Isaiah

The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 40, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 40 New English Translation

The LORD Returns to Jerusalem

   1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God.
   2 "Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her that her time of warfare is over, that her punishment is completed. For the LORD has made her pay double for all her sins."
   3 A voice cries out, "In the wilderness clear a way for the LORD; construct in the desert a road for our God.
   4 Every valley must be elevated, and every mountain and hill leveled. The rough terrain will become a level plain, the rugged landscape a wide valley.
   5 The splendor of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it at the same time. For the LORD has decreed it."
   6 A voice says, "Cry out!" Another asks, "What should I cry out?" The first voice responds: "All people are like grass, and all their promises are like the flowers in the field.
   7 The grass dries up, the flowers wither, when the wind sent by the LORD blows on them. Surely humanity is like grass.
   8 The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable."
   9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion! Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! Shout, don't be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"
   10 Look, the sovereign LORD comes as a victorious warrior; his military power establishes his rule. Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him.
   11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart; he leads the ewes along.

The LORD is Incomparable

   12 Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand, or carefully measured the sky, or carefully weighed the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales?
   13 Who comprehends the mind of the LORD, or gives him instruction as his counselor?
   14 From whom does he receive directions? Who teaches him the correct way to do things, or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design?
   15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust.
   16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.
   17 All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing.
   18 To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him?
   19 A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it.
   20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over.
   21 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth's foundations were made?
   22 He is the one who sits on the earth's horizon; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, and spreads it out like a pitched tent.
   23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth's leaders insignificant.
   24 Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.
   25 "To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?" says the Holy One.
   26 Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing.
   27 Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel, "The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me, My God is not concerned with my vindication"?
   28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom.
   29 He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
   30 Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble.
   31 But those who wait for the LORD's help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles' wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.

King James Version

   1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
   2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
   3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
   4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
   5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
   6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
   7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
   8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
   9 ¶ O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
   10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
   11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
   12 ¶ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
   13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
   14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
   15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
   16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
   17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
   18 ¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
   19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
   20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
   21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
   22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
   23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
   24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
   25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
   26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
   27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
   28 ¶ Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
   29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
   30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
   31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.