God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 40:1
1“Comfort my people! Comfort them!” says your God.
Isaiah 40:1 in other versions
Context of Isaiah 40:1
“Comfort my people! Comfort them!” says your God. 2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and announce to it that its time of hard labor is over and its wrongs have been paid for. It has received from the Lord double for all its sins.” 3A voice cries out in the desert: “Clear a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway in the wilderness for our God.
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:1 word by word
נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י יֹאמַ֖ר אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:1
- Isaiah 3:10Tell the righteous that blessings will come to them. They will taste the fruit of their labor.
- Isaiah 35:3Strengthen limp hands. Steady weak knees.
- Isaiah 41:10Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. Don’t be intimidated; I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will support you with my victorious right hand.
- Isaiah 49:13Sing with joy, you heavens! Rejoice, you earth! Break into shouts of joy, you mountains! The Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his humble people.
- Isaiah 50:10Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? Let those who walk in darkness and have no light trust the name of the Lord and depend upon their God.
- Isaiah 51:3So the Lord will comfort Zion. He will comfort all those who live among its ruins. He will make its desert like Eden. He will make its wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
- Isaiah 57:15The High and Lofty One lives forever, and his name is holy. This is what he says: I live in a high and holy place. But I am with those who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed.
- Isaiah 60:1Arise! Shine! Your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has dawned.
- Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is with me because the Lord has anointed me to deliver good news to humble people. He has sent me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to announce that captives will be set free and prisoners will be released.
- Isaiah 62:11The Lord has announced to the ends of the earth: “Tell my people Zion, ‘Your Savior is coming. His reward is with him, and the people he has won arrive ahead of him.’ ”
- Isaiah 65:13This is what the Lord God says: My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. My servants will be glad, but you will be ashamed.
- Isaiah 66:10All who love Jerusalem, be happy and rejoice with her. All who mourn for her, be glad with her.
- Nehemiah 8:10Then he told them, “Go, eat rich foods, drink sweet drinks, and send portions to those who cannot provide for themselves. Today is a holy day for the Lord. Don’t be sad because the joy you have in the Lord is your strength.”
- Psalms 85:8I want to hear what God the Lord says, because he promises peace to his people, to his godly ones. But they must not go back to their stupidity.
- Jeremiah 31:10“You nations, listen to the Lord’s word. Tell it to the distant islands. Say, ‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd watches over his flock.’
- Zephaniah 3:14Sing happily, people of Zion! Shout loudly, Israel! Celebrate and rejoice with all your heart, people of Jerusalem.
Commentaries on Isaiah 40:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Comfort ye, comfort ye - "The whole of this prophecy," says Kimchi, "belongs to the days of the Messiah."Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people - This is the exordium, or the general subject of this and the following chapters. The commencement is abrupt, as often happens in Isaiah and the other prophets. The scene where this vision is laid is in Babylon; the time near the close of the captivity. The topic, or main subject of the consolation, is stated in the following verse - that that captivity was about to end, and that brighter and happier days were to succeed…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The preaching of the gospel, and glad tidings of the coming of Christ. (Is. 40:1-11) The almighty power of God. (Is. 40:12-17) The folly of idolatry. (Is. 40:18-26) Against unbelief. (Is. 40:27-31) Verses 1-11 All human life is a warfare; the Christian life is the most so; but the struggle will not last always. Troubles are removed in love, when sin is pardoned. In the great atonement of the death of Christ, the mercy of God is exercised to the glory of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2The rest of Isaiah offers a message of comfort and reveals God's character and his plans for Israel. As Isaiah 39:6–7 predicted, Judah would face judgment and exile after Isaiah's time. Throughout Isaiah 40–66, Isaiah prophesied as if the exile in Babylon had already occurred. Thus, the Babylonian exile is the context for understanding these chapters.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-31The former were local and temporary in their reference. These belong to the distant future, and are world-wide in their interest; the deliverance from Babylon under Cyrus, which he here foretells by prophetic suggestion, carries him on to the greater deliverance under Messiah, the Saviour of Jews and Gentiles in the present eclectic Church, and the restorer of Israel and Head of the world-wide kingdom, literal and spiritual, ultimately. As Assyria was the…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 40:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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