Isaiah 40
1 My puple, be ye coumfortid, be ye coumfortid, seith youre Lord God.
“Comfort, yes 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 lovingly to the people of Jerusalem, telling them that their hard times are over, that their sins have been forgiven, and that the Lord has paid them twice over for their 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.
A voice is heard calling, “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make a straight highway for our God through the desert.
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.
Fill in all the valleys; level all the mountains and hills; smooth out the uneven ground; make the rough places flat.
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 will be revealed, and everyone will see it together. This is what the Lord has declared.”
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.
A voice is heard saying, “Shout it out.” I asked, “What shall I shout?” “All human beings are like grass, and all their trustworthiness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The hei is dried vp, and the flour felle doun, for the spirit of the Lord bleew therynne.
The grass wilts and the flower fades when the Lord's breathes on them. Yes, the people are 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.
However, even though the grass wilts and the flower fades, the word of our God will endure 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.
Zion, bringer of good news, go up a high mountain. Jerusalem, bringer of good news, raise your voice and shout out loud. Don't be afraid to shout really loud! Tell the towns of Judah, “Here is 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.
Look! The Lord God is coming with power! He will rule with a firm hand. Look! He's bringing his reward with him, coming to give his gift.
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 looks after his flock like a shepherd. He picks up the lambs in his arms and holds them close to his chest. He leads those that are nursing 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 he holds in the palm of his hand? Who has marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has worked out the amount of dust of the earth? Who has weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?
13 Who helpide the Spirit of the Lord, ether who was his councelour, and schewide to hym?
Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or taught him what to do 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 the Lord go to for advice to help him understand? Who taught him right from wrong? Who gave him knowledge and showed him the way of wisdom?
15 Lo! folkis ben as a drope of a boket, and ben arettid as the tunge of a balaunce; lo!
It's obvious that the nations are just a drop in a bucket. They're like dust on a set of scales. He can pick up islands as if they weigh next to nothing.
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.
All the wood in Lebanon for a fire and all its animals as a sacrifice wouldn't be enough 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.
To him all the nations are like nothing. He counts them as less than nothing—like they don't exist.
18 To whom therfor maden ye God lijk? ether what ymage schulen ye sette to hym?
Who do you think is like God? What image do you think he looks like?
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?
Is he a metal idol that a craftsman casts in a mold, and then a goldsmith overlays it with gold and makes 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.
Those who are too poor to pay for that choose wood that won't rot, then they look for a skilled wood-carver to make an idol that won't fall over.
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?
Don't you know? Haven't you heard? Hasn't it been explained to you from the very beginning? Haven't you understood from the time the world was created?
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.
God sits on his throne above the horizon of the earth; the people that live there are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreading them out like a tent to live in.
23 Which yyueth the sercheris of priuytees, as if thei be not, and made the iugis of erthe as a veyn thing.
He brings leaders down; he makes the rulers of the world like nothing.
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.
In fact they are hardly even planted, hardly even sown, hardly even taken root, when he blows on them and they wither, and the wind carries them away like straw.
25 And to what thing `ye han licned me, and han maad euene? seith the hooli.
“Who are you going to compare me with? Who is equal to me?” asks 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.
Look at the heavens. Who created all this? He leads the stars like an army, and calls each one by name. Because he has great power and incredible strength, not a single one of them is missing.
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 speak like this, Jacob, and why do you say, Israel, “The Lord doesn't see what's happening to me, and he's ignoring my rights!”
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.
Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He's never weak or tired; you can't find out all he knows.
29 That yyueth vertu to the weeri, and strengthe to hem that ben not, and multiplieth stalworthnesse.
He gives strength to the weary and power the powerless.
30 Children schulen faile, and schulen trauele, and yonge men schulen falle doun in her sikenesse.
Even young people grow weak and tired—they fall down when they're exhausted.
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 trust in the Lord will have their strength renewed. They will fly high with wings like eagles. They will run and not be tired. They will walk and not be worn out.
