Isaiah chapter 40
Their time of trial is almost over. God is majestic.
THEIR TIME OF TRIAL IS ALMOST OVER
VERSE 1. “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
comfort my people. The biblical idea is to give comfort to people.
However, many Christians believe the essence of their ministry is to afflict people.
They put it this way:
Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comforted.
VERSE 2. “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”
BBE translation. Say kind words to the heart of Jerusalem, crying out to her that her time of trouble is ended, that her punishment is complete; that she has been rewarded by the Lord’s hand twice over for all her sins.
Speak comfortably. Jerusalem was to be addressed tenderly, with gentle, encouraging words.
Don’t waste your words. Say things that will minister to the people around you. But say those things according to the specific needs of each person. Read more »
accomplished. The Hebrew word is “Mala.” It means full, accomplished, completed, ended, expired, given fully, ordained.
her punishment is complete. Many people feel that they have been punished for their own sins. But a few people feel they have been punished for the sins that other people did to them.
Such people might include children of narcissistic parents, victims of an abusive spouse, sex abuse victims and others.
These people often feel the sins done to them by others made their life twice as hard as it would otherwise have been. They feel they’ve been living under a cloud, a dark, unhappy cloud, ever since.
It’s as if God has been punishing them.
But through the prophet Isaiah, God declares that those days are over. The hard times of trouble and sadness, the era of punishment for the sins done by others … they are over. It’s over and done with.
It is complete.
MSG translation. Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem, but also make it very clear That she has served her sentence, that her sin is taken care of–forgiven! She’s been punished enough and more than enough, and now it’s over and done with.
NAB translation. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.
NASB translation. Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.
NIV translation. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
NKJV translation. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.
NLT translation. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and that her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her in full for all her sins.
NRSV translation. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Our own paraphrase:
Speak tenderly but clearly to the heart of Jerusalem: God declares that your time of suffering is over. You have suffered for “a while.” But now you will no longer suffer due to what other people have done to you. You’ve had more than enough of that!
VERSE 3. The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
NLT translation. 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!
The voice of one who calls out. The prophets foresaw the arrival of a messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Read more »
in the wilderness. That is, “in the desert.”
VERSE 4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
NLT translation. Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.
John the Baptist made a highway in the desert. That meant he prepared the people to accept the message of the Lord Jesus. Read more »
VERSE 5. The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”
NLT translation. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!”
all flesh shall see it together. The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
Luke 3:6. All flesh will see God’s salvation.
VERSE 6. The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
1 Peter 1:24. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall. (NIV 1984 translation)
VERSE 7. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
VERSE 8. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
1 Peter 1:25. but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.
VERSE 9. You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
You who tell good news to Zion. We are to be a people of good news, not bad news.
lift up your voice with strength. We should let our voice be strong. Our knowledge of Jesus Christ is not to be kept a secret. We are to shout him from the rooftops!
VERSE 10. Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
VERSE 11. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
BBE translation. He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.
like a shepherd. This is a wonderful image of Jesus Christ.
GOD IS MAJESTIC
VERSE 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
with his span. That was the distance between the extended little finger and thumb.
VERSE 13. Who has directed the LORD’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?
1 Corinthians 2:16. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
VERSE 14. Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
VERSE 15. Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
a drop in the bucket. This is a famous expression from the Bible.
speck of dust on a balance. That is, dust on the scales. This too is a famous expression from the Bible.
VERSE 16. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
VERSE 17. All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
All the nations are like nothing. Before God, even the mightiest of nations are of trivial significance.
VERSE 18. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
VERSE 19. A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
VERSE 20. He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
VERSE 21. Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
Haven’t you heard? This is a critical question. Can you hear the things of God? Or are you deaf to him?
VERSE 22. It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
VERSE 23. who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
brings princes to nothing. The LORD makes rulers come to nothing. We saw an example of that in the the king of Assyria. He left Jerusalem and went back home to his palace. There, his two sons murdered him.
VERSE 24. They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
VERSE 25. “To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Who is my equal. The LORD God has no equals.
VERSE 26. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
VERSE 27. Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?”
VERSE 28. Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
VERSE 29. He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
VERSE 30. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
VERSE 31. but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
KJV translation. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Book of Isaiah and from the entire Bible.
mount up with wings like eagles. Like an eagle that soars high above the vultures and crows that try to annoy it, the LORD God will lift us high above our enemies. Don’t lose hope! Read more »
ISAIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, True Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.