Isaiah 40
1. Comfort * ye, comfort * ye my people, saith * your God.
2. Speak * ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry * unto her, that her warfare is accomplished * , that her iniquity is pardoned * : for she hath received * of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
3. The voice of him that crieth * in the wilderness, Prepare * ye the way of the LORD, make straight * in the desert a highway for our God.
4. Every valley shall be exalted * , and every mountain and hill shall be made low * : and the crooked shall be made straight,and the rough places plain:
5. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed * , and all flesh shall see * it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken * it.
6. The voice said * , Cry * . And he said * , What shall I cry * ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7. The grass withereth * , the flower fadeth * : because the spirit of the LORD bloweth * upon it: surely the people is grass.
8. The grass withereth * , the flower fadeth * : but the word of our God shall stand * for ever.
9. O Zion, that bringest good tidings * , get thee up * into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings * , lift up * thy voice with strength; lift it up * , be not afraid * ; say * unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God !
10. Behold, the Lord GOD will come * with strong hand, and his arm shall rule * for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11. He shall feed * his flock like a shepherd * : he shall gather * the lambs with his arm, and carry * them in his bosom, and shall gently lead * those that are with young * .
12. Who hath measured * the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out * heaven with the span, and comprehended * the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed * the mountains in scales,and the hills in a balance?
13. Who hath directed * the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught * him?
14. With whom took he counsel * , and who instructed * him, and taught * him in the path of judgment, and taught * him knowledge, and shewed * to him the way of understanding?
15. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted * as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up * the isles as a very little thing.
16. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn * , nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted * to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18. To whom then will ye liken * God? or what likeness will ye compare * unto him?
19. The workman melteth * a graven image, and the goldsmith * spreadeth * it over with gold, and casteth * silver chains.
20. He that is so impoverished * that he hath no oblation chooseth * a tree that will not rot * ; he seeketh * unto him a cunning workman to prepare * a graven image, that shall not be moved * .
21. Have ye not known * ? have ye not heard * ? hath it not been told * you from the beginning? have ye not understood * from the foundations of the earth?
22. It is he that sitteth * upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants * thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out * the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out * as a tent to dwell in * :
23. That bringeth * the princes * to nothing; he maketh * the judges * of the earth as vanity.
24. Yea, they shall not be planted * ; yea, they shall not be sown * : yea, their stock shall not take root * in the earth: and he shall also blow * upon them, and they shall wither * , and the whirlwind shall take * them away as stubble.
25. To whom then will ye liken * me, or shall I be equal * ? saith * the Holy One.
26. Lift up * your eyes on high,and behold * who hath created * these things, that bringeth out * their host by number: he calleth * them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth * .
27. Why sayest * thou, O Jacob, and speakest * , O Israel, My way is hid * from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over * from my God?
28. Hast thou not known * ? hast thou not heard * , that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator * of the ends of the earth, fainteth * not, neither is weary * ? there is no searching of his understanding.
29. He giveth * power to the faint;and to them that have no might he increaseth * strength.
30. Even the youths shall faint * and be weary * , and the young men shall utterly * fall * :
31. But they that wait * upon the LORD shall renew * their strength; they shall mount up * with wings as eagles; they shall run * , and not be weary * ; and they shall walk * , and not faint * .
