Isaiah 40

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.	1 “Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.
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.	2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.
3 A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!	3 The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
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.	4 Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.
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.	5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 One man helps another, one says to the other, "Keep on!"	6 The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
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.	7 The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass.
8 Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever."	8 The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
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!	9 You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”
10 Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.	10 Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.
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.	11 He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.
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?	12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?
13 Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or has instructed him as his counselor?	13 Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
14 Whom did he consult to gain knowledge? Who taught him the path of judgment, or showed him the way of understanding?	14 With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him?
15 Behold, the nations count as a drop in the bucket, as dust on the scales; the coastlands weigh no more than powder.	15 Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor its animals be enough for holocausts.	16 And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Before him all the nations are as nought, as nothing and void he accounts them.	17 All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.
18 To whom can you liken God? With what equal can you confront him?	18 Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?
19 An idol, cast by a craftsman, which the smith plates with gold and fits with silver chains?	19 Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
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?	20 He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.
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	21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?
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.	22 He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell.
23 He brings princes to nought and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.	23 He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.
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.	24 And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown them across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff.
25 To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Holy One.	25 “And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.
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!	26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind.
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"?	27 Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”
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.	28 Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable.
29 He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.	29 It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
30 Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall,	30 Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
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.	31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.