Isaiah 40:1

⁴who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

¹²“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass?

³For the LORD has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in them, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

¹⁴Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. ¹⁵The LORD has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. ¹⁶In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” ¹⁷The LORD, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

¹⁸Therefore comfort one another with these words.

¹³The LORD answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.

¹⁰“Hear the LORD’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’ ¹¹For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. ¹²They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of the LORD, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all. ¹³Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. ¹⁴I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says the LORD.

¹³Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth! Break out into singing, mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. ¹⁴But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” ¹⁵“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you! ¹⁶Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.

¹⁰“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her; ¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied at the comforting breasts; that you may drink deeply, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” ¹²For the LORD says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees. ¹³As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.” ¹⁴You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. The LORD’s hand will be known among his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.

¹In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, the LORD;^[+] for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.