8So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, f“The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”
Isaiah 40
God’s People Are Comforted
(cf. Luke 3:4–6)
1“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2“Speak 1comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
a For she has received from the LORD’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3b The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
c“Prepare the way of the LORD;
d Make straight 2in the desert
A highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
e The crooked places shall be made 3straight
And the rough places smooth;
5The fglory of the LORD shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
6The voice said, “Cry out!”
And 4he said, “What shall I cry?”
g“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flower fades,
But hthe word of our God stands forever.”
9O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
10Behold, the Lord GOD shall come 5with a strong hand,
And iHis arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, jHis reward is with Him,
And His 6work before Him.
11He will kfeed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
12l Who has measured the 7waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a 8span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
13m Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And ntaught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?
15Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
17All nations before Him are as onothing,
And pthey are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
18To whom then will you qliken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19r The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20Whoever is too impoverished for such 9a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
s To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21t 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?
22It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who ustretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a vtent to dwell in.
23He 10brings the wprinces to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25“Tox whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
y He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27z Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
a His understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31But those who bwait on the LORD
c Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Israel Assured of God’s Help
Isaiah 41
The Final Restoration of Israel
1“Keep asilence before Me, O coastlands,
And let the people renew their strength!
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us bcome near together for judgment.
2“Who raised up one cfrom the east?
Who in righteousness called him to His feet?
Who dgave the nations before him,
And made him rule over kings?
Who gave them as the dust to his sword,
As driven stubble to his bow?
3Who pursued them, and passed 1safely
By the way that he had not gone with his feet?
4e Who has performed and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the LORD, am fthe first;
And with the last I am gHe.’ ”
5The coastlands saw it and feared,
The ends of the earth were afraid;
They drew near and came.
6h Everyone helped his neighbor,
And said to his brother,
2“Be of good courage!”
7i So the craftsman encouraged the jgoldsmith;3
He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil,
Saying, 4“It is ready for the soldering”;
Then he fastened it with pegs,
k That it might not totter.
8“But you, Israel, are My servant,
Jacob whom I have lchosen,
The descendants of Abraham My mfriend.
9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10n Fear not, ofor I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
&n
bsp; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11“Behold, all those who were incensed against you
Shall be pashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing,
And those who strive with you shall perish.
12You shall seek them and not find them—
5 Those who contended with you.
Those who war against you
Shall be as nothing,
As a nonexistent thing.
13For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
14“Fear not, you qworm Jacob,
You men of Israel!
I will help you,” says the LORD
And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15“Behold, rI will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.
16You shall swinnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the LORD,
And tglory in the Holy One of Israel.
17“The poor and needy seek water, but there is none,
Their tongues fail for thirst.
I, the LORD, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not uforsake them.
18I will open vrivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wwilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the xdesert the cypress tree and the pine
And the box tree together,
20y That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
21“Present your case,” says the LORD.
“Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the zKing of Jacob.
22“Leta them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the bformer things, what they were,
That we may 6consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.
23c Show the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that you are gods;
Yes, ddo good or do evil,
That we may be dismayed and see it together.
24Indeed eyou are nothing,
And your work is nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.
25“I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the 7rising of the sun fhe shall call on My name;
g And he shall come against princes as though mortar,
As the potter treads clay.
26h Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’?
Surely there is no one who shows,
Surely there is no one who declares,
Surely there is no one who hears your words.
27i The first time jI said to Zion,
‘Look, there they are!’
And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.
28k For I looked, and there was no man;
I looked among them, but there was no counselor,
Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29l Indeed they are all 8worthless;
Their works are nothing;
Their molded images are wind and confusion.
The Servant of the LORD
Isaiah 42
The Servant Comes to Glorify the LORD
1“Behold! aMy Servant whom I uphold,
My 1Elect One in whom My soul bdelights!
c I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3A bruised reed He will not break,
And 2smoking flax He will not 3quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
d And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5Thus says God the LORD,
e Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
f Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6“I,g the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You hand give You as a covenant to the people,
As ia light to the Gentiles,
7j To open blind eyes,
To kbring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in ldarkness from the prison house.
8I am the LORD, that is My name;
And My mglory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Praise to the LORD
10n Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
o You who go down to the sea, and 4all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
11Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,
The villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the LORD,
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, pyes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
Promise of the LORD’s Help
14“I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in 5labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.
15I will lay waste the mountains and hills,
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers coastlands,
And I will dry up the pools.
16I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;
I will lead them in paths they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked places straight.
These things I will do for them,
And not forsake them.
17They shall be qturned back,
They shall be greatly ashamed,
Who trust in carved images,
Who say to the molded images,
‘You are our gods.’
18“Hear, you deaf;
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19r Who is blind but My servant,
Or deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as he who is perfect,
And blind as the LORD’s servant?
20Seeing many things, sbut you do not observe;
Opening the ears, but he does not hear.”
Israel’s Obstinate Disobedience
21The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;
He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
22But this is a people robbed and plundered;
All of them are 6snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
T
hey are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”
23Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the LORD,
He against whom we have sinned?
t For they would not walk in His ways,
Nor were they obedient to His law.
25Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger
And the strength of battle;
u It has set him on fire all around,
v Yet he did not know;
And it burned him,
Yet he did not take it to wheart.
The Redeemer of Israel
Isaiah 43
The LORD the Only Redeemer
1But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, afor I have redeemed you;
b I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
2c When you pass through the waters, dI will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you ewalk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
f I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have gloved you;
Therefore I will give men for you,
And people for your life.
5h Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
And igather you from the west;
6I will say to the jnorth, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’
Bring My sons from afar,
And My daughters from the ends of the earth—
7Everyone who is kcalled by My name,
Whom lI have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
8m Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
And the ndeaf who have ears.
9Let all the nations be gathered together,
And let the people be assembled.
o Who among them can declare this,
And show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified;
Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”
10“Youp are My witnesses,” says the LORD,
q“And My servant whom I have chosen,
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 326