Exile · c. 540 BC
Chapter 13
Comfort My People
Even the youths faint and get weary,and the young men utterly fall;but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength.They will mount up with wings like eagles.They will run, and not be weary.They will walk, and not faint.
The book of goes on, and its next words are words of comfort:
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.“Speak gently to ,and call out to her that her war is over,that her wrongdoing is forgiven,that the Lord’s hand has given her double for all her sins.”
A voice calls out:
“Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness!Make a level highway in the desert for our God.Every valley will be raised high,and every mountain and hill brought low.The uneven ground will be made level,and the rough places made smooth.The Lord’s will be shown,and everyone will see it together,because the Lord has said it with his own mouth.”
A voice says, “Cry out!” Someone asks, “What should I cry out?”
“Everyone is like grass,and all their glory is like the flower of the field.The grass withers,the flower fades,because the Lord’s breath blows on it.The people really are like grass.The grass withers,the flower fades,but the word of our God stands forever.”
And then:
You who tell good news to ,go up on a high mountain.You who tell good news to Jerusalem,call out with all your strength!Call it out! Don’t be afraid!Say to the cities of Judah,“Look, your God!”Look, the Lord God will come as a mighty one,and his arm will rule for him.Look, his reward is with him,and his repayment goes ahead of him.He will feed his flock like a shepherd.He will gather the lambs in his armand carry them against his chest.He will gently lead those who have little ones.
The words go on:
Who has measured the waters in his cupped hand,and marked off the sky with his hand spread wide,and counted out the dust of the earth in a measuring basket,and weighed the mountains on scales,and the hills on a balance?Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket,and they count as a speck of dust on a balance.Look, he picks up the islands like something very small.Who, then, will you compare God to?What will you say is like him?A workman makes an from melted metal,a goldsmith covers it with gold,and makes silver chains for it.Someone too poor for an offering like that picks a tree that won’t rot.He searches for a skillful workmanto set up a carved idol for him that won’t tip over.Don’t you know by now?Haven’t you heard?Haven’t you been told from the beginning?Haven’t you understood since the earth’s foundations were laid?He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,and the people who live on it are like grasshoppers.He stretches out the sky like a curtain,and spreads it out to live in, like a tent.
A little further on:
“Who will you compare me to?Who is my equal?” says the .Lift your eyes up high,and see who has created these,who brings out their army and counts them.He calls them all by name.His might is so great and his power so strongthat not one of them is left out.Why do you say, Jacob,and why do you speak this way, Israel:“My way is hidden from the Lord,and the justice I’m owed goes unnoticed by my God”?Don’t you know by now? Haven’t you heard?The everlasting God, the Lord,the Creator of the ends of the earth,doesn’t lose strength.He doesn’t get tired.His understanding has no end that anyone can find.He gives power to the weak.He adds strength to the one who has none.Even young people get tired and worn out,and young men fall flat,but those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength.They will mount up with wings like eagles.They will run, and not be weary.They will walk, and not faint.
Further on, the Lord says:
Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.Don’t lose heart, for I am your God.I will strengthen you.Yes, I will help you.Yes, I will hold you up with my right hand, which does what is right.
Then come these words:
“Look, my servant, whom I hold up,my chosen, the one my soul delights in:I have put my Spirit on him.He will bring justice to the nations.He won’t shout,or raise his voice,or let it be heard out in the street.He won’t break a bruised reed.He won’t put out a wick that is barely burning.He will faithfully bring justice.He won’t fail or be discourageduntil he has set justice on the earth,and the islands wait for his law.”God the Lord made the sky and stretched it out.He spread out the earth and everything that comes out of it.He gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.He says:“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness.I will hold your hand.I will keep you,and make you a for the people,as a light for the nations,to open the blind eyes,to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon,and to bring those who sit in darkness out of the prison.“I am Yahweh.That is my name.I will not give my glory to another.My praise won’t go to carved images.Look, the earlier things have happened,and I speak of new things.I tell you about them before they come up.”
And then these words:
But now the Lord who created you, Jacob,and who shaped you, Israel, says:“Don’t be afraid, for I have you.I have called you by your name.You are mine.When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,and as you go through the rivers, they won’t sweep you away.When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned,and flame will not scorch you,because I am the Lord your God,the Holy One of Israel,your Savior.I have given as your , and Seba in your place.”
And a little further on, the Lord says:
“Don’t remember the earlier things,and don’t think about the things of long ago.Look, I will do a new thing.It is coming up now.Don’t you know it?I will even make a way in the wilderness,and rivers in the desert.”
The book also speaks of the people who make idols. Everyone who makes a carved idol is empty, it says, and the things they delight in will do them no good. Their own witnesses don’t see and don’t know, so they will be disappointed. Who has made a god, or molded an idol that is good for nothing? All his partners will be disappointed, and the workmen are only human. Let them all gather together and stand up. They will be afraid. They will be put to shame together.
The blacksmith takes an ax and works in the coals. He shapes it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails. He drinks no water, and he is faint.
The carpenter stretches out a measuring cord. He marks it out with a pencil, shaves it into shape with planes, then marks it out with compasses. He shapes it like the figure of a man, with a man’s beauty, so it can live in a house.
He cuts down cedars for himself. He takes the cypress and the oak, and he helps one of the forest trees grow strong for himself. He plants a cypress tree, and the rain waters it.
Then it becomes wood for a man to burn. He takes some of it and warms himself. He burns it and bakes bread. He even makes a god and worships it. He makes it into a carved idol and bows down to it. He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it he cooks meat. He roasts it and eats until he is full. He warms himself too, and says, “Ah! I’m warm. I’ve seen the fire.” The rest of it he makes into a god, a carved idol of his own. He bows down to it and worships it, and prays, “Rescue me, because you are my god!”
They don’t know, and they don’t give it any thought, because he has shut their eyes so they can’t see, and shut their hearts so they can’t understand. No one thinks it over. No one has the knowledge or the sense to say, “I burned part of it in the fire. I baked bread on its coals too. I roasted meat and ate it. Should I make the rest of it into something disgusting? Should I bow down to a tree trunk?”
He feeds on ashes. A heart that has been fooled has led him the wrong way. He can’t save himself, and he can’t say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”
Further on come these words:
The Lord, your Redeemer,the one who shaped you from the womb, says:“I am the Lord, who makes all things,who alone stretches out the sky,who spreads out the earth by myself,who makes the signs of liars come to nothing,and drives out of their minds,who sends wise men backwardand makes their knowledge foolish,who makes the word of his servant come true,and carries out the plans of his messengers,who says of Jerusalem, ‘People will live in her,’and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’and ‘I will build up its ruined places,’who says to the deep waters, ‘Be dry,’and ‘I will dry up your rivers,’who says of , ‘He is my shepherd,who will do all that I wish,’even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”The Lord says to his , to Cyrus,whose right hand he has heldto bring nations down before himand strip kings of their armor,to open the doors before him,and the gates won’t be shut:“I will go ahead of youand make the rough places smooth.I will break the bronze doors to piecesand cut the iron bars apart.I will give you treasures kept in the darkand riches hidden away in secret places,so that you will know that I, the Lord, the God of Israel,am the one who calls you by your name.For the sake of Jacob, my servant,and Israel, my chosen one,I have called you by your name.I have given you a title,though you have not known me.I am the Lord, and there is no one else.Other than me, there is no God.I will make you strong,though you have not known me,so that from where the sun risesto the west,they will know that there is no one other than me.I am the Lord, and there is no one else.I form the lightand create darkness.I make peaceand create harm.I am the Lord,who does all these things.”
Later the Lord says:
“Listen to me, house of Jacob,and all who are left of the house of Israel,you who have been carried since you were born,carried from the womb.Even when you are old, I am he,and even when your hair is gray, I will carry you.I made you, and I will hold you up.Yes, I will carry you, and I will save you.”
And later still:
The Lord,your Redeemer,the Holy One of Israel, says:“I am the Lord your God,who teaches you to do well,who leads you by the way that you should go.I wish you had listened to my commandments!Then your peace would have been like a river,and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”