The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

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- Chapter 40 -

(Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–20; John 1:19–28)

Our God says, “Encourage my people! Encourage them!

Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem; tell them that their suffering is ended. Yahweh has forgiven them for the sins that they have committed. He has fully punished them for their sins.”

Someone is shouting, “In the desert plain make the way straight for Yahweh to come to you; make a smooth road for our God.

Fill in the valleys; flatten every hill and every mountain. Make the uneven ground smooth, and make the rough places smooth.

If you do that, it will become known that Yahweh is glorious, and all people will realize it at the same time. Those things will surely happen because it is Yahweh who has said it.”

The Enduring Word

(1 Peter 1:22–25)

Someone said to me, “Shout!” I replied, “What should I shout?” He replied, “Shout that people are like grass; their faithfulness fades as quickly as flowers in the field.

Grass withers and flowers dry up when Yahweh causes a hot wind from the desert to blow on them. And all people are like that.

The grass withers and the flowers dry up, but what our God promises will last forever.”

Here Is Your God!

(Romans 11:33–36)

All of you who bring good news to Zion, shout it from the high mountain! Every one of you who brings good news to the people who live in Jerusalem, shout out loud the message you have to tell! Shout it out! Do not be afraid! Say to the people living in the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!

Yahweh your God will be coming with power, he will rule powerfully. When he comes, he will bring with him the people whom he has freed from being slaves in Babylonia.

He will take care of his people like a shepherd takes care of his sheep, and carries the young lambs in his arms. He carries them close to his chest and he gently leads the female sheep that are nursing their young lambs.

There is no one like Yahweh! Who else has measured the water in the oceans in the palm of his hand? Who else has measured the sky? Who else knows how much soil is in the earth? Who else has weighed the mountains and hills on scales?

And who else can advise Yahweh? Who can teach him or advise him what he should do?

Has Yahweh ever consulted anyone else to get advice? Does he need someone to tell him what is right to do and how to act justly?

Yahweh considers that the nations are as insignificant as one drop from a bucket full of water. They are as insignificant as dust on scales. He is able to weigh islands as though they weighed no more than specks of dust.

There would be not enough wood from all the trees in Lebanon to make a suitable fire for sacrificing animals to him, and there are not enough animals in Lebanon to offer as sacrifices to him.

The nations of the world are completely insignificant to him; he considers that they are worthless and less than nothing.

So to whom can you compare God? What image resembles him?

Can you compare him to an idol that is made in a mold, and then is covered with a thin sheet of gold and decorated with silver chains?

A man who is poor cannot buy silver or gold for his idol; so he selects a piece of wood that will not rot, and he gives it to a craftsman to carve an idol that will not fall over!

Have you not heard this? Do you not understand it? Are you unable to hear what God said long ago, messages that he gave before he created the earth?

God sits on his throne above the earth, and the people on the earth below seem to be as small as grasshoppers. He spreads out the sky like a curtain; it is like a tent for him to live in.

He causes kings to have no more power, and he causes the rulers to be worth nothing.

They start to rule, like small plants start to grow and form roots; but then he gets rid of them as though they withered when he blew on them, like chaff that is blown away by the wind.

The Holy One asks, “To whom will you compare me? Is anyone equal to me?”

Look up toward the sky: Consider who created all the stars. Yahweh created them, and at night he causes them to appear; he calls each one by its name. Because he is extremely powerful, all of the stars are there when he calls out their names.

You people of Israel, why do you complain that Yahweh does not see the troubles that you are experiencing? Why do you say that he does not act fairly toward you?

Have you never heard and have you never understood that Yahweh is the everlasting God? He is the one who created the earth, even the most distant places on the earth. He never becomes weak or weary, and no one can find out how much he understands.

He strengthens those who feel weak and tired.

Even youths become faint and weary, and young men will fall when they are exhausted.

But those who trust in Yahweh will become strong again; it will be as though they will soar as eagles do. They will run for a long time and not become weary; they will walk long distances and not faint.

(Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–20; John 1:19–28)

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.

“Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”

The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.

The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”

The Enduring Word

(1 Peter 1:22–25)

The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”

Here Is Your God!

(Romans 11:33–36)

You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”

Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed the LORD’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?

Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.

Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?

A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.

Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,

who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.

Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?

Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.

Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;

but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.