Isaiah 40
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Isaiah 40
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| Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. | Give comfort, give comfort, to my people, says your God. |
| Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins. | Say kind words to the heart of Jerusalem, crying out to her that her time of trouble is ended, that her punishment is complete; that she has been rewarded by the Lord's hand twice over for all her sins. |
| The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God. | A voice of one crying, Make ready in the waste land the way of the Lord, make level in the lowland a highway for our God. |
| Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain: | Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough places become level, and the hilltops become a valley, |
| and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. | And the glory of the Lord will be made clear, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has said it. |
| The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. | A voice of one saying, Give a cry! And I said, What is my cry to be? All flesh is grass, and all its strength like the flower of the field. |
| The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. | The grass becomes dry, the flower is dead; because the breath of the Lord goes over it: truly the people is grass. |
| The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. | The grass is dry, the flower is dead; but the word of our God is eternal. |
| O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! | You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God! |
| Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. | See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him. |
| He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, [and] will gently lead those that have their young. | He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young. |
| 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? | In the hollow of whose hand have the waters been measured? and who is able to take the heavens in his stretched-out fingers? who has got together the dust of the earth in a measure? who has taken the weight of the mountains, or put the hills into the scales? |
| Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him? | By whom has the spirit of the Lord been guided, or who has been his teacher? |
| With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? | Who gave him suggestions, and made clear to him the right way? who gave him knowledge, guiding him in the way of wisdom? |
| Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. | See, the nations are to him like a drop hanging from a bucket, and like the small dust in the scales: he takes up the islands like small dust. |
| And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. | And Lebanon is not enough to make a fire with, or all its cattle enough for a burned offering. |
| All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity. | All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value. |
| To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? | Whom then is God like, in your opinion? or what will you put forward as a comparison with him? |
| The image, a workman hath cast [it], and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth [for it] silver chains. | The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it. |
| He that is too impoverished for [such] an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved. | The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved. |
| Have ye not known? have yet not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? | Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? has not news of it been given to you from the first? has it not been clear to you from the time when the earth was placed on its base? |
| [It is] he that sitteth above 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; | It is he who is seated over the arch of the earth, and the people in it are as small as locusts; by him the heavens are stretched out like an arch, and made ready like a tent for a living-place. |
| that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. | He makes rulers come to nothing; the judges of the earth are of no value. |
| Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble. | They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass. |
| To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal [to him]? saith the Holy One. | Who then seems to you to be my equal? says the Holy One. |
| Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking. | Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places. |
| Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice [due] to me is passed away from my God? | Why do you say, O Jacob, such words as these, O Israel, The Lord's eyes are not on my way, and my God gives no attention to my cause? |
| Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. | Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom. |
| He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength. | He gives power to the feeble, increasing the strength of him who has no force. |
| Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: | Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength; |
| but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. | But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. |
