Isaiah — Chapter 40

Comfort, oh comfort My people,Says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,And declare to herThat her term of service is over,That her iniquity is expiated;For she has received at GOD’s hand Double for all her sins.

A voice rings out:“Clear in the desertA road for GOD!Level in the wildernessA highway for our God!

Let every valley be raised,Every hill and mount made low.Let the rugged ground become levelAnd the ridges become a plain.

The Presence of GOD shall appear,And all flesh, as one, shall behold—For GOD aGOD Heb. “the mouth of GOD.” has spoken.”

A voice rings out: “Proclaim!”Another asks,bAnother asks 1QIsᵃ and Septuagint read “And I asked.” “What shall I proclaim?”“All flesh is grass,All its goodness like flowers of the field:

Grass withers, flowers fadeWhen GOD’s breath blows on them.Indeed, people are but grass:

Grass withers, flowers fade—But the word of our God is always fulfilled!”

Ascend a lofty mountain,O herald of joy to Zion;Raise your voice with power,O herald of joy to Jerusalem—Raise it, have no fear;Announce to the cities of Judah:Behold your God!

Behold, my Sovereign GOD comes in might—Whose arm wins triumph;See, [God] has brought along the reward,The recompensecthe reward, / The recompense To present to the cities of Judah; cf. Jer. 31.14, 16. is in view.

Like a shepherd who pastures the flock,[God] gathers up the lambsAnd carries them in an embrace,While gently driving the mother sheep.

Who measured the waters with a hand’s hollow,And gauged the skies with a span,And meted earth’s dust with a measure,dmeasure Heb. shalish “third,” probably a third of an ephah. And weighed the mountains with a scaleAnd the hills with a balance?

Who has plumbed the mind of GOD?Can anyone disclose God’s plan?

Whom did [God] consult, and who bestowed understanding,Providing guidance in the way of right?Who guided [God] in knowledgeAnd made known the path of wisdom?

The nations are but a drop in a bucket,Reckoned as dust on a balance;The very coastlands are lifted like motes.

Lebanon is not fuel enough,Nor its beasts enough for sacrifice.

All nations are as naught in God’s sight,Who accounts them as less than nothing.

To whom, then, can you liken God,With what form can you make comparison?

The idol? A woodworker shaped it,And a smith overlaid it with gold,Forging links of silver.eForging links of silver Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

As a gift, someone chooses the mulberryfmulberry Heb. mesukkan; according to a Jewish tradition, preserved by Jerome, a kind of wood; a similar word denotes a kind of wood in Akkadian.—A wood that does not rot—Then seeks a skillful woodworkerTo make a firm idol,That will not topple.

Do you not know?Have you not heard?Have you not been toldFrom the very first?Have you not discernedHow the earth was founded?gHow the earth was founded Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

It is [God] who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,So that its inhabitants seem as grasshoppers;Who spread out the skies like gauze,Stretched them out like a tent to dwell in—

Bringing potentates to naught,Making rulers of the earth as nothing.

Hardly are they planted,Hardly are they sown,Hardly has their stemTaken root in earth,When [God] blows upon them and they dry up,And the storm bears them off like straw.

To whom, then, can you liken Me,To whom can I be compared?—says the Holy One.

Lift high your eyes and see:Who created these?The One who sends out their host by count,Who calls them each by name:Given such great might and vast power,Not one fails to appear.

Why do you say, O Jacob,Why declare, O Israel,“My way is hid from GOD,My cause is ignored by my God”?

Do you not know?Have you not heard? The ETERNAL is God from of old,Creator of the earth from end to end,Who never grows faint or weary,Whose wisdom cannot be fathomed—

Who gives strength to the weary,Fresh vigor to the spent.

Youths may grow faint and weary,And young men stumble and fall;

But they who trust in GOD shall renew their strengthAs eagles grow new plumes:hAs eagles grow new plumes Alluding to a popular belief that eagles regain their youth when they molt; cf. Ps. 103.5. They shall run and not grow weary,They shall march and not grow faint.