Isaiah chapter 40 Comfort, comfort my people, says
your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is
pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. A voice cries, In the wilderness
prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted
up, And every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground
shall become level, And the rough places a plain. and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." A voice says, And I
said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its
beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers,
the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely
the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but
the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high
mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Lift up your voice with
strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, fear
not. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold
your God! Behold, the Lord God comes with
might, And His arm rules for Him. Behold, His reward is with
Him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like
a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his
arms. He will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens
with a span? enclosed the dust of the earth
in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills
in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of
the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like
a drop from a bucket, And are accounted as the dust on the
scales. Behold, he takes up the coastlands
like fine dust. Lebanon will not suffice for
fuel, Nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the
nations are as nothing before Him. They are accounted by Him
as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness compare with
Him? An idol? A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for its silver
chains. He who is too impoverished for
an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks out a
skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from
the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle
of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches
out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent
to dwell in, who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers
of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely
sown, Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, When
he blows on them, and they wither, And the tempest carries them
off like stubble. To whom then will you compare
me? That I should be like him, says
the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and
see, Who created these? He who brings out their host
by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His
might, and because He is strong in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and
speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and My right is
disregarded by My God? Have you not known? Have you
not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,
the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow
weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might,
He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be
weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait
for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. you