Isa 40 | ESV | STEP | Comfort , comfort my people , says your God .

ah[See ver. 18 above]

ai ch. 46:6; Jer. 10:3-5; See ch. 44:9-15

ak ver. 28; [Acts 14:17; Rom. 1:19, 20]

al[Num. 13:33]

am Job 9:8; Ps. 104:2

an Job 12:21; Ps. 107:40

ao ch. 41:2; [Ps. 83:13]

‏ Isaiah 40

Comfort for God’s People

1 ^aComfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 ^bSpeak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that ^cher warfare ^{▼▼Or hardship} is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 ^eA voice cries: ^{▼▼Or A voice of one crying}
^g“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
^hmake straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 ⁱEvery valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 ^jAnd the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
^kfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, ^{▼▼Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says} “What shall I cry?”
^mAll flesh is grass,
and all its beauty ^{▼▼Or all its constancy} is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 ^oThe grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, ^pherald of good news; ^{▼▼Or O herald of good news to Zion}
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news; ^{▼▼Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem}
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 ^sBehold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
^tbehold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 ^uHe will tend his flock like a shepherd;
^vhe will gather the lambs in his arms;
^whe will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 ^xWho has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 ^yWho has measured ^{▼▼Or has directed} the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
^aaWho taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted ^abas the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up ^acthe coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are ^adits beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 ^aeAll the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18 ^afTo whom then will you liken God,
^agor what likeness compare with him?
19 ^ahAn idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 ^aiHe who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood ^{▼▼Or He chooses valuable wood} that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 ^akDo you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are ^allike grasshoppers;
^amwho stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 ^anwho brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
^aoand the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 ^apTo whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
^aqHe who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
^ar“My way is hidden from the Lord,
^asand my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is ^atthe everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
^auhis understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but ^avthey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings ^awlike eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.