Isaiah 39:1–40:31
1 aAt that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.
2 Hezekiah 1was apleased, and showed them all his treasure house, the bsilver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the aprophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far bcountry, from Babylon.”
4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah 1answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the aword of the Lord of hosts,
6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when aall that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
7 ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, awill be taken away, and bthey will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
8 aThen Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he 1thought, “For there will be peace and truth bin my days.”
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.”
“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.”
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.