Isaiah 39-40

Contemporary English Version

Isaiah Speaks the Lord's Message to Hezekiah

(2 Kings 20.12-19)

39 Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia. And when he learned that Hezekiah was well, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him. ²Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine oils that were in his storehouse. He even showed them where he kept his weapons. Nothing in his palace or in his entire kingdom was kept hidden from them.

³I asked Hezekiah, “Where did these men come from? What did they want?”

“They came all the way from Babylonia,” Hezekiah answered.

⁴“What did you show them?” I asked.

Hezekiah answered, “I showed them everything in my kingdom.”

⁵Then I told Hezekiah:

I have a message for you from the Lord All-Powerful. ⁶One day everything you and your ancestors have stored up will be taken to Babylonia. The Lord has promised that nothing will be left. ⁷^(A) Some of your own sons will be taken to Babylonia, where they will be disgraced and made to serve in the king's palace.

⁸Hezekiah thought, “At least our nation will be at peace for a while.” So he told me, “The message you brought from the Lord is good.”

Encourage God's People

40 Our God has said:
“Encourage my people!
    Give them comfort.
²Speak kindly to Jerusalem
    and announce:
Your slavery is past;
    your punishment is over.
I, the Lord, made you pay
    double for your sins.”

³^(B)^(C) Someone is shouting:
“Clear a path in the desert!
    Make a straight road
    for the Lord our God.
⁴Fill in the valleys;
flatten every hill
    and mountain.
Level the rough
    and rugged ground.
⁵Then the glory of the Lord
    will appear for all to see.
The Lord has promised this!”

⁶^(D) Someone told me to shout,
and I asked,
    “What should I shout?”
We humans are merely grass,
and we last no longer
    than wild flowers.
⁷At the Lord's command,
flowers and grass disappear,
    and so do we.
⁸Flowers and grass fade away,
but what our God has said
    will never change.

Your God Is Here!

⁹There is good news
    for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you can^[a]
    from the highest mountain.
Don't be afraid to shout
to the towns of Judah:
    “Your God is here!”
¹⁰^(E) Look! The powerful Lord God
is coming to rule
    with his mighty arm.
He brings with him
what he has taken in war,
    and he rewards his people.
¹¹^(F) The Lord cares for his nation,
just as shepherds care
    for their flocks.
He carries the lambs
    in his arms,
while gently leading
    the mother sheep.

Who Compares with God?

¹²Did any of you measure
    the ocean by yourself
or stretch out the sky
    with your own hands?
Did you put the soil
    of the earth in a bucket
or weigh the hills and mountains
    on balance scales?

¹³^(G) Has anyone told the Lord^[b]
what he must do
    or given him advice?
¹⁴Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
    and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
    and understanding?
¹⁵^(H) To the Lord, all nations
are merely a drop in a bucket
    or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
    are but a handful of sand.
¹⁶The cattle on the mountains
    of Lebanon
would not be enough to offer
    as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
    be enough for the fire.
¹⁷God thinks of the nations
    as far less than nothing.

¹⁸^(I) Who compares with God?
    Is anything like him?
¹⁹Is an idol at all like God?
    It is made of bronze
with a thin layer of gold,
    and decorated with silver.
²⁰^(J) Or special wood may be chosen^[c]
    because it doesn't rot—
then skilled hands
take care to make an idol
    that won't fall on its face.

God Rules the Whole Earth

²¹Don't you know?
    Haven't you heard?
Hasn't it been clear
    since the time of creation?^[d]
²²God is the one who rules
    the whole earth,
and we that live here
    are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.

²³God brings down rulers
    and turns them into nothing.
²⁴They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
    and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt and are carried off
    like straw in a storm.

²⁵The holy God asks,
“Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”

²⁶^(K) Look at the evening sky!
    Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
    Who leads them like an army?
The Lord is so powerful
that none of the stars
    are ever missing.

The Lord Gives Strength

²⁷You people of Israel say,
“God pays no attention to us!
He doesn't care if we
are treated unjustly.”

But how can you say that?
²⁸Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.

²⁹The Lord gives strength
    to those who are weary.
³⁰Even young people get tired,
    then stumble and fall.
³¹But those who trust the Lord
    will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
    soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
    without getting tired.

Footnotes

40.9 There … can: Or “City of Jerusalem, you have good news. Shout it as loud as you can.”
40.13 the Lord: Or “the Lord's Spirit.”
40.20 Or … chosen: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Two kinds of idols seem to be described: bronze idols covered with gold (verse 19) and wooden idols (verse 20).
40.21 Hasn't … creation: Or “Isn't it clear that God created the world?”

Colossians 4

Contemporary English Version

4 ^(A) Slave owners, be fair and honest with your slaves. Don't forget that you have a Master in heaven.

²Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful. ³Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this. ⁴Please pray that I will make the message as clear as possible.

⁵^(B) When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. ⁶^(C) Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.

Final Greetings

⁷^(D)^(E) Tychicus is the dear friend, who faithfully works and serves the Lord with us, and he will give you the news about me. ⁸I am sending him to cheer you up by telling you how we are getting along. ⁹^(F) Onesimus, the dear and faithful follower from your own group, is coming with him. The two of them will tell you everything that has happened here.

¹⁰^(G) Aristarchus is in jail with me. He sends greetings to you, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have already been told to welcome Mark, if he visits you. ¹¹Jesus, who is known as Justus, sends his greetings. These three men are the only Jewish followers who have worked with me for the kingdom of God. They have given me much comfort.

¹²^(H) Your own Epaphras, who serves Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He always prays hard that you may fully know what the Lord wants you to do and that you may do it completely. ¹³I have seen how much trouble he has gone through for you and for the followers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹⁴^(I) Our dear doctor Luke sends you his greetings, and so does Demas.

¹⁵Give my greetings to the followers at Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that meets in her home.

¹⁶After this letter has been read to your people, be sure to have it read in the church at Laodicea. And you should read the letter that I have sent to them.^[a]

¹⁷^(J) Remind Archippus to do the work that the Lord has given him to do.

¹⁸I am signing this letter myself: PAUL.

Don't forget that I am in jail.

I pray that God will be kind to you.