Isaiah 40

1Give comfort, give comfort, to my people, says your God.

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith yourGod.

2Say kind words to the heart of Jerusalem, crying out to her that her time of trouble is ended, that her punishment is complete; that she has been rewarded by the Lord's hand twice over for all her sins.

2Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her time of suffering is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.

3A voice of one crying, Make ready in the waste land the way of the Lord, make level in the lowland a highway for our God.

3The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for ourGod!

4Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough places become level, and the hilltops become a valley,

4Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain.

5And the glory of the Lord will be made clear, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has said it.

5And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see [it] together: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.

6A voice of one saying, Give a cry! And I said, What is my cry to be? All flesh is grass, and all its strength like the flower of the field.

6A voice saith, Cry. And he saith, What shall I cry? — All flesh is grass, and all the comeliness thereof as the flower of the field.

7The grass becomes dry, the flower is dead; because the breath of the Lord goes over it: truly the people is grass.

7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, for the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8The grass is dry, the flower is dead; but the word of our God is eternal.

8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of ourGod abideth for ever.

9You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God!

9O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up into a high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest glad tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold yourGod!

10See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him.

10Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come with might, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.

11He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.

11He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom; he will gently lead those that give suck.

12In the hollow of whose hand have the waters been measured? and who is able to take the heavens in his stretched-out fingers? who has got together the dust of the earth in a measure? who has taken the weight of the mountains, or put the hills into the scales?

12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with [his] span, and grasped the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales?

13By whom has the spirit of the Lord been guided, or who has been his teacher?

13Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and, [as] his counsellor, hath taught him?

14Who gave him suggestions, and made clear to him the right way? who gave him knowledge, guiding him in the way of wisdom?

14With whom took he counsel, and [who] gave him intelligence, and instructed him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding?

15See, the nations are to him like a drop hanging from a bucket, and like the small dust in the scales: he takes up the islands like small dust.

15Behold, the nations are esteemed as a drop of the bucket, and as the fine dust on the scales; behold, he taketh up the isles as an atom.

16And Lebanon is not enough to make a fire with, or all its cattle enough for a burned offering.

16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

17All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value.

17All the nations are as nothing before him; they are esteemed by him less than a cipher, and vanity.

18Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him?

18To whom then will ye likenGod? and what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it.

19The workman casteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains [for it].

20The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.

20He that is impoverished, so that he hath no offering, chooseth a tree that doth not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilled workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

21Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? has not news of it been given to you from the first? has it not been clear to you from the time when the earth was placed on its base?

21— Do ye not know? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundation of the earth?

22It is he who is seated over the arch of the earth, and the people in it are as small as locusts; by him the heavens are stretched out like an arch, and made ready like a tent for a living-place.

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 gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;

23He makes rulers come to nothing; the judges of the earth are of no value.

23that bringeth the princes to nothing, that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass.

24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely hath their stock taken root in the earth, but he also bloweth upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

25Who then seems to you to be my equal? says the Holy One.

25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places.

26Lift up your eyes on high, and see! Who hath created these things, bringing out their host by number? He calleth them all by name; through the greatness of his might and strength of power, not one faileth.

27Why do you say, O Jacob, such words as these, O Israel, The Lord's eyes are not on my way, and my God gives no attention to my cause?

27Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and my right is passed away from myGod?

28Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom.

28Dost thou not know, hast thou not heard, that the everlastingGod, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not nor tireth? There is no searching of his understanding.

29He gives power to the feeble, increasing the strength of him who has no force.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.

30Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength;

30Even the youths shall faint and shall tire, and the young men shall stumble and fall;

31But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.

31but they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew [their] strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not tire; they shall walk, and not faint.