“Comfort,
comfort my people,” says your God. “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.”
The
voice of one who calls out,
“Prepare
the way of Yahweh in the wilderness!
Make
a level highway in the desert for our God.
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.
Yahweh’s
glory shall be revealed,
and
all flesh shall see it together;
for
the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
The
voice of one saying, “Cry!”
One
said, “What shall I cry?”
“All
flesh is like grass,
and
all its glory is like the flower of the field.
The
grass withers,
the
flower fades,
because
Yahweh’s breath blows on it.
Surely
the people are like grass.
The
grass withers,
the
flower fades;
but
the Word of our God stands forever.”
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!”
Behold,
the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one,
and
his arm will rule for him.
Behold,
his reward is with him,
and
his recompense before him.
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.
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?
Who
has directed Yahweh’s Spirit,
or
has taught him as his counselor?
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?
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.
Lebanon
is not sufficient to burn,
nor
its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
All
the nations are like nothing before him.
They
are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
To
whom then will you liken God?
Or
what likeness will you compare to him?
A
workman has cast an image,
and
the goldsmith overlays it with gold,
and
casts silver chains for it.
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.
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?
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,
who
brings princes to nothing,
who
makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
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.
“To
whom then will you liken me?
Who
is my equal?” says the Holy One.
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.
Why
do you say, Jacob,
and
speak, Israel,
“My
way is hidden from Yahweh,
and
the justice due me is disregarded by my God?”
Haven’t
you known?
Haven’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.
He
gives power to the weak.
He
increases the strength of him who has no might.
Even
the youths faint and get weary,
and
the young men utterly fall;
but
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.
Isaiah 40
Image: Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona
The
wilderness and the dry land will be glad.
