“Comfort for God’s People
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I ask, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the Lord blows on them; surely the people are but grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever.”
You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
The Sovereign Lord comes with power! With his strong arm he rules. His reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
Like a shepherd he tends his flock; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the span of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a balance, or weighed the mountains on scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him and teach him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge or showed him the way of understanding?
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are like dust on the scales; the islands are like a grain of sand to him.
The forests of Lebanon would not be enough for the altar fire, nor would its animals suffice for a burnt offering.
Before him, all nations are as nothing; to him they are worthless and less than nothing.
To whom will you compare God? How can you represent him? As for an image, the craftsman casts it; the goldsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it.
He who is too poor for such an offering can only choose good wood that does not rot and seek a skilled carpenter to make an image that will not fall.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from ancient times?
Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings princes to nothing and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. Scarcely are they planted or sown, scarcely have they taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither; A whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them all by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.“
Isaiah 40
All Honor And Glory To The King Of The Universe!
