VerseAI

NIV

Isaiah 40

  1. 1<pb/><t>Comfort, comfort my people,</t> <t>says your God.</t>
  2. 2<t>Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,</t> <t>and proclaim to her</t> <t>that her hard service has been completed,</t> <t>that her sin has been paid for,</t> <t>that she has received from the LORD’s hand</t> <t>double for all her sins. <pb/></t>
  3. 3<t>A voice of one calling:</t> <t>“In the wilderness prepare</t> <t>the way for the LORD<f>[77]</f>;</t> <t>make straight in the desert</t> <t>a highway for our God.<f>[78]</f></t>
  4. 4<t>Every valley shall be raised up,</t> <t>every mountain and hill made low;</t> <t>the rough ground shall become level,</t> <t>the rugged places a plain.</t>
  5. 5<t>And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,</t> <t>and all people will see it together.</t> <t>For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” <pb/></t>
  6. 6<t>A voice says, “Cry out.”</t> <t>And I said, “What shall I cry?” <pb/>“All people are like grass,</t> <t>and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.</t>
  7. 7<t>The grass withers and the flowers fall,</t> <t>because the breath of the LORD blows on them.</t> <t>Surely the people are grass.</t>
  8. 8<t>The grass withers and the flowers fall,</t> <t>but the word of our God endures forever.” <pb/></t>
  9. 9<t>You who bring good news to Zion,</t> <t>go up on a high mountain.</t> <t>You who bring good news to Jerusalem,<f>[79]</f></t> <t>lift up your voice with a shout,</t> <t>lift it up, do not be afraid;</t> <t>say to the towns of Judah,</t> <t>“Here is your God!”</t>
  10. 10<t>See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,</t> <t>and he rules with a mighty arm.</t> <t>See, his reward is with him,</t> <t>and his recompense accompanies him.</t>
  11. 11<t>He tends his flock like a shepherd:</t> <t>He gathers the lambs in his arms</t> <t>and carries them close to his heart;</t> <t>he gently leads those that have young. <pb/></t>
  12. 12<t>Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,</t> <t>or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?</t> <t>Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,</t> <t>or weighed the mountains on the scales</t> <t>and the hills in a balance?</t>
  13. 13<t>Who can fathom the Spirit<f>[80]</f> of the LORD,</t> <t>or instruct the LORD as his counselor?</t>
  14. 14<t>Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,</t> <t>and who taught him the right way?</t> <t>Who was it that taught him knowledge,</t> <t>or showed him the path of understanding? <pb/></t>
  15. 15<t>Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;</t> <t>they are regarded as dust on the scales;</t> <t>he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.</t>
  16. 16<t>Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,</t> <t>nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.</t>
  17. 17<t>Before him all the nations are as nothing;</t> <t>they are regarded by him as worthless</t> <t>and less than nothing. <pb/></t>
  18. 18<t>With whom, then, will you compare God?</t> <t>To what image will you liken him?</t>
  19. 19<t>As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,</t> <t>and a goldsmith overlays it with gold</t> <t>and fashions silver chains for it.</t>
  20. 20<t>A person too poor to present such an offering</t> <t>selects wood that will not rot;</t> <t>they look for a skilled worker</t> <t>to set up an idol that will not topple. <pb/></t>
  21. 21<t>Do you not know?</t> <t>Have you not heard?</t> <t>Has it not been told you from the beginning?</t> <t>Have you not understood since the earth was founded?</t>
  22. 22<t>He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,</t> <t>and its people are like grasshoppers.</t> <t>He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,</t> <t>and spreads them out like a tent to live in.</t>
  23. 23<t>He brings princes to naught</t> <t>and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.</t>
  24. 24<t>No sooner are they planted,</t> <t>no sooner are they sown,</t> <t>no sooner do they take root in the ground,</t> <t>than he blows on them and they wither,</t> <t>and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. <pb/></t>
  25. 25<t>“To whom will you compare me?</t> <t>Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.</t>
  26. 26<t>Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:</t> <t>Who created all these?</t> <t>He who brings out the starry host one by one</t> <t>and calls forth each of them by name.</t> <t>Because of his great power and mighty strength,</t> <t>not one of them is missing. <pb/></t>
  27. 27<t>Why do you complain, Jacob?</t> <t>Why do you say, Israel,</t> <t>“My way is hidden from the LORD;</t> <t>my cause is disregarded by my God”?</t>
  28. 28<t>Do you not know?</t> <t>Have you not heard?</t> <t>The LORD is the everlasting God,</t> <t>the Creator of the ends of the earth.</t> <t>He will not grow tired or weary,</t> <t>and his understanding no one can fathom.</t>
  29. 29<t>He gives strength to the weary</t> <t>and increases the power of the weak.</t>
  30. 30<t>Even youths grow tired and weary,</t> <t>and young men stumble and fall;</t>
  31. 31<t>but those who hope in the LORD</t> <t>will renew their strength.</t> <t>They will soar on wings like eagles;</t> <t>they will run and not grow weary,</t> <t>they will walk and not be faint.</t>