¶ Comfort¹ ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye comfortably² to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare³ is accomplished, that her iniquity⁴ is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double⁵ for all her sins.

¶ The voice⁶ of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare⁷ ye the way of the LORD, make⁸ straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley⁹ shall be exalted, and every mountain¹⁰ and hill shall be made low: and the¹¹ crooked shall be made straight¹², and the rough places plain:

And the glory¹³ of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh¹⁴ shall see it together: for the mouth¹⁵ of the LORD hath spoken it.

The voice said, Cry¹⁶. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh¹⁷ is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

The grass withereth¹⁸, the flower¹⁹ fadeth²⁰: because the spirit²¹ of the LORD bloweth upon²² it: surely the people is grass.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word²³ of our God shall stand for ever.

¶ O Zion, that bringest good tidings²⁴, get²⁵ thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings²⁶, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not²⁷ afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold²⁸ your God!

¶ Behold, the Lord GOD²⁹ will come with strong hand,³⁰ and his arm³¹ shall rule for him: behold, his reward³² is with him, and his work³³ before him.

He shall feed³⁴ his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather³⁵ the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead³⁶ those that are with young³⁷.

¶ Who hath measured³⁸ the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure³⁹, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who hath directed⁴⁰ the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor⁴¹ hath taught him?

With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him,⁴² and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations⁴³ are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles⁴⁴ as a very little thing.

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor⁴⁵ the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

All nations before him are as nothing;⁴⁶ and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

¶⁴⁷To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

⁴⁸The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

¶ He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation⁴⁹ chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not⁵⁰ be moved.

⁵¹Have 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?

It is he that sitteth⁵² upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants⁵³ thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth⁵⁴ out the heavens as a curtain⁵⁵, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

⁵⁶That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Yea, they shall not be planted⁵⁷; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also⁵⁸ blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the⁵⁹ whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

⁶⁰To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift⁶¹ up your eyes on high, and behold who hath⁶² created these things, that bringeth⁶³ out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness⁶⁴ of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

¶ Why sayest⁶⁵ thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment⁶⁶ is passed over from my God?

Hast thou not known⁶⁷? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting⁶⁸ God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends⁶⁹ of the earth, fainteth⁷⁰ not, neither is weary? there is no searching⁷¹ of his understanding.

⁷²He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

¶⁷³Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that⁷⁴ wait upon the LORD shall renew⁷⁵ their strength; they shall mount⁷⁶ up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint⁷⁷.