📖 Isaiah — Chapter 40 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Isaiah 40:2 Speak ye RTcomfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her Twarfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:3 RThe voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isaiah 40:4 Every Rvalley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made Tstraight, and the rough places Tplain:
Isaiah 40:5 And Rthe glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? RAll flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isaiah 40:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but Rthe word of our God shall stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:9 RTO Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; TO Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
Isaiah 40:10 Behold, Rthe Lord GOD will come Twith strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and This work before him.
Isaiah 40:11 He shall Rfeed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those Tthat are with young.
Isaiah 40:12 Who hath Rmeasured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in Ta measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Isaiah 40:13 Who Rhath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being This counsellor hath taught him?
Isaiah 40:14 With whom took he counsel, and who RTinstructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of Tunderstanding?
Isaiah 40:15 Behold, Rthe nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Isaiah 40:16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Rnor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Isaiah 40:17 All nations before him are Ras nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Isaiah 40:19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Isaiah 40:20 He that Tis so impoverished that he hath no oblation Rchooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
Isaiah 40:21 Have 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?
Isaiah 40:22 RTIt is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Isaiah 40:23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
Isaiah 40:24 Yea, Rthey shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
Isaiah 40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
Isaiah 40:26 RLift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Isaiah 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Isaiah 40:28 Hast Rthou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isaiah 40:31 But Rthey that wait upon the LORD shall Trenew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Isaiah 40:1–11 — Comfort and the enduring word
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
A prepared way, fading grass, and the proclaimed arrival of God frame comfort. His strong rule includes tender shepherding of lambs and nursing mothers.
Key Truth: Receive comfort from the enduring word.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “____ ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” (Isaiah 40:1)
Find it in Isaiah 40:1 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “The ____ of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the …” (Isaiah 40:3)
Find it in Isaiah 40:3 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “He shall ____ his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs …” (Isaiah 40:11)
Find it in Isaiah 40:11 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Isaiah 40:12–21 — The incomparable Creator
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Waters, heavens, earth, nations, and manufactured idols are set beside God’s unmatched greatness. No counselor teaches him or image captures his reality.
Key Truth: Do not reduce God to human measure.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “Who hath ____ the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted …” (Isaiah 40:12)
Find it in Isaiah 40:12 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “… and they are counted to him less than nothing, and ____ .” (Isaiah 40:17)
Find it in Isaiah 40:17 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “Have ye not ____ ? have ye not heard? hath it not been told …” (Isaiah 40:21)
Find it in Isaiah 40:21 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Isaiah 40:22–31 — The weary are given strength
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The Lord rules over princes and calls the heavenly host by name. He does not faint; those waiting on him receive renewed strength for running and ordinary walking.
Key Truth: Wait on the Creator who strengthens the weary.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “It is he that ____ upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof …” (Isaiah 40:22)
Find it in Isaiah 40:22 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “… Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my ____ is passed over from my God?” (Isaiah 40:27)
Find it in Isaiah 40:27 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “But they that ____ upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount …” (Isaiah 40:31)
Find it in Isaiah 40:31 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
1 Peter 1:25 — Peter quotes the enduring word of the Lord.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
Where do you need strength for faithful ordinary steps?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What repeated word opens the new address?
2. What preparation does the wilderness voice announce?
3. What endures beyond grass and flowers?
4. How does the shepherd image combine strength with gentleness?
5. What is promised to those waiting upon the LORD?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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