Isaiah 40:1-41:20

Comfort for God’s People 1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD ’s hand double for all her sins.

3A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD Or A voice of one calling in the wilderness: / “Prepare the way for the Lord ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Hebrew; Septuagint make straight the paths of our God

4Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

6A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

7The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.

8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

9You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, Or Zion, bringer of good news, / go up on a high mountain. / Jerusalem, bringer of good news lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

10See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

11He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

13Who can fathom the Spirit Or mind of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor?

14Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?

15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.

18With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?

19As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

20A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.

21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

27Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD ; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The Helper of Israel 1“Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment.

2“Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service Or east, / whom victory meets at every step ? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.

3He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before.

4Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD —with the first of them and with the last—I am he.”

5The islands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward;

6they help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!”

7The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

8“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,

9I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

10So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

11“All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.

12Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.

13For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

14Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.

16You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.

19I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,

20so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.