Isaiah 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 Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.” 3“Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God. The voice of one who calls out, 4and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain. Every valley shall be exalted, 5and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.” Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, 6The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” and all its glory is like the flower of the field. “All flesh is like grass, 7the flower fades, because Yahweh’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass. The grass withers, 8the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.” The grass withers, 9You 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!” You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. 10and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, 11He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. 12and 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? Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, 13or has taught him as his counselor? Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, 14and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Who did he take counsel with, 15and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing. Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, 16nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, 17They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity. All the nations are like nothing before him. 18Or what likeness will you compare to him? To whom then will you liken God? 19and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it. A workman has cast an image, 20He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved. He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. 21Haven’t you heard, yet? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth? Haven’t you known? 22and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in; It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, 23who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless. 24They 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. They are planted scarcely. 25Who is my equal?” says the Holy One. “To whom then will you liken me? 26and 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. Lift up your eyes on high, 27and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?” Why do you say, Jacob, 28Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Haven’t you known? 29He increases the strength of him who has no might. He gives power to the weak. 30and the young men utterly fall; Even the youths faint and get weary, 31But those who wait for Yahweh 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.