40
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith Eloheichem.
2 Speak ye to the lev Yerushalayim,
and preach unto her,
that her tzeva'a (time of hard service, warfare) is ended,
that her avon (iniquity) is nirtzah (punitively paid for, pardoned);
for she hath received of the Yad Hashem kiflayim (double)
in payment for all her chattot.
3 The voice of him that preacheth in the midbar:
Prepare ye the Derech Hashem,
make straight in the Aravah
a highway for Eloheinu.
4 Every gey (valley) shall be raised up,
and every har and givah (hill) shall be made low;
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places bikah (plain, valley);
5 And the kavod Hashem shall be revealed,
and all basar shall see it together;
for the mouth of Hashem hath spoken.
6 The voice said, Preach.
And he said, What shall I preach?
All basar is khatzir (grass),
and all the chesed (constancy) thereof is as the tzitz (flower, blossom) of the sadeh;
7 The khatzir (grass) withereth,
the tzitz (flower, blossom) falleth;
because the Ruach of Hashem bloweth upon it;
surely the people is khatzir (grass).
8 The khatzir withereth,
the tzitz falleth;
but the Devar Eloheinu shall stand forever.
9 O Mevaseret Tziyon (O Herald, Preacher of Besorah [Good News, Gospel] Tziyon, O Lady Evangelist Tziyon),
get thee up into the har gavo'ah (high mountain);
O Mevaseret Yerushalayim (O Herald, Preacher of Besorah [Good News, Gospel] Yerushalayim, O Lady Evangelist Yerushalayim),
lift up thy voice with ko'ach;
lift it up, be not afraid;
say unto the towns of Yehudah, Hinei Eloheichem!
10 Hinei, Adonoi Hashem will come with chazak,
and His zero'a* shall rule for Him;
hinei, His sachar (reward) is with Him,
and His pe'ullah (work, recompense, retribution, penal reward [for His enemies]) before Him.
11 He shall feed His Eder like a Ro'eh;
He shall gather the tela'im (lambs) with His zero'a,
and carry them in His kheyk,
and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who hath measured the mayim in the hollow of His Hand,
and meted out Shomayim with a handbreadth,
and enclosed the aphar ha'aretz in a measure,
and weighed the harim (mountains) in scales,
and the geva'ot (hills) in a balance?†
13 Who hath directed the Ruach of Hashem,
or being His ish etzah (counselor) hath taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel,
and who gave Him binah,
and taught Him in the orakh mishpat,
and taught Him da'as,
and showed Him the derech tevunot (way of understanding, intelligence)?
15 Surely the Goyim are like a drop in a bucket,
and are accounted as dust of the scales;
surely He taketh up the iyim (islands) like fine dust.
16 Levanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor the beasts thereof sufficient for an olah.
17 Kol HaGoyim before Him are as nothing;
and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and tohu.
18 To whom then will ye liken El?
Or what demut (likeness) will ye compare unto Him?
19 The charash (workman, craftsman) melteth a pesel (idol, image),
and the goldsmith overlayeth it with zahav,
and casteth for it chains of kesef.
20 He that is so impoverished that He hath no terumah
chooseth an etz that will not rot;
he seeketh unto him a charash chacham (skilled craftsman)
to prepare a pesel, that shall not topple.
21 Have ye not known?
Have ye not heard?
Hath it not been told you from the beginning?
Have ye not understood from the mosedot ha'aretz (foundations of the earth)?
22 It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth,
and the inhabitants thereof are like chagavim (grasshoppers);
that stretcheth out Shomayim like a curtain,
and spreadeth them out like an ohel to dwell in;
23 That bringeth the roznim (rulers) to nothing;
He maketh the Shoftei Eretz like tohu.
24 Indeed, they shall not be planted;
indeed, they shall not be sown;
indeed, their stem shall not take root ba'aretz (in the ground);
and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither,
and the se'arah (storm wind) shall take them away like the kash (straw, stubble, chaff).
25 To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal?
saith the Kadosh.
26 Lift up your eyes marom (on high, i.e. into the heavens), and behold:
Who hath created‡ these things,
that bringeth out their tzeva'a (host, legions) by mispar (number);
He calleth them all b'shem (by name);
because of the abundance of His power and the might of His ko'ach,
not one [star] is missing.
27 Why sayest thou, O Ya'akov,
and speakest, O Yisroel:
My derech is hid from Hashem,
and my mishpat is passed over and disregarded by Elohai?
28 Hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard,
that the Elohei Olam, Hashem,
Boreh Ketzot HaAretz (Creator of the ends of the earth),
fainteth not, neither is weary?
There is no searching of His tevunah (understanding, intelligence).
29 He giveth ko'ach to the faint;
and to them that have no might He increaseth power.
30 Even the ne'arim (youths) shall faint and grow weary,
and the bochurim shall utterly fall;
31 But they that wait upon Hashem shall renew their ko'ach;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not grow weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
* 40:10 Moshiach, see Isa 53:1 † 40:12 See Prov 30:4. ‡ 40:26 T.N. This chapter needs to be seen also in light of Acts chapter 2, and Jerusalemʼs Besurah HaGeulah proclaimed there.