Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 40"

Isaiah 40

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 "Comfort and keep comforting my people," says your God.

2 "Tell Yerushalayim to take heart; proclaim to her that she has completed her time of service, that her guilt has been paid off, that she has received at the hand of ADONAI double for all her sins."

3 A voice cries out: "Clear a road through the desert for ADONAI! Level a highway in the 'Aravah for our God!

4 Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill lowered, the bumpy places made level and the crags become a plain.

5 Then the glory of ADONAI will be revealed; all humankind together will see it, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken."

6 A voice says, "Proclaim!" And I answer, "What should I proclaim?" "All humanity is merely grass, all its kindness like wildflowers:

7 the grass dries up, the flower fades, when a wind from ADONAI blows on it. Surely the people are grass!

8 The grass dries up, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever."

9 You who bring good news to Tziyon, get yourself up on a high mountain; you who bring good news to Yerushalayim, cry out at the top of your voice! Don't be afraid to shout out loud! Say to the cities of Y'hudah, "Here is your God!

10 Here comes Adonai ELOHIM with power, and his arm will rule for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his recompense is before him.

11 He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering his lambs with his arm, carrying them against his chest, gently leading the mother sheep."

12 Who has counted the handfuls of water in the sea, measured off the sky with a ruler, gauged how much dust there is on the earth, weighed the mountains on scales, or the hills in a balance?

13 Who has measured the Spirit of ADONAI? Who has been his counselor, instructing him?

14 Whom did he consult, to gain understanding? Who taught him how to judge, taught him what he needed to know, showed him how to discern?

15 The nations are like a drop in a bucket, they count like a grain of dust on the scales. The islands weigh as little as specks of dust.

16 The L'vanon would not suffice for fuel or its animals be enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are like nothing. He regards them as less than nothing.

18 With whom, then, will you compare God? By what standard will you evaluate him?

19 An image made by a craftsman, which a goldsmith overlays with gold, for which he then casts silver chains?

20 A man too poor to afford an offering chooses a piece of wood that won't rot, then seeks out a skilled artisan to prepare an image that won't fall over.

21 Don't you know? Don't you hear? Haven't you been told from the start? Don't you understand how the earth is set up?

22 He who sits above the circle of the earth - for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers - stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the earth to emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely their stem taken root in the ground, when he blows on them, they dry up, and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.

25 "With whom, then, will you compare me? With whom am I equal?" asks the Holy One.

26 Turn your eyes to the heavens! See who created these? He brings out the army of them in sequence, summoning each by name. Through his great might and his massive strength, not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Ya'akov; why do you say, Isra'el, "My way is hidden from ADONAI, my rights are ignored by my God"?

28 Haven't you known, haven't you heard that the everlasting God, ADONAI, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary? His understanding cannot be fathomed.

29 He invigorates the exhausted, he gives strength to the powerless.

30 Young men may grow tired and weary, even the fittest may stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in ADONAI will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with eagles' wings; when they are running they won't grow weary, when they are walking they won't get tired.

The Message Bible MSG

1 "Comfort, oh comfort my people," says your God.

2 "Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem, but also make it very clear That she has served her sentence, that her sin is taken care of - forgiven! She's been punished enough and more than enough, and now it's over and done with."

3 Thunder in the desert! "Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God.

4 Fill in the valleys, level off the hills, Smooth out the ruts, clear out the rocks.

5 Then God's bright glory will shine and everyone will see it. Yes. Just as God has said."

6 A voice says, "Shout!" I said, "What shall I shout?" "These people are nothing but grass, their love fragile as wildflowers.

7 The grass withers, the wildflowers fade, if God so much as puffs on them. Aren't these people just so much grass?

8 True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade, but our God's Word stands firm and forever."

9 Climb a high mountain, Zion. You're the preacher of good news. Raise your voice. Make it good and loud, Jerusalem. You're the preacher of good news. Speak loud and clear. Don't be timid! Tell the cities of Judah, "Look! Your God!"

10 Look at him! God, the Master, comes in power, ready to go into action. He is going to pay back his enemies and reward those who have loved him.

11 Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock, gathering the lambs in his arms, Hugging them as he carries them, leading the nursing ewes to good pasture. The Creator of All You Can See or Imagine

12 Who has scooped up the ocean in his two hands, or measured the sky between his thumb and little finger, Who has put all the earth's dirt in one of his baskets, weighed each mountain and hill?

13 Who could ever have told God what to do or taught him his business?

14 What expert would he have gone to for advice, what school would he attend to learn justice? What god do you suppose might have taught him what he knows, showed him how things work?

15 Why, the nations are but a drop in a bucket, a mere smudge on a window. Watch him sweep up the islands like so much dust off the floor!

16 There aren't enough trees in Lebanon nor enough animals in those vast forests to furnish adequate fuel and offerings for his worship.

17 All the nations add up to simply nothing before him - less than nothing is more like it. A minus.

18 So who even comes close to being like God? To whom or what can you compare him?

19 Some no-god idol? Ridiculous! It's made in a workshop, cast in bronze, Given a thin veneer of gold, and draped with silver filigree.

20 Or, perhaps someone will select a fine wood - olive wood, say - that won't rot, Then hire a woodcarver to make a no-god, giving special care to its base so it won't tip over!

21 Have you not been paying attention? Have you not been listening? Haven't you heard these stories all your life? Don't you understand the foundation of all things?

22 God sits high above the round ball of earth. The people look like mere ants. He stretches out the skies like a canvas - yes, like a tent canvas to live under.

23 He ignores what all the princes say and do. The rulers of the earth count for nothing.

24 Princes and rulers don't amount to much. Like seeds barely rooted, just sprouted, They shrivel when God blows on them. Like flecks of chaff, they're gone with the wind.

25 "So - who is like me? Who holds a candle to me?" says The Holy.

26 Look at the night skies: Who do you think made all this? Who marches this army of stars out each night, counts them off, calls each by name - so magnificent! so powerful! - and never overlooks a single one?

27 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, "God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me"?

28 Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.

29 He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.

30 For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

31 But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.