Isaiah 40
Christian Standard Bible
God’s People Comforted
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”(A)
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to[a] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of hard service is over,
her iniquity(B) has been pardoned,(C)
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.”(D)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(E)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(F)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(G)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(H)
and all humanity[b] together will see it,(I)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(J)
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another said,[c] “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,(K)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(L)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[d] of the Lord blows on them;[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(M)
but the word of our God remains forever.”(N)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(O)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(P)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!” (Q)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and his power establishes his rule.(R)
His wages are with him,(S)
and his reward accompanies him.
11 He protects his flock like a shepherd;(T)
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(U)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
13 Who has directed[f] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave him counsel?(V)
14 Who did he consult?
Who gave him understanding(W)
and taught him the paths of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(X)
17 All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are considered by him
as empty nothingness.(Y)
18 With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?(Z)
19 An idol?—something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?(AA)
20 A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(AB)
21 Do you not know?(AC)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(AD)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(AE)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(AF)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(AG)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(AH)
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(AI)
25 “To whom will you compare me,(AJ)
or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see!
Who created(AK) these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.(AL)
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?(AM)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,(AN)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.(AO)
29 He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(AP)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(AQ)
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40
Darby Translation
40 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her time of suffering is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God!
4 Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see [it] together: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
6 A voice saith, Cry. And he saith, What shall I cry?—All flesh is grass, and all the comeliness thereof as the flower of the field.
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, for the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God abideth for ever.
9 O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up into a high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest glad tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come with might, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom; he will gently lead those that give suck.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with [his] span, and grasped the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and, [as] his counsellor, hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and [who] gave him intelligence, and instructed him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are esteemed as a drop of the bucket, and as the fine dust on the scales; behold, he taketh up the isles as an atom.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are esteemed by him less than a cipher, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? and what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman casteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains [for it].
20 He that is impoverished, so that he hath no offering, chooseth a tree that doth not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilled workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.
21 —Do ye not know? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundation of the earth?
22 [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
23 that bringeth the princes to nothing, that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely hath their stock taken root in the earth, but he also bloweth upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see! Who hath created these things, bringing out their host by number? He calleth them all by name; through the greatness of his might and strength of power, not one faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and my right is passed away from my God?
28 Dost thou not know, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not nor tireth? There is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and shall tire, and the young men shall stumble and fall;
31 but they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew [their] strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not tire; they shall walk, and not faint.
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