Isaiah 40

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

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

NoteThe verb "comfort" is plural, the speaker is commissioning a group (unnamed here) to deliver the message. From this chapter on, the book speaks to Judeans already living through the aftermath of defeat and deportation to Babylon; the punishment is spoken of as finished, not threatened.

2"Speak kindly to Jerusalem. Announce to her that her hard service is over and her sin has been pardoned, because she has received from the LORD's hand double punishment for all her sins."

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.

Note"Warfare" in 1611 English covered any period of compulsory service, military or otherwise. The Hebrew word (tsava) means a term of hard, imposed duty, here the exile, that has now been served out. "Double" translates a word that can mean twice as much, but also an equivalent or matching amount, the way a folded cloth matches itself; readers have taken it both ways. Jerusalem is addressed throughout as a woman, standard Hebrew usage for a city.

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

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.

NoteThe Hebrew has no punctuation, so "in the wilderness" can attach either to the voice (a voice crying in the wilderness) or to the command (prepare, in the wilderness, the way). Ancient kings sent crews ahead to clear and level a road for a royal procession; that is the picture behind the whole image.

4Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The uneven ground will be made level, and the rugged land will become a plain.

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:

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

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.

Note"All flesh" is a Hebrew idiom for every living human being, sometimes for every living creature.

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

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:

Note"Goodliness" here means beauty or splendor, not moral goodness. The Hebrew word (chesed) usually means loyal love or steadfastness, and some read it that way here: even human faithfulness is short-lived as a flower.

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

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

NoteThe same Hebrew word (ruach) means wind, breath, and spirit. Behind the image is the sirocco, the scorching desert wind that shrivels grass and flowers in a day.

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

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

9Zion, you who bring good news, climb a high mountain. Jerusalem, you who bring good news, shout out loud. Shout, and do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"

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!

NoteThe Hebrew phrase can be read either as "Zion, herald of good news" (the city announcing to others) or "herald of good news to Zion" (someone announcing to the city); both readings are old. Zion was originally the ridge Jerusalem was built on and came to stand for the city itself. Heralds climbed high ground so their voices would carry.

10Look, the Lord GOD is coming with power, and his own arm will rule for him. Look, he brings his reward with him, and what he pays back travels ahead of him.

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.

Note"Arm" stands for strength, as in an arm that wins a battle. The pair "reward" and "work" are the two halves of a single idea: wages earned, and what is owed being paid out, the picture of a victorious king or a returning workman bringing his pay with him.

11He will take care of his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms and hold them close to his chest, and he will gently lead the mother sheep that are nursing.

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.

NoteEwes still nursing lambs cannot be driven at the pace of the flock; a shepherd sets the pace to them. The phrase names a real and specific problem of herding, not a general sentiment.

12Who has measured the seas in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the width of his hand? Who has held all the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains and hills on scales?

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?

NoteA "span" is the distance from thumb-tip to little-finger-tip on a spread hand, about nine inches, a standard small unit of length. The "measure" is the Hebrew shalish, literally "a third," a dry-goods container of unknown size, roughly a third of some larger unit. The joke of the verse is a workman using ordinary tools of the trade on the sea, sky, and mountains.

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

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

NoteThe word translated "Spirit" (ruach) also means wind or mind. Following the measuring images of verse 12, some read this as "who has taken the measure of the LORD's mind"; others keep "directed the Spirit."

14Whom did God consult so that he would understand? Who taught him the right way to judge, gave him knowledge, or showed him the way to understand?

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?

Note"The path of judgment" means the right way to decide a case, the skill of a judge, which in the ancient world was learned from teachers and elders.

15Look, the nations are like one drop hanging from a bucket. They count as a speck of dust on the scales. Look, he picks up the islands as if they weighed nothing.

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.

Note"The isles" translates a word for coastlands: the shores and islands at the far edge of the Mediterranean, the outermost known world from Judah's viewpoint.

16All the trees of Lebanon would not be enough firewood, and all its animals would not be enough for a burnt offering to him.

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

NoteLebanon's cedar forests were the proverbial source of the finest and most plentiful timber in the region. A burnt offering was an animal placed entirely on the altar fire, with none of it eaten, the most costly kind of sacrifice, since nothing came back.

17In his presence all nations are nothing. To him they count as less than nothing, as empty air.

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

Note"Vanity" in 1611 English meant emptiness or nothingness, not conceit about one's appearance.

18So who will you compare God to? What image could you set beside him?

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

19An idol? A craftsman casts it in metal, a goldsmith covers it with gold, and then makes silver chains for it.

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

NoteA "graven image" is a carved or cast figure of a god. The manufacturing sequence is literal: a metal core, a gold overlay hammered on, then silver chains, the chains fastened the figure in place so it would not tip over.

20A person too poor to afford such an offering picks out wood that will not rot. He hunts for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not fall over.

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.

NoteThis verse is one of the hardest in the book. The Hebrew word behind "so impoverished that he hath no oblation" (mesukkan) is otherwise almost unknown; it has been read as "too poor to make an offering," as the name of a durable wood, and as "skilled artisan." What is clear is the contrast: a cheaper wooden idol for someone who cannot afford the gold-plated kind.

21Don't you know? Haven't you heard? Weren't you told this from the beginning? Haven't you understood it since the earth was founded?

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?

Note"From the foundations of the earth" means from the time the world was set in place: that is, this has been common knowledge for as long as there has been anyone to tell it.

22He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth, and the people who live on it look like grasshoppers. He spreads out the heavens like a thin curtain, like a tent to live in.

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:

Note"The circle of the earth" translates chug, a word for a circle or arc, used elsewhere of the horizon drawn as a ring around the sea. It describes what the earth looks like from far above, not a claim about its shape. The heavens are pictured as cloth: stretched out like a curtain, then pitched like the goat-hair tent of a nomad.

23He reduces rulers to nothing and makes the judges of the earth count for nothing at all.

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

Note"Princes" here means ruling officials of any rank, not sons of kings. "Judges" likewise means the men who governed and decided cases, the local holders of power.

24They are barely planted, barely sown, their stems have barely taken root in the ground, when he blows on them and they dry up, and a windstorm carries them off like straw.

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.

Note"Stubble" is the dry stalk-ends left standing in a field after harvest: weightless, worthless, and the first thing a wind picks up.

25"So who will you compare me to? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One.

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

Note"The Holy One" is a standing title for Israel's God in this book. The Hebrew root behind "holy" carries the sense of being set apart, in a category by itself, which is exactly the point being pressed in the question.

26Look up at the sky and see who created all these stars. He brings out their army one by one and calls each of them by name. Because his power and strength are so great, not one is missing.

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.

Note"Host" is an old military word for an army, used of the stars drawn up in ranks across the sky. Neighboring peoples worshiped the stars as gods with names; here the names are ones he assigns, and mustering troops "by number" with none missing is a commander's roll call.

27So why do you say, Jacob, why do you claim, Israel, "The LORD does not see what happens to me, and my God ignores my case"?

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?

NoteJacob and Israel are two names for the same ancestor, used here for the nation descended from him. "My judgment is passed over" is legal language: my case, my rightful claim, is being ignored, the complaint of someone who cannot get a hearing in court.

28Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never gets tired or worn out, and no one can measure how much he understands.

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.

Note"The ends of the earth" means the farthest edges of the world, so the phrase amounts to "the whole of it."

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

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

30Even young people get tired and worn out, and young men stumble and fall.

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

NoteThe two words cover the full range of young manhood: boys and men in their physical prime, the last people expected to give out.

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

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.

Note"Wait upon" in 1611 English meant to hope for or expect, not to serve or attend on someone. The Hebrew word carries a sense of tense, stretched-out expectation. The bird (nesher) is the eagle or the griffon vulture, both were known for soaring at great height on rising air without beating their wings.