Isaiah 40:1-26

1 "Comfort my people," says our God. "Comfort them!

2 Encourage the people of Jerusalem. Tell them they have suffered long enough and their sins are now forgiven. I have punished them in full for all their sins."

3 A voice cries out, ¹ "Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God!

4 Fill every valley; level every mountain. The hills will become a plain, and the rough country will be made smooth.

5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it. The Lord himself has promised this."

6 A voice cries out, "Proclaim a message!" ² "What message shall I proclaim?" I ask. "Proclaim that all human beings are like grass; they last no longer than wild flowers.

7 Grass withers and flowers fade when the Lord sends the wind blowing over them. People are no more enduring than grass.

8 Yes, grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever."

9 Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news! Call out with a loud voice, Zion; announce the good news! Speak out and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming!

10 The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, ³ bringing with him the people he has rescued.

11 He will take care of his flock like a shepherd; ⁴ he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms; he will gently lead their mothers.

12 Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls or measure the sky with his hands? Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup or weigh the mountains and hills on scales?

13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? ⁵ Who can teach him or give him advice?

14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done?

15 To the Lord the nations are nothing, ⁶ no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust.

16 All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire.

17 The nations are nothing at all to him.

18 To whom can God be compared? ⁷ How can you describe what he is like?

19 He is not like an idol that workers make, that metalworkers cover with gold and set in a base of silver.

20 Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold ⁸ chooses wood that will not rot. He finds a skillful worker to make an image that won't fall down.

21 Do you not know? Were you not told long ago? Have you not heard how the world began?

22 It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the earth and beyond the sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a curtain, like a tent in which to live.

23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing.

24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw.

25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him?

26 Look up at the sky! ⁹ Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing!

Isaiah 40:1-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 40

This chapter treats of the comforts of God's people; of the forerunner and coming of the Messiah; of his work, and the dignity of his person; of the folly of making idols, and of the groundless complaints of the church of God. The consolations of God's people, by whom to be administered, and the matter, ground, and reason of them, Isa 40:1,2. John the Baptist, the harbinger of Christ, is described by his work and office, and the effects of it; it issuing in the humiliation of some, and the exaltation of others, and in the revelation of the glory of Christ, Isa 40:3-5, then follows an order to every minister of the Gospel what he should preach and publish; the weakness and insufficiency of men to anything that is spiritually good; their fading and withering goodliness, which is to be ascribed to the blowing of the Spirit of God upon it; and the firmness and constancy of the word of God is declared, Isa 40:6-8, next the apostles of Christ in Jerusalem are particularly exhorted to publish fervently and openly the good tidings of the Gospel; to proclaim the coming of Christ, the manner of it, and the work he came about; and to signify his faithful discharge of his office as a shepherd, Isa 40:9-11, the dignity of whose person is set forth by his almighty power, by his infinite wisdom, and by the greatness of his majesty, in comparison of which all nations and things are as nothing, Isa 40:12-17 and then the vanity of framing any likeness to God, and of forming idols for worship, is observed, Isa 40:18-25, and from the consideration of the divine power in creation and upholding all things, the church of God is encouraged to expect renewed strength and persevering grace, and is blamed for giving way to a distrustful and murmuring spirit, Isa 40:26-31.

Cross References

• 1. 40.3 +2Si 48.10;Baruch 5.7; +1Mt 3.3;Mark 1.3;John 1.23.+O+N40.3-5Luke 3.4-6.
• 2. 40.6-8James 1.10, 11; 1 P 1.24, 25.
• 3. 40.10Isaiah 62.11;Revelation 22.12.
• 4. 40.11Ezekiel 34.15;John 10.11.
• 5. 40.13Romans 11.34;1 Corinthians 2.16.
• 6. +240.15Wisdom 11.22;Ben Sira 10.16, 17.
• 7. 40.18, 19Acts 17.29.
• 8. +240.20Wisdom 13.11-19; LetJeremiah 8-40.
• 9. +240.26Baruch 3.34, 35.

Footnotes

• [a]. and their sins are now forgiven; [or] they have paid for what they did.
• [b]. Jerusalem, go up . . . news!; [or] Go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news to Jerusalem! Call out with a loud voice and announce the good news to Zion!
• [c]. the people he has rescued; [or] the rewards he has for his people.
• [d]. [Verses 19-20a in Hebrew are unclear.]