Isaiah 40

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.	1 Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.	2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.	3 A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:	4 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.	5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:	6 One man helps another, one says to the other, "Keep on!"
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.	7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, the one who beats with the hammer, him who strikes on the anvil; He says the soldering is good, and he fastens it with nails to steady it.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.	8 Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever."
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!	9 Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God!
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.	10 Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.	11 Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?	12 Who has cupped in his hand the waters of the sea, and marked off the heavens with a span? Who has held in a measure the dust of the earth, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counseller hath taught him?	13 Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or has instructed him as his counselor?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?	14 Whom did he consult to gain knowledge? Who taught him the path of judgment, or showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.	15 Behold, the nations count as a drop in the bucket, as dust on the scales; the coastlands weigh no more than powder.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.	16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor its animals be enough for holocausts.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.	17 Before him all the nations are as nought, as nothing and void he accounts them.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?	18 To whom can you liken God? With what equal can you confront him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.	19 An idol, cast by a craftsman, which the smith plates with gold and fits with silver chains?
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.	20 Mulberry wood, the choice portion which a skilled craftsman picks out for himself, Choosing timber that will not rot, to set up an idol that will not be unsteady?
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?	21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Was it not foretold you from the beginning? Have you not understood? Since the earth was founded
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:	22 He sits enthroned above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; He stretches out the heavens like a veil, spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.	23 He brings princes to nought and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.	24 Scarcely are they planted or sown, scarcely is their stem rooted in the earth, When he breathes upon them and they wither, and the stormwind carries them away like straw.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.	25 To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.	26 Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these: He leads out their army and numbers them, calling them all by name. By his great might and the strength of his power not one of them is missing!
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?	27 Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.	28 Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.	29 He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:	30 Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall,
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.	31 They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.