Isaiah 40:1-11

Living Bible

40 “Comfort, yes, comfort my people,” says your God. ² “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her sad days are gone. Her sins are pardoned, and I have punished her in full for all her sins.”

³ Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, “Make a road for the Lord through the wilderness; make him a straight, smooth road through the desert. ⁴ Fill the valleys; level the hills; straighten out the crooked paths, and smooth off the rough spots in the road. ⁵ The glory of the Lord will be seen by all mankind together.” The Lord has spoken—it shall be.

⁶ The voice says, “Shout!”

“What shall I shout?” I asked.

“Shout that man is like the grass that dies away, and all his beauty fades like dying flowers. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades beneath the breath of God. And so it is with fragile man. ⁸ The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever.”

⁹ O crier of good news, shout to Jerusalem from the mountaintops! Shout louder—don’t be afraid—tell the cities of Judah, “Your God is coming!” ¹⁰ Yes, the Lord God is coming with mighty power; he will rule with awesome strength. See, his reward is with him, to each as he has done. ¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will carry the lambs in his arms and gently lead the ewes with young.