Chapter 40

Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God.

Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare hath been completed, That accepted hath been her punishment, That she hath received from the hand of Jehovah Double for all her sins.

A voice is crying -- in a wilderness -- Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.

Every valley is raised up, And every mountain and hill become low, And the crooked place hath become a plain, And the entangled places a valley.

And revealed hath been the honour of Jehovah, And seen [it] have all flesh together, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.

A voice is saying, 'Call,' And he said, 'What do I call?' All flesh [is] grass, and all its goodliness [is] As a flower of the field:

Withered hath grass, faded the flower, For the Spirit of Jehovah blew upon it, Surely the people [is] grass;

Withered hath grass, faded the flower, But a word of our God riseth for ever.

On a high mountain get thee up, O Zion, Proclaiming tidings, Lift up with power thy voice, O Jerusalem, proclaiming tidings, Lift up, fear not, say to cities of Judah, 'Lo, your God.'

Lo, the Lord Jehovah with strength cometh, And His arm is ruling for Him, Lo, His hire [is] with Him, and His wage before Him.

As a shepherd His flock He feedeth, With His arm He gathereth lambs, And in His bosom He carrieth [them]: Suckling ones He leadeth.

Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters? And the heavens by a span hath meted out, And comprehended in a measure the dust of the earth, And hath weighed in scales the mountains, And the hills in a balance?

Who hath meted out the Spirit of Jehovah, And, [being] His counsellor, doth teach Him!

With whom consulted He, That he causeth Him to understand? And teacheth Him in the path of judgment, And teacheth Him knowledge? And the way of understanding causeth Him to know?

Lo, nations as a drop from a bucket, And as small dust of the balance, have been reckoned, Lo, isles as a small thing He taketh up.

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.

All the nations [are] as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.

And unto whom do ye liken God, And what likeness do ye compare to Him?

The graven image poured out hath a artizan, And a refiner with gold spreadeth it over, And chains of silver he is refining.

He who is poor [by] heave-offerings, A tree not rotten doth choose, A skilful artizan he seeketh for it, To establish a graven image -- not moved.

Do ye not know -- do ye not hear? Hath it not been declared from the first to you? Have ye not understood [From] the foundations of the earth?

He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants [are] as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out as a thin thing the heavens, And spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in.

He who is making princes become nothing, Judges of earth as emptiness hath made;

Yea, they have not been planted, Yea, they have not been sown, Yea, not taking root in the earth is their stock, And also He hath blown upon them, and they wither, And a whirlwind as stubble taketh them away.

And unto whom do ye liken Me, And [am] I equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift up on high your eyes, And see -- who hath prepared these? He who is bringing out by number their host, To all of them by name He calleth, By abundance of strength (And [he is] strong in power) not one is lacking.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob? and speakest thou, O Israel? 'My way hath been hid from Jehovah, And from my God my judgment passeth over.'

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The God of the age -- Jehovah, Preparer of the ends of the earth, Is not wearied nor fatigued, There is no searching of His understanding.

He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increaseth might.

Even youths are wearied and fatigued, And young men utterly stumble,

But those expecting Jehovah pass [to] power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!