Bible-Reading.comIsaiah 40
1Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God.
2Speak 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.
3A voice is crying -- in a wilderness -- Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.
4Every 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.
5And revealed hath been the honour of Jehovah, And seen it have all flesh together, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
6A 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:
7Withered hath grass, faded the flower, For the Spirit of Jehovah blew upon it, Surely the people is grass;
8Withered hath grass, faded the flower, But a word of our God riseth for ever.
9On 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.'
10Lo, the Lord Jehovah with strength cometh, And His arm is ruling for Him, Lo, His hire is with Him, and His wage before Him.
11As a shepherd His flock He feedeth, With His arm He gathereth lambs, And in His bosom He carrieth them: Suckling ones He leadeth.
12Who 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?
13Who hath meted out the Spirit of Jehovah, And, being His counsellor, doth teach Him!
14With 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?
15Lo, 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.
16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17All the nations are as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.
18And unto whom do ye liken God, And what likeness do ye compare to Him?
19The graven image poured out hath a artizan, And a refiner with gold spreadeth it over, And chains of silver he is refining.
20He 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.
21Do 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?
22He 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.
23He who is making princes become nothing, Judges of earth as emptiness hath made;
24Yea, 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.
25And unto whom do ye liken Me, And am I equal? saith the Holy One.
26Lift 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.
27Why sayest thou, O Jacob? and speakest thou, O Israel? ‘My way hath been hid from Jehovah, And from my God my judgment passeth over.'
28Hast 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.
29He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increaseth might.
30Even youths are wearied and fatigued, And young men utterly stumble,
31But 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!
Isaiah 41
1Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on to power, They come nigh, then they speak, ‘Together -- to judgment we draw near.'
2Who stirred up from the east a righteous one? He calleth him to His foot, He giveth before him nations, And kings He causeth him to rule, He giveth them as dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow.
3He pursueth them, he passeth over in safety A path with his feet he entereth not.
4Who hath wrought and done, Calling the generations from the first? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last I am He.
5Seen have isles and fear, ends of the earth tremble, They have drawn near, yea, they come.
6Each his neighbour they help, And to his brother he saith, ‘Be strong.'
7And strengthen doth an artizan the refiner, A smoother with a hammer, Him who is beating on an anvil, Saying, ‘For joining it is good,' And he strengtheneth it with nails, it is not moved!
8-- And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover,
9Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou art, I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.
10Be not afraid, for with thee I am, Look not around, for I am thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness.
11Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee.
12Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee.
13For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, ‘Fear not, I have helped thee.'
14Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest.
16Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou -- thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself.
17The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel -- I forsake them not.
18I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water.
19I give in a wilderness the cedar, Shittah, and myrtle, and oil-tree, I set in a desert the fir-pine and box-wood together.
20So that they see, and know, And regard, and act wisely together, For the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And the Holy One of Israel hath prepared it.
21Bring near your cause, saith Jehovah, Bring nigh your mighty ones, saith the king of Jacob.
22They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things -- what they are declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear.
23Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye are gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see it together.
24Lo, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought, An abomination -- it fixeth on you.
25I have stirred up one from the north, And he cometh, From the rising of the sun he calleth in My name, And he cometh in on prefects as on clay, And as a potter treadeth down mire.
26Who hath declared from the first, and we know? And beforetime, and we say, ‘Righteous?' yea, there is none declaring, Yea, there is none proclaiming, Yea, there is none hearing your sayings.
27First to Zion, Behold, behold them, And to Jerusalem one proclaiming tidings I give,
28And I see that there is no man, Yea, of these that there is no counsellor, And I ask them, and they return word:
29‘Lo, all of them are vanity, Nought are their works, Wind and emptiness their molten images!'