“ Comfort , comfort My people , ” says your God.
“ 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. ”
A voice of one calling : “ Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness ; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
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.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed , and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. ”
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.
The grass withers (and) the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows indeed , the people are grass.
The grass withers (and) the flowers fall , but the word of our God stands forever. ”
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 ! ”
Behold , the Lord GOD comes with might , and His arm establishes His rule His reward is with Him , and His recompense accompanies Him.
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).
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand , or Mark -ed 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 ?
Who has directed - the Spirit of the LORD , ... or informed Him (as) His counselor ?
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 ?
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.
Lebanon (is) not sufficient for fuel , nor its animals ... enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before Him ; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
To whom will you liken God - ? To what image will you compare
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains ?
To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot , who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple ?
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 ?
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.
He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
No sooner ... are they planted , no sooner ... are they sown , no sooner ... have their stems taken root in the ground , than He blows and they wither , and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
“ To whom will you liken Me , or who is My equal ? ” asks the Holy One.
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.
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 ”?
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.
He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak ....
Even youths grow tired and weary , 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 faint.