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The Blue Letter Bible

Isaiah 40 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Comfort for God’s People
(cf. Luk 3:4–6 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:1

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:1 - “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:2

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:2 - “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over
for all her sins.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:3

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:3 - Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the LORD!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:4

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:4 - Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:5

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:5 - Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The LORD has spoken!”[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:6

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:6 - A voice said, “Shout!”
I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:7

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:7 - The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the LORD.
And so it is with people.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:8

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:8 - The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:9

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:9 - O Zion, messenger of good news,
shout from the mountaintops!
Shout it louder, O Jerusalem.[fn]
Shout, and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah,
“Your God is coming!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:10

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:10 - Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:11

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:11 - He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
The LORD Has No Equal

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:12

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:12 - Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:13

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:13 - Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD?[fn]
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:14

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:14 - Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
or show him the path of justice?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:15

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:15 - No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:16

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:16 - All the wood in Lebanon’s forests
and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:17

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:17 - The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:18

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:18 - To whom can you compare God?
What image can you find to resemble him?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:19

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:19 - Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:20

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:20 - Or if people are too poor for that,
they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
to carve an image that won’t fall down!

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:21

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:21 - Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:22

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:22 - God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
and makes his tent from them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:23

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:23 - He judges the great people of the world
and brings them all to nothing.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:24

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:24 - They hardly get started, barely taking root,
when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:25

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:25 - “To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:26

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:26 - Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:27

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:27 - O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:28

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:28 - Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:29

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:29 - He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:30

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:30 - Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 40:31

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 40:31 - But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The LORD has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.
Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The LORD has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.
Greek version reads He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, / “Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! / Clear a road for our God! / Fill in the valleys, / and level the mountains and hills. / And then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, / and all people will see the salvation sent from God. / The LORD has spoken!” Compare Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6.
Or O messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout it louder to Jerusalem.
Greek version reads Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Compare Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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Isaiah Chapter 40 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras