Chronological
Comfort for God’s People
40 Comfort, O comfort, My people,
says your God.
2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare has ended,
that her iniquity has been pardoned,
that she has received of the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him who cries out,
“Prepare the way of the Lord
in the wilderness,
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Let every valley be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low,
and let the rough ground become a plain,
and the rough places a plain;
5 then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.”
6 The voice said, “Cry out.”
And he said, “What shall I cry out?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its loveliness is as the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God shall stand forever.
9 O Zion, bearer of good news,
get yourself up onto a high mountain;
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news,
lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God will come with a strong hand,
and His arm shall rule for Him;
see, His reward is with Him,
and His recompense before Him.
11 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
and meted out heaven with the span,
and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales,
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
and taught Him in the path of justice,
and taught Him knowledge,
and showed to Him the way of understanding?
15 Certainly the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
and are counted as the small dust of the balance;
He takes up the coastlands as a very little thing.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor the beasts sufficient as a burnt offering.
17 All nations before Him are as nothing,
and they are counted by Him as less than nothing
and meaningless.
18 To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 The workman melts a graven image,
and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold,
and casts silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering
chooses a tree that will not rot;
he seeks for himself a skillful workman
to prepare a graven image that shall not totter.
21 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits upon the circle of the earth,
and the inhabitants are as grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens as a curtain,
and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in.
23 He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted;
scarcely shall they be sown;
scarcely shall their tree take root in the earth,
when He will also blow on them,
and they will wither,
and the whirlwind will take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will you liken Me,
that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
and see who has created these things,
who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power;
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my justice escapes the notice of my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not faint, nor is He weary?
His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall,
31 but those who wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint.
The Lord Helps Israel
41 Keep silent before Me, O islands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them come near, then let them speak;
let us come near together to judgment.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east,
called him to His foot,
gave the nations before him,
and made him rule over kings?
He makes them as the dust with his sword,
and as driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely,
by paths his feet have not traveled.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the first,
and with the last. I am He.
5 The coastlands saw it and feared,
the ends of the earth were afraid;
they drew near and came.
6 Every one helped his neighbor,
and every one said to his brother, “Be of good courage.”
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,
and he who smooths metal with the hammer
encourages him who strikes the anvil,
saying, “It is ready for the soldering”;
and he fastened it with nails so that it should not totter.
8 But you, Israel, are My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
the seed of Abraham, My friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
and called from its remotest parts,
and said to you, “You are My servant;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.”
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
11 Certainly all those who were incensed against you
shall be ashamed and humiliated;
they shall be as nothing,
and those who strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them
and shall not find them, even those who contended with you.
Those who war against you
shall be as nothing, as a thing of nonexistence.
13 For I, the Lord your God,
will hold your right hand,
saying to you, “Do not fear;
I will help you.”
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
and you men of Israel.
I will help you, says the Lord
and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 See, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument
with double edges;
you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small,
and shall make the hills as chaff.
16 You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away,
and the whirlwind shall scatter them;
and you shall rejoice in the Lord,
and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongues fail for thirst,
I, the Lord, will hear them,
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness
the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will set in the desert
the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together,
20 that they may see, and know,
and consider, and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
21 Present your case, says the Lord.
Bring forth your arguments, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them forth, and show us
what shall happen;
let them show the former things, what they were,
that we may consider them
and know their outcome,
or declare to us things to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
do good, or do evil,
that we may be dismayed and see it together.
24 Indeed you are nothing,
and your work amounts to nothing;
he who chooses you is an abomination.
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come;
from the rising of the sun he shall call on My name;
and he shall come on princes as on mortar,
and as the potter treads clay.
26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
There is no one who shows,
no one who declares,
no one who hears your words.
27 Formerly I said to Zion, “Look, here they are,”
and to Jerusalem, “I will give one who brings good news.”
28 But when I look, there is no man,
even among them, and there is no counselor
who, when I ask of them, could answer a word.
29 See, they all are vanity;
their works are nothing;
their molded images are wind and emptiness.
The Servant of the Lord
42 Here is My servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen one, in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon him;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He shall not cry out, nor lift up his voice,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed he shall not break,
and the smoking flax he shall not quench;
he shall bring forth justice faithfully.
4 He shall not be disheartened nor be discouraged,
until he has set justice in the earth;
and the coastlands shall wait for his law.
5 Thus says God the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and that which comes out of it,
who gives breath to the people on it,
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 I the Lord have called You in righteousness,
and will hold Your hand,
and will keep You and appoint You
for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the nations,
7 to open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the Lord, that is My name;
and My glory I will not give to another,
nor My praise to graven images.
9 See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.
A Song of Praise
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
and His praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
the coastlands, and the inhabitants.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities lift up their voices,
the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare His praise in the islands.
13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, yes, raise a war cry;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
The Lord’s Help Is Promised
14 I have for a long time held My peace;
I have been still and refrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a travailing woman;
I will destroy and devour at once.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation,
and I will make the rivers islands,
and I will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know;
I will lead them in paths that they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them
and crooked things straight.
These things I will do for them
and not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed,
who trust in graven images,
who say to the molded images, “You are our gods.”
Israel’s Disobedience
18 Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind, but My servant?
Or deaf, as My messenger whom I sent?
Who is blind as he who is at peace with Me,
and blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
your ears are open, but no one hears.
21 The Lord is well pleased
for His righteousness’ sake
to magnify the law and make it honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and despoiled;
they are all snared in holes,
and they are hidden in prison houses;
they are for a prey,
and no one delivers,
for a spoil,
and no one says, “Restore them.”
23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob as spoil,
and Israel to the robbers?
Did not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not walk in His ways,
nor were they obedient to His law.
25 Therefore, He has poured on him the fury of His anger
and the strength of battle;
and it has set him on fire all around, yet he did not recognize it;
and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
The Redeemer of Israel
43 But now, thus says the Lord
who created you, O Jacob,
and He who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are Mine.
2 When you pass through waters,
I will be with you.
And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire,
you shall not be burned,
nor shall the flame kindle on you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honorable,
and I have loved you;
therefore, I will give men for you,
and people for your life.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not keep them back.
Bring My sons from afar,
and My daughters from the ends of the earth,
7 even everyone who is called by My name,
for I have created him for My glory;
I have formed him, and I have made him.”
8 Bring forth the blind people who have eyes,
and the deaf who have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together,
and let the people be assembled.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us former things?
Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified;
or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
10 You are My witnesses, says the Lord,
and My servant whom I have chosen
that you may know and believe Me,
and understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord,
and besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shown,
when there was no strange god among you;
therefore, you are My witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God.
13 Indeed, from eternity I am He;
there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I act, and who can reverse it?
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I have sent to Babylon,
and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans,
into the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings forth the chariot and horse,
the army and the mighty men
(they shall lie down together, they shall not rise;
they are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
18 Do not remember the former things
nor consider the things of old.
19 See, I will do a new thing,
now it shall spring forth; shall you not be aware of it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honor Me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I give waters in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert,
to give drink to My people, My chosen ones.
21 This people I have formed for Myself;
they shall declare My praise.
Pleading With Israel
22 But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of Me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings,
nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
nor wearied you with incense.
24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money,
nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
but you have made Me burdened with your sins;
you have wearied Me with your iniquities.
25 I, even I, am He who blots out
your transgressions for My own sake,
and will not remember your sins.
26 Put Me in remembrance;
let us plead together;
state your cause, that you may be justified.
27 Your first father has sinned,
and your teachers have transgressed against Me.
28 Therefore, I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary,
and have given Jacob to the curse,
and Israel to reproaches.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.