| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. | 1“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. |
| 2“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.” | 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.” |
| 3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. | 3Listen! 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! |
| 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain. | 4Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. |
| 5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” | 5Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!” |
| 6A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. | 6A 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. |
| 7The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. | 7The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. |
| 8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” | 8The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” |
| 9Go 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!” | 9O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” |
| 10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. | 10Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. |
| 11He 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. | 11He 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 |
| 12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance? | 12Who 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? |
| 13Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor? | 13Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? |
| 14Whom 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? | 14Has 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? |
| 15Surely 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. | 15No, 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. |
| 16Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. | 16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. |
| 17All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness. | 17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth. |
| 18To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him? | 18To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? |
| 19To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains? | 19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? |
| 20To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple? | 20Or 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! |
| 21Do 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? | 21Haven’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? |
| 22He 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. | 22God 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. |
| 23He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless. | 23He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. |
| 24No 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. | 24They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. |
| 25“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One. | 25“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. |
| 26Lift 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. | 26Look 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. |
| 27Why 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”? | 27O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? |
| 28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out. | 28Have 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. |
| 29He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. | 29He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. |
| 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. | 30Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. |
| 31But 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. | 31But 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. |
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