Messengers Come From Babylon to Hezekiah

39 At that time Merodach-Baladan, the king of Babylonia, sent Hezekiah letters and a gift. He had heard that Hezekiah had been sick but had gotten well again. Merodach-Baladan was the son of Baladan.

2Hezekiah gladly received the messengers. He showed them what was in his storerooms. He showed them the silver and gold. He took them to where the spices and the fine olive oil were kept. He showed them where he kept all of his weapons. And he showed them all of his treasures. In fact, he showed them everything that was in his palace and in his whole kingdom.

3Then I went to King Hezekiah. I asked him, “What did those men say? Where did they come from?”

“They came from a land far away,” Hezekiah said. “They came to me from Babylon.”

4I asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “I showed them all of my treasures.”

5Then I said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the message of the Lord who rules over all. He says, 6‘You can be sure the time will come when everything in your palace will be carried off to Babylon. Everything the kings before you have stored up until this day will be taken away. There will not be anything left,’ says the Lord.

7“ ‘Some of the members of your family line will be taken away. They will be your own flesh and blood. They will include the children who will be born into your family line in years to come. And they will serve the king of Babylonia in his palace.’ ”

8“The message the Lord has spoken through you is good,” Hezekiah replied. He thought, “There will be peace and safety while I’m still living.”

God Comforts His People

40 “Comfort my people,” says your God.

“Comfort them.

2 Speak tenderly to the people of Jerusalem.

Announce to them

that their hard service has been completed.

Tell them that their sin has been paid for.

Tell them I have punished them enough

for all of their sins.”

3 A messenger is calling out,

“In the desert prepare

the way for the Lord.

Make a straight road through it

for our God.

4 Every valley will be filled in.

Every mountain and hill will be made level.

The rough ground will be smoothed out.

The rocky places will be made flat.

5 Then the glory of the Lord will appear.

And everyone will see it.

The Lord has spoken.”

6 Another messenger says, “Cry out.”

And I said, “What should I cry?”

“Cry out, ‘All people are like grass.

They don’t last any longer than flowers in the field.

7 The grass dries up. The flowers fall to the ground.

That happens when the Lord makes his wind blow on them.

So people are just like grass.

8 The grass dries up. The flowers fall to the ground.

But what our God says will stand forever.’ ”

9 Zion, you are bringing good news to your people.

Go up on a high mountain and announce it.

Jerusalem, you are bringing good news to them.

Shout the message loudly.

Shout it out loud. Don’t be afraid.

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Your God is coming!”

10 The Lord and King is coming with power.

His powerful arm will rule for him.

He has set his people free.

He is bringing them back as his reward.

He has won the battle over their enemies.

11 He takes care of his flock like a shepherd.

He gathers the lambs in his arms.

He carries them close to his heart.

He gently leads those that have little ones.

12 Who has measured the oceans by using the palm of his hand?

Who has used the width of his hand to mark off the sky?

Who has measured out the dust of the earth in a basket?

Who has weighed the mountains on scales?

Who has weighed the hills in a balance?

13 Who can ever understand what is in the Lord’s mind?

Who can ever give him advice?

14 Did the Lord have to ask anyone to help him understand?

Did he have to ask someone to teach him the right way?

Who taught him what he knows?

Who showed him how to understand?

15 The nations are only a drop in a bucket to him.

He considers them as nothing but dust on the scales.

He weighs the islands as if they were only fine dust.

16 Lebanon doesn’t have enough trees to keep his altar fires burning.

It doesn’t have enough animals to sacrifice as burnt offerings to him.

17 To him, all of the nations don’t amount to anything.

He considers them to be worthless.

In fact, they are less than nothing in his sight.

18 So who will you compare God to?

Is there any other god like him?

19 Will you compare him to a statue of a god?

Any skilled worker can make a statue.

Then another worker covers it with gold

and makes silver chains for it.

20 But someone who is too poor to bring that kind of offering

will choose some wood that won’t rot.

Then he looks for a skilled worker.

He pays the worker to make a statue of a god that won’t fall over.

21 Don’t you know who made everything?

Haven’t you heard about him?

Hasn’t it been told to you from the beginning?

Haven’t you understood it ever since the earth was made?

22 God sits on his throne high above the earth.

Its people look like grasshoppers to him.

He spreads the heavens out like a cover.

He sets it up like a tent to live in.

23 He takes the power of princes away from them.

He reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 They are planted.

They are scattered like seeds.

They put down roots in the ground.

But as soon as that happens, God blows on them and they dry up.

Then a windstorm sweeps them away like straw.

25 “So who will you compare me to?

Who is equal to me?” says the Holy One.

26 Look up toward the sky.

Who created everything you see?

The Lord causes the stars to come out at night one by one.

He gives each one of them a name.

His power and strength are great.

So none of the stars is missing.

27 Family of Jacob, why do you say,

“The Lord doesn’t notice our condition”?

People of Israel, why do you say,

“Our God doesn’t pay any attention to our rightful claims”?

28 Don’t you know who made everything?

Haven’t you heard about him?

The Lord is the God who lives forever.

He created everything on earth.

He won’t become worn out or get tired.

No one will ever know how great his understanding is.

29 He gives strength to those who are tired.

He gives power to those who are weak.

30 Even young people become worn out and get tired.

Even the best of them trip and fall.

31 But those who trust in the Lord

will receive new strength.

They will fly as high as eagles.

They will run and not get tired.

They will walk and not grow weak.

The Lord Helps Israel

41 The Lord says, “People who live on the islands,

come and stand quietly in front of me.

Let the nations gain new strength

in order to state their case.

Let them come forward and speak.

Let us go to court and find out who is right.

2 “Who has stirred up a king from the east?

Who has helped him win his battles?

I hand nations over to him.

I bring kings under his control.

He turns them into dust with his sword.

With his bow he turns them into straw blowing in the wind.

3 He hunts them down. Then he moves on unharmed.

He travels so fast that his feet

don’t seem to touch the ground.

4 Who has made that happen? Who has carried it out?

Who has created all of the people who have ever lived?

I, the Lord, have done it.

I was with the first of them.

And I will be with the last of them.”

5 The people on the islands have seen that king coming.

And it has made them afraid.

People tremble with fear from one end of the earth to the other.

They come and gather together.

6 They help each other.

They say to one another, “Be strong!”

7 One skilled worker makes a statue of a god.

Another covers it with gold.

The first worker says to the second,

“You have done a good job.”

Another worker smooths out the metal with a hammer.

Still another gives the statue its final shape.

The third worker says to the last one,

“You have done a good job.”

Then they nail the statue down so it won’t fall over.

8 The Lord says, “People of Israel, you are my servants.

Family of Jacob, I have chosen you.

You are the children of my friend Abraham.

9 I gathered you from one end of the earth to the other.

From the farthest places on earth I brought you together.

I said, ‘You are my servants.’

I have chosen you.

I have not turned my back on you.

10 So do not be afraid. I am with you.

Do not be terrified. I am your God.

I will make you strong and help you.

My powerful right hand will take good care of you.

I always do what is right.

11 “All those who are angry with you will be put to shame.

And they will be dishonored.

Those who oppose you will be destroyed.

And they will vanish.

12 You might search for your enemies.

But you will not find them.

Those who go to war against you

will completely disappear.

13 I am the Lord your God.

I take hold of your right hand.

I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid.

I will help you.’

14 Family of Jacob, you are as weak as a worm.

But do not be afraid.

People of Israel, there are only a few of you.

But do not be afraid.

I myself will help you,” announces the Lord.

He is the one who sets his people free.

He is the Holy One of Israel.

15 He says, “I will make you into a threshing sled.

It will be new and sharp.

It will have many teeth.

You will grind the mountains down and crush them.

You will turn the hills into nothing but straw.

16 You will toss them in the air.

A strong wind will catch them and blow them away.

You will be glad because I will make that happen.

You will praise me.

I am the Holy One of Israel.

17 “Those who are poor and needy search for water.

But there isn’t any.

Their tongues are dry because they are thirsty.

But I will help them. I am the Lord.

I will not desert them.

I am Israel’s God.

18 I will make streams flow on the bare hilltops.

I will make springs come up in the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water.

I will turn the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.

19 I will make trees grow in the desert.

I will plant cedar and acacia trees there.

I will plant myrtle and olive trees there.

I will make pine trees grow in the dry and empty desert.

I will plant fir and cypress trees there.

20 Then people will see and know

that my powerful hand has done it.

They will consider and understand

that I have created it.

I am the Holy One of Israel.”

21 The Lord says to the nations and their gods,

“State your case.”

Jacob’s King says to them,

“Prove your case to me.

22 Show me your facts. Tell me and my people

what is going to happen.

Tell us what happened in the past.

Then we can check it out

and see if it is really true.

Or announce to us the things that will take place.

23 Tell us what will happen in the days ahead.

Then we will know that you are gods.

Do something. It does not matter whether it is good or bad.

Then we will be terrified and filled with fear.

24 But you are less than nothing.

Your actions are completely worthless.

I hate it when people worship you.

25 “I have stirred up a king

who will come from the north.

He lives in the east.

He will bring honor to me.

He walks all over rulers as if they were mud.

He steps on them just as a potter stomps on clay.

26 Which one of you gods said those things

would happen before they did?

Who told us about them

so we could know them?

Who told us ahead of time?

Who told us so we could say,

‘You are right’?

None of you told us about them.

None of you told us ahead of time.

In fact, no one heard you say anything at all.

27 I was the first to tell Zion.

I said, ‘Look! The people of Israel are coming back!’

I sent a prophet to Jerusalem with the good news.

28 I look, but there is no one

among the gods that can give me advice.

None of them can answer

when I ask them the simplest question.

29 So they are not really gods at all.

What they do does not amount to anything.

They are as useless as wind.