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 : for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins . 3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness , Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a highway for our God . 4Every valley shall be exalted , and every mountain and hill shall be made low : and the crooked shall be made straight , and the rough places plain : 5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed , and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it .
The Transience of Humanity
6The voice said , Cry . And he 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 spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass . 8The grass withereth , the flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for ever .
The Good News of Salvation
9O Zion , that bringest good tidings , get thee up into the high mountain ; O Jerusalem , that bringest good tidings , lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it up , be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah , Behold your God ! 10Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand , and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the lambs with his arm , and carry them in his bosom , and shall gently lead those that are with 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 the LORD , or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14With whom took he counsel , and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment , and taught him knowledge , and shewed to him the way of understanding ? 15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket , and are counted 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 nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him 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 workman melteth a graven image , and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold , and casteth silver chains . 20He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot ; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare 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 upon 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 the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity . 24Yea, they shall not be planted ; yea, they shall not be sown : yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth : and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither , and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble . 25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal ? saith the Holy One . 26Lift up your eyes on high , and behold who hath created these things , that bringeth out their host by number : he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might , for that he is strong in power ; not one faileth . 27Why sayest thou, O Jacob , and speakest , O Israel , My way is hid from the LORD , and my judgment is passed over from my God ? 28Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard , that the everlasting God , the LORD , 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 them that have no might he increaseth strength . 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fall : 31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run , and not be weary ; and they shall walk , and not faint .