Isaiah 40

Isaiah · Chapter 40

Isaiah 40:12

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.2Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.3The 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.4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.9O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O 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!10Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?13Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?15Behold, the 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.16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.20He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.21Have 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?22It 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:23That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.24Yea, they 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.25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.26Lift 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.27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?28Hast thou 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.29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
who?מִֽי־mi-H4310
who?

מִי (mi) who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever

has he measuredמָדַ֨דma-DADH4058
to measure

מָדַד (ma.dad) 1) to measure, stretch 1a) (Qal) to measure 1b) (Niphal) to be measured 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to extend, continue 1c2) to measure, measure off 1d) (Po) measured 1e) (Hithpolel) to extend oneself, stretch oneself Also means: mid.dad (מָדַד "to extend" H4059)

in [the] hollow of hand hisבְּשָׁעֳל֜וֹbe-sho-'o-LOH8168
handful

שֹׁ֫עַל (sho.al) 1) hollow hand, hollow of hand, handful 1a) hollow hand, hollow of hand 1b) handful

[the] watersמַ֗יִםMA-yimH4325G
water

מַי (ma.yim) 1) water, waters 1a) water 1b) water of the feet, urine 1c) of danger, violence, transitory things, refreshment (fig.)

and [the] heavensוְשָׁמַ֙יִם֙ve-sha-MA-yimH8064
heaven

שָׁמַיִם (sha.ma.yim) 1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God) Aramaic equivalent: sha.ma.yin (שָׁמַ֫יִן "heaven" H8065)

with the spanבַּזֶּ֣רֶתba-ZE-retH2239
span

זֶ֫רֶת (ze.ret) 1) span 1a) a unit of measure, approx half-cubit, or the distance from the thumb to the little finger on an outstretched hand

has he marked off?תִּכֵּ֔ןti-KENH8505
to measure

תָּכַן (ta.khan) 1) to regulate, measure, estimate, ponder, balance, make even, level, weigh, be equal, be weighed out, test, prove 1a) (Qal) estimate (participle) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be estimated 1b2) to be made even or right, be adjusted to the standard 1c) (Piel) to weigh out, mete out 1d) (Pual) 1d1) to be weighed out, be measured out 1d2) measured out (participle)

and has he contained?וְכָ֥לve-kholH3557
to sustain

כּוּל (kul) 1) to seize, contain, measure 1a)(Qal) to measure, calculate 1b) (Pilpel) to sustain, maintain, contain 1b1) to sustain, support, nourish 1b2) to contain, hold in, restrain 1b3) to support, endure 1c) (Polpal) to be supplied 1d) (Hilpil) to contain, hold, hold in, endure 1d1) to contain 1d2) to sustain, endure

in the third of a measureבַּשָּׁלִ֖שׁba-sha-LISHH7991A
third

שָׁלִישׁ (sha.lish) 1) third part 1a) name of a measure

[the] dust ofעֲפַ֣ר'a-FARH6083
dust

עָפָר (a.phar) 1) dry earth, dust, powder, ashes, earth, ground, mortar, rubbish 1a) dry or loose earth 1b) debris 1c) mortar 1d) ore

the earthהָאָ֑רֶץha-'A-retzH0776G
land: country/planet

אֶ֫רֶץ (e.rets) : country/field 1) land, earth 1a) earth 1a1) whole earth (as opposed to a part) 1a2) earth (as opposed to heaven) 1a3) earth (inhabitants) 1b) land 1b1) country, territory 1b2) district, region 1b3) tribal territory 1b4) piece of ground 1b5) land of Canaan, Israel 1b6) inhabitants of land 1b7) Sheol, land without return, (under) world 1b8) city (-state) 1c) ground, surface of the earth 1c1) ground 1c2) soil 1d) (in phrases) 1d1) people of the land 1d2) space or distance of country (in measurements of distance) 1d3) level or plain country 1d4) land of the living 1d5) end(s) of the earth …

and has he weighed?וְשָׁקַ֤לve-sha-KALH8254
to weigh

שָׁקַל (sha.qal) 1) to weigh, weigh out, pay out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to weigh 1a2) to weigh out (a price) 1a3) of grief (fig) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be weighed 1b2) to be weighed out Aramaic equivalent: te.qal (תְּקַל "to weigh" H8625A)

with the balanceבַּפֶּ֙לֶס֙ba-PE-lesH6425
balance

פֶּ֫לֶס (pe.les) balance, scale

mountainsהָרִ֔יםha-RIMH2022G
mountain: mount

הַר (har) : mount/hill hill, mountain, hill country, mount

and hillsוּגְבָע֖וֹתu-ge-va-'otH1389I
hill

גִּבְעָה (giv.ah) 1) hill 1a) hill (lower than a mountain) 1b) as a place of illicit worship 1c) poetic for mountain 1d) used in place names

with scalesבְּמֹאזְנָֽיִם׃be-mo-ze-NA-yimH3976
balance

מֹאזֵן (mo.zen) scales, balances Aramaic equivalent: mo.zen (מֹאזֵנְיָא "scale" H3977)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.