Isaiah 40:2 (YLT)

Passage

Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare hath been completed, That accepted hath been her punishment, That she hath received from the hand of Jehovah Double for all her sins.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God.

Isaiah 40:2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare hath been completed, That accepted hath been her punishment, That she hath received from the hand of Jehovah Double for all her sins.

Isaiah 40:3 A voice is crying--in a wilderness--Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.

Isaiah 40:4 Every valley is raised up, And every mountain and hill become low, And the crooked place hath become a plain, And the entangled places a valley.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speak", "heart", "jerusalem", "call", "warfare", "hath", "been", and "completed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "speak" and "heart", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Comfort ye comfort ye My people saith..." into verse 3's "A voice is crying--in a wilderness--Prepare ye...", so "speak" and "heart" belong inside that flow. 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 "speak" and "heart" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.