151 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
151 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
God's People Are Comforted
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# Chapter 40
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1. "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!"
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Says your God.
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2. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
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That her warfare is ended,
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That her iniquity is pardoned;
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For she has received from the Lord's hand
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Double for all her sins."
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3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
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"Prepare the way of the Lord;
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Make straight in the desert
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A highway for our God.
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4. Every valley shall be exalted
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And every mountain and hill brought low;
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The crooked places shall be made straight
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And the rough places smooth;
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5. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
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And all flesh shall see it together;
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For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
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6. The voice said, "Cry out!"
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And he said, "What shall I cry?"
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"All flesh is grass,
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And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
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7. The grass withers, the flower fades,
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Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
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Surely the people are grass.
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8. The grass withers, the flower fades,
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But the word of our God stands forever."
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9. O Zion,
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You who bring good tidings,
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Get up into the high mountain;
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O Jerusalem,
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You who bring good tidings,
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Lift up your voice with strength,
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Lift it up, be not afraid;
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Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
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10. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
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And His arm shall rule for Him;
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Behold, His reward is with Him,
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And His work before Him.
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11. He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
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He will gather the lambs with His arm,
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And carry them in His bosom,
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And gently lead those who are with young.
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12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
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Measured heaven with a span
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And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
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Weighed the mountains in scales
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And the hills in a balance?
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13. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
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Or as His counselor has taught Him?
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14. With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
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And taught Him in the path of justice?
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Who taught Him knowledge,
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And showed Him the way of understanding?
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15. Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
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And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
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Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
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16. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
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Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
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17. All nations before Him are as nothing,
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And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
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18. To whom then will you liken God?
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Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
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19. The workman molds an image,
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The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
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And the silversmith casts silver chains.
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20. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution
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Chooses a tree that will not rot;
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He seeks for himself a skillful workman
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To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
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21. Have you not known?
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Have you not heard?
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Has it not been told you from the beginning?
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Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
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22. It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
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And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
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Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
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And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
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23. He brings the princes to nothing;
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He makes the judges of the earth useless.
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24. Scarcely shall they be planted,
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Scarcely shall they be sown,
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Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
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When He will also blow on them,
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And they will wither,
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And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
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25. "To whom then will you liken Me,
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Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One.
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26. Lift up your eyes on high,
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And see who has created these things,
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Who brings out their host by number;
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He calls them all by name,
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By the greatness of His might
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And the strength of His power;
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Not one is missing.
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27. Why do you say, O Jacob,
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And speak, O Israel:
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"My way is hidden from the Lord,
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And my just claim is passed over by my God"?
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28. Have you not known?
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Have you not heard?
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The everlasting God, the Lord,
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The Creator of the ends of the earth,
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Neither faints nor is weary.
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His understanding is unsearchable.
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29. He gives power to the weak,
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And to those who have no might He increases strength.
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30. Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
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And the young men shall utterly fall,
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31. But those who wait on the Lord
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Shall renew their strength;
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They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
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They shall run and not be weary,
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They shall walk and not faint.
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