1 ARST Our God says,“Encourage my people! Encourage them! BSB BSB: “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
2 ARST Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem; tell them that their suffering is ended Yahweh has forgiven them for the sins that they have committed. He has fully punished them for their sins.” BSB BSB: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
3 ARST Someone is shouting,“In the desert plain make the way straight for Yahweh to come to you; make a smooth road for our God. BSB BSB: A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
4 ARST Fill in the valleys; flatten every hill and every mountain. Make the uneven ground smooth, and make the rough places smooth. BSB BSB: Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.
5 ARST If you do that, it will become known that Yahweh is glorious, and all people will realize it at the same time. Those things will surely happen because it is Yahweh who has said it.” BSB BSB: And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
7 ARST Grass withers and flowers dry up when Yahweh causes a hot wind from the desert to blow on them. And all people are like that. BSB BSB: The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.
9 ARST All of you who bring good news to Zion, shout it from the high mountain! Every one of you who brings good news to the people who live in Jerusalem, shout out loud the message you have to tell! Shout it out! Do not be afraid! Say to the people living in the cities of Judah,“Here is your God! BSB BSB: Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 ARST Yahweh your God will be coming with power, he will rule powerfully. When he comes, he will bring with him the people whom he has freed from being slaves in Babylonia. BSB BSB: Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.
11 ARST He will take care of his people like a shepherd takes care of his sheep, and carries the young lambs in his arms. He carries them close to his chest and he gently leads the female sheep that are nursing their young lambs. BSB BSB: He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
13 ARST And who else can advise Yahweh? Who can teach him or advise him what he should do? BSB BSB: Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
14 ARST Has Yahweh ever consulted anyone else to get advice? Does he need someone to tell him what is right to do and how to act justly? BSB BSB: Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 ARST Yahweh considers that the nations are as insignificant as one drop from a bucket full of water. They are as insignificant as dust on scales. He is able to weigh islands as though they weighed no more than specks of dust. BSB BSB: Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 ARST There would be not enough wood from all the trees in Lebanon to make a suitable fire for sacrificing animals to him, and there are not enough animals in Lebanon to offer as sacrifices to him. BSB BSB: Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17 ARST The nations of the world are completely insignificant to him; he considers that they are worthless and less than nothing. BSB BSB: All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
18 ARST So to whom can you compare God? What image resembles him? BSB BSB: To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
19 ARST Can you compare him to an idol that is made in a mold, and then is covered with a thin sheet of gold and decorated with silver chains? BSB BSB: To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
20 ARST A man who is poor cannot buy silver or gold for his idol; so he selects a piece of wood that will not rot, and he gives it to a craftsman to carve an idol that will not fall over! BSB BSB: One lacking such an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 ARST Have you not heard this? Do you not understand it? Are you unable to hear what God said long ago— messages that he gave before he created the earth? BSB BSB: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
22 ARST God sits on his throne above the earth, and the people on the earth below seem to be as small as grasshoppers. He spreads out the sky like a curtain; it is like a tent for him to live in. BSB BSB: He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 ARST He causes kings to have no more power, and he causes the rulers to be worth nothing. BSB BSB: He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
24 ARST They start to rule, like small plants start to grow and form roots; but then he gets rid of them as though they withered when he blew on them, like chaff that is blown away by the wind. BSB BSB: No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
25 ARST The Holy One asks,“To whom will you compare me? Is anyone equal to me?” BSB BSB: “To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 ARST Look up toward the sky: consider who created all the stars. Yahweh created them, and at night he causes them to appear; he calls each one by its name. Because he is extremely powerful, all of the stars are there when he calls out their names. BSB BSB: Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
27 ARST You people of Israel, why do you complain that Yahweh does not see the troubles that you are experiencing? Why do you say that he does not act fairly toward you? BSB BSB: Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?
29 ARST He strengthens those who feel weak and tired. BSB BSB: He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
30 ARST Even youths become faint and weary, and young men will fall when they are exhausted. BSB BSB: Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
31 ARST But those who trust in Yahweh will become strong again; it will be as though they will soar as eagles do. They will run for a long time and not become weary; they will walk long distances and not faint. BSB BSB: But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.