Isaiah 40
40
1 COMFORT, COMFORT My people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry to her that her time of service and her warfare are ended, that [her punishment is accepted and] her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received [punishment] from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God! [Mark 1:3.]
4 Every valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked and uneven shall be made straight and level, and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory (majesty and splendor) of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. [Luke 3:5, 6.]
6 A voice says, Cry [prophesy]! And I said, What shall I cry? [The voice answered, Proclaim:] All flesh is as frail as grass, and all that makes it attractive [its kindness, its goodwill, its mercy from God, its glory and comeliness, however good] is transitory, like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely [all] the people are like grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. [James 1:10, 11; I Pet. 1:24, 25.]
9 O you who bring good tidings to Zion, get up to the high mountain. O you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! [Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:15.]
10 Behold, the Lord God will come with might, and His arm will rule for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. [Rev. 22:7, 12.]
11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd: He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom and will gently lead those that have their young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, marked off the heavens with a [nine-inch] span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? [Rom. 11:34.]
14 With whom did He take counsel, that instruction might be given Him? Who taught Him the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are counted as small dust on the scales; behold, He takes up the isles like a very little thing.
16 And all Lebanon's [forests] cannot supply sufficient fuel, nor all its wild beasts furnish victims enough to burn sacrifices [worthy of the Lord].
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and emptiness (waste, futility, and worthlessness).
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or with what likeness will you compare Him? [Acts 17:29.]
19 The graven image! A workman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it.
20 He who is so impoverished that he has no offering or oblation or rich gift to give [to his god is constrained to make a wooden offering, an idol; so he] chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to carve and set up an image that will not totter or deteriorate.
21 [You worshipers of idols, you are without excuse.] Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? [These things ought to convince you of God's omnipotence and of the folly of bowing to idols.] Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? [Rom. 1:20, 21.]
22 It is God Who sits above the circle (the horizon) of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like [gauze] curtains and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
23 Who brings dignitaries to nothing, Who makes the judges and rulers of the earth as chaos (emptiness, falsity, and futility).
24 Yes, these men are scarcely planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely does their stock take root in the earth, when [the Lord] blows upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind or tempest takes them away like stubble.
25 To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see! Who has created these? He Who brings out their host by number and calls them all by name; through the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing or lacks anything.
27 Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and my lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding.
29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. [II Cor. 12:9.]
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. [Heb. 12:1-3.]
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Isaiah 40: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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#40:2 Lit Speak to the heart of Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of hard service 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#40:5 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 said,#40:6 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#40:7 Or wind, or Spirit of the Lord blows on them;#40:7 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 wages are with him,#Is 62:11; Rv 22:12
and his reward accompanies 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 on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
13Who has directed#40:13 Or measured, or comprehended the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave him counsel?#Rm 11:34; 1Co 2:16
14Who did he consult?
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 on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16Lebanon’s cedars are 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 empty nothingness.#Is 29:7
18With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?#Ex 8:10; 15:11; 1Sm 2:2; Is 40:25; 46:5; Mc 7:18; Ac 17:29
19An idol? — something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?#Is 2:20; 30:22; 41:7; 44:10
20A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.#40:20 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 like a wasteland.
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“To whom will you compare me,#Is 46:5; Ac 17:29
or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26Look up and see!
Who created#Is 42:5; 48:12–13 these?
He brings out the stars 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?
The Lord is the everlasting God,#Gn 21:33; Ps 90:2
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.#Ps 147:5; Rm 11:33
29He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30Youths may become faint and 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 become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
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