A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Isaiah 40
Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the book of Isaiah and one of the most quoted chapters in the prophetic books. The 31-verse chapter marks a major turning point in the book, shifting from warnings of judgment to messages of comfort, addressed to the Jewish exiles in Babylon.
The chapter opens with the famous lines: "Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed, that her iniquity has been pardoned."
A voice then calls for a road to be built in the wilderness, a highway for God. Every valley is to be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground will become level. The glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. This passage is later applied to John the Baptist in all four gospels.
A voice declares: "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, when the breath of the LORD blows on them. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
The chapter then describes God's incomparable greatness. He measures the waters in the hollow of his hand, marks off the heavens with the span of his hand. The nations are like a drop in a bucket, regarded as dust on the scales. To whom can God be compared? No idol crafted by human hands stands beside him.
The closing verses are among the most quoted in scripture. God is the everlasting Creator who does not grow tired or weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired, and young men stumble and fall. But "those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Verse 1. “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
Verse 2. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
Verse 3. A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
Verse 4. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.
Verse 5. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Verse 6. A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
Verse 7. The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.
Verse 8. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Verse 9. Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
Verse 10. Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.
Verse 11. He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
Verse 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?
Verse 13. Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
Verse 14. Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding?
Verse 15. Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Verse 16. Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
Verse 17. All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
Verse 18. To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
Verse 19. To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
Verse 20. One lacking such an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.
Verse 21. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
Verse 22. He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
Verse 23. He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
Verse 24. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
Verse 25. “To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
Verse 26. Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Verse 27. Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?
Verse 28. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.
Verse 29. He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
Verse 30. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
Verse 31. But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
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