Isaiah 40

These words come from your God:
Comfort my people with compassion. [1]
2In gently spoken words, tell Jerusalem
She has served her time
And paid twice her fine.
The LORD had sentenced her
To double the penalty for her sins.

Someone says:
“Make way for the LORD.
Get the desert road ready.
Keep the path straight.
4And make the road level.
Raise every valley to meet the LORD’s path.
Lower every hill and mountain in his way.
Then smooth out the rough patches.
5And when the LORD gets here
Everyone will see how glorious he is.
The world will see it together.”
This is what the LORD himself has said.

Someone says: “Shout!”
And I ask, “What should I say?”

People are like grass in the field,
flowers in the wild.
7Grass withers and flowers fade
(When the LORD blows his breath on them. [2]
Absolutely, people are grass
8And grass withers, flowers fade.)
But when God speaks,
There is power in his words.
9Jerusalem’s city Announcer,
Climb the highest nearby hill,
Shout the full force of your breath,
Tell Jerusalem the good news.
Don’t be shy.
Shout it to all the cities of Judah:
“Here is your God!”
10Look at that.
The LORD God has come in full force.
He’s in charge,
With the power to back it up.
He’s bringing a reward with him,
A payment for his people.

He’s going to take care of his people
With the TLC a shepherd shows the flock.
He’ll pick them up like baby lambs
And carry them near his heart
While momma sheep follow him on the way.
12Who held the sea in the palm of his hand?
Who measured the sky
Between his pinky and his thumb? [3]
Who fit earth into a measuring cup
And weighed mountains on a scale?
13Who gave advice to the Spirit of the LORD
Or taught him a thing or two?
14Who did he go to when he needed direction?
Who taught him justice for all?
(Who made him so smart
And helped him understand? [4]
15Nations of the world are a drop in a bucket,
Nothing more than a dust spec on scales.
Coastlands are as light as fine dust.
16In all the cedar forests of Lebanon
There’s not enough wood for an altar fire
Or animals for a burning offering.)
17Nations of the world are worthless to him.
By his measure, they’re less than nothing.

Who compares to God?
What in creation is most like God?
19How about an idol
Shaped by a carpenter,
Covered in gold by a goldsmith
And decorated with a silver chain?
20Start with a piece of mulberry wood.
It’s a wood that doesn’t rot.
Then find an artisan,
An expert in wood.
Have him carve a steady image
That doesn’t tip and roll.

Don’t you know?
Didn’t anyone tell you?
Haven’t you heard it all your life?
Haven’t you figured it out?
I’m talking about creation surrounding us.
22The Creator sits on his throne above the sky.
We look like grasshoppers to him.
He stretched out the sky above us
Like a blanket to cover a child,
Like a tent we can all call home.
23Compared to him, a prince is a pauper
And a ruler is a big bag of nothing.
24They barely get planted, take root, grow a nub,
When he hits them with a blast of hot wind.
They wither and curl and finally die.
A storm blows them away with the straw.
25So, the Holy One says,
Who would you say resembles me?
Who could you compare me to?
26Take a good look at the night sky.
Who turned on the lights?
He filled that sky with numbered stars,
Calling every sparkle by name.
That’s his power on display,
Every star, every light in its place.

Dear Jacob, my boy.
Dear Israel, my child.
Why do you say the LORD doesn’t care?
Why do you say he’s ignoring you?
28Don’t you know by now?
Haven’t you heard yet?
The LORD is the God from a place before time.
He’s the one who created this world,
From here to every horizon you ever saw.
He never gets tired or exhausted.
His wisdom exceeds our wild imagination.
29He gives strength to the weary,
Power to the powerless.
30Even the young will fail,
Collapsed, with nothing left inside.
31But if you trust in God
You get a second wind.
You catch a breeze, a lift, and sail on
Like an eagle in the sky.
You run your race with energy.
You walk and you never get tired.