Isaiah 40-41

New American Standard Bible 1995

^3 (F)A voice ^[d]is calling,
“^(G)Clear the way for the Lord 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 [e]Then the ^(H)glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And ^(I)all flesh will see it together;
For the ^(J)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶ A voice says, “Call out.”
Then ^[f]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
^(K)All flesh is grass, and all its ^[g]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The ^(L)grass withers, the flower fades,
^[h]When the ^(M)breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass 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,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the ^(Q)cities of Judah,
“^(R)Here is your God!”
¹⁰ Behold, the Lord ^[i]God will come ^(S)with might,
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)tend 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 ^[j]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off 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]directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His ^(Y)counselor has informed Him?
^14 (Z)With whom did He consult and who ^(AA)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
¹⁵ Behold, the ^(AB)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of ^(AC)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the ^[n]islands 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 regarded by Him as less than nothing and ^[o]meaningless.

^18 (AF)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
¹⁹ As for the ^[p](AG)idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith ^(AH)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
²⁰ He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a ^(AI)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To ^[q]prepare ^[r]an idol that ^(AJ)will not totter.

^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 ^[s]sits above the ^[t](AM)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like ^(AN)grasshoppers,
Who ^(AO)stretches out the heavens like a ^(AP)curtain
And spreads them out like a ^(AQ)tent to dwell in.
²³ He it is who reduces ^(AR)rulers to nothing,
Who ^(AS)makes the judges of the earth ^[u]meaningless.
^24 [v]Scarcely have they been planted,
^[w]Scarcely have they been sown,
^[x]Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they 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 might and the ^[y]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 the Lord,
And the ^(BC)justice due me ^[z]escapes the notice of ^(BD)my God”?
^28 (BE)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The ^(BF)Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is ^(BG)inscrutable.
²⁹ He gives strength to the ^(BH)weary,
And to him who lacks might He ^(BI)increases power.
³⁰ Though ^(BJ)youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous ^(BK)young men stumble badly,
³¹ Yet those who ^[aa]wait for the Lord
Will ^(BL)gain new strength;
They will ^[ab](BM)mount up with ^[ac]wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

⁵ The ^(CA)coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ^(CB)ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
⁶ Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
⁷ So the ^(CC)craftsman encourages the ^(CD)smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
^(CE)So that it will not totter.
⁸ “But you, Israel, ^(CF)My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of ^(CG)Abraham My ^(CH)friend,
⁹ You whom I have ^[af](CI)taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its ^(CJ)remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are ^(CK)My servant,
I have ^(CL)chosen you and not rejected you.
¹⁰ ‘Do not ^(CM)fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely ^(CN)I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous ^(CO)right hand.’
¹¹ “Behold, ^(CP)all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
^(CQ)Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
¹² “^(CR)You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
¹³ “For I am the Lord your God, ^(CS)who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘^(CT)Do not fear, I will help you.’
¹⁴ “Do not fear, you ^(CU)worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “^[ag]and ^(CV)your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵ “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
^(CW)You will thresh the ^(CX)mountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.
¹⁶ “You will ^(CY)winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will ^(CZ)rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ “The ^[ah]afflicted and needy are seeking ^(DA)water, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, the Lord, ^(DB)will answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I ^(DC)will not forsake them.
¹⁸ “I will open ^(DD)rivers on the bare heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make ^(DE)the wilderness a pool of water
And the dry land fountains of water.
¹⁹ “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia and the ^(DF)myrtle and the ^[ai]olive tree;
I will place the ^(DG)juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
²⁰ That ^(DH)they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the ^(DI)hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹ “^[aj]Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The ^(DJ)King of Jacob says.
^22 (DK)Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the ^(DL)former events, declare what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
^23 (DM)Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, ^(DN)do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
²⁴ Behold, ^(DO)you are of ^[ak]no account,
And ^(DP)your work amounts to nothing;
He who chooses you is an ^(DQ)abomination.

²⁵ “I have aroused ^(DR)one from the north, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon ^(DS)mortar,
Even as the potter treads clay.”
²⁶ Who has ^(DT)declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
Surely there was ^(DU)no one who declared,
Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
Surely there was no one who heard your words.
²⁷ “^(DV)Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a ^(DW)messenger of good news.’
²⁸ “But ^(DX)when I look, there is no one,
And there is no ^(DY)counselor ^[al]among them
Who, if I ask, can ^(DZ)give an answer.
²⁹ “Behold, all of them are ^[am]false;
Their ^(EA)works are ^(EB)worthless,
Their molten images are ^(EC)wind and emptiness.