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Isaiah 40:1-2
New English Translation
Isaiah 40:1-2
New English Translation
The Lord Returns to Jerusalem
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your[a] God.
2 “Speak kindly to[b] Jerusalem and tell her
that her time of warfare is over,[c]
that her punishment is completed.[d]
For the Lord has made her pay double[e] for all her sins.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:1 tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural. The identity of the addressee is uncertain: (1) God’s people may be addressed, or (2) the unidentified heralds commanded to comfort Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 40:2 tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.
- Isaiah 40:2 tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.
- Isaiah 40:2 tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”
- Isaiah 40:2 tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).
Isaiah 40:1-2
New American Standard Bible
Isaiah 40:1-2
New American Standard Bible
The Greatness of God
40 “(A)Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “(B)Speak [a]kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her [b](C)warfare has ended,
That her [c](D)guilt has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
(E)Double for all her sins.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:2 Lit to the heart of
- Isaiah 40:2 Or hard service
- Isaiah 40:2 Or penalty of guilt accepted as paid off
New English Translation (NET)
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New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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