Isaiah 39:5–40:5

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.”

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.”