Isaiah 40
1 My puple, be ye coumfortid, be ye coumfortid, seith youre Lord God.
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
2 Speke ye to the herte of Jerusalem, and clepe ye it, for the malice therof is fillid, the wickidnesse therof is foryouun; it hath resseyued of the hond of the Lord double thingis for alle hise synnes.
“Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”
3 The vois of a crier in desert, Make ye redi the weie of the Lord, make ye riytful the pathis of oure God in wildirnesse.
The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4 Ech valey schal be enhaunsid, and ech mounteyn and litil hil schal be maad low; and schrewid thingis schulen be in to streiyt thingis, and scharpe thingis schulen be in to pleyn weies.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glorie of the Lord schal be schewid, and ech man schal se togidere, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoke.
The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”
6 The vois of God, seiynge, Crie thou. And Y seide, What schal Y crie? Ech fleisch is hei, and al the glorie therof is as the flour of the feeld.
The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 The hei is dried vp, and the flour felle doun, for the spirit of the Lord bleew therynne.
The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8 Verely the puple is hey; the hey is dried vp, and the flour felle doun; but the word of the Lord dwellith with outen ende.
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
9 Thou that prechist to Sion, stie on an hiy hil; thou that prechist to Jerusalem, enhaunse thi vois in strengthe; enhaunse thou, nyle thou drede; seie thou to the citees of Juda, Lo! youre God.
You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
10 Lo! the Lord God schal come in strengthe, and his arm schal holde lordschipe; lo! his mede is with hym, and his werk is bifore hym.
Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 As a scheepherd he schal fede his flok, he schal gadere lambreen in his arm, and he schal reise in his bosom; he schal bere scheep `with lomb.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
12 Who mat watris in a fist, and peiside heuenes with a spanne? Who peiside the heuynesse of the erthe with thre fyngris, and weide mounteyns in a weihe, and litle hillis in a balaunce?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who helpide the Spirit of the Lord, ether who was his councelour, and schewide to hym?
Who has directed the LORD’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?
14 With whom took he councel, and who lernyde hym, and tauyte hym the path of riytfulnesse, and lernyde hym in kunnyng, and schewyde to him the weie of prudence?
Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Lo! folkis ben as a drope of a boket, and ben arettid as the tunge of a balaunce; lo!
Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16 ylis ben as a litil dust, and the Liban schal not suffice to brenne his sacrifice, and the beestis therof schulen not suffice to brent sacrifice.
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Alle folkis ben so bifore hym, as if thei ben not; and thei ben rettid as no thing and veyn thing to hym.
All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom therfor maden ye God lijk? ether what ymage schulen ye sette to hym?
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19 Whether a smyth schal welle togidere an ymage, ether a gold smyth schal figure it in gold, and a worchere in siluer schal diyte it with platis of siluer?
A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
20 A wijs crafti man chees a strong tre, and vnable to be rotun; he sekith how he schal ordeyne a symylacre, that schal not be mouyd.
He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
21 Whether ye witen not? whether ye herden not? whether it was not teld to you fro the begynnynge? whether ye vndurstoden not the foundementis of erthe?
Have not you known? Have not you heard? Have not you been told from the beginning? Have not you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 Which sittith on the cumpas of erthe, and the dwelleris therof ben as locustis; which stretchith forth heuenes as nouyt, and spredith abrood tho as a tabernacle to dwelle.
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
23 Which yyueth the sercheris of priuytees, as if thei be not, and made the iugis of erthe as a veyn thing.
who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24 And sotheli whanne the stok of hem is nether plauntid, nether is sowun, nether is rootid in erthe, he bleew sudenli on hem, and thei drieden vp, and a whirle wynd schal take hem awei as stobil.
They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 And to what thing `ye han licned me, and han maad euene? seith the hooli.
“To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Reise youre iyen an hiy, and se ye, who made these thingis of nouyt; which ledith out in noumbre the kniythod of tho, and clepith alle bi name, for the multitude of his strengthe, and stalworthnesse, and vertu; nether o residue thing was.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
27 Whi seist thou, Jacob, and spekist thou, Israel, My weie is hid fro the Lord, and my doom passide fro my God?
Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?
28 Whether thou knowist not, ether herdist thou not? God, euerlastynge Lord, that made of nouyt the endis of erthe, schal not faile, nether schal trauele, nether enserchyng of his wisdom is.
Have not you known? Have not you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint. He is not weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 That yyueth vertu to the weeri, and strengthe to hem that ben not, and multiplieth stalworthnesse.
He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30 Children schulen faile, and schulen trauele, and yonge men schulen falle doun in her sikenesse.
Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
31 But thei that hopen in the Lord, schulen chaunge strengthe, thei schulen take fetheris as eglis; thei schulen renne, and schulen not trauele; thei schulen go, and schulen not faile.
but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
