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Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah
39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. 39:2 Hezekiah welcomed1 them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.2 39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 39:4 Isaiah3 asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything in my treasuries.” 39:5 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord who commands armies: 39:6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors4 have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father5 will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ” 39:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.”6 Then he thought,7 “For8 there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”
40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your1 God.
40:2 “Speak kindly to2 Jerusalem,3 and tell her
that her time of warfare is over,4
that her punishment is completed.5
For the Lord has made her pay double6 for all her sins.”
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
40:4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
40:5 The splendor7 of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people8 will see it at the same time.
For9 the Lord has decreed it.”10
Another asks,11 “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds:12 “All people are like grass,13
and all their promises14 are like the flowers in the field.
the flowers wither,
when the wind sent by the Lord15 blows on them.
Surely humanity16 is like grass.
the flowers wither,
but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”17
40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem!18
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior;19
his military power establishes his rule.20
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him.21
40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart;22
he leads the ewes along.
40:12 Who has measured out the waters23 in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully24 measured the sky,25
or carefully weighed26 the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales?27
40:13 Who comprehends28 the mind29 of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor?30
40:14 From whom does he receive directions?31
Who32 teaches him the correct way to do things,33
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design?34
40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts35 the coastlands36 as if they were dust.
40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;37
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.38
40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing.39
40:18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
40:19 A craftsman casts40 an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot;41
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make42 an idol that will not fall over.
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon;43
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.44
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,45
and spreads it out46 like a pitched tent.47
40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.48
40:26 Look up at the sky!49
Who created all these heavenly lights?50
He is the one who leads out their ranks;51
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me,52
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?53
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth.54
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.55
40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.56
40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help57 find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,58
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
The Lord Challenges the Nations
41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands!1
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate!2
41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east?3
Who4 officially commissions him for service?5
He hands nations over to him,6
and enables him to subdue7 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow.8
41:3 He pursues them and passes by unharmed;9
he advances with great speed.10
41:4 Who acts and carries out decrees?11
Who12 summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end—I am the one.13
41:5 The coastlands14 see and are afraid;
the whole earth15 trembles;
they approach and come.
41:6 They help one another;16
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages17 the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,18
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
The Lord Encourages His People
41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,19
41:9 you whom I am bringing back20 from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions—
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God!21
I strengthen you—
yes, I help you—
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!22
41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries23 will be reduced to nothing24 and perish.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents,25 you will not find them;
your enemies26 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,27
men of28 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector,29 the Holy One of Israel.30
41:15 “Look, I am making you like31 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged.32
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw.33
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers;34
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
41:20 I will do this so35 people36 will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power37 has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.”38
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