Isaiah 40
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
God’s People Comforted
40 ‘Comfort, comfort my people,’(A)
says your God.
2 ‘Speak tenderly to[a] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of hard service is over,
her iniquity(B) has been pardoned,(C)
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.’(D)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(E)
make a straight road for our God in the desert.(F)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be levelled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(G)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(H)
and all humanity[b] together will see it,(I)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(J)
6 A voice was saying, ‘Cry out! ’
Another said,[c] ‘What should I cry out? ’
‘All humanity is grass,(K)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(L)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[d] of the Lord blows on them;[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(M)
but the word of our God remains for ever.’(N)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(O)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(P)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God! ’(Q)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and his power establishes his rule.(R)
His wages are with him,(S)
and his reward accompanies him.
11 He protects his flock like a shepherd;(T)
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(U)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
13 Who has instructed[f] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave him counsel?(V)
14 Whom did he consult?
Who gave him understanding(W)
and taught him the paths of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(X)
17 All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are considered by him
as empty nothingness.(Y)
18 With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?(Z)
19 An idol? – something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?(AA)
20 A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(AB)
21 Do you not know?(AC)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(AD)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(AE)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(AF)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(AG)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(AH)
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(AI)
25 ‘To whom will you compare me,(AJ)
or who is my equal? ’ asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see!
Who created(AK) these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.(AL)
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God’?(AM)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,(AN)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.(AO)
29 He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(AP)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(AQ)
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
Jesaja 40
Svenska Folkbibeln 2015
I. SION OCH FRÄLSNINGEN FRÅN ASSUR-BABEL (Kap 40-48)
Herren tröstar sitt folk
40 (A) Trösta, trösta mitt folk!
säger er Gud.
2 Tala till Jerusalems hjärta
och förkunna för det
att dess vedermöda är slut,
att dess skuld är försonad,
och att det fått dubbelt igen
av Herrens hand
för alla sina synder.
3 (B) En röst ropar i öknen:
"Bana väg för Herren,
gör vägen rak i ödemarken
för vår Gud.[a]
4 Varje dal ska höjas,
alla berg och höjder sänkas.
Ojämn mark ska jämnas,
kuperat land bli slät mark.
5 Herrens härlighet ska uppenbaras,
alla människor ska se det
tillsammans,
för Herrens mun har talat."
6 (C) Hör, någon säger: "Predika!"
Och en annan[b] svarar:
"Vad ska jag predika?"
"Allt kött är gräs,
och all dess härlighet
som blomman på marken.[c]
7 Gräset vissnar,
blomman faller av
när Herrens Ande blåser på det.
Ja, folket är gräs!
8 (D) Gräset vissnar,
blomman faller av,
men vår Guds ord består för evigt."
9 Sion, du glädjens budbärarinna,
stig upp på ett högt berg.
Jerusalem,
du glädjens budbärarinna,[d]
höj din röst med kraft!
Höj den utan fruktan,
säg till Juda städer:
"Se er Gud!"
10 (E) Ja, Herren Gud kommer med kraft,
hans arm visar sin makt.
Se, han har med sig sin lön,
hans segerbyte
går framför honom.
11 (F) Han vallar sin hjord som en herde,
han samlar lammen i sina armar
och bär dem i sin famn.
Sakta för han moderfåren fram.
Ingen kan liknas vid Gud
12 (G) Vem har mätt vattnen
i sin kupade hand
och mätt upp himlens vidd
med sina fingrar?
Vem har samlat jordens stoft
i ett mått,
vägt bergen på en våg
och höjderna i en vågskål?
13 (H) Vem har utforskat Herrens Ande?
Vem kan ge honom råd
och undervisa honom?[e]
14 Vem rådfrågar han,
vem ska ge honom förstånd
och lära honom den rätta stigen,
lära honom kunskap
och visa honom förståndets väg?
15 (I) Se, folken är som en droppe
i en spann,
som ett dammkorn i en vågskål.
Kustländerna lyfter han
som ett stoftkorn.
16 Libanons skog
räcker inte till offerved,
dess djur inte till brännoffer.
17 Alla folk är som ingenting
inför honom,
mindre än noll och tomhet
anser han dem vara.
18 (J) Vem vill ni likna Gud vid?
Vad vill ni jämföra honom med?
19 (K) Hantverkaren gjuter en gudabild,
och guldsmeden belägger den
med guld
och smider silverkedjor.
20 Den som inte har råd
att offra så mycket
väljer ett stycke trä
som inte ruttnar.
Sedan söker han
en skicklig hantverkare
som kan forma en gudabild
som inte faller omkull.
21 Vet ni inte det?
Har ni inte hört?
Har det inte förkunnats för er
från begynnelsen?
Har ni inte förstått det
sedan jordens grund blev lagd?
22 (L) För honom som tronar
över jordens rund
är dess invånare som gräshoppor.
Han breder ut himlen som ett flor,
spänner ut den som ett tält
att bo under.
23 (M) Han gör furstar till intet,
förvandlar jordens domare
till tomhet.
24 Knappt är de planterade,
knappt är de sådda,
knappt har deras stam
slagit rot i jorden,
så blåser han på dem
och de förtorkar,
och en stormvind
för bort dem som strå.
25 Vem vill ni då likna mig vid,
vem är min like?
säger den Helige.
26 (N) Lyft blicken mot höjden och se:
Vem har skapat allt detta?
Det är han som för fram härskaran
däruppe i räknade skaror.
Med sin stora makt
och sin väldiga kraft
nämner han dem alla vid namn –
ingen enda uteblir.
27 Hur kan du Jakob säga,
du Israel påstå:
"Min väg är dold för Herren,
Gud bryr sig inte om min rätt"?
28 Vet du inte? Har du inte hört
att Herren är en evig Gud
som har skapat jordens ändar?
Han blir inte trött och mattas inte,
hans förstånd kan inte utforskas.
29 Han ger den trötte kraft
och ökar den maktlöses styrka.
30 Ynglingar kan bli trötta och ge upp,
unga män kan falla.
31 (O) Men de som hoppas på Herren
får ny kraft,
de lyfter med vingar som örnar.
De springer utan att mattas,
de vandrar utan att bli trötta.
Footnotes
- 40:3f Citeras i Luk 3:4f, Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3 och Joh 1:23 som profetia om Johannes Döparen.
- 40:6 en annan Jesajarullen från Qumran och Septuaginta: "jag".
- 40:6f Citeras av Petrus i 1 Petr 1:24f.
- 40:9 Sion … Jerusalem, du glädjens budbärarinna Annan översättning: "Du som bär glädjebud till Sion/Jerusalem".
- 40:13 Citeras av Paulus i Rom 11:34 och 1 Kor 2:16.
Isaiah 40
King James Version
40 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
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Svenska Folkbibeln 2015, Copyright © 2015 by Svenska Folkbibeln Foundation