Isaiah 40:2-17
English Standard Version
2 (A)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that (B)her warfare[a] is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
3 (C)A voice cries:[b]
(D)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
(E)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 (F)Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 (G)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
(H)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,[c] “What shall I cry?”
(I)All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty[d] is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 (J)The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, (K)herald of good news;[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 (L)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
(M)behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 (N)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
(O)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
(P)he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 (Q)Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 (R)Who has measured[g] the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
(S)Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted (T)as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up (U)the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are (V)its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 (W)All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
- Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying
- Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
- Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem
- Isaiah 40:13 Or has directed
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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