1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people , saith your God. 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 . 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 . 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 : 5and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed , and all flesh shall see it together ; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it .
The Transience of Humanity
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 . 7The grass withereth , the flower fadeth , because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it ; surely the people is grass . 8The grass withereth , the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall stand forever .
The Good News of Salvation
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! 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 . 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 .
The Greatness of God
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 ? 13Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah , or being his counsellor hath taught him ? 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 ? 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 . 16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn , nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. 17All the nations are as nothing before him ; they are accounted by him as less than nothing , and vanity .
God’s Care for His People
18To whom then will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19The image , a workman hath cast it , and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold , and casteth for it silver chains . 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 . 21Have ye not known ? have ye not heard ? hath it not been told you from the beginning ? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 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 ; 23that bringeth princes to nothing ; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity . 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 . 25To whom then will ye liken me , that I should be equal to him ? saith the Holy One . 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 . 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 ? 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 . 29He giveth power to the faint ; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength . 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fall : 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 .