Isaiah

CHAPTER 40

Promise of Salvation

says your God.

that her service^* has ended,

that her guilt is expiated,

That she has received from the hand of the LORD

double for all her sins.

In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD!

Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!^a

every mountain and hill made low;

The rugged land shall be a plain,

the rough country, a broad valley.

and all flesh shall see it together;

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

I answer, “What shall I proclaim?”

“All flesh is grass,

and all their loyalty like the flower of the field.^b

when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.”

“Yes, the people is grass!

but the word of our God stands forever.”

Zion, herald of good news!^*

Cry out at the top of your voice,

Jerusalem, herald of good news!

Cry out, do not fear!

Say to the cities of Judah:

Here is your God!

the Lord GOD,

who rules by his strong arm;

Here is his reward with him,

his recompense before him.

in his arms he gathers the lambs,

Carrying them in his bosom,

leading the ewes with care.^c

Power of God and the Vanity of Idols

marked off the heavens with a span,

held in his fingers the dust of the earth,

weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?^*

or instructed him as his counselor?^d

Who taught him the path of judgment,

or showed him the way of understanding?

as a wisp of cloud on the scales;

the coastlands weigh no more than a speck.^*

nor its animals be enough for burnt offerings.

as nothing and void he counts them.

With what likeness can you confront him?

the smith plates it with gold,

fits it with silver chains.^{* f}

A skilled artisan picks out

a wood that will not rot,

Seeks to set up for himself

an idol that will not totter.^g

Was it not told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the founding of the earth?

its inhabitants like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a veil

and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,^h

and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

scarcely their stem rooted in the earth,

When he breathes upon them and they wither,

and the stormwind carries them away like straw.

says the Holy One.

and see who created^* these:

He leads out their army and numbers them,

calling them all by name.

By his great might and the strength of his power

not one of them is missing!ⁱ

and declare, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is God from of old,

creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary,

and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

abundant strength to the weak.

and youths stagger and fall,

they will soar on eagles’ wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

* [40:1–55:13] Chapters 40–55 are usually designated Second Isaiah (or Deutero-Isaiah) and are believed to have been written by an anonymous prophet toward the end of the Babylonian exile. Isaiah, who is named frequently in chaps. 1–39, does not appear here; the Assyrians, the great threat during the eighth century, hardly appear; the Judeans are in Babylon, having been taken there by the victorious Babylonians; Cyrus, the Persian king, is named; he will defeat Babylon and release the captives. Second Isaiah, who sees this not as a happy circumstance but as part of God’s age-old plan, exhorts the Judeans to resist the temptations of Babylonian religion and stirs up hopes of an imminent return to Judah, where the Lord will again be acknowledged as King (52:7). Because the prophet proclaimed the triumph of Persia over Babylon, his message would have been considered seditious, and it is very likely for this reason that the collection would have circulated anonymously. At some point it was appended to Is 1–39 and consequently was long considered the work of Isaiah of Jerusalem of the eighth century. But the fact that it is addressed to Judean exiles in Babylon indicates a sixth-century date. Nevertheless, this eloquent prophet in many ways works within the tradition of Isaiah and develops themes found in the earlier chapters, such as the holiness of the Lord (cf. note on 1:4) and his lordship of history. Second Isaiah also develops other Old Testament themes, such as the Lord as Israel’s redeemer or deliverer (cf. Ex 3:8; 6:6; 15:13; 18:8).

* [40:1] The “voices” of vv. 3, 6 are members of the heavenly court addressing the prophet; then v. 1 can be understood as the Lord addressing them. It is also possible to translate, with the Vulgate, “Comfort, give comfort, O my people” (i.e., the exiles are called to comfort Jerusalem). The juxtaposition of “my people” and “your God” recalls the covenant formulary.

* [40:2] Service: servitude (cf. Jb 7:1) and exile.

* [40:3–5] A description of the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem (Zion). The language used here figuratively describes the way the exiles will take. The Lord leads them, so their way lies straight across the wilderness rather than along the well-watered routes usually followed from Mesopotamia to Israel. Mt 3:3 and gospel parallels adapt these verses to the witness of John the Baptizer to Jesus.

* [40:9] Herald of good news: i.e., of the imminent restoration of the people to their land. This theme of the proclamation of the good news occurs elsewhere in Second Isaiah; cf. also 41:27; 52:7.

* [40:12] The implicit answer is “the hand of the LORD” (v. 2). Waters…heavens…earth: together form the universe; cf. Gn 1:1–2. Span: the distance between the extended little finger and the thumb. Fingers: lit., “three fingers” (i.e., thumb, index, and middle).

* [40:15] Drop…wisp of cloud…a speck: the smallest constituent parts of the cosmic waters, heavens, and earth mentioned in v. 12.

* [40:16] Lebanon…fuel: the famed cedars would not be enough to keep the fires of sacrifice burning.

* [40:19] Chains: needed to hold the idol steady when carried in processions; cf. v. 20; Jer 10:4.

* [40:26] Created: see note on Gn 1:1–2:3. By name: for he is their Creator.

* [40:27–28] The exiles, here called Jacob-Israel (Gn 32:29), must not give way to discouragement: their Lord is the eternal God.

a. [40:3] Mt 3:3; Mk 1:3; Lk 2:27; Jn 1:23.

b. [40:6] Jb 8:12; 14:2; Ps 37:2; Sir 14:18; Jas 1:10; 1 Pt 1:24.

c. [40:11] Is 49:9–10; 63:11; Ez 34:23; 37:24; Jn 10:11.

d. [40:13] Wis 9:13; Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16; Jb 38:1–11.

e. [40:18–19] Acts 17:29.

f. [40:19] Ps 115:4–7; Jer 10:4.

g. [40:20] Is 44:13.

h. [40:22] Ps 104:2.

i. [40:26] Ps 147:4–5.