Isaiah 40
Legacy Standard Bible
The Glory of Yahweh Will Be Revealed
40 “(A)Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “(B)Speak to the heart of Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her [a](C)warfare has been fulfilled,
That her [b](D)iniquity has been removed,
That she has received from the hand of Yahweh
(E)Double for all her sins.”
3 (F)A voice [c]is calling,
“(G)Prepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness;
Make smooth 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 rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 [d]Then the (H)glory of Yahweh will be revealed,
And (I)all flesh will see it together;
For the (J)mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Call out.”
Then [e]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
(K)All flesh is grass, and all its lovingkindness is like the flower of the field.
7 The (L)grass [f]withers, the flower fades,
[g]When the (M)breath of Yahweh blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass [h]withers, the flower fades,
But (N)the word of our God stands forever.
9 Get yourself up on a (O)high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of (P)good news,
Raise up your voice powerfully,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Raise it up, do not fear.
Say to the (Q)cities of Judah,
“(R)Behold your God!”
10 Behold, Lord Yahweh will come (S)with strength,
With His (T)arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His (U)reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will (V)shepherd His flock;
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
12 Who has (W)measured the [i]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And [j]encompassed the heavens by the [k]span,
And [l]calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
13 (X)Who has [m]encompassed the Spirit of Yahweh,
Or as His (Y)counselor has informed Him?
14 (Z)With whom did He take counsel and who (AA)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And made Him know the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the (AB)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are counted as a speck of (AC)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
Nor its (AD)beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 (AE)All the nations are as nothing before Him;
They are counted by Him as non-existent and utterly formless.
18 (AF)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
19 As for the (AG)graven images, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith (AH)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished to make such a contribution
Chooses a (AI)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a wise craftsman
To [n]prepare a graven image that (AJ)will not be shaken.
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 [o]inhabits above the [p](AM)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like (AN)grasshoppers;
It is He who (AO)stretches out the heavens like a (AP)curtain
And spreads them out like a (AQ)tent to inhabit.
23 It is He who reduces (AR)rulers to nothing,
Who (AS)makes the [q]judges of the earth utterly formless.
24 [r]Scarcely have they been planted;
[s]Scarcely have they been sown;
[t]Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they [u]wither,
And the (AT)storm carries them away like stubble.
25 “(AU)To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
26 (AV)Lift up your eyes on high
And see (AW)who has created these stars,
The (AX)One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the (AY)greatness of His vigor and the [v]strength of His power,
(AZ)Not one of them is missing.
27 (BA)Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is (BB)hidden from Yahweh,
And the (BC)justice due me passes by (BD)my God”?
28 (BE)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The (BF)Everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is (BG)unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the (BH)weary,
And to him who lacks vigor He (BI)increases might.
30 Though (BJ)youths grow weary and tired,
And choice (BK)young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who hope in Yahweh
Will (BL)gain new power;
They will [w](BM)mount up with [x]wings like eagles;
They will run and not get tired;
They will walk and not become weary.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:2 Or hard service
- Isaiah 40:2 Or penalty of iniquity has been accepted as paid off
- Isaiah 40:3 Or of one calling out
- Isaiah 40:5 Or In order that the
- Isaiah 40:6 Or I said
- Isaiah 40:7 Or dries up, cf. 42:15; Ps 90:5-6
- Isaiah 40:7 Or Because
- Isaiah 40:8 Or dries up, cf. 42:15; Ps 90:5-6
- Isaiah 40:12 DSS waters of the sea
- Isaiah 40:12 Or measured, marked off
- Isaiah 40:12 A span was approx. 9 in. or 23 cm
- Isaiah 40:12 Lit contained, comprehended
- Isaiah 40:13 Or measured, marked off
- Isaiah 40:20 Or set up
- Isaiah 40:22 Or is enthroned
- Isaiah 40:22 Or vault
- Isaiah 40:23 Or leaders
- Isaiah 40:24 Or Not even
- Isaiah 40:24 Or Not even
- Isaiah 40:24 Or Not even
- Isaiah 40:24 Or dry up, cf. 42:15; Ps 90:5-6
- Isaiah 40:26 As in DSS and ancient versions; M.T. strong
- Isaiah 40:31 Or sprout wings
- Isaiah 40:31 Or pinions
Isaiah 40
New Living Translation
Comfort for God’s People
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over
for all her sins.”
3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!
4 Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The Lord has spoken!”[a]
6 A voice said, “Shout!”
I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the Lord.
And so it is with people.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
9 O Zion, messenger of good news,
shout from the mountaintops!
Shout it louder, O Jerusalem.[b]
Shout, and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah,
“Your God is coming!”
10 Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
The Lord Has No Equal
12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?
13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?[c]
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
14 Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
or show him the path of justice?
15 No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand.
16 All the wood in Lebanon’s forests
and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.
17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth.
18 To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?
19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
20 Or if people are too poor for that,
they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
to carve an image that won’t fall down!
21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?
22 God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.
23 He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.
24 They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
27 O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
28 Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Footnotes
- 40:3-5 Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The Lord has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.
- 40:9 Or O messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout it louder to Jerusalem.
- 40:13 Greek version reads Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Compare Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
