Isaiah 40:1–56:8
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.
1 “aCoastlands, listen to Me bin silence,
And let the peoples cgain new strength;
dLet them come forward, then let them speak;
eLet us come together for judgment.
2 “aWho has aroused one from the east
Whom He bcalls in righteousness to His 1feet?
He cdelivers up nations before him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like ddust with his sword,
As the wind-driven echaff with his bow.
3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been 1traversing with his feet.
4 “aWho has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘bI, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. cI am He.’ ”
5 The acoastlands have seen and are afraid;
The bends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the acraftsman encourages the bsmelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
cSo that it will not totter.
8 “But you, Israel, aMy servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of bAbraham My cfriend,
9 You whom I have 1ataken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its bremotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are cMy servant,
I have dchosen you and not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not afear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely bI will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous cright hand.’
11 “Behold, aall those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
bThose who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “aYou will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 “For I am the Lord your God, awho upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘bDo not fear, I will help you.’
14 “Do not fear, you aworm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “1and byour Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
aYou will thresh the bmountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.
16 “You will awinnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will brejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The 1afflicted and needy are seeking awater, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, the Lord, bwill answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I cwill not forsake them.
18 “I will open arivers on the bare heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make bthe wilderness a pool of water
And the dry land fountains of water.
19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia and the amyrtle and the 1olive tree;
I will place the ajuniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
20 That athey may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the bhand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 “1Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The aKing of Jacob says.
22 aLet them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the bformer events, declare what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
23 aDeclare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, bdo good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24 Behold, ayou are of 1no account,
And byour work amounts to nothing;
He who chooses you is an cabomination.
25 “I have aroused aone from the north, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon bmortar,
Even as the potter treads clay.”
26 Who has adeclared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
Surely there was bno one who declared,
Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
Surely there was no one who heard your words.
27 “aFormerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a bmessenger of good news.’
28 “But awhen I look, there is no one,
And there is no bcounselor 1among them
Who, if I ask, can cgive an answer.
29 “Behold, all of them are 1false;
Their molten images are cwind and emptiness.
God’s Promise concerning His Servant
1 “aBehold, My bServant, whom I 1uphold;
My cchosen one in whom My dsoul delights.
I have put My eSpirit upon Him;
He will bring forth fjustice to the 2nations.
2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth ajustice.
4 “He will not be adisheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the bcoastlands will wait expectantly for His 1law.”
Who acreated the heavens and bstretched them out,
Who spread out the cearth and its 1offspring,
Who dgives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
6 “I am the Lord, I have acalled You in righteousness,
I will also bhold You by the hand and cwatch over You,
And I will appoint You as a dcovenant to the people,
As a elight to the nations,
7 To aopen blind eyes,
To bbring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 “aI am the Lord, that is bMy name;
I will not give My cglory to another,
Nor My praise to 1graven images.
9 “Behold, the aformer things have come to pass,
Now I declare bnew things;
Before they spring forth I …