Isaiah 40:1-26

Comfort for God’s People

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2 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.

3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD^[a] ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.^[b]

4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem,^[c]lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit^[d] of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor?

14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.

18 With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?

19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

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Isaiah 40:1-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 40

This chapter treats of the comforts of God's people; of the forerunner and coming of the Messiah; of his work, and the dignity of his person; of the folly of making idols, and of the groundless complaints of the church of God. The consolations of God's people, by whom to be administered, and the matter, ground, and reason of them, Isa 40:1,2. John the Baptist, the harbinger of Christ, is described by his work and office, and the effects of it; it issuing in the humiliation of some, and the exaltation of others, and in the revelation of the glory of Christ, Isa 40:3-5, then follows an order to every minister of the Gospel what he should preach and publish; the weakness and insufficiency of men to anything that is spiritually good; their fading and withering goodliness, which is to be ascribed to the blowing of the Spirit of God upon it; and the firmness and constancy of the word of God is declared, Isa 40:6-8, next the apostles of Christ in Jerusalem are particularly exhorted to publish fervently and openly the good tidings of the Gospel; to proclaim the coming of Christ, the manner of it, and the work he came about; and to signify his faithful discharge of his office as a shepherd, Isa 40:9-11, the dignity of whose person is set forth by his almighty power, by his infinite wisdom, and by the greatness of his majesty, in comparison of which all nations and things are as nothing, Isa 40:12-17 and then the vanity of framing any likeness to God, and of forming idols for worship, is observed, Isa 40:18-25, and from the consideration of the divine power in creation and upholding all things, the church of God is encouraged to expect renewed strength and persevering grace, and is blamed for giving way to a distrustful and murmuring spirit, Isa 40:26-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 83

1. Isaiah 12:1; Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 51:3,12; Isaiah 52:9; Isaiah 57:18; Isaiah 61:2; Isaiah 66:13; Jeremiah 31:13; Zephaniah 3:14-17; Zechariah 1:17; 2 Corinthians 1:3
2. S Genesis 34:3; S Isaiah 35:4
3. S Job 7:1
4. Isaiah 41:11-13; Isaiah 49:25
5. S Leviticus 26:41
6. Isaiah 51:19; Isaiah 61:7; Jeremiah 16:18; Jeremiah 17:18; Zechariah 9:12; Revelation 18:6
7. S Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 43:19; Malachi 3:1
8. S Proverbs 3:5-6
9. Matthew 3:3*; Mark 1:3*; John 1:23*
10. Isaiah 49:11
11. S Isaiah 2:14
12. S Psalms 26:12; S Isaiah 26:7; Isaiah 45:2,13; Jeremiah 31:9
13. S Exodus 16:7; S Numbers 14:21; S Isaiah 59:19
14. Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 62:2; Luke 2:30; Luke 3:4-6*
15. S Isaiah 1:20; Isaiah 58:14
16. S Genesis 6:3; S Isaiah 29:5; Job 14:2
17. S Job 8:12; S Isaiah 15:6
18. S Exodus 15:10; S Job 41:21
19. S Psalms 103:16; S Ezekiel 22:21
20. S Isaiah 5:24; James 1:10
21. Isaiah 55:11; Isaiah 59:21
22. S Proverbs 19:21; S Isaiah 7:7,9; S Jeremiah 39:16
23. S Psalms 119:89; S Matthew 5:18; 1 Peter 1:24-25*
24. Isaiah 41:27; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 52:7-10; Isaiah 61:1; Nahum 1:15; S Acts 13:32; Romans 10:15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
25. S Isaiah 1:1
26. Isaiah 25:9
27. Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 59:20; Matthew 21:5; Revelation 22:7
28. Isaiah 28:2
29. S Psalms 44:3; S Isaiah 30:30; S Isaiah 33:2; Isaiah 59:16
30. Isaiah 9:6-7
31. S Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 22:12
32. S Genesis 48:15; S Psalms 28:9; Ezekiel 34:23; S Micah 5:4; S John 10:11
33. S Numbers 11:12
34. S Deuteronomy 26:19
35. Isaiah 49:10
36. S Genesis 33:13; S Deuteronomy 30:4
37. S Job 12:15; S Job 38:10
38. Proverbs 30:4
39. S Job 38:5; Hebrews 1:10-12
40. S Job 38:18; Proverbs 16:11
41. Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 42:1
42. S Job 15:8; Romans 11:34*; 1 Corinthians 2:16*
43. Job 21:22; Colossians 2:3
44. S Job 12:13; S Job 34:13; Isaiah 55:9
45. S Psalms 62:9
46. S Deuteronomy 9:21; Isaiah 2:22
47. Isaiah 33:9; Isaiah 37:24
48. Psalms 50:9-11; Micah 6:7; Hebrews 10:5-9
49. Isaiah 30:28
50. S Job 12:19; Isaiah 29:7
51. S Isaiah 37:19; Daniel 4:35
52. S Exodus 8:10; S 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 46:5
53. S Deuteronomy 4:15; Acts 17:29
54. S Exodus 20:4; Psalms 115:4; S Isaiah 37:19; Isaiah 42:17; Jeremiah 2:8,28; Jeremiah 10:8; Jeremiah 16:19; Habakkuk 2:18; Zechariah 10:2
55. Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 46:6; Jeremiah 10:3
56. Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 31:7
57. Isaiah 44:19
58. S 1 Samuel 12:21
59. S 1 Samuel 5:3
60. ver 28; 2 Kings 19:25; Isaiah 41:22; Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 48:3,5
61. Psalms 19:1; Psalms 50:6; Acts 14:17
62. S Genesis 1:1
63. Romans 1:19
64. Isaiah 48:13; Isaiah 51:13
65. S 2 Chronicles 6:18; S Psalms 2:4
66. S Numbers 13:33; Psalms 104:2; Isaiah 42:5
67. S Genesis 1:1; S Isaiah 48:13
68. S Genesis 1:8; S Job 22:14
69. S Job 36:29
70. S Job 26:7
71. S Job 12:18; S Isaiah 34:12
72. S Job 12:19; Amos 2:3; Job 12:21; Psalms 107:40
73. S Job 5:3
74. S 2 Samuel 22:16; S Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 41:16
75. S Job 8:12; S Job 18:16
76. S Job 24:24; S Isaiah 41:2
77. ver 18; S 1 Samuel 2:2; S 1 Chronicles 16:25
78. Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 37:23
79. Isaiah 51:6
80. ver 28; Psalms 89:11-13; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 66:2
81. S 2 Kings 17:16; S Nehemiah 9:6; S Job 38:32; Psalms 147:4
82. S Job 9:4; S Isaiah 45:24; Ephesians 1:19
83. S Isaiah 34:16

Footnotes 4

[a]. Or "A voice of one calling in the wilderness:" / "“Prepare the way for the " Lord
[b]. Hebrew; Septuagint "make straight the paths of our God"
[c]. Or "Zion, bringer of good news," / "go up on a high mountain." / "Jerusalem, bringer of good news"
[d]. Or "mind"