Isaiah 40 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Comfort for God’s People

(cf. Luk 3:4–6 )

Isa 40:1“Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.

Isa 40:2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over
for all her sins.”

Isa 40:3

Isa 40:3Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the LORD!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!

Isa 40:4

Isa 40:4Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.

Isa 40:5

Isa 40:5Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The LORD has spoken!”[fn]

Isa 40:6

Isa 40:6A voice said, “Shout!”
I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.

Isa 40:7

Isa 40:7The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the LORD.
And so it is with people.

Isa 40:8

Isa 40:8The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isa 40:9

Isa 40:9O Zion, messenger of good news,
shout from the mountaintops!
Shout it louder, O Jerusalem.[fn]
Shout, and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah,
“Your God is coming!”

Isa 40:10

Isa 40:10Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.

Isa 40:11

Isa 40:11He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

The LORD Has No Equal

Isa 40:12

Isa 40:12Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

Isa 40:13

Isa 40:13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD?[fn]
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?

Isa 40:14

Isa 40:14Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
or show him the path of justice?

Isa 40:15

Isa 40:15No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand.

Isa 40:16

Isa 40:16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests
and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

Isa 40:17

Isa 40:17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth.

Isa 40:18

Isa 40:18To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?

Isa 40:19

Isa 40:19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?

Isa 40:20

Isa 40:20Or if people are too poor for that,
they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
to carve an image that won’t fall down!

Isa 40:21

Isa 40:21Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?

Isa 40:22

Isa 40:22God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.

Isa 40:23

Isa 40:23He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.

Isa 40:24

Isa 40:24They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.

Isa 40:25

Isa 40:25“To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

Isa 40:26

Isa 40:26Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.

Isa 40:27

Isa 40:27O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

Isa 40:28

Isa 40:28Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

Isa 40:29

Isa 40:29He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.

Isa 40:30

Isa 40:30Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.

Isa 40:31

Isa 40:31But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(40:3)

Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The LORD has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.

(40:4)

(40:5)

(40:9)

Or O messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout it louder to Jerusalem.

(40:13)

Greek version reads Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Compare Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16.

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For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Isaiah Chapter 40 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Isaiah 40 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Isaiah Chapter 40 — Additional Translations:

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