Chapter 40
1 " Comfort , comfort my people ," says your God.
2 " Speak comfortably to Jerusalem , and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished , that her iniquity is pardoned , that she has received of the LORD ’s hand double for all her sins ."
3 The voice of one who calls out , " Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness ! Make a level highway in the desert for our God .
4 Every valley shall be exalted , and every mountain and hill shall be made low . The uneven shall be made level , and the rough places a plain .
5 The LORD ’s glory shall be revealed , and all flesh shall see it together ; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it ."
6 The voice of one saying , " Cry out !" One said , " What shall I cry ?" " All flesh is like grass , and all its glory is like the flower of the field .
7 The grass withers , the flower fades , because the LORD ’s breath blows on it . Surely the people are like grass .
8 The grass withers , the flower fades ; but the word of our God stands forever ."
9 You who tell good news to Zion , go up on a high mountain . You who tell good news to Jerusalem , lift up your voice with strength ! Lift it up ! Don’t be afraid ! Say to the cities of Judah , " Behold , your God!"
10 Behold , the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him . Behold , his reward is with him , and his recompense before him .
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd . He will gather the lambs in his arm , and carry them in his bosom . He will gently lead those who have their young .
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand , and marked off the sky with his span , and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales , and the hills in a balance ?
13 Who has directed the LORD ’s Spirit , or has taught him as his counsellor?
14 Who did he take counsel with , and who instructed him , and taught him in the path of justice , and taught him knowledge , and showed him the way of understanding ?
15 Behold , the nations are like a drop in a bucket , and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance . Behold , he lifts up the islands like a very little thing .
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn , nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering .
17 All the nations are like nothing before him . They are regarded by him as less than nothing , and vanity .
18 To whom then will you liken God ? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19 A workman has cast an image , and the goldsmith overlays it with gold , and casts silver chains for it .
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot . He seeks a skilful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved .
21 Haven’t you known ? Haven’t you heard ? Haven’t you been told from the beginning ? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth , and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers ; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain , and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in ,
23 who brings princes to nothing , who makes the judges of the earth meaningless .
24 They are planted scarcely . They are sown scarcely . Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them , and they wither , and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble .
25 " To whom then will you liken me ? Who is my equal ?" says the Holy One .
26 Lift up your eyes on high , and see who has created these , who brings out their army by number . He calls them all by name . By the greatness of his might , and because he is strong in power , not one is lacking .
27 Why do you say , Jacob , and speak , Israel , " My way is hidden from the LORD , and the justice due me is disregarded by my God "?
28 Haven’t you known ? Haven’t you heard ? The everlasting God , the LORD , the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint . He isn’t weary . His understanding is unsearchable .
29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might .
30 Even the youths faint and get weary , and the young men utterly fall ;
31 but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength . They will mount up with wings like eagles . They will run , and not be weary . They will walk , and not faint .