Isaiah 40-44

Isaiah 40

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; that she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

³The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness 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.

⁶The voice of one saying, Cry. And one 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 breath 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.

⁹O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain: O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, 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 as a mighty one, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.

¹¹He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that give suck.

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

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

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

²⁰He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to set up 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 princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

²⁴Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

²⁵To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.

²⁷Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed away from my God?

²⁸Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? 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 him that hath 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; they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 41

¹Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

²Who hath raised up one from the east, whom he calleth in righteousness to his foot? he giveth nations before him, and maketh him rule over kings; he giveth them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.

³He pursueth them, and passeth on safely; even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.

⁴Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last, I am he.

⁵The isles saw, and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came.

⁶They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

⁷So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

⁸But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend;

⁹thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away;

¹⁰Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

¹¹Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.

¹²Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

¹³For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

¹⁴Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

¹⁶Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

¹⁹I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together:

²⁰that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

²¹Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

²²Let them bring them forth, and declare unto us what shall happen: declare ye the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or shew us things for to come.

²³Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

²⁴Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

²⁵I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name: and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.

²⁶Who hath declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.

²⁷I first will say unto Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

²⁸And when I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counsellor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word.

²⁹Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nought: their molten images are wind and confusion.

Isaiah 42

¹Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

²He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

³A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment in truth.

⁴He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law.

⁵Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

⁶I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

⁷to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

⁸I am the LORD; that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise unto graven images.

⁹Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

¹⁰Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth; ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

¹¹Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

¹²Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

¹³The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man; he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, he shall shout aloud; he shall do mightily against his enemies.

¹⁴I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and pant together.

¹⁵I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.

¹⁶And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them.

¹⁷They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say unto molten images, Ye are our gods.

¹⁸Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

¹⁹Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I send? who is blind as he that is at peace with me, and blind as the LORD’S servant?

²⁰Thou seest many things, but thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not.

²¹It pleased the LORD, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law, and make it honourable.

²²But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

²³Who is there among you that will give ear to this? that will hearken and hear for the time to come?

²⁴Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD? he against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient unto his law.

²⁵Therefore he poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

Isaiah 43

¹But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.

²When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

³For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

⁴Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honourable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee, and peoples for thy life.

⁵Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

⁶I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;

⁷every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory; I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

⁸Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

⁹Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

¹⁰Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he; before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

¹¹I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

¹²I have declared, and I have saved, and I have shewed, and there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and I am God.

¹³Yea, since the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

¹⁴Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.

¹⁵I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

¹⁷which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as flax:

¹⁸Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

¹⁹Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

²⁰The beasts of the field shall honour me, the jackals and the ostriches: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen:

²¹the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.

²²Yet thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

²³Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not made thee to serve with offerings, nor wearied thee with frankincense.

²⁴Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

²⁵I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins.

²⁶Put me in remembrance; let us plead together: set thou forth thy cause, that thou mayest be justified.

²⁷Thy first father sinned, and thine interpreters have transgressed against me.

²⁸Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling.

Isaiah 44

¹Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:

²Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

³For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

⁴and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.

⁵One shall say, I am the LORD’S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

⁶Thus saith the LORD, the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

⁷And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them declare.

⁸Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not declared unto thee of old, and shewed it? and ye are my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.

⁹They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit: and their own witnesses see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

¹⁰Who hath fashioned a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

¹¹Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together.

¹²The smith maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint.

¹³The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house.

¹⁴He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir tree, and the rain doth nourish it.

¹⁵Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.

¹⁶He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:

¹⁷And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

¹⁸They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

¹⁹And none calleth to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

²⁰He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob; and Israel, for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

²²I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

²³Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.

²⁴Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am the LORD, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth; who is with me?

²⁵that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish:

²⁶that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof:

²⁷that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

²⁸That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.