Isaías 40

VBL · Chapter 40/66

1“¡Consuela, sí consuela a mi pueblo!” dice tu Dios.

2“Háblale con amor al pueblo de Jerusalén, diciéndole que sus tiempos difíciles han terminado, que sus pecados han sido perdonados y que el Señor les ha pagado dos veces por sus pecados”.

3Se oye una voz que dice: “Preparen el camino al Señor en el desierto, hagan una calzada recta para nuestro Dios a través del desierto.

4Rellenen todos los valles; allanen todos los montes y colinas; allanen el terreno irregular; allanen los lugares escabrosos.

5La gloria del Señor se manifestará, y todos la verán juntos. Esto es lo que ha declarado el Señor”.

6Se oye una voz que dice: “Grítalo”. Pregunté: “¿Qué debo gritar?” “Todos los seres humanos son como la hierba, y toda su confianza es como las flores del campo.

7La hierba se marchita y la flor se desvanece cuando el Señor sopla sobre ellos. Sí, las personas son como la hierba.

8Sin embargo, aunque la hierba se marchite y la flor se desvanezca, la palabra de nuestro Dios perdurará para siempre”.

9Sión, portadora de buenas noticias, sube a un monte alto. Jerusalén, portadora de buenas noticias, levanta tu voz y grita fuerte. ¡No tengas miedo de gritar muy fuerte! Di a los pueblos de Judá: “¡Aquí está tu Dios!”.

10¡Mira! ¡El Señor Dios viene con poder! Gobernará con mano firme. Mira! Trae consigo su recompensa, viene a dar su regalo.

11Cuida de su rebaño como un pastor. Coge a los corderos en brazos y los estrecha contra su pecho. Conduce a los que amamantan a las crías.

12¿Quién ha medido las aguas que tiene en la palma de su mano? ¿Quién ha marcado los cielos con la extensión de su mano? ¿Quién ha calculado la cantidad de polvo de la tierra? ¿Quién ha pesado los montes con una balanza y las colinas con una balanza?

13¿Quién ha medido el Espíritu del Señor, o le ha enseñado lo que debe hacer como su consejero?

14¿A quién acudió el Señor en busca de consejo para ayudarle a entender? ¿Quién le enseñó el bien y el mal? ¿Quién le dio conocimiento y le mostró el camino de la sabiduría?

15Es obvio que las naciones son sólo una gota en un cubo. Son como polvo en una balanza. Puede recoger las islas como si no pesaran nada.

16Toda la madera del Líbano para un fuego y todos sus animales como sacrificio no serían suficientes para un holocausto.

17Para él todas las naciones son como nada. Las considera menos que nada, como si no existieran.

18¿Quién crees que es como Dios? ¿A qué imagen crees que se parece?

19¿Acaso es un ídolo de metal que un artesano funde en un molde, y luego un orfebre lo recubre de oro y le hace cadenas de plata?

20Los que son demasiado pobres para pagar eso eligen madera que no se pudra, y luego buscan a un hábil tallador de madera para que haga un ídolo que no se caiga.

21¿No lo sabes? ¿No te has enterado? ¿No se te ha explicado desde el principio? ¿No has entendido desde que se creó el mundo?

22Dios se sienta en su trono sobre el horizonte de la tierra; los pueblos que la habitan son como saltamontes. Él extiende los cielos como una cortina, los extiende como una tienda para vivir.

23Derriba a los líderes; hace que los gobernantes del mundo sean como nada.

24Apenas si están plantados, apenas si están sembrados, apenas si echan raíces, cuando sopla sobre ellos y se marchitan, y el viento se los lleva como paja.

25“¿Con quién me vas a comparar? ¿Quién es igual a mí?”, pregunta el Santo.

26Mira los cielos. ¿Quién ha creado todo esto? Él dirige las estrellas como un ejército, y llama a cada una por su nombre. Porque tiene un gran poder y una fuerza increíble, no falta ni una sola de ellas.

27¿Por qué hablas así, Jacob, y por qué dices, Israel: “¡El Señor no ve lo que me pasa, y se desentiende de mis derechos!”

28¿No lo sabes? ¿No has oído? El Señor es el Dios eterno, el creador de toda la tierra. Él nunca es débil ni está cansado; no puedes averiguar todo lo que sabe.

29Él da fuerza a los cansados y poder a los impotentes.

30Incluso los jóvenes se debilitan y se cansan; caen cuando están agotados.

31Pero los que confían en el Señor verán renovadas sus fuerzas. Volarán alto con alas como las águilas. Correrán y no se cansarán. Caminarán y no se agotarán.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The second major part of the book begins with words of comfort: 'comfort, comfort my people.' A voice cries out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord, and the chapter celebrates the incomparable greatness of God, who gives strength to the weary and makes those who wait on him soar like eagles.

Explanation

This chapter marks a dramatic shift in tone in the book, turning toward comfort and the hope of restoration after the Babylonian exile (which would happen in the future, but which Isaiah already sees prophetically). The 'voice crying in the wilderness' is quoted in all four Gospels to describe the ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus. The image of God measuring 'the waters in the hollow of his hand' and weighing 'the mountains in scales' is grand poetry that contrasts the infinite Creator with the fragility of idols made by human hands. The final promise, that those who wait on the Lord 'will renew their strength' and 'mount up with wings like eagles,' is one of the most beloved and often-quoted passages in the whole Bible on perseverance in faith. The practical application today is to seek the renewal of strength in God, especially in seasons of physical or spiritual weariness.

Fun facts

  • The 'voice crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord' is quoted in all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as prophecy fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, one of the most consistent uses of a single prophecy from Isaiah in the entire New Testament.
  • The promise to 'mount up with wings like eagles' has become one of the most popular verses in hymns, sermons, and even Christian logos around the world as a symbol of spiritual renewal.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 40:1From here on the prophet's voice shifts setting: it is no longer about the Assyrian threat of Hezekiah's time, but about a people already exiled in Babylon, waiting for word that they can go home. This chapter opens this second half of the book as an announcement that the punishment has ended.
  2. Isaías 40:2"Double" is not about exact math, it is Hebrew idiom for intensity: the punishment of exile was heavy enough to be counted as paid in full, and now the message shifts from accusation to comfort.
  3. Isaías 40:3The voice preparing a way in the wilderness describes a herald leveling a road for a king's arrival, a common scene of the day. The New Testament uses this image to speak of John the Baptist announcing Jesus, but in the original context it is about the people returning from exile to Jerusalem.
  4. Isaías 40:4Exalting the valleys and making the mountains low describes the preparation of a royal road, a practice used by kings of the day to ease the arrival of an important sovereign. Here it is the Lord Himself who comes, and the way is made straight before Him.
  5. Isaías 40:5The promise that "all flesh" shall see the glory of the Lord broadens the scope of the announcement: it is not only Judah that will witness this manifestation, but humanity in general.
  6. Isaías 40:6Comparing all human life — even powerful empires like Babylon — to grass that withers quickly is a reminder that only God's word endures. The backdrop is a small people facing the strongest empire in the known world.
  7. Isaías 40:7Comparing the people to grass and a flower that fade is a reminder of frailty: even empires like Babylon, which seem eternal from the viewpoint of someone in exile, have a short life next to the word of God.
  8. Isaías 40:8The contrast between the grass that withers and the word that stands forever is the chapter's central argument: everything that seems powerful and lasting in the human world has an expiration date, except the promise announced here.
  9. Isaías 40:9Zion and Jerusalem are called to go up to a high mountain and cry out the news, the role of a herald bringing good tidings first to the very cities of Judah before anywhere else.
  10. Isaías 40:10The "reward" and the "work" that come with God, as the KJV puts it, describe a recompense brought along with Him, like a king returning from victory already bearing spoils and gifts to distribute among His own.
  11. Isaías 40:11The image of the shepherd carrying the lambs in His bosom and gently leading those with young contrasts with the warrior strength of the previous verse: the same mighty God is also described with the utmost tenderness.
  12. Isaías 40:12Measuring the waters in the hollow of His hand and weighing the mountains in scales are deliberate exaggerations meant to describe a creative power impossible to imagine on a human scale.
  13. Isaías 40:13The rhetorical question about who directed or instructed the Spirit of the Lord reinforces that God depends on no outside counselor, unlike human kings, who always had a court of advisers.
  14. Isaías 40:14The same idea continues: no one had to teach God judgment, knowledge, or understanding, unlike any human ruler, who learns from others.
  15. Isaías 40:15Comparing the nations to a drop from a bucket or to the small dust on the scales is an image of insignificance before the greatness of God, even when speaking of empires like Assyria or Babylon.
  16. Isaías 40:16Saying that not even all of Lebanon's forest would be sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering, is an exaggerated way of saying that no human offering comes anywhere close to the greatness of God.
  17. Isaías 40:17The nations, including the most feared empires of the day, are described "as nothing" and as "vanity" before God, the opposite of the fear those same nations inspired in Judah's daily life.
  18. Isaías 40:18The rhetorical question about whom to liken God to opens the following section, which mocks idols made by craftsmen as a ridiculous comparison next to a God with no physical image.
  19. Isaías 40:19The description of the workman melting a graven image and overlaying it with gold describes the real process of idol-making at the time, an object made by human hands afterward treated as a deity.
  20. Isaías 40:20Even someone too poor for an oblation still chooses at least a tree that will not rot and seeks out a skilled craftsman, so the idol will at least stand on its own. It is subtle mockery: a god that has to be fastened down so it will not fall over.
  21. Isaías 40:21The repeated question "Have ye not known? have ye not heard?" demands of the people a basic knowledge that should already have been obvious since the foundation of the world, before any further instruction.
  22. Isaías 40:22God sitting upon the circle of the earth, with its inhabitants like grasshoppers, and stretching out the heavens like a curtain, is an image of cosmic scale that reduces all humanity to a tiny proportion.
  23. Isaías 40:23Bringing the princes and judges of the earth "to nothing" continues the same theme: no human political authority, however powerful it may seem, holds up against the comparison with the power described in the previous verses.
  24. Isaías 40:24Rulers compared to a plant barely sown that has not even taken root before the whirlwind sweeps it all away describe how quickly political power can crumble, however solid it may seem.
  25. Isaías 40:25The rhetorical question repeats almost like a refrain of the chapter, reinforcing that no comparison is adequate, neither the idols, nor the empires, nor the rulers already mentioned.
  26. Isaías 40:26Looking up at the sky and seeing the stars "calleth them all by names," as the KJV puts it, is an image of a God who knows every detail of creation individually, from the greatest star to the smallest speck of dust, missing none.
  27. Isaías 40:27The complaint attributed to Jacob and Israel, that their way is hidden from the Lord, reflects the common feeling of abandonment among the exiles, thinking their situation had gone unnoticed.
  28. Isaías 40:28The answer to the complaint points to something the people should already know: a God who created the ends of the earth does not faint or grow weary, nor is there any limit to His understanding, so there would be no reason for Him to forget His people.
  29. Isaías 40:29"Giveth power to the faint," as the KJV puts it, sums up the kind of help offered: not instant deliverance from every problem, but a renewal of strength for those who had none left, the exact target audience of the exhausted exiles.
  30. Isaías 40:30Even the youths, thought to be at the peak of physical strength, faint and utterly fall, a deliberate contrast with the promise of the next verse that those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength in a way that youth alone cannot guarantee.
  31. Isaías 40:31Mounting up with wings as eagles is not about literal flight: it is an image of renewed breath, meant for those exhausted after years of exile who needed hope to make the journey back on foot to Jerusalem.

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