IsaiahChapter 40

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¹"Comfort, comfort my people,"
says your God. ²"Speak kindly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her hard labor is over.
Her sin has been forgiven.
She has gotten from the LORD's hand
twice as much for all her sins."a ³A voice is calling out:
"Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness.
Make a straight road for our God in the desert. ⁴Every valley will be raised up.
Every mountain and hill will be made low.
The bumpy ground will become smooth.
The rough land will become a flat plain. ⁵Then the glory of the LORD will be shown.
All people together will see it."
For the LORD himself has said it. ⁶A voice says, "Call out!"
I asked, "What should I call out?"
"All people are like grass.
All their beauty is like the flowers of the field. ⁷The grass dries up and the flowers fall
when the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Yes, the people are grass. ⁸The grass dries up and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever." ⁹Go up on a high mountain, Zion,
you who bring good news.
Shout out loud, Jerusalem,
you who bring good news.
Shout it, and do not be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" ¹⁰Look, the Lord GOD is coming with power.
His strong arm rules for him.
He brings his reward with him.
He brings the payment he will give. ¹¹He cares for his flock like a shepherd.
He gathers the lambs in his arms.
He carries them close to his heart.
He gently leads the mother sheep that have young. ¹²Who has measured the oceans in the palm of his hand?
Who has marked off the skies with the width of his hand?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket?
Who has weighed the mountains on a scale
and the hills on a balance? ¹³Who has told the Spirit of the LORD what to do?
Who has taught him as his adviser? ¹⁴Whom did the LORD ask to help him understand?
Who taught him the right way to judge?
Who gave him knowledge?
Who showed him the way to understanding? ¹⁵The nations are like a drop in a bucket.
They are like a speck of dust on the scales.
He lifts up the islands as if they were fine dust. ¹⁶All the trees of Lebanon are not enough wood for the fire.
All its animals are not enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷All the nations are as nothing to him.
He thinks of them as less than nothing.
They are empty to him. ¹⁸Who will you say God is like?
What image will you compare him to? ¹⁹Is he like an idol?
A craftsman pours the metal to make it.
A metal worker covers it with gold
and puts silver chains on it. ²⁰A man too poor for such a gift
picks wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled worker
to set up an idol that will not fall over. ²¹Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Hasn't it been told to you from the beginning?
Haven't you understood since the earth was made? ²²God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth.
The people who live there are like grasshoppers to him.
He stretches out the skies like a curtain.
He spreads them out like a tent to live in. ²³He brings princes down to nothing.
He makes the rulers of the earth worth nothing. ²⁴They are barely planted.
They are barely sown.
Their stems have barely taken root in the ground.
Then he blows on them, and they dry up.
A strong wind sweeps them away like straw. ²⁵"Who will you say I am like?
Who is equal to me?"
asks the Holy One. ²⁶Look up at the sky.
Who made all these stars?
He leads them out like an army, one by one.
He calls each one by name.
His power is great, and his strength is mighty.
So not one of them is missing. ²⁷Jacob, why do you say this?
Israel, why do you claim,
"The LORD does not see the way I live.
My God pays no attention to my rights"? ²⁸Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The LORD is the God who lives forever.
He made the ends of the earth.
He will not get tired or worn out.
No one can measure how much he understands. ²⁹He gives power to those who are tired.
He makes the weak strong. ³⁰Even young people get tired and worn out.
Strong young men trip and fall. ³¹But those who wait on the LORD will get new strength.
They will rise up on wings like eagles.
They will run and not get tired.
They will walk and not grow weak.