Isaiah 40
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, will your God say.
“Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.
2 Speake comfortably to Ierusalem, and crye vnto her, that her warrefare is accomplished, that her iniquitie is pardoned: for she hath receiued of the Lords hand double for all her sinnes.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.
3 A voyce cryeth in the wildernesse, Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make streight in the desert a path for our God.
The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
4 Euery valley shall be exalted, and euery mountaine and hill shall be made lowe: and the crooked shalbe streight, and the rough places plaine.
Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.
5 And the glory of the Lord shalbe reueiled, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voyce saide, Crie. And he saide, What shall I crie? All flesh is grasse, and all the grace thereof is as the floure of the fielde.
The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 The grasse withereth, the floure fadeth, because the Spirite of the Lord bloweth vpon it: surely the people is grasse.
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass.
8 The grasse withereth, the floure fadeth: but the worde of our God shall stand for euer.
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee vp into the hie mountaine: O Ierusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift vp thy voyce with strength: lift it vp, be not afraide: say vnto the cities of Iudah, Beholde your God.
You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”
10 Beholde, the Lord God will come with power, and his arme shall rule for him: beholde, his rewarde is with him, and his worke before him,
Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.
11 He shall feede his flocke like a shepheard: he shall gather the lambes with his arme, and cary them in his bosome, and shall guide them with young.
He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.
12 Who hath measured the waters in his fist? and counted heauen with the spanne, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure? and weighed ye mountaines in a weight, and the hilles in a balance?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?
13 Who hath instructed ye Spirit of the Lord? or was his counseler or taught him?
Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
14 Of whom tooke he counsell, and who instructed him and taught him in the way of iudgement? or taught him knowledge, and shewed vnto him the way of vnderstanding?
With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him?
15 Beholde, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balance: beholde, he taketh away the yles as a litle dust.
Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient for fire, nor the beastes thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him, lesse then nothing, and vanitie.
All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.
18 To whom then wil ye liken God? or what similitude will ye set vp vnto him?
Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?
19 The workeman melteth an image, or the goldsmith beateth it out in golde, or the goldesmith maketh siluer plates.
Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
20 Doeth not the poore chuse out a tree that will not rot, for an oblation? he seeketh also vnto him a cunning workeman, to prepare an image, that shall not be moued.
He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.
21 Know ye nothing? haue ye not heard it? hath it not bene tolde you from the beginning? haue ye not vnderstand it by the foundation of the earth?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?
22 He sitteth vpon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers, hee stretcheth out ye heauens, as a curtaine, and spreadeth them out, as a tent to dwell in.
He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell.
23 He bringeth the princes to nothing, and maketh the iudges of the earth, as vanitie,
He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.
24 As though they were not plated, as though they were not sowen, as though their stocke tooke no roote in the earth: for he did euen blow vpon them, and they withered, and the whirlewinde will take them away as stubble.
And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff.
25 To whom nowe will ye liken me, that I should be like him, saith the Holy one?
“And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift vp your eyes on hie, and beholde who hath created these things, and bringeth out their armies by nomber, and calleth them all by names? by the greatnesse of his power and mightie strength nothing faileth.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind.
27 Why sayest thou, O Iaakob, and speakest O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my iudgement is passed ouer of my God?
Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”
28 Knowest thou not? or hast thou not heard, that the euerlasting God, the Lord hath created the endes of the earth? he neither fainteth, nor is wearie: there is no searching of his vnderstanding.
Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable.
29 But he giueth strength vnto him that fainteth, and vnto him that hath no strength, he encreaseth power.
It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
30 Euen the yong men shall faint, and be wearie, and the yong men shall stumble and fall.
Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
31 But they that waite vpon the Lord, shall renue their strength: they shall lift vp the wings as the eagles: they shall runne, and not be wearie, and they shall walke and not faint.
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.
