Isaiah 40

40 ¹Comfort, comfort my people, says your Father. ²Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service is completed, that her guilt is forgiven, that she has received from our Father's hand double for all her sins.

³A voice is calling out: In the wilderness, prepare the way of our Father; make a straight highway through the desert for our Father. ^a a v3 All four Gospels apply this voice-crying-in-the-wilderness prophecy to John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus (Mark 1:3, Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23). The One whose way is prepared is Jesus, in whom our Father comes to his people. ⁴Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become level, and the rough places will become a plain. ⁵And the glory of our Father will be revealed, and all people will see it together, for the mouth of our Father has spoken.

⁶A voice says, "Call out!" And I said, "What should I call out?" All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flower of the field. ⁷The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of our Father blows on it; surely the people are grass. ⁸The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Father stands forever.

⁹Go up on a high mountain, Zion, messenger of good news; lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, messenger of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your Father!" ¹⁰See, the Sovereign Father comes with strength, and his arm rules for him; see, his reward is with him, and his payment goes before him. ¹¹He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them close to his heart; he will gently lead those that have young. ^b b v11 Our Father is the shepherd who gathers his lambs and carries them close to his heart. Jesus took up this same shepherd-care when he said, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). ¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens with the breadth of his hand, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? ¹³Who has directed the Spirit of our Father, or as his counselor has instructed him? ¹⁴Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? ¹⁵The nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are counted as the dust on the scales; he takes up the islands like fine dust. ¹⁶Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before him; they are regarded by him as less than nothing and emptiness. ¹⁸To whom then will you liken our Father? Or what likeness will you compare to him? ¹⁹An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it. ²⁰Anyone too poor for such an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple. ²¹Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ²²He sits enthroned above the vault of the earth, its people below like grasshoppers; he spreads the skies like a thin veil, pitching them as a tent to live in. ²³He brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. ²⁴They are barely planted, barely sown, their stem has barely taken root in the ground, when he blows on them and they wither, and the storm sweeps them away like chaff.

²⁵"To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?" says the Holy One.

²⁶Look up into the heavens and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength and mighty in power, not one is missing. ²⁷Why do you say, Jacob, and complain, Israel, "My way is hidden from our Father, and my Father disregards my right"? ²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard? Our Father is the everlasting Father, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; no one can fathom his understanding. ²⁹He gives power to the weary, and increases strength for the powerless. ³⁰Even youths will grow faint and weary, and young men will fall exhausted; ³¹but those who wait for our Father will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary; they will walk and not faint.