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Isaiah 40:6-27

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Isaiah 40:6 is part of this passage.
6The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. 7The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass. 8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.” 9You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!” 10Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young. 12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13Who has directed the LORD’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor? 14Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 15Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing. 16Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering. 17All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity. 18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? 19A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it. 20He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved. 21Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth? 22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in, 23who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble. 25“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking. 27Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?

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Summary

This passage presents comfort and the everlasting Creator and shows how the LORD addresses his people and the nations.

Interpretation

In Isaiah 40:6-27, Isaiah develops comfort and the everlasting Creator. The unit's images and movement—especially voice, saying, flesh—belong to a prophetic argument rather than detached religious sayings. Isaiah speaks to people facing political threat, moral failure, exile, or hope, asking readers to see ordinary events under the authority of the LORD. Its contrasts keep judgment and promise in view.

Theologically, this passage shows that the LORD is not one power among many. He judges pride and empty worship, yet preserves a remnant, gathers the scattered, and makes a future where covenant faithfulness can flourish. Its language may be poetic or shaped by a particular oracle, but its moral center is clear: trust in God must join justice, humility, and attentive obedience. Hope never excuses oppression, and judgment is never the whole story.

Within Isaiah's larger book, this unit participates in movement from rebellion through purification toward restoration. Read it alongside the prophet's insistence that God cares for the poor, foreigner, afflicted, and integrity of worship. Christian readers can hear it in continuity with God's saving work in Christ and the Spirit while respecting its historical setting and promise to Israel. Canonical fulfillment deepens the text; it does not erase its first hearers.

For readers today, the passage invites a response shaped by comfort and the everlasting Creator. Bring fear, ambition, grief, or guilt into God's presence instead of hiding behind appearances. Practice justice and mercy, receive hope without demanding an easy timetable, and let God's future correct powers that claim to be ultimate. Isaiah forms a people who remain faithful because the LORD is faithful across generations.

The unit therefore calls for discernment rather than slogan-making. Read its warning with humility, its promise with patience, and its vision of God with reverence. Faithful response may mean confession, waiting, resistance to unjust power, or practical care for a neighbor. In every case, the passage directs attention away from self-made security toward the covenant Lord who judges truly and restores generously.

Context

Isaiah 40 belongs to the prophetic collection's treatment of comfort and the everlasting Creator.

The LORD pardons, gathers his flock, and renews those who wait.

The WEB wording is retained; prophetic poetry uses images, royal language, and covenant motifs that should be read in literary setting.

Audience

Readers seeking faithful hope, honest repentance, justice, and confidence in the LORD amid judgment and restoration.

Themes

  • comfort
  • hope
  • perseverance

Related passages

Keywords

comfort · hope · perseverance · voice · saying · flesh · grass