Isaiah:40-43

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* Comfort , O comfort my people , says your God . * Speak lovingly to the heart of Jerusalem , and cry to her that her warfare is done , that her iniquity is pardoned ; for she has received of the LORD 's hand double for all her sins . * The voice of him who cries in the wilderness , Prepare the way of the LORD , make straight a highway in the desert for our God . * Every valley shall be exalted , and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked places shall be made level , and the rough places smooth ; * and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed , and all flesh shall see [it ] together ; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken . * The voice said , Cry ! And he said , What shall I cry ? All flesh [is ] grass , and all the beauty of it [is ] as the flower of the field . * The grass withers , the flower fades , because the Spirit of the LORD blows on it ; surely the people [is ] grass . * The grass withers , the flower fades ; but the Word of our God shall stand forever . * Go up for yourself on the high mountain , bringer of good tidings to Zion . Lift up your voice with strength , O you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem ; lift up , do not be afraid . Say to the cities of Judah , Behold your God ! * Behold , the Lord Jehovah will come with a strong [hand ], and His arm shall rule for Him ; behold , His reward [is ] with Him , and His work before Him . * 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 with young . * Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand , and measured out the heavens with a span ? And who has shut up the dust of the earth in a measure , and weighed the mountains in scales , and the hills in a balance ? * Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD , and what man taught Him counsel ? * With whom did He take counsel , and [who ] instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment , and taught Him knowledge , and made known the way of understanding to Him ? * Behold , the nations [are ] like a drop in a bucket , and are counted as the small dust of the scales ; behold , He takes up the coastlands as a very little thing . * And Lebanon [is ] not enough to burn , nor the beasts of it enough [for ] a burnt offering . * All nations before Him [are ] as nothing ; and to Him they are thought to be less than nothing , and vanity . * To whom then will you compare God ? Or what likeness will you compare to Him ? * The workman melts a graven image , and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold , and casts silver chains . * He too poor for [that ] offering chooses a tree that will not rot ; he looks for a skillful workman to prepare a graven image that will not totter . * Have you not known ? Have you not heard ? Has it not been told you from the beginning ? Have you not understood [from ] the foundations of the earth ? * [It is ] He who sits on the circle of the earth , and its people are like grasshoppers ; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain , and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in ; * who brings the rulers to nothing ; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity . * Yes , they shall not be planted ; yes , they shall not be sown . Yes , their stump shall not take root in the earth . And He shall also blow on them , and they shall wither , and the tempest shall take them away like stubble . * To whom then will you compare Me , or [am ] I equaled ? says the Holy One . * Lift up your eyes on high , and behold , who has created these , who brings out their host by number ? He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might , for He is strong in power ; not one is lacking . * Why do you say , O Jacob , and speak , O Israel , My way is hidden from the LORD and my judgment has passed over from my God ? * Have you not known ? Have you not heard , that the everlasting God , Jehovah , the Creator of the ends of the earth , does not grow weak nor weary ? [There is ] no searching of His understanding . * [He ] gives power to the weary ; and to him with no vigor ; He increases strength . * Even the young shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fall ; * but those who wait on 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 . * Keep silence before Me , O coasts ; and peoples shall renew strength ; let them come near ; then let them speak ; let us come near together for judgment . * Who raised up the righteous one from the east , called him to His foot , gave the nations before him , and made [him ] rule over kings ? He gave them as the dust [to ] his sword , [and ] as driven stubble [to ] his bow . * He pursued them ; he passed on in peace . He does not go [by ] the way of his feet . * Who has planned and done [it ], calling forth the generations from the beginning ? I , Jehovah , [am ] the first and the last ; I [am ] He . * The coastlands saw and feared ; the ends of the earth were afraid , and drew near , and came . * They each one helped his neighbor , and said to his brother , Be strong . * So the artisan strengthens the refiner , and he smoothing [with ] the hammer , him who struck the anvil , saying of soldering , It [is ] good . And he made it strong with nails ; it will not totter . * But you , Israel , [are ] My servant , Jacob whom I have chosen , the seed of Abraham , My friend ; * whom I have taken from the ends of the earth , and called you from its sides . And I said to you , You [are ] My servant ; I have chosen you , and not cast you away . * Do not fear ; for I [am ] with you ; be not dismayed ; for I [am ] your God . I will make you strong ; yes , I will help you ; yes , I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness . * Behold , all those who were angered against you shall be ashamed and confounded ; they shall be as nothing . And those who fight with you shall perish . * You shall seek them , and shall not find them ; men warring against you shall be as nothing , and as ceasing . * For I , Jehovah your God , will hold your right hand , saying to you , Do not fear ; I will help you . * Do not fear , worm of Jacob [and ] men of Israel ; I will help you , says Jehovah , and your Redeemer , the Holy One of Israel . * Behold , I make you a new sharp threshing instrument , a master of teeth ; you shall thresh the mountains , and beat [them ] small , and shall make the hills like chaff . * You shall winnow them , and the wind shall carry them away , and a tempest shall scatter them . And you shall rejoice in the LORD [and ] shall glory in the Holy One of Israel . * The poor and needy seek water , and [there is ] none ; their tongue fails for thirst , I the LORD will hear them , I the God of Israel will not leave them . * I will open rivers in high places , and fountains in the midst of the valleys ; I will make the wilderness a pool of water , and the dry land springs of water . * I will plant the cedar in the wilderness , the acacia tree , and the myrtle , and the oil tree . I will set the fir tree in the desert , [and ] the pine , and the box tree together ; * so that they may see , and know , and look on , and understand together , that the hand of the LORD has done this , and the Holy One of Israel has created it . * Bring near your cause , says the LORD ; bring out your strong [reasons ], says the King of Jacob . * Let them bring [them ] out , and tell us what shall happen ; let them reveal the former things , what they [are ], that we may look on them and know the final end of them ; or declare to us things to come . * Reveal the near things after this , so that we may know that you [are ] gods . Yes , do good , or do evil , so that we may be amazed and see together . * Behold , you [are ] of nothing , and your work of nothing . He who chooses you is an abomination . * I have raised up [one ] from the north , and he shall come from the sunrise ; he will call on My name . And he shall come [on ] rulers as [on ] mortar , and as the potter tramples clay . * Who has declared from the beginning , that we may know ? And beforetime , that we may say , [He is ] righteous ? Yea , no one declares ; yea , no one proclaims ; yea , no one hears your words . * I first [shall say ] to Zion , Behold ! Behold them ! And I will give to Jerusalem one who bears good news . * For I looked , and [there was ] no man ; and of these no counselor was , that I might ask and they could answer . * Behold , they [are ] all evil ; their works [are ] nothing ; their images [are ] wind and vanity . * Behold My Servant , whom I uphold ; My Elect , [in whom ] My soul delights . I have put My Spirit on Him ; He shall bring out judgment to the nations . * He shall not cry , nor lift up , nor cause His voice to be heard in the street . * A bruised reed He shall not break , and a smoking wick He shall not quench ; He shall bring out judgment to truth . * He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set judgment in the earth ; and the coasts shall wait for His law . * So says Jehovah God , [He ] who created the heavens and stretched them out , spreading out the earth and its offspring ; He who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it . * I the LORD have called You in righteousness , and will hold Your hand , and will keep You , and give You for a covenant of the people , for a Light of the nations ; * to open the blind eyes , to bring out the prisoners from the prison , those who sit in darkness out of the prison house . * I [am ] Jehovah ; that [is ] My name ; and My glory I will not give to another , nor My praise to graven images . * Behold , the former things have come to pass , and new things I declare ; before they happen , I cause you to hear . * Sing to the LORD a new song ; His praise from the end of the earth , you who go down to the sea , and its fullness ; coasts and their peoples . * Let the wilderness and its cities lift up [their voice ], the villages where Kedar dwells . Let the dwellers of the rock sing , let them shout from the mountain tops . * Give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the coastlands . * The LORD goes out as a warrior , He stirs up zeal like a man of wars ; He shouts , yea , roars ; He overcomes His enemies . * I have kept silence from forever ; I have been still and refrained Myself . [Now ] I will cry like a woman in pangs of labor , I will pant and gasp at once . * I will make waste mountains and hills , and dry up all their plants . And I will make the rivers coastlands , and I will dry up the pools . * And I will bring the blind by a way they knew not ; I will lead them in paths they have not known ; I will make darkness light before them , and crooked things straight . I will do these things to them , and not forsake them . * They are turned back , they are greatly ashamed , those who trust in graven images and who say to the images , You [are ] our gods . * Hear , deaf ones ; and blind ones look to see . * Who [is ] blind but My servant ? Or deaf , as My messenger whom I sent ? Who [is ] blind as he who is perfect , and blind as the LORD 's servant ? * You see many things , but do not pay attention . [Your ] ears [are ] open , but not any hears . * The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness sake ; He will magnify the Law and make [it ] honorable . * But this [is ] a people robbed and spoiled ; all of them snared in holes , and they are hidden in prison-houses ; they have been taken , and none delivers them ; a prize , and none says , Give back . * Who among you will hear this ? He will listen and hear for the time to come ? * Who gave Jacob for a spoil , and Israel to robbers ? Did not the LORD , against whom we have sinned ? For they would not walk in His ways , nor did they obey His law . * So He has poured on him the fury of His anger , and the strength of battle . And it has set him on fire all around , yet he did not know ; and it burned him , yet he did not lay [it ] to heart . * But now so says the LORD who created you , O Jacob , and He who formed you , O Israel ; Fear not , for I have redeemed you ; I have called [you ] by your name ; you [are ] Mine . * When you pass through the waters , I [will be ] with you ; and through the rivers , they shall not overflow you . When you walk through the fire , you shall not be burned ; nor shall the flame kindle on you . * For I [am ] the LORD your God , the Holy One of Israel , your Savior ; I gave Egypt [for ] your ransom , Ethiopia and Seba for you . * Since you were precious in My sight , you have been honored , and I have loved you ; therefore I will give men for you , and people for your life . * Fear not ; for I [am ] with you . I will bring your seed from the east , and gather you from the west . * I will say to the north , Give up ; and to the south , Do not keep back ; bring My sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth ; * everyone who is called by My name ; for I have created him for My glory , I have formed him ; yea , [I have ] made him . * Bring out the blind people who have eyes , and the deaf who have ears . * Let all the nations be brought together , and let the people be gathered ; who among them can declare this and make us hear former things ? Let them bring out their witnesses , that they may be justified ; or let them hear , and say , [It is ] true . * You [are ] My witnesses , says the LORD , and My servant whom I have chosen ; that you may know and believe Me , and understand that I [am ] He . Before Me no God was formed , nor shall there be after Me . * I , I [am ] Jehovah ; and [there is ] none to save besides Me . * I have declared , and have saved , and I have shown , when [there was ] no strange [god ] among you ; therefore you [are ] My witnesses , says Jehovah , that I [am ] God . * Yea , before the day [was ], I [am ] He ; and no one delivers out of My hand ; I will work , and who will reverse it ? * So says Jehovah , your Redeemer , the Holy One of Israel ; For your sake I have sent to Babylon , and have brought down all of them [as ] fugitives , and the Chaldeans , whose shout [is ] in the ships . * I [am ] the LORD , your Holy One , the Creator of Israel , your King . * So says the LORD , who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters ; * who brings out the chariot and horse , the army and the power ; they shall lie down together , they shall not rise ; they are put out , they are snuffed out like a wick . * Do not remember the former things , nor consider the things of old . * Behold , I will do a new thing ; now it shall sprout ; shall you not know it ? I will even make a way in the wilderness , rivers in the desert . * The beasts of the field shall honor Me , the jackals and the ostriches ; because I give waters in the wilderness , rivers in the desert , to give drink to My people , My chosen . * This people [that ] I formed for Myself ; they shall declare My praise . * But you have not called on Me , O Jacob ; but you have been weary of Me , O Israel . * You have not brought Me the lamb of your burnt offerings ; nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices . I have not caused you to serve with an offering , nor wearied you with incense . * You have bought Me no sweet cane with silver , nor have you filled Me [with ] the fat of your sacrifices ; but you have burdened Me with your sins ; you have wearied Me with your iniquities . * I , I [am ] He who blots out your sins for My own sake , and will not remember your sins . * Cause Me to remember ; let us enter into judgment ; declare yourself , that you may be justified . * Your first father has sinned , and your teachers have sinned against Me . * And I will defile rulers of the sanctuary , and will give Jacob to the curse , and Israel to reproaches . * Yet now hear , O Jacob My servant , and Israel whom I have chosen ;

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