Isaiah 40:1-11

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.

The Greatness of God

⁹Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, ^(L)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^(M)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
^(N)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
¹¹^(O)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    ^(P)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
^(Q)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

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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 66:10-14

English Standard Version

¹⁰^(A)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her;
¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious abundance.”^[a]

¹²For thus says the Lord:
^(B)“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and ^(C)you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
    and bounced upon her knees.
¹³As one whom his mother comforts,
    so ^(D)I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
¹⁴You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
    ^(E)your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and ^(F)the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.