Isaiah Chapter 40
Comfort for God’s People
40:1“Comfort, comfort my people,” your God says.
2“Speak graciously to Jerusalem;
tell it that its warfare’s over,
its iniquity’s removed,
it’s received from Yahveh
double for its sins.”
Is 40:1-2
3 A voice is calling,
“Build a road for Yahveh in the desert;
make a smooth highway for our God.
4 Fill every pothole,
level off every bump and high spot.
Smooth the rough ground
and make rugged terrain like a wide valley.
5 Then the glory of Yahveh will come;
everyone will see it together.”
Yahveh has said so.
Is 40:3-5
6 A voice said, “Shout.”
I answered, “Shout what?”
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in a field.
7 Grass withers and flowers fade
when Yahveh blows on them;
people are like that.
8 Grass withers and flowers fade,
but Yahveh’s word stands forever.”
Is 40:6-8
9 Climb a high mountain,
Zion, messenger with good news;
shout it out;
shout it louder;
don’t hold back;
tell the towns in Judah, “Your God is coming!”
10 He’ll come with power
to rule with his strong arm;
he’ll bring his reward with him.
11 He’ll tend his flock like a shepherd;
he’ll pick up the lambs in his arms
and carry them against his chest,
and gently lead the nursing ewes.
Is 40:9-11
12 Who else has measured the ocean in the palm of his hand
or the sky with a span,
or counted the dust?
Who else has weighed the mountains in a scales
or the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed Yahveh’s Spirit
or instructed him as his advisor?
14 Who did he consult for enlightenment?
Who taught him what’s good?
15 The nations are just a drop in the bucket,
a piece of sand on a scales;
he picks up islands like specks of dust.
16 Lebanon couldn’t provide enough wood
or its animals be sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations amount to nothing in front of him;
they’re of no consequence compared to him.
Is 40:12-17
18 Who can we compare God to?
What’s he like?
19 An idol is something an artisan makes,
a goldsmith plates with gold,
a silversmith makes silver chains for.
20 People too poor for such an offering
select wood that won’t rot
and find a skilled craftsman
to prepare an idol that won’t fall over.
Is 40:18-20
21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you know?
Didn’t anybody tell you at the beginning of the earth that
22 the One who sits above the circle of the earth,
whose inhabitants are like grasshoppers to him—
he’s the One that stretches out the sky like a curtain,
spreads it out like a tent to live under.
23 He’s the One that dethrones rulers
and unseats judges.
24 They’ve hardly been planted,
hardly sown, hardly taken root,
when he blows on them and they wither,
and the wind carries them off like chaff.
25 Who can you compare him with;
who’s his equal?
26 Look up and see who created those stars,
who leads the host of them out in full number
and calls each one by name;
because of his great power and strength,
not a one of them is missing.
Is 40:21-26
27 Jacob, why do you think
Yahveh can’t see what you’re going through,
that he doesn’t notice the justice you deserve?
28 Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The eternal God, Yahveh,
the creator of the earth, doesn’t get tired;
no one can measure his intelligence.
29 He gives stamina to the tired
and increases strength in the weak.
Is 40:27-29
30 Even youths get weary;
young men collapse exhausted;
31 but those who trust in Yahveh
keep finding new strength;
they walk and don’t get weary;
they run and don’t get tired;
they soar up on wings like eagles.
Is 40:30-31