Isaiah

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

1"Comfort my people. Comfort them," says 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.

2Speak kindly to Jerusalem. Call out to her that her time of hard service is finished and her sin is forgiven. She has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

Note"Warfare" here does not mean a battle. In 1611 English it meant a set term of hard service, like the years of forced labor Jerusalem had been through.

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.

3A voice calls out: "Get the road ready for the LORD in the wilderness. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert."

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:

4Every valley will be raised up. Every mountain and hill will be made low. The bumpy ground will become level, and the rocky places smooth.

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.

5Then the glory of the LORD will be shown, and every living person will see it together. The LORD himself has said so.

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:

6The voice said, "Call out!" And I asked, "What should I call out?" "All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a wildflower.

7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

7The grass dries up and the flower falls when the breath of the LORD blows on it. Yes, the people are grass.

8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

8The grass dries up and the flower falls, but the word of our God stands forever."

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!

9Zion, you carry good news. Climb a high mountain. Jerusalem, you carry good news. Shout it out loud. Lift your voice and do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is 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.

10Look, the Lord GOD is coming with power, and his own arm rules for him. He brings his reward with him, and what he has earned comes with 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.

11He cares for his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his chest. He gently leads the mother sheep.

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?

12Who has measured all the water in the palm of his hand? Who has marked off the sky with the width of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on scales?

Note"Comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure" means held the earth's dust in a container. "Comprehend" here means contain, not understand.

13Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

13Who has told the Spirit of the LORD what to do? Who has ever been his adviser and taught him anything?

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?

14Who did he ask for advice? Who taught him what is right, or gave him knowledge, or showed him the way to understand?

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.

15Look, the nations are like one drop in a bucket, like a speck of dust on the scales. He picks up the islands as if they weighed almost nothing.

16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

16All the trees of Lebanon would not be enough wood for the fire. All its animals would not be enough for one offering to him.

17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

17Next to him, all nations are nothing. He counts them as less than nothing, as empty air.

18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

18So who can you compare God to? What image could you say looks like him?

19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

19An idol? A worker melts metal and shapes it. A goldsmith covers it with gold and makes silver chains for it.

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.

20A person too poor for that picks out wood that will not rot. He hires a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not tip over.

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?

21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Were you not told from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was made?

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:

22He sits above the circle of the earth, and the people living on it look like grasshoppers. He spreads out the sky like a cloth, like a tent to live in.

23That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

23He turns great rulers into nothing. He makes the judges of the earth count for nothing.

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.

24They are barely planted, barely sown, barely rooted in the ground. Then he blows on them and they dry up, and a windstorm sweeps them away like straw.

25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

25"So who can you compare me to? Who is my equal?" asks 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.

26Look up at the sky. Who made all these stars? He leads them out one by one and calls each of them by name. His power is so great that not one of them is missing.

Note"Their host" means the stars, pictured as a huge army marching out in order.

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?

27Jacob, why do you say it? Israel, why do you claim, "The LORD cannot see what happens to me. My God ignores my case"?

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.

28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the God who lasts forever, and he made the whole earth. He never gets tired or worn out. No one can measure how much he understands.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

29He gives power to people who are worn out. He makes weak people stronger.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

30Even boys get tired and worn out. Even strong young men trip and 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.

31But those who wait for the LORD will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not grow weak.