40:1  " Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God.

40:2  " Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has become removed, That she has received of the LORD'S hand Double for all her sins."

40:3   A voice calls," Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

40:4  "Let every valley become lifted up, And every mountain and hill God will make low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

40:5  Then the glory of the LORD will become revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

40:6  A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh appears as grass, and all its loveliness resembles the flower of the field.

40:7  The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people resemble grass.

40:8  The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

40:9  Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear Say to the cities of Judah, " Here you will find your God!"

40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him Behold, His reward He has with Him And His recompense before Him.

40:11  Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

40:12  Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?

40:13  Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him?

40:14  With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding?

40:15  Behold, the nations seem like a drop from a bucket, And He regards them as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

40:16  Even Lebanon does not seem enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

40:17   All the nations have become as nothing before Him,He regards them as less than nothing and meaningless.

40:18   To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

40:19  As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.

40:20  He who has become too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter.

40:21  Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has God not declared it to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

40:22  He sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants resemble grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

40:23  He reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

40:24   Scarcely have they planted anything, Scarcely have they sown anything, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.

40:25  " To whom then will you liken Me That I would seem his equal?" says the Holy One.

40:26   Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them has gone missing.

40:27   Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "I can hide my way from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?

40:28   Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired His understanding we find inscrutable.

40:29  He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.

40:30  Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,

40:31  Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.