Ἠσαΐας 40
1 παρακαλεῖτε παρακαλεῖτε τὸν λαόν μου λέγει ὁ θεός
“Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.
2 ἱερεῖς λαλήσατε εἰς τὴν καρδίαν Ιερουσαλημ παρακαλέσατε αὐτήν ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ ταπείνωσις αὐτῆς λέλυται αὐτῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία ὅτι ἐδέξατο ἐκ χειρὸς κυρίου διπλᾶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτῆς
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 φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν
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 πᾶσα φάραγξ πληρωθήσεται καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ βουνὸς ταπεινωθήσεται καὶ ἔσται πάντα τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθεῖαν καὶ ἡ τραχεῖα εἰς πεδία
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 καὶ ὀφθήσεται ἡ δόξα κυρίου καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι κύριος ἐλάλησεν
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 φωνὴ λέγοντος βόησον καὶ εἶπα τί βοήσω πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου
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 ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ἐξέπεσεν
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 τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
9 ἐπ’ ὄρος ὑψηλὸν ἀνάβηθι ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος Σιων ὕψωσον τῇ ἰσχύι τὴν φωνήν σου ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος Ιερουσαλημ ὑψώσατε μὴ φοβεῖσθε εἰπὸν ταῖς πόλεσιν Ιουδα ἰδοὺ ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν
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 ἰδοὺ κύριος μετὰ ἰσχύος ἔρχεται καὶ ὁ βραχίων μετὰ κυριείας ἰδοὺ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ
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 ὡς ποιμὴν ποιμανεῖ τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ βραχίονι αὐτοῦ συνάξει ἄρνας καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσας παρακαλέσει
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 τίς ἐμέτρησεν τῇ χειρὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακί τίς ἔστησεν τὰ ὄρη σταθμῷ καὶ τὰς νάπας ζυγῷ
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 τίς ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου καὶ τίς αὐτοῦ σύμβουλος ἐγένετο ὃς συμβιβᾷ αὐτόν
Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
14 ἢ πρὸς τίνα συνεβουλεύσατο καὶ συνεβίβασεν αὐτόν ἢ τίς ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ κρίσιν ἢ ὁδὸν συνέσεως τίς ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ
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 εἰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ὡς σταγὼν ἀπὸ κάδου καὶ ὡς ῥοπὴ ζυγοῦ ἐλογίσθησαν καὶ ὡς σίελος λογισθήσονται
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 ὁ δὲ Λίβανος οὐχ ἱκανὸς εἰς καῦσιν καὶ πάντα τὰ τετράποδα οὐχ ἱκανὰ εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν
And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ὡς οὐδέν εἰσι καὶ εἰς οὐθὲν ἐλογίσθησαν
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 τίνι ὡμοιώσατε κύριον καὶ τίνι ὁμοιώματι ὡμοιώσατε αὐτόν
Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?
19 μὴ εἰκόνα ἐποίησεν τέκτων ἢ χρυσοχόος χωνεύσας χρυσίον περιεχρύσωσεν αὐτόν ὁμοίωμα κατεσκεύασεν αὐτόν
Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
20 ξύλον γὰρ ἄσηπτον ἐκλέγεται τέκτων καὶ σοφῶς ζητεῖ πῶς στήσει αὐτοῦ εἰκόνα καὶ ἵνα μὴ σαλεύηται
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 οὐ γνώσεσθε οὐκ ἀκούσεσθε οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμῖν οὐκ ἔγνωτε τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς
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 ὁ κατέχων τὸν γῦρον τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς ἀκρίδες ὁ στήσας ὡς καμάραν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ διατείνας ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖν
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 ὁ διδοὺς ἄρχοντας εἰς οὐδὲν ἄρχειν τὴν δὲ γῆν ὡς οὐδὲν ἐποίησεν
He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.
24 οὐ γὰρ μὴ σπείρωσιν οὐδὲ μὴ φυτεύσωσιν οὐδὲ μὴ ῥιζωθῇ εἰς τὴν γῆν ἡ ῥίζα αὐτῶν ἔπνευσεν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐξηράνθησαν καὶ καταιγὶς ὡς φρύγανα ἀναλήμψεται αὐτούς
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 νῦν οὖν τίνι με ὡμοιώσατε καὶ ὑψωθήσομαι εἶπεν ὁ ἅγιος
“And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One.
26 ἀναβλέψατε εἰς ὕψος τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ ἴδετε τίς κατέδειξεν πάντα ταῦτα ὁ ἐκφέρων κατὰ ἀριθμὸν τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ πάντας ἐπ’ ὀνόματι καλέσει ἀπὸ πολλῆς δόξης καὶ ἐν κράτει ἰσχύος οὐδέν σε ἔλαθεν
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 μὴ γὰρ εἴπῃς Ιακωβ καὶ τί ἐλάλησας Ισραηλ ἀπεκρύβη ἡ ὁδός μου ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὁ θεός μου τὴν κρίσιν ἀφεῖλεν καὶ ἀπέστη
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 καὶ νῦν οὐκ ἔγνως εἰ μὴ ἤκουσας θεὸς αἰώνιος ὁ θεὸς ὁ κατασκευάσας τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς οὐ πεινάσει οὐδὲ κοπιάσει οὐδὲ ἔστιν ἐξεύρεσις τῆς φρονήσεως αὐτοῦ
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 διδοὺς τοῖς πεινῶσιν ἰσχὺν καὶ τοῖς μὴ ὀδυνωμένοις λύπην
It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing.
30 πεινάσουσιν γὰρ νεώτεροι καὶ κοπιάσουσιν νεανίσκοι καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ ἀνίσχυες ἔσονται
Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity.
31 οἱ δὲ ὑπομένοντες τὸν θεὸν ἀλλάξουσιν ἰσχύν πτεροφυήσουσιν ὡς ἀετοί δραμοῦνται καὶ οὐ κοπιάσουσιν βαδιοῦνται καὶ οὐ πεινάσουσιν
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.
