Isaiah 40
1 My puple, be ye coumfortid, be ye coumfortid, seith youre Lord God.
Comfort ye—comfort ye my people, —Saith 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 ye unto the heart of Jerusalem, And cry unto her, —That accomplished is her warfare, That accepted is her punishment, —That she hath received, at the hand of Yahweh, According to the full measure of 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.
A voice of one crying!—In the desert, prepare ye the way of Yahweh, —Make smooth in the waste plain a highway 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.
Let, every valley, be exalted, And every mountain and hill, be made low, —And, the steep ground become, level, And, the chain of hills—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.
Then shall be revealed the glory of Yahweh, —And all flesh shall see it together, For, the mouth of Yahweh, hath 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.
A voice saying Cry! And one said—What should I cry? All flesh, is grass, And, all the grace thereof, 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 hath withered The flower hath faded, Because, the breath of Yahweh, hath blown upon it! Surely the people is 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, hath withered, The flower, hath faded, —But the word of our God, shall stand unto times age-abiding!
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.
To a high mountain, get ye up, O herald—band of Zion, Lift high with strength your voice, O herald—band of Jerusalem, —Lift it high, do not fear, Say to the cities of Judah—Lo! 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.
Lo! My Lord, Yahweh, as a mighty one, doth come, And, his own arm, is about to rule for him, —Lo! 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.
Like a shepherd, his flock, will he tend, In his own arm, will he take up the lambs, And in his own bosom, will he carry [them], —Them which are with young, will he lead to a place of rest.
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 hath measured, with the hollow of his hand, the waters. Or the heavens with a span, hath meted out, Or hath comprehended, in a measure, the dust of the earth, Or weighed, in scales, the mountains, Or the hills, in a balance?
13 Who helpide the Spirit of the Lord, ether who was his councelour, and schewide to hym?
Who hath proved the spirit of Yahweh? Or being his counsellor hath been giving him knowledge?
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 hath he taken counsel—And he hath given him intelligence, And instructed him in the path of justice, —And taught him knowledge, And in the way of intelligence, hath been giving him understanding?
15 Lo! folkis ben as a drope of a boket, and ben arettid as the tunge of a balaunce; lo!
Lo! nations, Are us a drop on a bucket, And as fine dust on a balance, are accounted, —Lo! islands, like an atom, can he hoist;
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, is not sufficient to burn, —Nor, the beasts thereof sufficient for an ascending-sacrifice!
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 nations, are as nothing before him, —A thing of nought or a waste, are they accounted unto him?
18 To whom therfor maden ye God lijk? ether what ymage schulen ye sette to hym?
Unto whom then can ye liken GOD? Or, what likeness, can ye compare unto 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?
The image, hath been cast by an artificer, And a goldsmith, with gold, overlayeth it, —And, chains of silver, he worketh.
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.
The needy offerer, of a tree that will not rot, maketh choice, —A skilled artificer, seeketh he out for himself to construct an image that shall not totter,
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 ye never taken note? Have ye never heard? Hath it not from the beginning, been told you? Have ye not been led to discern, 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 sitteth upon the circle of the earth, While the inhabitants thereof are, as grass-hoppers, —Who stretcheth forth, as a curtain, the heavens, And spreadeth them out as 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 delivereth dignitaries to nothingness, —Judges of earth, like a desolation, hath he made:
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.
Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely hath their stock, begun to take root in the earth, When he hath just blown upon them and they have withered, And, a whirlwind, as though they had been chaff, carrieth them away.
25 And to what thing `ye han licned me, and han maad euene? seith the hooli.
Unto whom then, can ye liken me, or can I be equal? Saith 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 on high your eyes—and see who hath created these, That bringeth forth, by number, their host, —To all of them by name, doth call, Because of the abundance of vigour and alertness of strength, not one, 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?
Wherefore, shouldest thou say, O Jacob, or speak, O Israel, —Hidden is my path from Yahweh, And from my God, my vindication, will pass?
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.
Hast thou not known, Hast thou not heard, That The God of age-past time—Yahweh The Creator of the ends of the earth Fainteth not neither groweth weary—There is no searching of his understanding:
29 That yyueth vertu to the weeri, and strengthe to hem that ben not, and multiplieth stalworthnesse.
Giving to him that fainteth, strength, And to him that hath no vigour, he causeth, power to abound?
30 Children schulen faile, and schulen trauele, and yonge men schulen falle doun in her sikenesse.
Youths both faint and grow weary, And, young warriors—they fall, they 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, they who wait for Yahweh, shall renew their strength, They shall mount on strong pinion like eagles, —They shall run and not grow weary, They shall walk and not faint.
