The Lord Returns to Jerusalem

40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”

says your1 God.

40:2 “Speak kindly to2 Jerusalem,3 and tell her

that her time of warfare is over,4

that her punishment is completed.5

For the Lord has made her pay double6 for all her sins.”

40:3 A voice cries out,

“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;

construct in the desert a road for our God.

40:4 Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

40:5 The splendor7 of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people8 will see it at the same time.

For9 the Lord has decreed it.”10

40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”

Another asks,11 “What should I cry out?”

The first voice responds:12 “All people are like grass,13

and all their promises14 are like the flowers in the field.

40:7 The grass dries up,

the flowers wither,

when the wind sent by the Lord15 blows on them.

Surely humanity16 is like grass.

40:8 The grass dries up,

the flowers wither,

but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”17

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem!18

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior;19

his military power establishes his rule.20

Look, his reward is with him;

his prize goes before him.21

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart;22

he leads the ewes along.