Isaiah 40

Modern

Literal

Prepare the Way for the LORD

¹“Comfort, comfort My people,”

says your God.

¹“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.

²“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and proclaim to her

that her forced labor has been completed;

her iniquity has been pardoned.

For she has received from the hand of the LORD

double for all her sins.”

²“Speak upon the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her, that her service has been fulfilled, that her iniquity has been pardoned, for she has received from the hand of YHWH double for all her sins.”

³A voice of one calling:

“Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness;^a

make a straight highway for our God in the desert.^b

³The voice of one calling in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH, make straight in the desert plain a highway for our God.

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill made low;

the uneven ground will become smooth,

and the rugged land a plain.^a

⁴Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked will become straight, and the rugged a plain;

⁵And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all humanity together will see it.”^a

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

⁵and the glory of YHWH will be revealed, and all flesh together will see it. For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”

The Enduring Word

⁶A voice says, “Cry out!”

And I asked, “What should I cry out?”

“All flesh is like grass,

and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

⁶The voice of one saying: “Call out!” And he said, “What shall I call out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

⁷The grass withers and the flowers fall

when the breath of the LORD blows on them;

indeed, the people are grass.

⁷The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of YHWH blows on it. Surely the people are grass.

⁸The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever.”^a

⁸The grass withers, the flower fades, and the word of our God stands forever.”

Here Is Your God!

⁹Go up on a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news.

Raise your voice loudly,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news.

Lift it up,^a

do not be afraid!

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

⁹Upon a high mountain go up yourself, O Zion, bringing news! Lift up with strength your voice to Jerusalem, bringing news! Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

¹⁰Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,

and His arm establishes His rule.

His reward is with Him,

and His recompense accompanies Him.

¹⁰Behold, the Lord YHWH will come with might, and His arm will rule for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His work is before His face.

¹¹He tends His flock like a shepherd;

He gathers the lambs in His arms

and carries them close to His heart.

He gently leads the nursing ewes.

¹¹Like a shepherd He will pasture His flock; He gathers the lambs with His arm, and in His bosom He carries them, the nursing ones He leads.

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on a scale

and the hills with a balance?

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a handspan, and has held the dust of the earth in a measure, and has weighed the mountains on a scale, and the hills in scales?

¹³Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,^a

or informed Him as His counselor?^b

¹³Who has directed the Spirit of YHWH, or informed Him as the man of His counsel?

¹⁴Whom did He consult to enlighten Him,

and who taught Him the paths of justice?

Who imparted knowledge to Him

and showed Him the way of understanding?

¹⁴With whom did he counsel, and who gave Him understanding and instructed Him in the path of justice? And who taught Him knowledge, and informed Him the way of understanding?

¹⁵Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are considered a speck of dust on the scales;

He lifts up the islands^a like fine dust.

¹⁵Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and they have been reckoned like dust of the scales! Behold, the islands He lifts up like fine dust,

¹⁶Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel,

nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

¹⁶and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, and its beasts are not sufficient for a burnt offering.

¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before Him;

He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are counted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness.

¹⁸To whom will you liken God?

To what image will you compare Him?

¹⁸And to whom would you liken God? And what likeness will you arrange for Him?

¹⁹To an idol that a craftsman casts

and a metalworker overlays with gold

and fits with silver chains?

¹⁹To an idol a craftsman casts, and a metalworker overlays it with gold and fits with chains of silver?

²⁰One lacking such an offering

chooses wood that will not rot.

He seeks a skilled craftsman

to set up an idol that will not topple.

²⁰One bereft of a contribution chooses a tree not rotten, and a skillful craftsman seeks out for himself to prepare a carved image that will not topple?

²¹Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

²¹Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared from the beginning to you? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²²He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth;

its dwellers are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²²He is sitting above the circle of the earth, and its dwellers are like grasshoppers; He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and He spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²³He brings the princes to nothing

and makes the rulers^a of the earth meaningless.

²³The One giving the rulers to nothingness, He makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

²⁴No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown,

no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground,

than He blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

²⁴Yes, they are hardly planted; yes, they are hardly sown; Yes their stem has hardly taken root in the earth. And also He will blow on them, and they will wither, and the tempest will carry them off like the stubble.

²⁵“To whom will you liken Me,

or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.

²⁵“And to whom will you liken Me? Or who is My equal?” Says the Holy One.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high:

Who created all these?

He leads forth the starry host by number;

He calls each one by name.

Because of His great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things—the One having brought forth by number their host. He calls to them all by name; by the greatness of might and the strength of power, not one is missing.

²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,

and why do you assert, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my claim is ignored by my God”?

²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way Is hidden from YHWH, and my claim is passed over by my God”?

²⁸Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary;

His understanding is beyond searching out.

²⁸Have you not known? Or have you not heard? God everlasting is YHWH, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint and He does not grow weary; there is no searching out of His understanding.

²⁹He gives power to the faint

and increases the strength of the weak.

²⁹He gives power to the weary, and to those with no might, He increases strength.

³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall.

³⁰Even youths will faint and grow weary, and young men will stumble and fall;

³¹But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength;

they will mount up with wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.

³¹and those waiting on YHWH will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.