Isaiah 40
1 My puple, be ye coumfortid, be ye coumfortid, seith youre Lord God.
“Be consoled, be consoled, O 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 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 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 crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
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 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 glorie of the Lord schal be schewid, and ech man schal se togidere, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoke.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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!” 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 hei is dried vp, and the flour felle doun, for the spirit of the Lord bleew therynne.
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 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 has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
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 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 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 arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is 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 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 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 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 helpide the Spirit of the Lord, ether who was his councelour, and schewide to hym?
Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
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?
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 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 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 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.
And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be 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 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 therfor maden ye God lijk? ether what ymage schulen ye sette to hym?
Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace 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?
Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
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 has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot 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?
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 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.
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 Which yyueth the sercheris of priuytees, as if thei be not, and made the iugis of erthe as a veyn thing.
He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.
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.
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 And to what thing `ye han licned me, and han maad euene? seith the hooli.
“And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” 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 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 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 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 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.
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 That yyueth vertu to the weeri, and strengthe to hem that ben not, and multiplieth stalworthnesse.
It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
30 Children schulen faile, and schulen trauele, and yonge men schulen falle doun in her sikenesse.
Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
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 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.
