Isaiah 40:1-3

Expanded Bible

“Comfort, comfort my people.
² Speak kindly to ·the people of Jerusalem [^LJerusalem]
    and tell them
that their time of ·service [or warfare] is finished,
    that ·they have paid for their sins [or her sins are pardoned],
that ·the Lord has punished Jerusalem [^Lshe has received from the Lord]
    ·twice [double] for every sin they did.”
³ This is the voice of one who calls out:
“Prepare in the ·desert [wilderness]
    the way for the Lord.
Make a straight road in the ·dry lands [arid plain]
    for our God.