40“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.H5162H5162H5971H559H4302“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.”H1696H3820H3389H7121H6635H4390H5771H7521H3947H3068H3027H3718H24033Listen! 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!H6963H7121H4057H6437H1870H3068H3474H6160H4546H4304Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.H1516H5375H2022H1389H8213H6121H4334H7406H12375Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!”H3519H3068H1540H1320H7200H3162H6310H3068H16966A 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.H6963H559H7121H559H7121H1320H2682H2617H6731H77047The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people.H2682H3001H6731H5034H7307H3068H5380H403H5971H26828The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”H2682H3001H6731H5034H1697H430H6965H57699O 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!”H6726H1319H5927H1364H2022H3389H1319H7311H6963H3581H7311H3372H559H5892H3063H43010Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.H136H3069H935H2389H2220H4910H7939H6468H644011He 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.H7462H5739H7462H6908H2922H2220H5375H2436H5095H5763
The Lord Has No Equal
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?H4058H4325H8168H8505H8064H2239H3557H6083H776H7991H8254H2022H6425H1389H397613Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?H8505H7307H3068H376H6098H304514Has 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?H3289H995H3925H734H4941H3925H1847H3045H1870H839415No, 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.H1471H4752H1805H2803H7834H3976H5190H339H185116All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.H3844H369H1767H1197H2416H1767H593017The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.H1471H2803H657H841418To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?H1819H410H1823H618619Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?H2796H5258H6459H6884H7554H2091H6884H3701H757720Or 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!H5533H5534H8641H977H6086H7537H1245H2450H2796H3559H6459H413121Haven’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?H3045H8085H5046H7218H995H4146H77622God 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.H3427H2329H776H3427H2284H5186H8064H1852H4969H168H342723He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.H5414H7336H6213H8199H776H841424They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff.H5193H2232H1503H8327H776H5398H3001H5591H5375H717925“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.H1819H7737H559H691826Look 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.H5375H5869H4791H7200H1254H3318H6635H4557H7121H8034H7230H202H533H3581H376H573727O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?H559H3290H1696H3478H1870H5641H3068H4941H5674H43028Have 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.H3045H8085H5769H430H3068H1254H7098H776H3286H3021H2714H839429He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.H5414H3581H3287H202H7235H610930Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.H5288H3286H3021H970H3782H378231But 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.H6960H3068H2498H3581H5927H83H5404H7323H3021H3212H3286
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