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 counselor?
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
skillful 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.