Ἠσαΐας 40
1 παρακαλεῖτε παρακαλεῖτε τὸν λαόν μου λέγει ὁ θεός
"Comfort, comfort 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 tenderly to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of YHWH's hand double for all her sins."
3 φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν
The voice of one who calls out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of YHWH. Make his roads straight.
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 filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5 καὶ ὀφθήσεται ἡ δόξα κυρίου καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι κύριος ἐλάλησεν
And the glory of YHWH will be revealed, and all humanity will see the salvation of God together; for the mouth of YHWH 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." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ἐξέπεσεν
The grass withers, the flower fades, because YHWH's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8 τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of YHWH stands forever."
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 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, "Look, your God."
10 ἰδοὺ κύριος μετὰ ἰσχύος ἔρχεται καὶ ὁ βραχίων μετὰ κυριείας ἰδοὺ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ
Look, YHWH will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Look, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 ὡς ποιμὴν ποιμανεῖ τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ βραχίονι αὐτοῦ συνάξει ἄρνας καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσας παρακαλέσει
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 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 marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 τίς ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου καὶ τίς αὐτοῦ σύμβουλος ἐγένετο ὃς συμβιβᾷ αὐτόν
Who has known the mind of YHWH, or who has instructed him as his counselor?
14 ἢ πρὸς τίνα συνεβουλεύσατο καὶ συνεβίβασεν αὐτόν ἢ τίς ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ κρίσιν ἢ ὁδὸν συνέσεως τίς ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ
From whom 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? Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?
15 εἰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ὡς σταγὼν ἀπὸ κάδου καὶ ὡς ῥοπὴ ζυγοῦ ἐλογίσθησαν καὶ ὡς σίελος λογισθήσονται
Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Look, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16 ὁ δὲ Λίβανος οὐχ ἱκανὸς εἰς καῦσιν καὶ πάντα τὰ τετράποδα οὐχ ἱκανὰ εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ὡς οὐδέν εἰσι καὶ εἰς οὐθὲν ἐλογίσθησαν
All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 τίνι ὡμοιώσατε κύριον καὶ τίνι ὁμοιώματι ὡμοιώσατε αὐτόν
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19 μὴ εἰκόνα ἐποίησεν τέκτων ἢ χρυσοχόος χωνεύσας χρυσίον περιεχρύσωσεν αὐτόν ὁμοίωμα κατεσκεύασεν αὐτόν
A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
20 ξύλον γὰρ ἄσηπτον ἐκλέγεται τέκτων καὶ σοφῶς ζητεῖ πῶς στήσει αὐτοῦ εἰκόνα καὶ ἵνα μὴ σαλεύηται
He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.
21 οὐ γνώσεσθε οὐκ ἀκούσεσθε οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμῖν οὐκ ἔγνωτε τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς
Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from 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
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 ὁ διδοὺς ἄρχοντας εἰς οὐδὲν ἄρχειν τὴν δὲ γῆν ὡς οὐδὲν ἐποίησεν
who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
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
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 νῦν οὖν τίνι με ὡμοιώσατε καὶ ὑψωθήσομαι εἶπεν ὁ ἅγιος
"To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" 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, who brings out their host 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 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, Jacob, and why do you assert, Israel, "My way is hidden from YHWH, and the justice due me is disregarded 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
And now, haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, YHWH, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 διδοὺς τοῖς πεινῶσιν ἰσχὺν καὶ τοῖς μὴ ὀδυνωμένοις λύπην
He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30 πεινάσουσιν γὰρ νεώτεροι καὶ κοπιάσουσιν νεανίσκοι καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ ἀνίσχυες ἔσονται
Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
31 οἱ δὲ ὑπομένοντες τὸν θεὸν ἀλλάξουσιν ἰσχύν πτεροφυήσουσιν ὡς ἀετοί δραμοῦνται καὶ οὐ κοπιάσουσιν βαδιοῦνται καὶ οὐ πεινάσουσιν
But those who wait for YHWH 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.
