40
The Greatness of God
1 “
AComfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “
ASpeak
1kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her
2Bwarfare has ended,
That her
3Ciniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the Loʀᴅ’s hand
DDouble for all her sins.”
“
BClear the way for the Loʀᴅ in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 1Then the
Aglory of the Loʀᴅ will be revealed,
And
Ball flesh will see
it together;
For the
Cmouth of the Loʀᴅ has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Call out.”
Then
1he answered, “What shall I call out?”
AAll flesh is grass, and all its
2loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The
Agrass withers, the flower fades,
1When the
Bbreath of the Loʀᴅ blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But
Athe word of our God stands forever.
9 Get yourself up on a
Ahigh mountain,
O Zion, bearer of
Bgood news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the
Ccities of Judah,
10 Behold, the Lord
1Goᴅ will come
Awith might,
With His
Barm ruling for Him.
Behold, His
Creward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will
Atend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
12 Who has
Ameasured the
1waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the
2span,
And
3calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
13 AWho has
1directed the Spirit of the Loʀᴅ,
Or as His
Bcounselor has informed Him?
14 AWith whom did He consult and
who Bgave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the
Anations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of
Bdust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the
1islands like fine dust.
16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
Nor its
Abeasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 AAll the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and
1meaningless.
18 ATo whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
19 As for the
1Aidol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith
Bplates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a
Atree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To
1prepare
2an idol that
Bwill not totter.
21 ADo you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood
Bfrom the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who
1sits above the
2Acircle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like
Bgrasshoppers,
Who
Cstretches out the heavens like a
Dcurtain
And spreads them out like a
Etent to dwell in.
23 He
it is who reduces
Arulers to nothing,
Who
Bmakes the judges of the earth
1meaningless.
24 1Scarcely have they been planted,
1Scarcely have they been sown,
1Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the
Astorm carries them away like stubble.
25 “
ATo whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
26 ALift up your eyes on high
And see
Bwho has created these
stars, The
COne who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the
Dgreatness of His might and the
1strength of
His power,
ENot one
of them is missing.
27 AWhy do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is
Bhidden from the Loʀᴅ,
And the
Cjustice due me
1escapes the notice of
Dmy God”?
28 ADo you not know? Have you not heard?
The
BEverlasting God, the Loʀᴅ, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is
Cinscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the
Aweary,
And to
him who lacks might He
Bincreases power.
30 Though
Ayouths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous
Byoung men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who
1wait for the Loʀᴅ
They will
2Bmount up
with 3wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.