Trust in God’s Word – Isaiah 40:1-31
40 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. (2) Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her affliction has come to an end, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has received from Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins.
(3) A voice is calling out in the wilderness, Prepare the way for Jehovah! In the desert make level a highway for our God! (4) Let every valley be raised up, let every mountain and hill be made low; let the rough ground be made level, and let the rugged places become a plain! (5) The glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all mankind—all those who are flesh—shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah has declared this. (6) A voice commands, Proclaim these things!
Then came the response, Why should I proclaim it? After all, all men—made of flesh—are like grass; and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. (7) The grass withers, the flower fades; because the breath of Jehovah blows upon it. Surely, the people are like grass.
(8) Yes, the grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever!
(9) You who proclaim good news to Zion, go up to the top of a high mountain; you who proclaim good news to Jerusalem, raise your voice with strength—raise your voice, do not be afraid. Proclaim to the cities of Judah, Here is your God! (10) Look! The Lord Jehovah is coming with power, and his arm will rule for him. Look! He brings his reward with him, and his recompense accompanies him. (11) He will tend his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom; he will gently lead the nursing ewes.
(12) Who has measured the waters in the hallow of his hand? Who has carried the dust of the earth in a basket, and weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills on a balance? (13) Who has directed the Spirit of Jehovah; or, Who, serving as his counselor, has instructed him? (14) With whom did Jehovah take counsel and who taught him? Who instructed him in the path of justice, who taught him knowledge, who showed him the way of understanding?
(15) Listen; the nations are like a drop of water splashing from a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. (16) Even Lebanon’s forests are not sufficient to kindle fire upon the altar, nor are its beasts enough to make a suitable burnt offering. (17) All the nations are as nothing before him, they are regarded by him as less than nothing and worthless.
(18) To whom, then, will you compare God? Or what image will you compare to him? (19) As for the idol, a craftsman casts it; a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. (20) A man who is too poor to make such an expensive offering, selects a tree that will not rot. Then he looks for a skillful craftsman to set up a carved idol that will not topple. (21) Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth was founded? (22) It is Jehovah who is enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. It is he who stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent in which to live. (23) It is he who reduces rulers to nothing, and makes the judges of the world meaningless. (24) Indeed, as soon as they have been planted, as soon as they have been sown, he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. (25) To whom, then, will you compare me, to whom am I equal? inquires the Holy One. (26) Lift up your eyes to the heavens and observe. Who has created all these? Who brings out the starry host one by one? He calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
(27) Why do you say, O Jacob, why do you assert, O Israel, My way is hidden from Jehovah, and my cause is disregarded by my God? (28) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither does he become weary. No one can fathom his understanding. (29) He gives strength to the weary; and he imparts power to the one who has no might. (30) Even youths grow tired and become weary; and young men stumble and fall. (31) But those who wait for Jehovah will renew their strength—they will soar with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not become faint.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
