The Tanakh · JPS 1917 Translation

Isaiah 40

Jewish Publication Society 1917 · Nevi'im — the Prophets

Isaiah chapter 40 — part of the Nevi'im — the Prophets in the Jewish Bible. In the classic JPS 1917 translation it opens: “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your G-d.” — the complete text of all 31 verses is below, free to read online.

1Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your G-d.

2Bid Jerusalem take heart, and proclaim unto her, that her time of service is accomplished, that her guilt is paid off; that she hath received of HaShem'S hand double for all her sins.

3Hark! one calleth: 'Clear ye in the wilderness the way of HaShem, make plain in the desert a highway for our G-d.

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

5And the glory of HaShem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of HaShem hath spoken it.'

6Hark! one saith: 'Proclaim!' And he saith: 'What shall I proclaim?' 'All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field;

7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the breath of HaShem bloweth upon it--surely the people is grass.

8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our G-d shall stand for ever.'

9O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; 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 G-d!'

10Behold, the L-rd 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.

11Even as a shepherd that feedeth his flock, that gathereth the lambs in his arm, and carrieth them in his bosom, and gently leadeth those that give suck.

12Who 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?

13Who hath meted out the spirit of HaShem? Or who was His counsellor that he might instruct Him?

14With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of right, and taught Him knowledge, and made Him to know the way of discernment?

15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold the isles are as a mote in weight.

16And Lebanon is not sufficient fuel, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for burnt-offerings.

17All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as things of nought, and vanity.

18To whom then will ye liken G-d? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?

19The image perchance, which the craftsman hath melted, and the goldsmith spread over with gold, the silversmith casting silver chains?

20A holm-oak is set apart, he chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning craftsman to set up an image, that shall not be moved.

21Know ye not? hear ye not? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundations of the earth?

22It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;

23That bringeth princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as a thing of nought.

24Scarce are they planted, scarce are they sown, scarce hath their stock taken root in the earth; when He bloweth upon them, they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

25To whom then will ye liken Me, that I should be equal? saith the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes on high, and see: who hath created these? He 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 faileth.

27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: 'My way is hid from HaShem, and my right is passed over from my G-d'?

28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting G-d, HaShem, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? His discernment is past searching out.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might He increaseth strength.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall;

31But they that wait for HaShem 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.in-depth page →

31 verses · JPS 1917 (public domain)

‹ Isaiah 39 Isaiah 41 ›

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