God will comfort his people
1The prophet said:
‘You must comfort my people
and tell them not to be afraid.’
This is what your God says.
2‘You must be friendly to the people
of Jerusalem and make them happy.
Tell them that they will no longer be slaves,
and their suffering is over.
I have forgiven their sins.
I have punished them hard enough
for all their sins.’
The Lord will appear
3Someone is shouting:
‘You must prepare a road
for the Lord in the desert.
Make a straight road for our God.
4You must fill all the valleys with sand
and make all the mountains flat.
Take away the hills
so that the land is not rough anymore.
5Then the Lord will appear
and everyone will see his glory
and they will know that He is King.
This is what the Lord said and He will do it.’
6Someone said:
‘You must talk loudly
so that everyone can hear what you say.’
I asked: ‘What must I say?’
He said: ‘People are like grass,
and even the beautiful and good people
are like wild flowers.
7When the Lord makes the wind
blow over the grass and flowers,
they become dry and die.
Yes, all people are like grass.
8Grass and flowers become dry and die,
but the things that God says
will live forever. They will never change.’
9People of Jerusalem, people of Zion,
you must be messengers
who bring good news.
Climb high on top of a mountain
and shout_loudly.
Do not be afraid. Tell the towns
and cities of Judah: ‘Here is your God.
10Look, the Lord is coming.
He is the strong God.
He can do what He wants to do.
Look, He brings his people with Him.
His people are with Him.
11He will look after them
like a shepherd cares for his sheep.
He will take all the lambs in his arms,
and hold them against his chest.
He will walk slowly with their mothers.’
Do you think anyone can be like God?
12Who has measured all the water of the sea
or said how big the sky must be?
Who said how much sand there must be
and how high the mountains and hills must be?
13Who can say to the Lord
what He must think, and who can tell Him
what the right things are that He must do? No one.
14Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach Him what to do?
Did anyone teach Him
what the right thing is to do? No.
Who taught Him
to understand everything? No one.
15All the people are worthless.
They are like a drop of water in a bucket.
They are like a little dust
on a balance-scale.
16All the wood and all the wild animals
on Mount Lebanon are not enough
to make a fire and to sacrifice
a burnt-offering to the Lord.
17All the nations are like nothing
before the Lord.
To Him they are less than nothing.
18Do you think anyone can be like God?
What can you put next to Him
that will be like Him? Nothing.
19Do you think an idol is like God?
An idol is only an image
that an artisan has made.
He covered it with gold and silver,
and made silver chains for it.
20Other people ask a carpenter to cut
an image from hard wood and
make it stand so that it will not fall down.
Who has made the stars?
21Don't you know? Have you not heard?
Has no one told you? Don't you understand
what happened in the beginning?
It is God who made the earth.
22His throne is above
the expanse of the earth,
and all the people on earth
are like locusts to Him.
It is God who rolled open the sky
like a big cloth.
It is He who opened the sky
like a tent to live in,
like the web of a spider.
23He makes important people unimportant,
and He makes people who rule
become nothing, worthless.
24They are like plants that are small
and God blows a hot wind over them
and they become dry
and a storm wind blows them away like chaff.
25The holy God asks:
‘Do you think there is anyone like Me?
Is there anyone who can do what I can do?
26Look up at the heaven. Who made the stars
and said how many stars there must be?
Who gave each star a name?
They are all there because I am God
who can do what I want to do.’
Believers will get new strength
27Descendants of Jacob, Israelites,
why do you say that the Lord
does not see what happens to you?
Why do you say it does not_matter to God
that you suffer bad things?
28Don't you know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is God forever.
He made the whole world.
He does not get tired, He does not have to rest,
and no one can know
how much the Lord knows.
29The Lord makes people
strong again when they become tired.
He helps people do things
when they can no longer do it themselves.
30Boys will become tired,
and young men will fall,
31but those who believe in the Lord
and trust in Him will get new strength.
They will fly like eagles,
they will run and not become tired,
they will keep on walking
and will not have to rest.
