Isaiah 40

New American Standard Bible

The Greatness of God

40 “^(A)Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
²“^(B)Speak ^[a]kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her ^[b]^(C)warfare has ended,
That her ^[c]^(D)guilt has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
^(E)Double for all her sins.”

³^(F)The voice of one calling out,
“^(G)Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make ^[d]straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the uneven ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
⁵^[e]Then the ^(H)glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And ^(I)all flesh will see it together;
For the ^(J)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶A voice says, “Call out.”
Then ^[f]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
^(K)All flesh is grass, and all its ^[g]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷The ^(L)grass withers, the flower fades,
^[h]When the ^(M)breath of the Lord blows upon it;
The people are indeed grass!
⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,
But ^(N)the word of our God stands forever.

⁹Go up on a ^(O)high mountain,
Zion, messenger of ^(P)good news,
Raise your voice forcefully,
Jerusalem, messenger of good news;
Raise it up, do not fear.
Say to the ^(Q)cities of Judah,
“^(R)Here is your God!”
¹⁰Behold, the Lord ^[i]God will come ^(S)with might,
With His ^(T)arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His ^(U)compensation is with Him,
And His reward before Him.
¹¹Like a shepherd He will ^(V)tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in the fold of His robe;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹²Who has ^(W)measured the ^[j]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And measured the heavens with a ^[k]span,
And ^[l]calculated the dust of the earth with a measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
¹³^(X)Who has ^[m]directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His ^(Y)counselor has informed Him?
¹⁴^(Z)With whom did He consult and who ^(AA)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge,
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
¹⁵Behold, the ^(AB)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of ^(AC)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the ^[n]islands like fine dust.
¹⁶Even Lebanon is not enough to ^[o]burn,
Nor its ^(AD)animals enough for a burnt offering.
¹⁷^(AE)All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and ^[p]meaningless.

¹⁸^(AF)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
¹⁹As for the ^[q]^(AG)idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith ^(AH)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
²⁰He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a ^(AI)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To ^[r]prepare ^[s]an idol that ^(AJ)will not totter.

²¹^(AK)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood ^(AL)from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is He who ^[t]sits above the ^[u]^(AM)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like ^(AN)grasshoppers,
Who ^(AO)stretches out the heavens like a ^(AP)curtain
And spreads them out like a ^(AQ)tent to live in.
²³It is He who reduces ^(AR)rulers to nothing,
Who ^(AS)makes the judges of the earth ^[v]meaningless.
²⁴^[w]Scarcely have they been planted,
^[x]Scarcely have they been sown,
^[y]Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the ^(AT)storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵“^(AU)To whom then will you compare Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶^(AV)Raise your eyes on high
And see ^(AW)who has created these stars,
The ^(AX)One who brings out their ^[z]multitude by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the ^(AY)greatness of His might and the ^[aa]strength of His power,
^(AZ)Not one of them is missing.

²⁷^(BA)Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel,
“My way is ^(BB)hidden from the Lord,
And the ^(BC)justice due me ^[ab]escapes the notice of ^(BD)my God”?
²⁸^(BE)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The ^(BF)Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is ^(BG)unsearchable.
²⁹He gives strength to the ^(BH)weary,
And to the one who lacks might He ^(BI)increases power.
³⁰Though ^(BJ)youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous ^(BK)young men stumble badly,
³¹Yet those who ^[ac]wait for the Lord
Will ^(BL)gain new strength;
They will ^[ad]^(BM)mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.