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Isaiah 40

KJV · Chapter 40/66

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2Speak 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.

3The 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.

4Every 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:

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

6The 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:

7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9O 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!

10Behold, 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.

11He 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.

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 directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

14With 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?

15Behold, 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.

16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20He 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.

21Have 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?

22It 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:

23That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24Yea, 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.

25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26Lift 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.

27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28Hast 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.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

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

31But 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The second major part of the book begins with words of comfort: 'comfort, comfort my people.' A voice cries out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord, and the chapter celebrates the incomparable greatness of God, who gives strength to the weary and makes those who wait on him soar like eagles.

Explanation

This chapter marks a dramatic shift in tone in the book, turning toward comfort and the hope of restoration after the Babylonian exile (which would happen in the future, but which Isaiah already sees prophetically). The 'voice crying in the wilderness' is quoted in all four Gospels to describe the ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus. The image of God measuring 'the waters in the hollow of his hand' and weighing 'the mountains in scales' is grand poetry that contrasts the infinite Creator with the fragility of idols made by human hands. The final promise, that those who wait on the Lord 'will renew their strength' and 'mount up with wings like eagles,' is one of the most beloved and often-quoted passages in the whole Bible on perseverance in faith. The practical application today is to seek the renewal of strength in God, especially in seasons of physical or spiritual weariness.

Fun facts

  • The 'voice crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord' is quoted in all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as prophecy fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, one of the most consistent uses of a single prophecy from Isaiah in the entire New Testament.
  • The promise to 'mount up with wings like eagles' has become one of the most popular verses in hymns, sermons, and even Christian logos around the world as a symbol of spiritual renewal.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaiah 40:1From here on the prophet's voice shifts setting: it is no longer about the Assyrian threat of Hezekiah's time, but about a people already exiled in Babylon, waiting for word that they can go home. This chapter opens this second half of the book as an announcement that the punishment has ended.
  2. Isaiah 40:2"Double" is not about exact math, it is Hebrew idiom for intensity: the punishment of exile was heavy enough to be counted as paid in full, and now the message shifts from accusation to comfort.
  3. Isaiah 40:3The voice preparing a way in the wilderness describes a herald leveling a road for a king's arrival, a common scene of the day. The New Testament uses this image to speak of John the Baptist announcing Jesus, but in the original context it is about the people returning from exile to Jerusalem.
  4. Isaiah 40:4Exalting the valleys and making the mountains low describes the preparation of a royal road, a practice used by kings of the day to ease the arrival of an important sovereign. Here it is the Lord Himself who comes, and the way is made straight before Him.
  5. Isaiah 40:5The promise that "all flesh" shall see the glory of the Lord broadens the scope of the announcement: it is not only Judah that will witness this manifestation, but humanity in general.
  6. Isaiah 40:6Comparing all human life — even powerful empires like Babylon — to grass that withers quickly is a reminder that only God's word endures. The backdrop is a small people facing the strongest empire in the known world.
  7. Isaiah 40:7Comparing the people to grass and a flower that fade is a reminder of frailty: even empires like Babylon, which seem eternal from the viewpoint of someone in exile, have a short life next to the word of God.
  8. Isaiah 40:8The contrast between the grass that withers and the word that stands forever is the chapter's central argument: everything that seems powerful and lasting in the human world has an expiration date, except the promise announced here.
  9. Isaiah 40:9Zion and Jerusalem are called to go up to a high mountain and cry out the news, the role of a herald bringing good tidings first to the very cities of Judah before anywhere else.
  10. Isaiah 40:10The "reward" and the "work" that come with God, as the KJV puts it, describe a recompense brought along with Him, like a king returning from victory already bearing spoils and gifts to distribute among His own.
  11. Isaiah 40:11The image of the shepherd carrying the lambs in His bosom and gently leading those with young contrasts with the warrior strength of the previous verse: the same mighty God is also described with the utmost tenderness.
  12. Isaiah 40:12Measuring the waters in the hollow of His hand and weighing the mountains in scales are deliberate exaggerations meant to describe a creative power impossible to imagine on a human scale.
  13. Isaiah 40:13The rhetorical question about who directed or instructed the Spirit of the Lord reinforces that God depends on no outside counselor, unlike human kings, who always had a court of advisers.
  14. Isaiah 40:14The same idea continues: no one had to teach God judgment, knowledge, or understanding, unlike any human ruler, who learns from others.
  15. Isaiah 40:15Comparing the nations to a drop from a bucket or to the small dust on the scales is an image of insignificance before the greatness of God, even when speaking of empires like Assyria or Babylon.
  16. Isaiah 40:16Saying that not even all of Lebanon's forest would be sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering, is an exaggerated way of saying that no human offering comes anywhere close to the greatness of God.
  17. Isaiah 40:17The nations, including the most feared empires of the day, are described "as nothing" and as "vanity" before God, the opposite of the fear those same nations inspired in Judah's daily life.
  18. Isaiah 40:18The rhetorical question about whom to liken God to opens the following section, which mocks idols made by craftsmen as a ridiculous comparison next to a God with no physical image.
  19. Isaiah 40:19The description of the workman melting a graven image and overlaying it with gold describes the real process of idol-making at the time, an object made by human hands afterward treated as a deity.
  20. Isaiah 40:20Even someone too poor for an oblation still chooses at least a tree that will not rot and seeks out a skilled craftsman, so the idol will at least stand on its own. It is subtle mockery: a god that has to be fastened down so it will not fall over.
  21. Isaiah 40:21The repeated question "Have ye not known? have ye not heard?" demands of the people a basic knowledge that should already have been obvious since the foundation of the world, before any further instruction.
  22. Isaiah 40:22God sitting upon the circle of the earth, with its inhabitants like grasshoppers, and stretching out the heavens like a curtain, is an image of cosmic scale that reduces all humanity to a tiny proportion.
  23. Isaiah 40:23Bringing the princes and judges of the earth "to nothing" continues the same theme: no human political authority, however powerful it may seem, holds up against the comparison with the power described in the previous verses.
  24. Isaiah 40:24Rulers compared to a plant barely sown that has not even taken root before the whirlwind sweeps it all away describe how quickly political power can crumble, however solid it may seem.
  25. Isaiah 40:25The rhetorical question repeats almost like a refrain of the chapter, reinforcing that no comparison is adequate, neither the idols, nor the empires, nor the rulers already mentioned.
  26. Isaiah 40:26Looking up at the sky and seeing the stars "calleth them all by names," as the KJV puts it, is an image of a God who knows every detail of creation individually, from the greatest star to the smallest speck of dust, missing none.
  27. Isaiah 40:27The complaint attributed to Jacob and Israel, that their way is hidden from the Lord, reflects the common feeling of abandonment among the exiles, thinking their situation had gone unnoticed.
  28. Isaiah 40:28The answer to the complaint points to something the people should already know: a God who created the ends of the earth does not faint or grow weary, nor is there any limit to His understanding, so there would be no reason for Him to forget His people.
  29. Isaiah 40:29"Giveth power to the faint," as the KJV puts it, sums up the kind of help offered: not instant deliverance from every problem, but a renewal of strength for those who had none left, the exact target audience of the exhausted exiles.
  30. Isaiah 40:30Even the youths, thought to be at the peak of physical strength, faint and utterly fall, a deliberate contrast with the promise of the next verse that those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength in a way that youth alone cannot guarantee.
  31. Isaiah 40:31Mounting up with wings as eagles is not about literal flight: it is an image of renewed breath, meant for those exhausted after years of exile who needed hope to make the journey back on foot to Jerusalem.

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