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
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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