Isaiah 40:3-8
Christian Standard Bible
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(A)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(B)
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.(C)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(D)
and all humanity[a] together will see it,(E)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(F)
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another said,[b] “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,(G)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(H)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[c] of the Lord blows on them;[d]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(I)
but the word of our God remains forever.”(J)
Isaiah 40:3-8
New Living Translation
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.”
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.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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.
