2Speak compassionately to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her compulsory service has ended,
that her penalty has been paid,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins!
3A voice is crying out:
“Clear the LORD’s way in the desert!
Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
4Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill will be flattened.
Uneven ground will become level,
and rough terrain a valley plain.
5The LORD’s glory will appear,
and all humanity will see it together;
the LORD’s mouth has commanded it.”
6A voice was saying:
“Call out!”
And another#40.6 MT; DSS (1QIsaa), LXX I said,
“What should I call out?”
All flesh is grass;
all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
7The grass dries up
and the flower withers
when the LORD’s breath blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
8The grass dries up;
the flower withers,
but our God’s word will exist forever.
9Go up on a high mountain,
messenger Zion!
Raise your voice and shout,
messenger Jerusalem!
Raise it; don’t be afraid;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10Here is the LORD God,
coming with strength,
with a triumphant arm,
bringing his reward with him
and his payment before him.
11Like a shepherd, God will tend the flock;
he will gather lambs in his arms
and lift them onto his lap.
He will gently guide the nursing ewes.
The incomparable God
12Who has measured the waters in the palm of a hand
or gauged the heavens with a ruler
or scooped the earth’s dust up in a measuring cup
or weighed the mountains on a scale
and the hills in a balance?
13Who directed the LORD’s spirit
and acted as God’s advisor?
14Whom did he consult for enlightenment?
Who taught him the path of justice and knowledge
and explained to him the way of understanding?
15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket,
and valued as dust on a scale.
Look, God weighs the islands like fine dust.
16Lebanon doesn’t have enough fuel;
its animals aren’t enough for an entirely burned offering.
17All the nations are like nothing before God.
They are viewed as less than nothing and emptiness.
18So to whom will you equate God;
to what likeness will you compare him?
19An idol? A craftsman pours it,
a metalworker covers it with gold,
and fashions silver chains.
20The one who sets up an image chooses wood that won’t rot#40.20 Heb uncertain
and then seeks a skilled artisan
to set up an idol that won’t move.
21Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
Wasn’t it announced to you from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood since the earth was founded?
22God inhabits the earth’s horizon—
its inhabitants are like locusts—
stretches out the skies like a curtain
and spreads it out like a tent for dwelling.
23God makes dignitaries useless
and the earth’s judges into nothing.
24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely is their shoot rooted in the earth
when God breathes on them, and they dry up;
the windstorm carries them off like straw.
25So to whom will you compare me,
and who is my equal? says the holy one.
Power for the weary
26Look up at the sky and consider:
Who created these?
The one who brings out their attendants one by one,
summoning each of them by name.
Because of God’s great strength
and mighty power, not one is missing.
27Why do you say, Jacob,
and declare, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
my God ignores my predicament”?
28Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the creator of the ends of the earth.
He doesn’t grow tired or weary.
His understanding is beyond human reach,
29giving power to the tired
and reviving the exhausted.
30Youths will become tired and weary,
young men will certainly stumble;
31but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength;
they will fly up on wings like eagles;
they will run and not be tired;
they will walk and not be weary.
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Isaiah 40: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 40
40
1Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare#40.2 Or time of service is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
3 #
Mt 3.3; Mk 1.3; Lk 3.4; Jn 1.23. A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 #
Lk 3.5-6. Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 #
1 Pet 1.24-25. A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people is grass.
8The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
9 #
Is 52.7; Nah 1.15; Acts 10.36; Rom 10.15. Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;#40.9 Or O herald of good tidings to Zion
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,#40.9 Or O herald of good tidings to Jerusalem
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 #
Rev 22.7,12. Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 #
Rom 11.34; 1 Cor 2.16. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or as his counselor has instructed him?
14Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the isles like fine dust.
16Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
19The idol! a workman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold,
and casts for it silver chains.
20He who is impoverished#40.20 Heb uncertain chooses for an offering
wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skilful craftsman
to set up an image that will not move.
21Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told 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 like a tent to dwell in;
23who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hid from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
his understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America