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Isaiah 40
Our plain-language guide next to the Bible text. Each row lines up one section with the verses it explains.
Section 1: Comfort My PeopleVerses 1 to 2
The chapter opens with God speaking. His first words are "Comfort, comfort My people" (40:1). God says it twice.
Remember who is listening. Jerusalem is in ruins. Its people live far away in Babylon. Later in this chapter, they say God has lost track of them (40:27).
God speaks to a group he doesn't name. Most readers think they are messengers or prophets. God tells them to "speak tenderly to Jerusalem" (40:2). Here, Jerusalem means its people. God gives three pieces of news to tell them.
First, their hard time is over. The BSB calls it "forced labor" (40:2). Second, their sin is forgiven. Third, they have received "double for all her sins" (40:2) from the LORD.
LORD in capital letters stands for God's personal name. Jewish readers traditionally don't say it aloud, out of respect.
Many readers take "double" as a way of saying "in full." The time of punishment is over. Nothing more is owed. The Meaning step says more about this.
1“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. 2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
Section 2: Prepare the WayVerses 3 to 5
Now a new voice speaks. The text doesn't say whose voice it is. It only says, "A voice of one calling" (40:3).
The voice calls for a road. "Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness" (40:3). Build a straight highway for God across the desert.
A desert lay between Babylon and Jerusalem. One likely picture: God coming home across it, leading his people, the way he once led them out of Egypt.
Every valley will be raised up. Every mountain and hill will be made low. Bumpy ground will become smooth, and rough land will become flat.
This is a comparison. It's like a road crew getting a road ready for a king. Here, the whole land gets ready for God.
Then "the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it" (40:5). Glory means God's greatness, shining where people can see it. Israel will see it, and so will everyone else.
The voice ends with a promise: "For the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (40:5). What God says, God does.
3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain. 5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Section 3: The Grass WithersVerses 6 to 8
Another voice says, "Cry out!" (40:6). Someone answers, "What should I cry out?" (40:6). Many readers think the one answering is the prophet.
The answer comes back. People are like grass. All their beauty is like wildflowers.
The grass dries up and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them. The word for breath can also mean wind. "Indeed, the people are grass" (40:7).
This is a comparison. Grass looks green today and is dry tomorrow. People are like that. They are weak, and they don't last.
Then comes the answer to that fear: "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever" (40:8).
One likely meaning: this cuts two ways. God's people are weak. But so is Babylon, and so is every power that scares them. Only God's word lasts.
6A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. 7The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. 8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Section 4: Here Is Your GodVerses 9 to 11
Now Jerusalem gets a job. The voice calls it a "herald of good news" (40:9). A herald is a messenger who announces news in public. Zion is another name for Jerusalem. Translations differ a little here, and the Meaning step explains how.
Climb a high mountain, the voice says. Shout it out. Don't be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" (40:9).
The Lord GOD comes with power. GOD in capital letters is God's personal name again, the same name as LORD. "His arm establishes His rule" (40:10). The arm is a picture of strength. "His reward is with Him" (40:10). One likely meaning: God brings his rescued people home with him, like a prize he has won.
Then the picture turns gentle. "He tends His flock like a shepherd" (40:11).
He gathers the lambs in his arms. He carries them close to his heart. He gently leads the mother sheep who are feeding their young.
The same arm that rules also carries lambs.
9Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. 11He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
Section 5: Who Measured the Waters?Verses 12 to 17
Now the prophet asks questions. Who has measured all the oceans in the hollow of his hand? Who has measured the sky with his hand spread wide?
Who has held all the dust of the earth in a basket? Who has weighed the mountains on a scale? The answer the prophet expects is: only God.
More questions follow. Who told the Spirit of the LORD what to do? Who gave God advice? Who taught God what is fair, or showed him how to understand? No one did.
Next to God, the nations are like "a drop in a bucket" (40:15). They are like a speck of dust on a scale. He lifts up whole islands like fine dust.
Lebanon was famous for its great forests. Even so, all the trees in Lebanon would not be enough wood for an offering that fits God. All its animals would not be enough either.
All the nations are "as nothing before Him" (40:17).
For the people in exile, that includes Babylon, the greatest empire in their world. To God, it is a drop in a bucket.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance? 13Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor? 14Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding? 15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust. 16Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. 17All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
Section 6: Nothing ComparesVerses 18 to 20
The prophet asks, "To whom will you liken God?" (40:18). Liken means compare. What picture could show what God is like?
Then he describes an idol. An idol is a statue people worship as a god. A craftsman makes it from metal. A metalworker covers it with gold and adds silver chains.
A poorer person chooses wood that won't rot. Then he hires a skilled worker to set up an idol that won't tip over.
People make idols. Then they have to keep the idols from falling over. God is not like that. God is "the Creator of the ends of the earth" (40:28).
The people in exile lived among many idols. Later in Isaiah, Babylon's gods are carried away on tired animals, because they can't carry themselves (46:1-2).
18To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him? 19To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains? 20To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple?
Section 7: Above the Circle of the EarthVerses 21 to 24
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?" (40:21). The prophet asks four questions in a row. God's people have known these things from the beginning.
God "sits enthroned above the circle of the earth" (40:22). From up there, the people below look like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the sky like a curtain. He spreads it out like a tent to live in.
God brings princes down to nothing. He makes the rulers of the earth count for nothing.
They are like new plants just put in the ground. They have barely taken root when God blows on them. They dry up, and a whirlwind carries them off like stubble. Stubble is the dry stalks left in a field after harvest.
Remember the grass in Section 3. People are grass. So are rulers.
21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth? 22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless. 24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
Section 8: He Calls the Stars by NameVerses 25 to 26
Now God speaks. "To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?" asks the Holy One (40:25).
The Holy One is a name for God that Isaiah uses often. Holy means set apart, completely good, and unlike anyone else.
"Lift up your eyes on high" (40:26). Look up at the night sky. Who made all of these?
God leads out the stars one by one. The BSB calls them "the starry host" (40:26). A host is an army. "He calls each one by name" (40:26).
God is so strong and so great that not one star is missing.
Later in Isaiah, Babylon trusts people who study the stars to tell the future (47:13). Here, the stars are not gods. They are God's army, and he knows each one by name.
25“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Section 9: Wings Like EaglesVerses 27 to 31
Now the prophet speaks straight to the people. He calls them Jacob and Israel. These are two names for their ancestor Jacob, and for the nation that came from him.
He repeats what they have been saying: "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God" (40:27). They feel God can't see them. They feel he doesn't care what happens to them anymore.
The prophet pushes back on this. But he doesn't answer with blame. He answers by telling them who God is. And their complaint is not out of place. Psalms like Psalm 13 bring the same complaint to God: "How long?"
Then the questions come again. "Do you not know? Have you not heard?" (40:28).
"The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary" (40:28). No one can fully understand how God thinks.
God doesn't keep his strength to himself. "He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak" (40:29). Faint means weak and worn out.
Even young people get tired. Even strong young men trip and fall.
"But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint" (40:31).
To wait upon the LORD means to trust him and look to him for help, even before you see it come.
Notice the order: fly, then run, then walk. One likely reason: some days, strength looks like soaring. Other days, it looks like walking and not giving up.
The chapter began with "Comfort." It ends with strength for tired people. They thought God had lost track of them. The whole chapter answers them. God has not. He is coming, and he carries his people.
27Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”? 28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out. 29He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. 31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
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