Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 40"

Isaiah 40

New Living Translation NLT

1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.

2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins.”

3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD ! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!

4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.

5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!”

6 A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.

7 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD . And so it is with people.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

9 O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!”

10 Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD ? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?

14 Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?

15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.

16 All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.

18 To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?

19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?

20 Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down!

21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God— the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant?

22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.

23 He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.

24 They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.

27 O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.

31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

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.