Isaiah 40
40
God’s People Comforted
1“Comfort, comfort My people,” # Is 12:1; 49:13; 51:3,12; 52:9; 61:2; 66:13; Jr 31:10-14; Zph 3:14-17; 2Co 1:4
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to # Lit Speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of forced labor is over,
her iniquity # Is 13:11 has been pardoned, # Lv 26:41,43; Is 27:9
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.” # Ex 22:7-8; Jr 16:18; Zch 9:12; Rv 18:6
3A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; # Mal 3:1; 4:5-6
make a straight highway for our God in the desert. # Mt 3:3; Mk 1:3; Lk 3:4; Jn 1:23
4Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain. # Lk 3:5-6
5And the glory of the Lord will appear, # Is 35:2
and all humanity # Lit flesh together will see it, # Is 52:10; Jl 2:28
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. # Is 1:20; 34:16; 58:14
6A voice was saying, “Cry out! ”
Another # DSS, LXX, Vg read I said, “What should I cry out? ”
“All humanity is grass, # 1Pt 1:24-25
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field. # Jb 14:2; Ps 102:11; 103:15
7The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath # Or wind, or Spirit of the Lord blows on them; # Lit it
indeed, the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flowers fade, # Jms 1:11
but the word of our God remains forever.” # Is 55:11; 59:21; Mk 13:31; Lk 21:33
9Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain. # Is 52:7
Jerusalem, herald of good news, # Is 61:1
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God! ” # Is 25:9; 35:2
10See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and His power establishes His rule. # Is 59:16-18
His reward is with Him, # Is 62:11; Rv 22:12
and His gifts accompany Him.
11He protects His flock like a shepherd; # Jr 31:10; Ezk 34:12-14,23,31; Mc 5:4; Jn 10:11,14-16
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them in the fold of His garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? # Is 48:13; Heb 1:10-12
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance
and the hills in the scales?
13Who has directed # Or measured, or comprehended the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave Him His counsel? # Rm 11:34; 1Co 2:16
14Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding # Jb 21:22; Col 2:3
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering. # Ps 50:9-11; Mc 6:6-7; Heb 10:5-9
17All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness. # Is 29:7
18Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to? # Ex 8:10; 15:11; 1Sm 2:2; Is 40:25; 46:5; Mc 7:18; Ac 17:29
19To an idol? — something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it? # Is 2:20; 30:22; 41:7; 44:10
20To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot? # Or who is too poor for such an offering, or who chooses mulberry wood as a votive gift ; Hb obscure
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over. # 1Sm 5:3; Is 44:9-15; 46:6-7; Jr 10:3-5
21Do you not know? # Ps 19:1; 50:6; Is 37:26; Ac 14:17; Rm 1:19-20
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth? # Is 48:13; 51:13
22God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. # Nm 13:33
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth # Jb 9:8; Is 37:16; 42:5; 44:24
and spreads them out like a tent to live in. # Jb 36:29; Ps 18:11; 19:4; 104:2
23He reduces princes to nothing # Jb 12:21; Ps 107:40; Is 34:12
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. # Ps 1:4; Is 41:2,16; 64:6; Ezk 17:10,24; Nah 1:4
25“Who will you compare Me to, # Is 46:5; Ac 17:29
or who is My equal? ” asks the Holy One.
26Look up # Lit Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created # Is 42:5; 48:12-13 these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name. # Ps 147:4-5
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”? # Is 7:13; 49:4,14
28Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God, # Gn 21:33; Ps 90:2
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never grows faint or weary;
there is no limit to His understanding. # Ps 147:5; Rm 11:33
29He gives strength to the weary
and strengthens the powerless.
30Youths may faint and grow weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength; # Jb 17:9; Ps 103:5; 2Co 4:8-10,16; 12:9
they will soar on wings like eagles; # Ex 19:4; Dt 32:11; Lk 18:1; 2Co 4:1,16; Gl 6:9; Heb 12:3
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
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Isaiah 40: HCSB
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 40
40
XL
1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God:
2Speak ye things pleasing to the heart of Jerusalem, and declare unto her,
That her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity hath been expiated;
That she hath received at the hand of Jehovah
Double for all her sins.
3A voice crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of Jehovah,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and bill shall be made low,
And the crooked shall become Straight;
And the rough places a smooth plain:
5And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall See together
That the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
6A voice saith, Proclaim!
And he said, What shall I proclaim?
All flesh is grass,
And all his goodliness like the flower of the field:
7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
When the spirit of Jehovah bloweth upon it:
Surely the people is grass.
8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;
But the word of God shall stand for ever.
9Get thee up upon a high mountain, O Zion, that bringest good tidings:
Lift up thy voice with strength, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings;
Lift it up; be not afraid:
Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10Behold, the Lord. Jehovah shall come with might,
And his arm shall rule for him:
Behold, his reward is with him;
And the recompense of his word is before him.
11He shall feed his flock, like a shepherd;
In his arm shall he gather up the lambs,
And in his bosom carry them;
The nursing ewes shall he gently lead.
12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
And hath meted out the heavens with a span;
And hath comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
And hath weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13Who hath searched out the Spirit of Jehovah,
Or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14With whom took he counsel, that he should instruct him;
And teach him in the path of judgment;
And teach him knowledge,
And shew to him the way of understanding?
15Behold, the nations are as a drop from the bucket;
And as the small dust on a balance shall they be accounted:
Behold, the isles are as an atom which flitteth away.
16And Lebanon is not sufficient to supply fire,
Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17All the nations are before him, as though they were nought;
They are accounted by Him as less than nought and vanity.
18To whom then will ye liken God?
Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19The workman casteth an image,
And the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold;
And forgeth for it chains of silver.
20He that is too poor to make a costly oblation chooseth him a piece of wood that will not rot;
He seeketh unto him a skilful workman,
To erect an image which shall not be moved.
21Have ye not known? have ye not heard?
Hath it not been told you from the beginning?
Have ye not understood it from the foundations of the earth?
22He it is who sitteth upon the circle of the earth,
And the inhabitants thereof are as locusts:
Who stretcheth out the heavens, like a canopy;
And spreadeth them out, as a tent to dwell in:
23Who reduceth princes to nothing;
Who maketh the rulers of the earth as vanity.
24Yea, they shall not scarcely be planted; yea, they shall not scarcely be sown;
Yea, their trunk shall not scarcely take root in the earth;
And yet should He but blow upon them, they wither;
And the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
25To whom then will ye liken me?
And to whom shall I be equalled? saith the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high,
And behold who hath created these things;
Who bringeth out their hosts by number,
Who calleth them all by name:
Through multitude of strength, and might of power,
Not one of them is missing.
27Why sayest thou, O Jacob,
And speakest, O Israel:
My way is hidden from Jehovah,
And my cause passeth unregarded by my God?
28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,
That the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
Fainteth not, neither is weary?
There is no searching out of his understanding.
29He giveth power to the faint,
And to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall;
31But they that wait upon Jehovah shall gather new strength;
They shall mount up with wings as eagles;
They shall run, and not be weary,
They shall walk, and not faint.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.