Isaiah 39–40

The Babylonian Envoys

39At ^athat time ¹Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. ^2bAnd Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

³Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a ^cfar country, from Babylon.”

⁴And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

⁵Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ⁶‘Behold, the days are coming ^dwhen all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ⁷‘And they shall take away some of your ^esons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

⁸So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ^f“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”

God’s People are Comforted

40“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”

Says your God.

²“Speak ¹comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,

That her warfare is ended,

That her iniquity is pardoned;

^aFor she has received from the Lord’s hand

Double for all her sins.”

^3bThe voice of one crying in the wilderness:

^c“Prepare the way of the Lord;

^dMake straight ²in the desert

A highway for our God.

⁴Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

^eThe crooked places shall be made ³straight

And the rough places smooth;

⁵The ^fglory of the Lord shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

⁶The voice said, “Cry out!”

And ⁴he said, “What shall I cry?”

^g“All flesh is grass,

And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

⁷The grass withers, the flower fades,

Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,

But ^hthe word of our God stands forever.”

⁹O Zion,

You who bring good tidings,

Get up into the high mountain;

O Jerusalem,

You who bring good tidings,

Lift up your voice with strength,

Lift it up, be not afraid;

Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

¹⁰Behold, the Lord God shall come ⁵with a strong hand,

And ⁱHis arm shall rule for Him;

Behold, ^jHis reward is with Him,

And His ⁶work before Him.

¹¹He will ^kfeed His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs with His arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are with young.

^12lWho has measured the ⁷waters in the hollow of His hand,

Measured heaven with a ⁸span

And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?

Weighed the mountains in scales

And the hills in a balance?

^13mWho has directed the Spirit of the Lord,

Or as His counselor has taught Him?

¹⁴With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,

And ⁿtaught Him in the path of justice?

Who taught Him knowledge,

And showed Him the way of understanding?

¹⁵Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,

And are counted as the small dust on the scales;

Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.

¹⁶And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,

Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.

¹⁷All nations before Him are as ^onothing,

And ^pthey are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.

¹⁸To whom then will you ^qliken God?

Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

^19rThe workman molds an image,

The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,

And the silversmith casts silver chains.

²⁰Whoever is too impoverished for such ⁹a contribution

Chooses a tree that will not rot;

He seeks for himself a skillful workman

^sTo prepare a carved image that will not totter.

^21tHave you not known?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²²It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who ^ustretches out the heavens like a curtain,

And spreads them out like a ^vtent to dwell in.

²³He ¹brings the ^wprinces to nothing;

He makes the judges of the earth useless.

²⁴Scarcely shall they be planted,

Scarcely shall they be sown,

Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,

When He will also blow on them,

And they will wither,

And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

²⁵“To ^xwhom then will you liken Me,

Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high,

And see who has created these things,

Who brings out their host by number;

^yHe calls them all by name,

By the greatness of His might

And the strength of His power;

Not one is missing.

^27zWhy do you say, O Jacob,

And speak, O Israel:

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

And my just claim is passed over by my God”?

²⁸Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

^aHis understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

³⁰Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

³¹But those who ^bwait on the Lord

^cShall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.