Chapter 40

The Greatness of God

1 “aComfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

2 “aSpeak 1kindly to Jerusalem;

And call out to her, that her 2bwarfare has ended,

That her 3ciniquity has been removed,

That she has received of the Lord’s hand

dDouble for all her sins.”

3 aA voice 1is calling,

“bClear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;

Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

4 “Let every valley be lifted up,

And every mountain and hill be made low;

And let the rough ground become a plain,

And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

5 1Then the aglory of the Lord will be revealed,

And ball flesh will see it together;

For the cmouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Call out.”

Then 1he answered, “What shall I call out?”

aAll flesh is grass, and all its 2loveliness is like the flower of the field.

7 The agrass withers, the flower fades,

1When the bbreath of the Lord blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades,

But athe word of our God stands forever.

9 Get yourself up on a ahigh mountain,

O Zion, bearer of bgood news,

Lift up your voice mightily,

O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;

Lift it up, do not fear.

Say to the ccities of Judah,

“dHere is your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord 1God will come awith might,

With His barm ruling for Him.

Behold, His creward is with Him

And His recompense before Him.

11 Like a shepherd He will atend His flock,

In His arm He will gather the lambs

And carry them in His bosom;

He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

12 Who has ameasured the 1waters in the hollow of His hand,

And marked off the heavens by the 2span,

And 3calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,

And weighed the mountains in a balance

And the hills in a pair of scales?

13 aWho has 1directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His bcounselor has informed Him?

14 aWith whom did He consult and who bgave Him understanding?

And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge

And informed Him of the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the anations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are regarded as a speck of bdust on the scales;

Behold, He lifts up the 1islands like fine dust.

16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,

Nor its abeasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 aAll the nations are as nothing before Him,

They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and 1meaningless.

18 aTo whom then will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

19 As for the 1aidol, a craftsman casts it,

A goldsmith bplates it with gold,

And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering

Selects a atree that does not rot;

He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman

To 1prepare 2an idol that bwill not totter.

21 aDo you not know? Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood bfrom the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He who 1sits above the 2acircle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like bgrasshoppers,

Who cstretches out the heavens like a dcurtain

And spreads them out like a etent to dwell in.

23 He it is who reduces arulers to nothing,

Who bmakes the judges of the earth 1meaningless.

24 1Scarcely have they been planted,

1Scarcely have they been sown,

1Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,

But He merely blows on them, and they wither,

And the astorm carries them away like stubble.

25 “aTo whom then will you liken Me

That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

26 aLift up your eyes on high

And see bwho has created these stars,

The cOne who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the dgreatness of His might and the 1strength of His power,

eNot one of them is missing.

27 aWhy do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,

“My way is bhidden from the Lord,

And the cjustice due me 1escapes the notice of dmy God”?

28 aDo you not know? Have you not heard?

The bEverlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired.

His understanding is cinscrutable.

29 He gives strength to the aweary,

And to him who lacks might He bincreases power.

30 Though ayouths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous byoung men stumble badly,

31 Yet those who 1wait for the Lord

Will again new strength;

They will 2bmount up with 3wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.