Comfort for God’s People

2 “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,

• that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,
  • that she has received[fn] from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.”
• 3 A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh!
  • Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!
• 4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
  • and every mountain and hill shall become low,
• And the rough ground shall be like a plain,
  • and the rugged ground like a valley-plain.
• 5 And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,
  • and all humankind[fn] together shall see it,

for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

• 6 A voice is saying, “Call!”
  • And he said, “What shall I call?”
• All humankind[fn] are grass,
  • and all his loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
• 7 Grass withers; the flower withers
• when the breath of Yahweh blows on it.
  • Surely the people are grass.
• 8 Grass withers; the flower withers,
  • but[fn] the word of our God will stand forever.
• 9 Get yourself[fn] up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news!
  • Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news!
• Lift it up; you must not fear!
  • Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
• 10 Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with strength ,[fn]
  • and his arm rules for him.
• Look! His reward is with him,
  • and his recompense in his presence .[fn]
• 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
  • he will gather the lambs in his arm,
• and he will carry them in his bosom;
  • he will lead those who nurse.
• 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
  • and marked off the heavens with a span,
• comprehended the dust of the earth in a third of a measure
  • and weighed out the mountains in the scales,[fn] and the hills in a balance?
• 13 Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh
  • or informed him as his counselor[fn]?
• 14 With whom has he consulted, that[fn] he enlightened him[fn]
  • and taught him the path of justice,
• and taught him knowledge,
  • and made the way of understanding known to him?
• 15 Look! The nations are like a drop from a bucket,
  • and they are counted like dust of the balances!
    • Look! He weighs the islands like a thin covering.
• 16 And Lebanon is not enough to light a fire,
  • and its animals[fn] not enough for a burnt offering.
• 17 All the nations are like nothing before him;
  • they are counted by him as[fn] nothing and emptiness.
• 18 And to whom will you liken God?
  • And to what likeness will you compare him?
• 19 A craftsman pours out the idol,
  • and a goldsmith[fn] overlays it with gold,
    • and he smelts chains of silver.
• 20 The one who is too impoverished for a gift chooses wood that will not rot;
  • he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to set up an image that will not be knocked over.
• 21 Have you not known?
  • Have you not heard?
• Has it not been told to you from the beginning ?[fn]
  • Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?
• 22 He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,
  • and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
• the one who stretches out the heavens like a veil
  • and spreads them out like a tent to live in,
• 23 the one who brings[fn] princes to nothing;
  • he makes rulers of the earth like nothing.
• 24 Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown;
  • indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth
• when[fn] he blows on them and they wither,
  • and the tempest carries them like stubble.

25 “And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?” says the holy one.

• 26 Lift your eyes up on high, and see! Who created these?
  • The one who brings out their host by number.
• He calls all them by name.
  • Because he is great of power
    • and mighty of power, no man is missing.
• 27 Why[fn] do you say, Jacob,
  • and you speak, Israel,
• “My way is hidden from Yahweh,
  • and my judgment is passed over by my God?”
• 28 Have you not known,
  • or have you not heard?
• Yahweh is the God of eternity,
  • the creator of the ends of the earth!
• He is not faint, and he does not grow weary!
  • There is no searching his understanding.
• 29 He gives power to the weary,
  • and he increases power for the powerless .[fn]
• 30 Even[fn] young people will be faint and grow weary,
  • and the young will stumble, exhausted.
• 31 But[fn] those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength.
  • They shall go up with wings[fn] like eagles;
• they shall run and not grow weary;
  • they shall walk and not be faint.