40 aComfort 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 bdouble for all her sins.

3  cThe voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, dPrepare ye the way of the Lord,

eMake straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4  fEvery valley shall be exalted,

And egevery mountain and hill shall be made low:

And hthe crooked shall be made ||straight,

And the rough places ||plain:

5  And ithe glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

kAnd all flesh shall see it together:

lFor the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

6  The voice said, Cry.

And he said, What shall I cry?

mAll flesh is npgrass,

And all the goodliness thereof is as opthe flower of the field:

7  mqThe grass withereth, othe flower fadeth:

Because rthe spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:

Surely sthe people is ngrass.

8  mThe grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

tBut uthe 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 ||wwith strong hand,

And xhis arm shall rule for him:

yBehold, his reward is with him,

yAnd ||his work before him.

11  zHe shall afeed his flock like a shepherd:

bHe shall gather athe lambs with his arm,

And ccarry them in his bosom,

And dshall gently lead those ||that are with young.

12  eWho hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

And imeted out heaven with the span,

And comprehended the dust of the earth in †a measure,

And fweighed the mountains in gscales,

And the hills in ga balance?

13  hWho hath idirected the Spirit of the Lord,

jOr being †his counseller hath taught him?

14  With whom took he counsel, and who †instructed him,

And taught him in the path of judgment,

And ktaught 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 lthe small dust of the balance:

Behold, he taketh up mthe isles nas a very little thing.

16  And oLebanon is not sufficient to burn,

Nor pthe beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17  All nations before him are qas rnothing;

And qthey are counted to him less than rnothing, and svanity.

18  tTo whom then will ye liken God?

Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19  uThe workman melteth a graven image,

And xthe goldsmith yspreadeth 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, zthat shall not be moved.

21  aHave ye not known? have ye not heard?

Hath it not been told you from the beginning?

aHave ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22  ||It is he that sitteth upon bthe circle of the earth,

And the inhabitants thereof are cas grasshoppers;

dThat stretcheth out the heavens eas a curtain,

And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

23  fThat bringeth the princes to gnothing;

He maketh the judges of the earth as gvanity.

24  Yea, they shall not be planted;

Yea, they shall not be sown:

Yea, their hstock shall not take root in the earth:

And he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither,

And ithe whirlwind shall take them away kas stubble.

25  lTo whom then will ye mliken me, or mshall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26  mmLift up your eyes on high,

And behold who hath created these things,

nThat bringeth out their host by number:

oHe calleth them all by names

By pthe greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power;

qNot one faileth.

27  Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel,

rMy way is hid from the Lord,

And smy judgment is passed over from my God?

28  aHast thou not known? ahast thou not heard,

That the everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Fainteth not, neither is weary?

ptThere 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 uthey that wait upon the Lord vwshall †renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings wxas eagles;

They shall run, and not be weary;

And they shall walk, and not faint.