Isaiah 40:1 (LSB)

Passage

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

Isaiah 40:2 “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has been fulfilled, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received from the hand of Yahweh Double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 40:3 A voice is calling, “Prepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "comfort", "people", and "says". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "comfort" and "people", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem And...", so "comfort" and "people" should be read forward into that movement. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "comfort" and "people" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.