Comfort for God's People

40 (A)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
(B)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that (C)her warfare[a] is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

(D)A voice cries:[b]
(E)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    (F)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
(G)Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
(H)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    (I)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said,[c] “What shall I cry?”
(J)All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty[d] is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
(K)The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, (L)herald of good news;[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
10 (M)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
(N)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
11 (O)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    (P)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
(Q)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
  2. Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying
  3. Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
  4. Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy
  5. Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
  6. Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem

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