Font Size
Isaiah 40
Living Bible
Isaiah 40
Living Bible
40 “Comfort, yes, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her sad days are gone. Her sins are pardoned, and I have punished her in full for all her sins.”
3 Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, “Make a road for the Lord through the wilderness; make him a straight, smooth road through the desert. 4 Fill the valleys; level the hills; straighten out the crooked paths, and smooth off the rough spots in the road. 5 The glory of the Lord will be seen by all mankind together.” The Lord has spoken—it shall be.
6 The voice says, “Shout!”
“What shall I shout?” I asked.
“Shout that man is like the grass that dies away, and all his beauty fades like dying flowers. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades beneath the breath of God. And so it is with fragile man. 8 The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever.”
9 O crier of good news, shout to Jerusalem from the mountaintops! Shout louder—don’t be afraid—tell the cities of Judah, “Your God is coming!” 10 Yes, the Lord God is coming with mighty power; he will rule with awesome strength. See, his reward is with him, to each as he has done. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will carry the lambs in his arms and gently lead the ewes with young.
12 Who else has held the oceans in his hands and measured off the heavens with his ruler? Who else knows the weight of all the earth and weighs the mountains and the hills? 13 Who can advise the Spirit of the Lord or be his teacher or give him counsel? 14 Has he ever needed anyone’s advice? Did he need instruction as to what is right and best? 15 No, for all the peoples of the world are nothing in comparison with him—they are but a drop in the bucket, dust on the scales. He picks up the islands as though they had no weight at all. 16 All of Lebanon’s forests do not contain sufficient fuel to consume a sacrifice large enough to honor him, nor are all its animals enough to offer to our God. 17 All the nations are as nothing to him; in his eyes they are less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.
18 How can we describe God? With what can we compare him? 19 With an idol? An idol made from a mold, overlaid with gold, and with silver chains around its neck? 20 The man too poor to buy expensive gods like that will find a tree free from rot and hire a man to carve a face on it, and that’s his god—a god that cannot even move!
21 Are you so ignorant? Are you so deaf to the words of God—the words he gave before the world began? Have you never heard nor understood? 22 It is God who sits above the circle of the earth. (The people below must seem to him like grasshoppers!) He is the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 23 He dooms the great men of the world and brings them all to naught. 24 They hardly get started, barely take root, when he blows on them and their work withers, and the wind carries them off like straw.
25 “With whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up into the heavens! Who created all these stars? As a shepherd leads his sheep,[a] calling each by its pet name, and counts them to see that none are lost or strayed, so God does with stars and planets!
27 O Jacob, O Israel, how can you say that the Lord doesn’t see your troubles and isn’t being fair? 28 Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. 30 Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. 31 But they that wait upon 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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:26 As a shepherd leads his sheep, implied.
Isaiah 40
New International Version
Isaiah 40
New International Version
Comfort for God’s People
40 Comfort, comfort(A) my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly(B) to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service(C) has been completed,(D)
that her sin has been paid for,(E)
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double(F) for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way(G) for the Lord[a];
make straight(H) in the desert
a highway for our God.[b](I)
4 Every valley shall be raised up,(J)
every mountain and hill(K) made low;
the rough ground shall become level,(L)
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory(M) of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.(N)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”(O)
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,(P)
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers(Q) and the flowers fall,
because the breath(R) of the Lord blows(S) on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers(T) fall,
but the word(U) of our God endures(V) forever.(W)”
9 You who bring good news(X) to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c](Y)
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”(Z)
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes(AA) with power,(AB)
and he rules(AC) with a mighty arm.(AD)
See, his reward(AE) is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:(AF)
He gathers the lambs in his arms(AG)
and carries them close to his heart;(AH)
he gently leads(AI) those that have young.(AJ)
12 Who has measured the waters(AK) in the hollow of his hand,(AL)
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?(AM)
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?(AN)
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d](AO) of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?(AP)
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,(AQ)
or showed him the path of understanding?(AR)
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;(AS)
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.(AT)
16 Lebanon(AU) is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals(AV) enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations(AW) are as nothing;(AX)
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.(AY)
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?(AZ)
To what image(BA) will you liken him?
19 As for an idol,(BB) a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith(BC) overlays it with gold(BD)
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood(BE) that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol(BF) that will not topple.(BG)
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(BH)
Has it not been told(BI) you from the beginning?(BJ)
Have you not understood(BK) since the earth was founded?(BL)
22 He sits enthroned(BM) above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.(BN)
He stretches out the heavens(BO) like a canopy,(BP)
and spreads them out like a tent(BQ) to live in.(BR)
23 He brings princes(BS) to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.(BT)
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root(BU) in the ground,
than he blows(BV) on them and they wither,(BW)
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.(BX)
25 “To whom will you compare me?(BY)
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.(BZ)
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:(CA)
Who created(CB) all these?
He who brings out the starry host(CC) one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,(CD)
not one of them is missing.(CE)
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?(CF)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(CG)
The Lord is the everlasting(CH) God,
the Creator(CI) of the ends of the earth.(CJ)
He will not grow tired or weary,(CK)
and his understanding no one can fathom.(CL)
29 He gives strength(CM) to the weary(CN)
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men(CO) stumble and fall;(CP)
31 but those who hope(CQ) in the Lord
will renew their strength.(CR)
They will soar on wings like eagles;(CS)
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.(CT)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one calling in the wilderness: / “Prepare the way for the Lord
- Isaiah 40:3 Hebrew; Septuagint make straight the paths of our God
- Isaiah 40:9 Or Zion, bringer of good news, / go up on a high mountain. / Jerusalem, bringer of good news
- Isaiah 40:13 Or mind
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.