God affirms His love through His dependable and unchanging Word, which endures now and forevermore.

上帝以永远立定的话语，表明祂的慈爱亘古长存。

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8

草必枯干，花必凋残；惟有我们上帝的话必永远立定！-以赛亚书40章8节

As a toddler, my son Xavier enjoyed giving me flowers. I appreciated every freshly picked weed or store-bought blossom he purchased with his dad. I treasured each gift until it wilted and had to be thrown away.

我儿子维维在蹒跚学步时，常喜欢摘花给我。我欣赏刚采摘的翠绿花草，也喜爱儿子和丈夫一起在花店选购的花束。我珍惜他们送的礼物，直到它枯萎了，才不得不扔掉。

One day, Xavier gave me a beautiful bouquet of artificial flowers. He grinned as he arranged the silk white calla lily, yellow sunflower, and purple hydrangea in a glass vase. “Look, Mommy,” he said. “They’ll last forever. That’s how much I love you.”

几年后，维维送我一束美丽的丝绸花。他将白色马蹄莲、黄色向日葵和紫色绣球花插在玻璃瓶里，向我咧嘴一笑说：“妈咪，妳看，这是永不凋谢的花朵，就像我对妳的爱一样。”

Since then, my boy has grown into a young man. Those silk petals have frayed. The colors have faded. Still, the Forever Flowers remind me of his adoration. And there is something else it brings to mind—one thing that truly stands forever—the limitless and lasting love of God, as revealed in His infallible and enduring Word (Isa. 40:8).

如今，儿子已长大成人，那束丝绸花也早已磨损，失去原本的光彩。然而，这“永不凋谢的花朵”却让我记得他的孺慕之情。同时也提醒我，真正永远不改变、不褪色的，是上帝无限和永远长存的爱，祂已经藉着祂亘古不变、真实可靠的话语向我们显明了（以赛亚书40章8节）。

As the Israelites faced continual trials, Isaiah comforted them with confidence in God’s enduring words (40:1). He proclaimed that God paid the debt caused by the Israelites’ sin (v. 2), securing their hope in the coming Messiah (vv. 3–5). They trusted the prophet because his focus remained on God rather than their circumstances.

当以色列百姓面临的患难排山倒海而来时，以赛亚相信上帝永存的话语，他安慰以色列百姓（40章1节），并宣告上帝会赦免他们的罪债（2节），要他们专心等候将临的弥赛亚（3-5节）。百姓能够相信先知以赛亚，因为他不看环境，只定睛仰望上帝。

In a world filled with uncertainties and affliction, the opinions of man and even our own feelings are ever-shifting and as limited as our mortality (vv. 6–7). Still, we can trust God’s unchanging love and character as revealed through His constant and eternally true Word.

 这个世界充满变数和苦难，人的意见和我们的感情也是瞬息万变，更是像我们的生命一样极其有限（6-7节）。但我们仍能信靠上帝，因祂已经藉着祂永远真实的话语，向我们显明祂的慈爱和属性永不改变。

Isaiah 40:1-8New International Version (NIV)

Comfort for God’s People

40 Comfort, comfort my people,
    says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
    that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
    Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God endures forever.”

以赛亚书 40:1-8Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

神慰藉其民

40 你们的神说：“你们要安慰，安慰我的百姓！ 2 要对耶路撒冷说安慰的话，又向她宣告说，她争战的日子已满了，她的罪孽赦免了，她为自己的一切罪从耶和华手中加倍受罚。”

预言在旷野有备耶和华之道者

3 有人声喊着说：“在旷野预备耶和华的路[a]，在沙漠地修平我们神的道！ 4 一切山洼都要填满，大小山冈都要削平，高高低低的要改为平坦，崎崎岖岖的必成为平原。 5 耶和华的荣耀必然显现，凡有血气的必一同看见，因为这是耶和华亲口说的。”

6 有人声说：“你喊叫吧！”有一个说：“我喊叫什么呢？”说：“凡有血气的尽都如草，他的美容都像野地的花。 7 草必枯干，花必凋残，因为耶和华的气吹在其上——百姓诚然是草！ 8 草必枯干，花必凋残，唯有我们神的话必永远立定。”

整理：于姊妹