Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid
for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
The way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made
low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it
together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I
cry?”
“All people are like grass,
And all their faithfulness
is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the
Lord blows on them.
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God
endures forever.”
You who bring good news to Zion,
Go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
Lift up your voice with a
shout,
Lift it up, do not be afraid;
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty
arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense
accompanies him.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his
arms
and carries them close to his heart;
He gently leads those that
have young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his
hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on
the scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his
counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right
way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of
understanding?
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
They are regarded as dust on
the scales;
he weighs the islands as
though they were fine dust.
Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for
burnt offerins.
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
With whom, then, will you compare God?
To what image will you liken
him?
As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it
with gold
and fashions silver chains
for it.
A person too poor to present such an offering
Selects wood that will not
rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol that will
not topple.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it is not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understand
since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earh,
and its people are like
grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads
them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught
And reduces the rulers of this world to
nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root
in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
“To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says
the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to
the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them
by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
Not one of them is missing.
Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by
my God”?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of
the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary
and his understanding no one
can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow
weary,
they will walk and not be
faint.
Isaiah 40
