Isaiah 40 - 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

40 2 Remission of sins by Christ. 3 The coming of John Baptist. 18 The Prophet reproveth the Idolaters, and them that trust not in the Lord.

¹ Comfort ^[a]ye, comfort ye my people, will your God say.

² Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her ^[b]warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand ^[c]double for all her sins.

³ A ^[d]voice crieth in the ^[e]wilderness, ^[f]Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the desert a path for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every ^[g]mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be straight, and the rough places plain.

⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all ^[h]flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

⁶ A ^[i]voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the ^[j]grace thereof is as the flowers of the field.

⁷ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the ^[k]Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

⁸ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the ^[l]word of our God shall stand forever.

⁹ ¶ O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high ^[m]mountain: O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, Behold ^[n]your God.

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God will come with power, and ^[o]his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

¹¹ He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall guide them with ^[p]young.

¹² Who hath measured the waters in his ^[q]fist? and counted heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure? and weighed the mountains in a weight, and the hills in a balance?

¹³ Who hath instructed the spirit of the Lord? or was ^[r]his counselor, or taught him?

¹⁴ Of whom took the counsel, and who instructed him and taught him in the way of judgment? or taught him knowledge, and showed unto him the way of understanding?

¹⁵ Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balance: behold, he taketh away the isles as a little dust.

¹⁶ And Lebanon is not sufficient for fire, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

¹⁷ All nations before him are as ^[s]nothing, and they are counted to him, less than nothing, and vanity.

¹⁸ To whom then ^[t]will ye liken God? or what similitude will ye set up unto him?

¹⁹ The workman melteth an image, or the goldsmith beateth it out in gold, or the goldsmith maketh silver plates.

²⁰ Doth not ^[u]the poor choose out a tree that will not rot, for an oblation? he seeketh also unto him a cunning workman, to prepare an image that shall not be moved.

²¹ Know ye nothing? have ye not heard ^[v]it? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood it by the ^[w]foundation of the earth?

²² He sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, he stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out, as a tent to dwell in.

²³ He bringeth the princes to nothing, and maketh the judges of the earth, as vanity,

²⁴ As though they were not planted, as though they were not sown, as though their stock took no root in the earth: for he did even ^[x]blow upon them, and they withered, and the whirlwind will take them away as stubble.

²⁵ To whom now will ye liken me, that I should be like him, saith the Holy one?

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, and bringeth ^[y]out their armies by number, and calleth them all by names: by the greatness of his power and mighty strength nothing faileth.

²⁷ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest O Israel, ^[z]My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over of my God?

²⁸ Knowest thou not? or hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord hath created the ^[aa]ends of the earth? he neither fainteth, nor is weary: there is no searching of his ^[ab]understanding.

²⁹ But he giveth strength unto him that fainteth, and unto him that hath no strength, he increaseth power.

^{30 [ac]}Even the young men shall faint, and be weary, and the young men shall stumble and fall.

³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength: they shall lift up the wings, as the eagles: they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 40:1 This is a consolation for the Church, assuring them, that they shall be never destitute of Prophets whereby he exhorteth the true ministers of God that then were, and those also that should come after him, to comfort the poor afflicted, and to assure them of their deliverance both of body and soul.
2. Isaiah 40:2 The time of her affliction.
3. Isaiah 40:2 Meaning, sufficient, as Isa. 61:7, and full correction, or double grace, whereas she deserved double punishment.
4. Isaiah 40:3 To wit, of the Prophets.
5. Isaiah 40:3 That is, in Babylon and other places, where they were kept in captivity, and misery.
6. Isaiah 40:3 Meaning Cyrus and Darius which should deliver God’s people out of captivity, and make them a ready way to Jerusalem: and this was fully accomplished, when John the Baptist brought tidings of Jesus Christ’s coming, who was the true deliverer of his Church from sin and Satan, Matt. 3:3.
7. Isaiah 40:4 Whatsoever may let or hinder this deliverance, shall be removed.
8. Isaiah 40:5 This miracle shall be so great, that it shall be known through all the world.
9. Isaiah 40:6 The voice of God which spake to the Prophet Isaiah.
10. Isaiah 40:6 Meaning, all man’s wisdom and natural powers, James 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:24.
11. Isaiah 40:7 The spirit of God shall discover the vanity in all that seem to have any excellency of themselves.
12. Isaiah 40:8 Though considering the frailty of man’s nature many of the Jews should perish, and so not be partakers of this deliverance, yet God’s promise should be fulfilled, and they that remained, should feel the fruit thereof.
13. Isaiah 40:9 To publish this benefit through all the world.
14. Isaiah 40:9 He showeth at one word the perfection of all man’s felicity, which is to have God’s presence.
15. Isaiah 40:10 His power shall be sufficient without help of any other, and shall have all means in himself to bring his will to pass.
16. Isaiah 40:11 He shall show his care and favor over them that are weak and tender.
17. Isaiah 40:12 Declaring that as God only hath all power, so doth he use the same for the defense and maintenance of his Church.
18. Isaiah 40:13 He showeth God’s infinite wisdom for the same.
19. Isaiah 40:17 He speaketh all this to the intent that they should neither fear man nor put their trust in any, save only in God.
20. Isaiah 40:18 Hereby he armeth them against the idolatry, wherewith they should be tempted in Babylon.
21. Isaiah 40:20 He showeth the rage of the idolaters, seeing that the poor that have not to suffice their own necessities, will defraud themselves to serve their idols.
22. Isaiah 40:21 Have ye not the word of God, which plainly condemneth idolatry?
23. Isaiah 40:21 Can you not learn by the visible creatures whom God hath made to observe your use, that you should not serve them nor worship them?
24. Isaiah 40:24 So that his power appeareth in every place wheresoever we turn our eyes.
25. Isaiah 40:26 Who hath set in order the infinite number of the stars.
26. Isaiah 40:27 He rebuketh the Jews, because they did not rest on the providence of God, but thought that he had forsaken them in their troubles.
27. Isaiah 40:28 And therefore all power is in his hand to deliver when his time cometh.
28. Isaiah 40:28 Showing that men must patiently abide, and not curiously seek out the cause of God’s delay in our afflictions.
29. Isaiah 40:30 They that trust in their own virtue, and do not acknowledge that all cometh of God.