Isaias (Isaiah) 40
40
1BE comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God.
2Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven. She hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
3The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain.
5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed: and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.
6The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field.
7The grass is withered, and the dower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass.
8The grass is withered and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever.
9Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion. Lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up: fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God.
10Behold, the Lord God shall come with strength: and his arm shall rule. Behold, his reward is with him and his work is before him.
11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather together the lambs with his arm and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young.
12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and weighed the heavens with his palm? Who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
13Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor, and hath taught him?
14With whom hath he consulted: and who hath instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding?
15Behold, the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold, the islands are as a little dust.
16And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing and vanity.
18To whom then have you likened God? Or what image will you make for him?
19Hath the workman cast a graven statue? Or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
20He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved.
21Do you not know? Hath it not been heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?
22It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.
23He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity.
24And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth. Suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered: and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25And to whom have ye likened me or made me equal, saith the Holy One?
26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things, who bringeth out their host by number and calleth them all by their names. By the greatness of his might and strength and power, not one of them was missing.
27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: My way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth. He shall not faint nor labour, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom.
29It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth force and might to them that are not.
30Youths shall faint and labour: and young men shall fall by infirmity.
31But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
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Isaias (Isaiah) 40: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Isaiah 40
40
Encourage God's People
1Our God has said:
“Encourage my people!
Give them comfort.
2Speak kindly to Jerusalem
and announce:
Your slavery is past;
your punishment is over.
I, the Lord, made you pay
double for your sins.”
3 #
Si 48.10; Ba 5.7; Mt 3.3; Mk 1.3; Jn 1.23. #Lk 3.4-6. Someone is shouting:
“Clear a path in the desert!
Make a straight road
for the Lord our God.
4Fill in the valleys;
flatten every hill
and mountain.
Level the rough
and rugged ground.
5Then the glory of the Lord
will appear for all to see.
The Lord has promised this!”
6 #
Jas 1.10,11; 1 P 1.24,25. Someone told me to shout,
and I asked,
“What should I shout?”
We humans are merely grass,
and we last no longer
than wild flowers.
7At the Lord's command,
flowers and grass disappear,
and so do we.
8Flowers and grass fade away,
but what our God has said
will never change.
Your God Is Here!
9There is good news
for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you can#40.9 There … can: Or “City of Jerusalem, you have good news. Shout it as loud as you can.”
from the highest mountain.
Don't be afraid to shout
to the towns of Judah:
“Your God is here!”
10 #
Is 62.11; Rev 22.12. Look! The powerful Lord God
is coming to rule
with his mighty arm.
He brings with him
what he has taken in war,
and he rewards his people.
11 #
Ez 34.15; Jn 10.11. The Lord cares for his nation,
just as shepherds care
for their flocks.
He carries the lambs
in his arms,
while gently leading
the mother sheep.
Who Compares with God?
12Did any of you measure
the ocean by yourself
or stretch out the sky
with your own hands?
Did you put the soil
of the earth in a bucket
or weigh the hills and mountains
on balance scales?
13 #
Ro 11.34; 1 Co 2.16. Has anyone told the Lord#40.13 the Lord: Or “the Lord's Spirit.”
what he must do
or given him advice?
14Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
and understanding?
15 #
Ws 11.22; Si 10.16,17. To the Lord, all nations
are merely a drop in a bucket
or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
are but a handful of sand.
16The cattle on the mountains
of Lebanon
would not be enough to offer
as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
be enough for the fire.
17God thinks of the nations
as far less than nothing.
18 #
Ac 17.29. Who compares with God?
Is anything like him?
19Is an idol at all like God?
It is made of bronze
with a thin layer of gold,
and decorated with silver.
20 #
Ws 13.11-19; Let Jer 8-40. Or special wood may be chosen#40.20 Or … chosen: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Two kinds of idols seem to be described: bronze idols covered with gold (verse 19) and wooden idols (verse 20).
because it doesn't rot—
then skilled hands
take care to make an idol
that won't fall on its face.
God Rules the Whole Earth
21Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Hasn't it been clear
since the time of creation?#40.21 Hasn't … creation: Or “Isn't it clear that God created the world?”
22God is the one who rules
the whole earth,
and we that live here
are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.
23God brings down rulers
and turns them into nothing.
24They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt and are carried off
like straw in a storm.
25The holy God asks,
“Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”
26 #
Ba 3.34,35. Look at the evening sky!
Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
Who leads them like an army?
The Lord is so powerful
that none of the stars
are ever missing.
The Lord Gives Strength
27You people of Israel say,
“God pays no attention to us!
He doesn't care if we
are treated unjustly.”
But how can you say that?
28Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.
29The Lord gives strength
to those who are weary.
30Even young people get tired,
then stumble and fall.
31But those who trust the Lord
will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
without getting tired.
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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.