Isaías 40

¹ ComfortThis is a consolation for the Church, assuring them that they will never be destitute of prophets by which he exhorts the true ministers of God that then were, and those also that would come after him, to comfort the poor afflicted and to assure them of their deliverance both of body and soul.ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

² Speak ye kindly to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that herThe time of her affliction.warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received from the LORD'S handMeaning, sufficient as in (Isa_61:7) and full correction, or double grace, while she deserved double punishment.double for all her sins.

³ TheThat is, of the prophets.voice of him that crieth in theThat is, in Babylonia and other places, where they were kept in captivity and misery.wilderness,Meaning Cyrus and Darius who would deliver God's people out of captivity and make them a ready way to Jerusalem.Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and everyWhatever may prevent or hinder this deliverance will be removed.mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

⁵ And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and allThis miracle will be so great, that it will be known through all the world.flesh together shall see [it]: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].

⁶ TheThe voice of God which spoke to the prophet Isaiah.voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh [is] grass, and all itsMeaning, all man's wisdom and natural powers, (Jam_1:10; 1Pe_1:24).beauty [is] as the flower of the field:

⁷ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because theThe spirit of God will discover the vanity in all that seems to have any excellency of themselves.breath of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people [is] grass.

⁸ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but theThough considering the frailty of man's nature many of the Jews would perish, and so not be partakers of this deliverance, yet God's promise would be fulfilled, and they who remained, would feel the fruit of it.word of our God shall stand for ever.

⁹ O Zion, that bringest good tidings, go up upon the highTo publish this benefit through all the world.mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it] up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, BeholdHe shows in one word the perfection of all man's happiness, which is to have God's presence.your God!

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], andHis power will be sufficient without help of any other, and will have all means in himself to bring his will to pass.his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.

¹¹ 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 withHe will show his care and favour over them who are weak and tender.young.

¹² Who hath comprehended the waters in the hollow of hisDeclaring that as only God has all power, so does he use the same for the defence and maintenance of his Church.hand, and measured 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?

¹³ Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being]He shows God's infinite wisdom for the same.his counsellor hath taught him?

¹⁴ Of whom tooke he counsell, and who instructed him and taught him in the way of iudgement? or taught him knowledge, and shewed vnto him the way of vnderstanding?

¹⁵ Beholde, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balance: beholde, he taketh away the yles as a litle dust.

¹⁶ And Lebanon is not sufficient for fire, nor the beastes thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

¹⁷ All nations before him [are] asHe speaks all this to the intent that they would neither fear man nor put their trust in any, save only in God.nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

¹⁸ To whom thenBy this he arms them against the idolatry with which they would be tempted in Babylon.will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare to him?

¹⁹ The workeman melteth an image, or the goldsmith beateth it out in golde, or the goldesmith maketh siluer plates.

²⁰ He that [is] soHe shows the rage of the idolaters, seeing that the poor who do not have enough to meet their own needs will defraud themselves to serve their idols.impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree [that] will not rot; he seeketh for himself a skilful workman to prepare a graven image, [that] shall not be moved.

²¹ Have ye not known? have ye notDo you not have the word of God, which plainly condemns idolatry?heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from theCan you not learn by the visible creatures whom God has made for your use, that you should not serve them or worship them?foundations of the earth?

²² He sitteth vpon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers, hee stretcheth out ye heauens, as a curtaine, and spreadeth them out, as a tent to dwell in.

²³ He bringeth the princes to nothing, and maketh the iudges of the earth, as vanitie,

²⁴ Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall alsoSo that his power appears in every place we turn our eyes.blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

²⁵ To whom nowe will ye liken me, that I should be like him, saith the Holy one?

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these [things], that bringethWho has set in order the infinite number of the stars.out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in power; not one faileth.

²⁷ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel,He rebukes the Jews because they did not rest on the providence of God, but thought that he had forsaken them in their troubles.My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over by my God?

²⁸ Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of theAnd therefore all power is in his hand to deliver when his time comes.ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of hisShowing that men must patiently abide, and not curiously seek out the cause of God's delay in our affliction.understanding.

²⁹ But he giueth strength vnto him that fainteth, and vnto him that hath no strength, he encreaseth power.

³⁰ They who trust in their own virtue, and do not acknowledge that all comes from God.Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

³¹ But they that waite vpon the Lord, shall renue their strength: they shall lift vp the wings as the eagles: they shall runne, and not be wearie, and they shall walke and not faint.