Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye {Hebrew: to the heart of.}comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her {Or, time of service}warfare is accomplished, that her {Or, punishment is accepted See Leviticus 26:43.}iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of one {Or, that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way &c.}that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain:
and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.
{Or, O Zion, that bringest good tidings}O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; {Or, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings}O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!
Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that have their young.
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Who hath {Or, meted out}directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: behold, {Or, the isles are as the fine dust that is lifted up}he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as {Or, as a thing of nought}less than nothing, and {Or, confusion}vanity.
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains.
He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to {Or, prepare}set up a graven image, that shall not be moved.
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not {Or, understood the foundations}understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as {Or, gauze}a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as {Or, confusion}vanity.
{Or, Scarce are they planted, scarce are they sown, scarce hath their stock taken root in the earth, when he bloweth upon them &c.}Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high, {Or, and see: who hath created these? he that &c.}and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? {Or, Jehovah is an everylasting God, the Creator…he fainteth not &c.}The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
Querverweise zu Jesaja 40,4 Jes 40,4
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
For {Or, Jehovah of hosts hath a day}there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon all that is proud and haughty, and upon all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low;
and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall,
And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, {Or, and will not forbear}and I will not forsake them.
I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger;And look upon every one that is proud, and abase him.
Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low;And tread down the wicked where they stand.
Hide them in the dust together;Bind their faces in the hidden place.
I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;
And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, {Or, and will not forbear}and I will not forsake them.
Who are crooked in their ways,And wayward in their paths:
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill,To make them sit with princes,And inherit the throne of glory:For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's,And he hath set the world upon them.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,And lifteth up the needy from the dunghill;
That he may set him with princes,Even with the princes of his people.
And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.
thus saith the Lord Jehovah: {Or, I will remove &c.}Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this shall be {Hebrew: not this.}no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
He hath put down princes from their thrones,And hath exalted them of low degree.
The hungry he hath filled with good things;And the rich he hath sent empty away.
Every valley shall be filled,And every mountain and hill shall be brought low;And the crooked shall become straight,And the rough ways smooth;
I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.