40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
God.
40:2 Speak, ye priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her
humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of
the Lord's hand double [the amount of] her sins.
40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight the paths of our God.
40:4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be
brought low: and all the crooked [ways] shall become straight, and the rough
[places] plains.
40:5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the
salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken [it].
40:6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh
is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:
40:7
40:8 The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides
for ever.
40:9 O thou that bringest glad tidings to Zion, go up on the high mountain;
lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest glad tidings to
Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not; say unto the cities of Juda, Behold your
God!
40:10 Behold the Lord! The Lord is coming with strength, and [his] arm is
with power: behold, his reward is with him, and [his] work before him.
40:11 He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs
with his arm, and shall soothe them that are with young.
40:12 Who has measured the water in his hand, and the heaven with a span,
and all the earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in scales, and
the forests in a balance?
40:13 Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor,
to instruct him?
40:14 Or with whom has he taken counsel, and he has instructed him? r who
has taught him judgement, or who has taught him the way of understanding;
40:15 since all the nations are counted as a drop from a bucket, and as the
turning of a balance, [and] shall be counted as spittle?
40:16 And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a
whole-burnt offering:
40:17 and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing.
40:18 To whom have ye compared the Lord? and with what likeness have ye
compared him?
40:19 Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted
gold, gilt it over, [and] made it a similitude?
40:20 For the artificer chooses out a wood that will not rot, and will
wisely enquire how he shall set up his image, and [that so] that it should
not be moved.
40:21 Will ye not know? will ye not hear? has it not been told you of old?
Have ye not known the foundations of the earth?
40:22 [It is] he that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a
chamber, and stretched [it] out as a tent to dwell in:
40:23 he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as
nothing.
40:24 For they shall not plant, neither shall they sow, neither shall their
root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered,
and a storm shall carry them away like sticks.
40:25 Now then to whom have ye compared me, that I may be exalted? saith the
Holy One.
40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has displayed all these
things? [even] he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them
all by name by [means of his] great glory, and by the power of his might:
nothing has escaped thee.
40:27 For say not thou, O Jacob, and why hast thou spoken, Israel, [saying],
My way is hid from God, and my God has taken away [my] judgement, and has
departed?
40:28 And now, hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? the eternal God,
the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary,
and there is no searching of his understanding.
40:29 He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not
suffering.
40:30 For the young [men] shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and
the choice [men] shall be powerless:
40:31 but they that wait on God shall renew [their] strength; they shall put
forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall
walk, and not hunger. |
40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God.
40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the
LORD's hand double for all her sins.
40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain:
40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
40:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD
bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever.
40:9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall
rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs
with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that
are with young.
40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out
heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath
taught him?
40:14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in
the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of
understanding?
40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the
small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little
thing.
40:16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof
sufficient for a burnt offering.
40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him
less than nothing, and vanity.
40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto
him?
40:19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it
over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
40:20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree
that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven
image, that shall not be moved.
40:21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from
the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as
a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
40:23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the
earth as vanity.
40:24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea,
their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon
them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as
stubble.
40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy
One.
40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,
that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the
greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from
the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is
weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he
increaseth strength.
40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall:
40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and
they shall walk, and not faint. |