| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1"Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. | 1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. |
| 2"Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her that her time of warfare is over, that her punishment is completed. For the LORD has made her pay double for all her sins." | 2Speak 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. |
| 3A voice cries out, "In the wilderness clear a way for the LORD; construct in the desert a road for our God. | 3A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. |
| 4Every valley must be elevated, and every mountain and hill leveled. The rough terrain will become a level plain, the rugged landscape a wide valley. | 4Every 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. |
| 5The splendor of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it at the same time. For the LORD has decreed it." | 5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” |
| 6A voice says, "Cry out!" Another asks, "What should I cry out?" The first voice responds: "All people are like grass, and all their promises are like the flowers in the field. | 6A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. |
| 7The grass dries up, the flowers wither, when the wind sent by the LORD blows on them. Surely humanity is like grass. | 7The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. |
| 8The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable." | 8The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. |
| 9Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion! Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! Shout, don't be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" | 9Go on 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!” |
| 10Look, the sovereign LORD comes as a victorious warrior; his military power establishes his rule. Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him. | 10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. |
| 11Like a shepherd he tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart; he leads the ewes along. | 11He 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. |
| 12Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand, or carefully measured the sky, or carefully weighed the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales? | 12Who 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? |
| 13Who comprehends the mind of the LORD, or gives him instruction as his counselor? | 13Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? |
| 14From whom does he receive directions? Who teaches him the correct way to do things, or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design? | 14Whom 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? |
| 15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust. | 15Behold, 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. |
| 16Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. | 16Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. |
| 17All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing. | 17All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. |
| 18To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him? | 18To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? |
| 19A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it. | 19An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. |
| 20To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over. | 20He 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. |
| 21Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth's foundations were made? | 21Do 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? |
| 22He is the one who sits on the earth's horizon; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, and spreads it out like a pitched tent. | 22It 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; |
| 23He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth's leaders insignificant. | 23who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. |
| 24Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw. | 24Scarcely 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. |
| 25"To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?" says the Holy One. | 25To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. |
| 26Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing. | 26Lift 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. |
| 27Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel, "The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me, My God is not concerned with my vindication"? | 27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? |
| 28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. | 28Have 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. |
| 29He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. | 29He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. |
| 30Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. | 30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; |
| 31But those who wait for the LORD's help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles' wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired. | 31but 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. |
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