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Encourage God's People
40
1 Our God has said:
“Encourage my people!
Give them comfort.
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40
  Chapter recording
List of all recordings of KJV
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
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2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem
and announce:
Your slavery is past;
your punishment is over.
I, the Lord, made you pay
double for your sins.”
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2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.  comfortably: Heb. to the heart warfare: or, appointed time
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3 Someone is shouting: 
“Clear a path in the desert!
Make a straight road
for the Lord our God.
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3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
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4 Fill in the valleys;
flatten every hill
and mountain.
Level the rough
and rugged ground.
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4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: straight: or, a straight place plain: or, a plain place
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5 Then the glory of the Lord
will appear for all to see.
The Lord has promised this!”
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5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
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6 Someone told me to shout, 40.6-8 Jas 1.10,11; 1P 1.24,25.
and I asked,
“What should I shout?”
We humans are merely grass,
and we last no longer
than wild flowers.
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6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
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7 At the Lord's command,
flowers and grass disappear,
and so do we.
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7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
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8 Flowers and grass fade away,
but what our God has said
will never change.
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8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
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Your God Is Here!
9 There is good news
for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you can r 40.9 There ... can: Or “City of Jerusalem, you have good news. Shout it as loud as you can.”
from the highest mountain.
Don't be afraid to shout
to the towns of Judah,
“Your God is here!”
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9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! O Zion...: or, O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion O Jerusalem...: or, O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem
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10 Look! The powerful Lord God
is coming
to rule
with his mighty arm.
He brings with him
what he has taken in war,
and he rewards his people.
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10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. with strong...: or, against the strong his work: or, recompense for his work
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11 The Lord cares for his nation,
just as shepherds care
for their flocks.
He carries the lambs
in his arms,
while gently leading
the mother sheep.
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11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. that...: or, that give suck
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Who Compares with God?
12 Did any of you measure
the ocean by yourself
or stretch out the sky
with your own hands?
Did you put the soil
of the earth in a bucket
or weigh the hills and mountains
on balance scales?
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12 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? a measure: Heb. a tierce
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13 Has anyone told the Lords 40.13 the Lord: Or “the Lord's Spirit.” 40.13 Ro 11.34; 1Co 2.16.
what he must do
or given him advice?
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13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? his...: Heb. man of his counsel
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14 Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
and understanding?
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14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? instructed...: Heb. made him understand understanding: Heb. understandings?
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15 To the Lord, all nations 40.15 Ws 11.22; Si 10.16
are merely a drop in a bucket
or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
are but a handful of sand.
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15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
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16 The cattle
on Lebanon's mountains
would not be enough
to offer
as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
be enough for the fire.
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16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
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17 God thinks of the nations
as far less than nothing.
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17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
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18 Who compares with God?
Is anything like him?
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18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
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19 Is an idol at all like God?
It is made of bronze
with a thin layer of gold,
and decorated with silver.
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19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
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20 Or special wood may be chosen t 40.20 Or ... chosen: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Two kinds of idols seem to be described: bronze idols covered with gold (verse 19) and wooden idols (verse 20). 40.20 Ws 13.11
because it doesn't rot—
then skilled hands
take care to make an idol
that won't fall on its face.
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20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. is so...: Heb. is poor of oblation
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God Rules the Whole Earth
21 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Isn't it clear that God
created the world? u 40.21 Isn't ... world: Or “Hasn't it been clear since the time of creation?”
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21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
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22 God is the one who rules
the whole earth,
and we that live here
are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.
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22 It is he that sitteth upon 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: It is...: or, Him that
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23 God brings down rulers
and turns them into nothing.
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23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
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24 They are like flowers
freshly sprung up
and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them,
they wilt
and are carried off
like straw in a storm.
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24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
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25 The holy God asks,
“Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”
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25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
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26 Look at the evening sky!
Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
Who leads them like an army?
The Lord is so powerful
that none of the stars
are ever missing.
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26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
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The Lord Gives Strength
27 You people of Israel, say,
“God pays no attention to us!
He doesn't care if we
are treated unjustly.”
But how can you say that?
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27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
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28 Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.
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28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
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29 The Lord gives strength
to those who are weary.
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29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
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30 Even young people get tired,
then stumble and fall.
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30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
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31 But those who trust the Lord
will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
without getting tired.
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31 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. renew: Heb. change
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© 1999 American Bible Society |
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