The Book of Isaiah
39: 1At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. 39:2And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. 39:3Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. 39:4Then said he, What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. 39:5Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts: 39:6Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith Jehovah. 39:7And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 39:8Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
40:1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 40:2Speak ye comfortably to
Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins. 40:3The
voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make
level in the desert a highway for our God. 40:4Every valley shall be exalted, and
every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level,
and the rough places a plain: 40:5and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. 40:6The voice of
one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. 40:7The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.
40:8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand
forever. 40:9O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain;
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it
up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! 40:10Behold, the
Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold,
his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 40:11He will feed his flock
like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom,
and will gently lead those that have their young. 40:12Who 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? 40:13Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or
being his counsellor hath taught him? 40:14With whom took he counsel, and who
instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge,
and showed to him the way of understanding? 40:15Behold, the nations are as a drop
of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh
up the isles as a very little thing. 40:16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the
beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. 40:17All the nations are as nothing
before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity. 40:18To
whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 40:19The
image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and
casteth for it silver chains. 40:20He that is too impoverished for such an oblation
chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a
graven image, that shall not be moved. 40:21Have ye not known? have yet not
heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from
the foundations of the earth? 40:22It is he that sitteth above 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; 40:23that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the
judges of the earth as vanity. 40:24Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have
not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he
bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as
stubble. 40:25To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the
Holy One. 40:26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that
bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness
of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking. 40:27Why sayest
thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the
justice due to me is passed away from my God? 40:28Hast thou not known? hast
thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the
earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.
40:29He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth
strength. 40:30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall: 40:31but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall
mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk,
and not faint.