Isaiah 39:1-41:16
English Standard Version
Envoys from Babylon
39 (A)At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, (B)sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, (C)the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. (D)There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 (E)Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 (F)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, (G)“There will be peace and security in my days.”
Comfort for God's People
40 (H)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 (I)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that (J)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 (K)A voice cries:[b]
(L)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
(M)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 (N)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 (O)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
(P)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,[c] “What shall I cry?”
(Q)All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty[d] is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 (R)The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, (S)herald of good news;[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 (T)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
(U)behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 (V)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
(W)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
(X)he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 (Y)Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 (Z)Who has measured[g] the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
(AA)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 accounted (AB)as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up (AC)the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are (AD)its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 (AE)All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18 (AF)To whom then will you liken God,
(AG)or what likeness compare with him?
19 (AH)An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 (AI)He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood[h] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 (AJ)Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are (AK)like grasshoppers;
(AL)who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 (AM)who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
(AN)and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 (AO)To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
(AP)He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
(AQ)“My way is hidden from the Lord,
(AR)and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is (AS)the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
(AT)his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but (AU)they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings (AV)like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Fear Not, for I Am with You
41 (AW)Listen to me in silence, (AX)O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
2 (AY)Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every (AZ)step?[i]
(BA)He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
(BB)like driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 (BC)Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
(BD)I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5 (BE)The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 (BF)The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails (BG)so that it cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, (BH)my servant,
Jacob, (BI)whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, (BJ)my friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called (BK)from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are (BL)my servant,
(BM)I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with (BN)my righteous right hand.
11 (BO)Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
12 (BP)You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
(BQ)those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
14 Fear not, you (BR)worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your (BS)Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 (BT)Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh (BU)the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 (BV)you shall winnow them, and (BW)the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
(BX)And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
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 Or O herald of good news to Zion
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem
- Isaiah 40:13 Or has directed
- Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood
- Isaiah 41:2 Or whom righteousness calls to follow?
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Bible Gateway Recommends
