1 "Comfort; comfort my people," says your God.
2 "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,
that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has
⌊received
⌋* from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins."
3 A voice
is calling in the wilderness, "Clear the way of Yahweh! Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!
4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall become low, And the rough ground shall be like a plain, and the rugged ground like a valley-plain.
5 And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all
⌊humankind
⌋* together shall see
it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."
6 A voice
is saying, "Call!" And he said, "What shall I call?" All
⌊humankind
⌋* are grass, and all his loyalty
is like the flowers of the field.
7 Grass withers;
the flower withers when the breath of Yahweh blows on it. Surely the people
are grass.
8 Grass withers;
the flower withers, but
* the word of our God will stand forever.
9 ⌊Get yourself
⌋* up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news! Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news! Lift
it up; you must not fear! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here
is your God!"
10 Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with
⌊strength
⌋,
* and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward
is with him, and his recompense
⌊in his presence
⌋.
*
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather
the lambs in his arm, and he will carry
them in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.
12 Who has measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off
the heavens with
a span, comprehended the dust of the earth in
a third of a measure and weighed out
the mountains in the scales,
* and
the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh or informed him
as ⌊his counselor
⌋*?
14 With whom has he consulted, that
* he enlightened him
* and taught him
the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and made
the way of understanding known to him?
15 Look!
The nations
are like a drop from a bucket, and they are counted like dust of
the balances! Look! He weighs
the islands like a thin covering.
16 And Lebanon
is not enough to light a fire, and its animals
* not enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations
are like nothing before him; they are counted by him as
* nothing and emptiness.
18 And to whom will you liken God? And to what likeness will you compare him?
19 A craftsman pours out the idol, and a
⌊goldsmith
⌋* overlays it with gold, and
he smelts chains of silver.
20 The one who is
too impoverished
for a gift chooses wood
that will not rot; he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to set up an image
that will not be knocked over.
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from
the ⌊beginning
⌋?
* Have you not understood
from the foundation of the earth?
22 He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants
are like grasshoppers; the one who stretches out
the heavens like a veil and spreads them out like
a tent to live
in,
23 the one who brings
* princes to nothing; he makes rulers of
the earth like nothing.
24 Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly
are they sown; indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth when
* he blows on them and they wither, and
the tempest carries them like stubble.
25 "And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?" says
the holy one.
26 Lift your eyes up
on high, and see! Who created these? The one who brings out their host by number. He calls all them by name. Because
he is great of power and mighty of power, no man is missing.
27 ⌊Why
⌋* do you say, Jacob, and you speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from Yahweh, and my judgment is passed over by my God?"
28 Have you not known, or have you not heard? Yahweh
is the God of eternity,
the creator
of the ends of the earth! He is not faint, and he does not grow weary! There is no searching his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weary, and he increases power for
⌊the powerless
⌋.
*
30 Even
* young people will be faint and grow weary, and
the young will stumble, exhausted.
31 But
* those who wait for Yahweh shall renew
their strength. They shall go up
with wings
* like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not be faint.