Isaiah 40-41

New American Standard Bible

^3 (F)The voice of one calling out,
“^(G)Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make ^[d]straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the uneven ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
^5 [e]Then the ^(H)glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And ^(I)all flesh will see it together;
For the ^(J)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶ A voice says, “Call out.”
Then ^[f]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
^(K)All flesh is grass, and all its ^[g]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The ^(L)grass withers, the flower fades,
^[h]When the ^(M)breath of the Lord blows upon it;
The people are indeed grass!
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
But ^(N)the word of our God stands forever.

⁹ Go up on a ^(O)high mountain,
Zion, messenger of ^(P)good news,
Raise your voice forcefully,
Jerusalem, messenger of good news;
Raise it up, do not fear.
Say to the ^(Q)cities of Judah,
“^(R)Here is your God!”
¹⁰ Behold, the Lord ^[i]God will come ^(S)with might,
With His ^(T)arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His ^(U)compensation is with Him,
And His reward before Him.
¹¹ Like a shepherd He will ^(V)tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in the fold of His robe;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹² Who has ^(W)measured the ^[j]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And measured the heavens with a ^[k]span,
And ^[l]calculated the dust of the earth with a measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
^13 (X)Who has ^[m]directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His ^(Y)counselor has informed Him?
^14 (Z)With whom did He consult and who ^(AA)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge,
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
¹⁵ Behold, the ^(AB)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of ^(AC)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the ^[n]islands like fine dust.
¹⁶ Even Lebanon is not enough to ^[o]burn,
Nor its ^(AD)animals enough for a burnt offering.
^17 (AE)All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and ^[p]meaningless.

^18 (AF)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
¹⁹ As for the ^[q](AG)idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith ^(AH)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
²⁰ He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a ^(AI)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To ^[r]prepare ^[s]an idol that ^(AJ)will not totter.

^21 (AK)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood ^(AL)from the foundations of the earth?
²² It is He who ^[t]sits above the ^[u](AM)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like ^(AN)grasshoppers,
Who ^(AO)stretches out the heavens like a ^(AP)curtain
And spreads them out like a ^(AQ)tent to live in.
²³ It is He who reduces ^(AR)rulers to nothing,
Who ^(AS)makes the judges of the earth ^[v]meaningless.
^24 [w]Scarcely have they been planted,
^[x]Scarcely have they been sown,
^[y]Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the ^(AT)storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵ “^(AU)To whom then will you compare Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
^26 (AV)Raise your eyes on high
And see ^(AW)who has created these stars,
The ^(AX)One who brings out their ^[z]multitude by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the ^(AY)greatness of His might and the ^[aa]strength of His power,
^(AZ)Not one of them is missing.

^27 (BA)Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel,
“My way is ^(BB)hidden from the Lord,
And the ^(BC)justice due me ^[ab]escapes the notice of ^(BD)my God”?
^28 (BE)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The ^(BF)Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is ^(BG)unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives strength to the ^(BH)weary,
And to the one who lacks might He ^(BI)increases power.
³⁰ Though ^(BJ)youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous ^(BK)young men stumble badly,
³¹ Yet those who ^[ac]wait for the Lord
Will ^(BL)gain new strength;
They will ^[ad](BM)mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

⁵ The ^(CA)coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ^(CB)ends of the earth tremble;
They have approached and have come.
⁶ Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
⁷ So the ^(CC)craftsman encourages the ^(CD)smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
^(CE)So that it will not totter.
⁸ “But you, Israel, ^(CF)My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of ^(CG)Abraham My ^(CH)friend,
⁹ You whom I have ^[ag](CI)taken from the ends of the earth
And called from its ^(CJ)remotest parts,
And said to you, ‘You are ^(CK)My servant,
I have ^(CL)chosen you and have not rejected you.
¹⁰ Do not ^(CM)fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, ^(CN)I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous ^(CO)right hand.’
¹¹ Behold, ^(CP)all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
^(CQ)Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
^12 (CR)You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
¹³ For I am the Lord your God ^(CS)who takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘^(CT)Do not fear, I will help you.’
¹⁴ Do not fear, you ^(CU)worm Jacob, you people of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and ^(CV)your ^[ah]Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵ Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
^(CW)You will thresh the ^(CX)mountains and pulverize them,
And make the hills like chaff.
¹⁶ You will ^(CY)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will ^(CZ)rejoice in the Lord,
You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ “The poor and needy are seeking ^(DA)water, but there is none,
And their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, ^(DB)will answer them Myself;
As the God of Israel I ^(DC)will not abandon them.
¹⁸ I will open ^(DD)rivers on the bare heights,
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make ^(DE)the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land fountains of water.
¹⁹ I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the ^(DF)myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will place the ^(DG)juniper in the desert,
Together with the elm tree and the cypress,
²⁰ So that ^(DH)they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the ^(DI)hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹ “^[ai]Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your evidence,”
The ^(DJ)King of Jacob says.
^22 (DK)Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the ^(DL)former events, declare what they were,
So that we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
^23 (DM)Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
So that we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, ^(DN)do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.
²⁴ Behold, ^(DO)you are less than nothing,
And ^(DP)your work is less than nothing!
He who chooses you is an ^(DQ)abomination.

²⁵ “I have put ^(DR)one from the north into motion, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon ^[aj](DS)mortar,
As the potter treads on clay.”
²⁶ Who has ^(DT)declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
There was ^(DU)no one at all who declared,
There was no one at all who proclaimed,
There was no one at all who heard your words.
²⁷ “^(DV)Previously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a ^(DW)messenger of good news.’
²⁸ But ^(DX)when I look, there is no one,
And there is no ^(DY)counselor ^[ak]among them
Who, if I ask, can ^(DZ)give an answer.
²⁹ Behold, all of them are ^[al]false;
Their ^(EA)works are ^(EB)nothing,
Their cast metal images are ^(EC)wind and emptiness.