1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2Speak ye [comfort] to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out unto her, that her time of sorrow is accomplished, that her iniquity is atoned for; for she hath received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
3A voice calleth out, In the wilderness make ye clear the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for God.
4Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made a straight path, and the rough places a plain:
5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
6A voice saith, Proclaim; and he saith, What shall I proclaim? all flesh is grass, and all its goodliness is as the flower of the field:
7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the breath of the Lord hath blown upon it; surely the people is grass.
8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God will stand firm for ever.
9Upon a high mountain get thee up, thou that bringest good tidings to Zion; lift up with strength thy voice, thou who bringest good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, [here is] your God!
10Behold, the Lord Eternal will come with might, and his arm ruleth for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11Like a shepherd will he feed his flock: with his arm will he gather the lambs, and in his bosom will he carry them, will he lead gently those that suckle their young.
12Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters, and meted out the heavens with the span, and comprised in a measure the dust of the earth, and weighed in the scale-beam the mountains, and the hills in balances?
13Who hath meted out the Spirit of the Lord? and [who was] his counsellor that he could have given him information?
14With whom took he counsel, that he gave him understanding, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and caused him to know the way of understanding?
15Behold, nations are as a drop out of a bucket, and as the small dust of the balance are they accounted: behold, isles are like the flying dust.
16And Lebanon is not sufficient for burning, and its beasts do not suffice for burnt-offering.
17All the nations are as naught before him; less than nothing, and vanity are they accounted to him.
18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19The graven image the artificer hath cast and the goldsmith hath overspread it with gold, and fabricated [on it] silver chains.
20He that is skilled in the choice chooseth a wood that will not rot; he seeketh unto himself a skilful workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21Know ye not? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not paid attention to the foundations of the earth?
22[It is he] that dwelleth above the circle of the earth, while its inhabitants are as grasshoppers; that stretched out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
23That bringeth princes to naught; rendering the judges of the earth as vanity.
24Yes, they were not yet planted; yea, they were not yet sown; yea, their stem had not yet taken root in the earth: when he but breathed upon them, and they withered, and the storm-wind carrieth them away as stubble.
25To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to? saith the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these? he that bringeth out their host by number; that calleth them all by name; from the Mighty One not one escapeth.
27Why wilt thou say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my cause hath passed from the cognizance of my God?
28Dost thou not know? hast thou not heard? The God of everlasting is the Lord, is the Creator of the ends of the earth; he will not be faint and weary; unsearchable is his understanding.
29He giveth to the faint strength; and to the powerless he imparteth much might.
30Though youths should grow faint and be weary, and young men should utterly stumble:
31Yet they that wait upon the Lord shall acquire new strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk, and not become faint.