Isaiah 40

Comfort for God’s People

¹“Comfort; comfort my people,” says your God.

²“Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,

that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,

³A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh!

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,

And the rough ground shall be like a plain,

⁵And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,

for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

⁶A voice is saying, “Call!”

All humankind are grass,

⁷Grass withers; the flower withers

when the breath of Yahweh blows on it.

⁸Grass withers; the flower withers,

⁹Get yourself up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news![#Literally “Go for you”]

Lift it up; you must not fear!

¹⁰Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with strength,[#Literally “strong”]

Look! His reward is with him,

¹¹He will feed his flock like a shepherd;

and he will carry them in his bosom;

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

comprehended the dust of the earth in a third of a measure

¹³Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh

¹⁴With whom has he consulted, that he enlightened him[#Or “and”; #Or “made him understand”]

and taught him knowledge,

¹⁵Look! The nations are like a drop from a bucket,

¹⁶And Lebanon is not enough to light a fire,

¹⁷All the nations are like nothing before him;

¹⁸And to whom will you liken God?

¹⁹A craftsman pours out the idol,

²⁰The one who is too impoverished for a gift chooses wood that will not rot;

²¹Have you not known?

Has it not been told to you from the beginning?

²²He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,

the one who stretches out the heavens like a veil

²³the one who brings princes to nothing;[#Or “gives”]

²⁴Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown;

when he blows on them and they wither,

²⁵“And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?” says the holy one.

²⁶Lift your eyes up on high, and see! Who created these?

He calls all them by name.

²⁷Why do you say, Jacob,[#Literally “To what”]

“My way is hidden from Yahweh,

²⁸Have you not known,

Yahweh is the God of eternity,

He is not faint, and he does not grow weary!

²⁹He gives power to the weary,

³⁰Even young people will be faint and grow weary,[#Or “And”]

³¹But those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength.[#Or “And”]

they shall run and not grow weary;

they shall walk and not be faint.