| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. | 1"Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. |
| 2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins.” | 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." |
| 3Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! | 3A voice cries out, "In the wilderness clear a way for the LORD; construct in the desert a road for our God. |
| 4Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. | 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. |
| 5Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!” | 5The splendor of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it at the same time. For the LORD has decreed it." |
| 6A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. | 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. |
| 7The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. | 7The grass dries up, the flowers wither, when the wind sent by the LORD blows on them. Surely humanity is like grass. |
| 8The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” | 8The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable." |
| 9O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” | 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!" |
| 10Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. | 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. |
| 11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. The LORD Has No Equal | 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. |
| 12Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? | 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? |
| 13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? | 13Who comprehends the mind of the LORD, or gives him instruction as his counselor? |
| 14Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? | 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? |
| 15No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. | 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. |
| 16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. | 16Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. |
| 17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth. | 17All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing. |
| 18To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? | 18To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him? |
| 19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? | 19A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it. |
| 20Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down! | 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. |
| 21Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God— the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? | 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? |
| 22God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. | 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. |
| 23He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. | 23He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth's leaders insignificant. |
| 24They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. | 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. |
| 25“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. | 25"To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?" says the Holy One. |
| 26Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. | 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. |
| 27O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? | 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"? |
| 28Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. | 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. |
| 29He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. | 29He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. |
| 30Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. | 30Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. |
| 31But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. | 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. |
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