Isaiah 40:1-20 ▼

1 COMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, says your God.

2 Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her, for she was filled with violence and delighted in sin; and she has received from the LORD'S hand double punishment for all her sins.

3 The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the steep place shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth;

5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.

6 The voice says, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field;

7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely this people is like the grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9 O Zion, that brings good tidings, get you up upon the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

10 Behold, the LORD God will come with might, and his arm with strength; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom, and shall feed again those who give suck.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with a span and gathered the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD or who has been to him a counsellor?

14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him and made him to understand the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop out of a bucket, and are counted as the dipping of the balance; behold, the isles shall be cast away like fine dust.

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

17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him for destruction and the sword.

18 To whom then will you liken God? Or to what likeness will you compare him?

19 Is he an image which the carpenter has made and the goldsmith has overlaid with gold and fastened with silver chains?

20 He selects wood that is not worm-eaten; then chooses a carpenter, who fashions it with his skill, to make an image that will not be moved.