1 C omfort, comfort My people, says your God.

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

2 S peak tenderly to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry to her that her time of service and her warfare are ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Speak ye according to the heart of Jerusalem and cry unto her that her time is now fulfilled that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God!

¶ The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 E very valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked and uneven shall be made straight and level, and the rough places a plain.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places made plain:

5 A nd the glory (majesty and splendor) of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

And the glory of the LORD shall be manifested, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.

6 A voice says, Cry! And I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is as frail as grass, and all that makes it attractive is transitory, like the flower of the field.

The voice that said, Cry. And I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the mercy thereof is as the open flower of the field:

7 T he grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are like grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people is grass.

8 T he grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

The grass withers, the open flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9 O you who bring good tidings to Zion, get up to the high mountain. O you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

¶ O Zion, that brings good tidings, go up into the high mountain; lift up thy voice with strength O bearer of good tidings of Jerusalem; lift it up, do not be afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

10 B ehold, the Lord God will come with might, and His arm will rule for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.

Behold, the Lord GOD will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

11 H e will feed His flock like a shepherd: He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom and will gently lead those that have their young.

He 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.

12 W ho has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

¶ Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and prepared the heavens with his palm and with three fingers measured the dust of the earth and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills with weights?

13 W ho has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him?

Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD or being his counsellor has taught him?

14 W ith whom did He take counsel, that instruction might be given Him? Who taught Him the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding?

With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him? Who taught him in the path of judgment and taught him knowledge and showed unto him the way of intelligence?

15 B ehold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are counted as small dust on the scales; behold, He takes up the isles like a very little thing.

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he causes the isles to disappear as dust.

16 A nd all Lebanon’s cannot supply sufficient fuel, nor all its wild beasts furnish victims enough to burn sacrifices.

And all Lebanon is not sufficient for the fire, nor all the beasts thereof sufficient for the sacrifice.

17 A ll the nations are as nothing before Him; they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and emptiness (waste, futility, and worthlessness).

All the Gentiles are as nothing before him, and they are counted to him as vanity and as less than nothing.

18 T o whom then will you liken God? Or with what likeness will you compare Him?

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

19 T he graven image! A workman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it.

The workman prepares the graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold and casts silver chains.

20 H e who is so impoverished that he has no offering or oblation or rich gift to give chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to carve and set up an image that will not totter or deteriorate.

He that is so impoverished that he has no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks unto himself a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

21 D o you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not been taught since the land was founded?

22 I t is God Who sits above the circle (the horizon) of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like curtains and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,

He is seated upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; he stretches out the heavens as a curtain and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:

23 W ho brings dignitaries to nothing, Who makes the judges and rulers of the earth as chaos (emptiness, falsity, and futility).

He brings the powerful to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as if they had never been,

24 Y es, these men are scarcely planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely does their stock take root in the earth, when blows upon them and they wither, and the whirlwind or tempest takes them away like stubble.

As if they had never been planted, as if they had never been sown, as if their stock had never taken root in the earth; even blowing upon them, they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

25 T o whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.

To whom then will ye liken me, or what shall ye compare me to? saith the Holy One.

26 L ift up your eyes on high and see! Who has created these? He Who brings out their host by number and calls them all by name; through the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing or lacks anything.

Lift up your eyes on high and behold who has created these things; he brings out his host by number; he calls them all by their names; none shall be lacking by the greatness of his might and by the strength of his power.

27 W hy, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and my lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God?

¶ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest thou, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28 H ave you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding.

Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the God of the age is the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He does not faint, nor is he weary; and there is no one that can attain to his intelligence.

29 H e gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength.

He gives power to the faint; and to those that have no might he increases strength.

30 E ven youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;

The young men faint and are weary; the children stumble and fall;

31 B ut those who wait for the Lord shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

but those that wait for the LORD shall have new strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.