Isaiah 40:1-8

English Standard Version

Comfort for God's People

40 ^(A)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
²^(B)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that ^(C)her warfare^[a] is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

³^(D)A voice cries:^[b]
^(E)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    ^(F)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴^(G)Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
⁵^(H)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    ^(I)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

⁶A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said,^[c] “What shall I cry?”
^(J)All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty^[d] is like the flower of the field.
⁷The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
⁸^(K)The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying
Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy

Isaiah 40:9-11

English Standard Version

The Greatness of God

⁹Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, ^(A)herald of good news;^[a]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;^[b]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
¹⁰^(B)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
^(C)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
¹¹^(D)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    ^(E)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
^(F)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.