Isaiæ 40
1 Consolamini, consolamini popule meus, dicit Deus vester.
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
2 Loquimini ad cor Ierusalem, et advocate eam: quoniam completa est malitia eius, dimissa est iniquitas illius: suscepit de manu Domini duplicia pro omnibus peccatis suis.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, That her warfare has been completed, That her punishment has been accepted, That she has received from the hand of YHWH Double for all her sins.
3 Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite in solitudine semitas Dei nostri.
A voice is crying in a wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH, Make straight in a desert a highway for our God.
4 Omnis vallis exaltabitur, et omnis mons et collis humiliabitur, et erunt prava in directa, et aspera in vias planas.
Every valley is raised up, And every mountain and hill become low, And the crooked place has become a plain, And the entangled places a valley.
5 Et revelabitur gloria Domini, et videbit omnis caro pariter quod os Domini locutum est.
And the glory of YHWH has been revealed, And all flesh have seen [it] together, For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
6 Vox dicentis: Clama. Et dixi: Quid clamabo? Omnis caro fœnum, et omnis gloria eius quasi flos agri.
A voice is saying, “Call,” And he said, “What do I call?” All flesh [is] grass, and all its goodness [Is] as a flower of the field:
7 Exiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere fœnum est populus:
Grass has withered, the flower faded, For the Spirit of YHWH blew on it, Surely the people [is] grass;
8 exiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos: Verbum autem Domini nostri manet in æternum.
Grass has withered, the flower faded, But a word of our God rises forever.
9 Super montem excelsum ascende, tu qui evangelizas Sion: exalta in fortitudine vocem tuam, qui evangelizas Ierusalem: exalta, noli timere. Dic civitatibus Iuda: Ecce Deus vester:
Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, Proclaiming tidings, Lift up your voice with power, O Jerusalem, proclaiming tidings, Lift up, do not fear, say to cities of Judah, “Behold, your God.”
10 ecce Dominus Deus in fortitudine veniet, et brachium eius dominabitur: ecce merces eius cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.
Behold, Lord YHWH comes with strength, And His arm is ruling for Him, Behold, His hire [is] with Him, and His wage before Him.
11 Sicut pastor gregem suum pascet: in brachio suo congregabit agnos, et in sinu suo levabit, fœtas ipse portabit.
He feeds His flock as a shepherd, He gathers lambs with His arm, And He carries [them] in His bosom: He leads suckling ones.
12 Quis mensus est pugillo aquas, et cælos palmo ponderavit? Quis appendit tribus digitis molem terræ, et liberavit in pondere montes, et colles in statera?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And has meted out the heavens by a span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, And has weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance?
13 Quis adiuvit spiritum Domini? Aut quis consiliarius eius fuit, et ostendit illi?
Who has meted out the Spirit of YHWH, And [being] His counselor, teaches Him?
14 Cum quo iniit consilium? Et instruxit eum, et docuit eum semitam iustitiæ, et erudivit eum scientiam, et viam prudentiæ ostendit illi?
With whom [did] He consult, That he causes Him to understand? And teaches Him in the path of judgment, And teaches Him knowledge? And causes Him to know the way of understanding?
15 Ecce gentes quasi stilla situlæ, et quasi momentum stateræ reputatæ sunt: ecce insulæ quasi pulvis exiguus.
Behold, nations [are] as a drop from a bucket, And have been reckoned as small dust of the balance, Behold, He takes up islands as a small thing.
16 Et Libanus non sufficiet ad succendendum, et animalia eius non sufficient ad holocaustum.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17 Omnes gentes quasi non sint, sic sunt coram eo, et quasi nihilum et inane reputatæ sunt ei.
All the nations [are] as nothing before Him, Less than nothing and emptiness, They have been reckoned to Him.
18 Cui ergo similem fecisti Deum? Aut quam imaginem ponetis ei?
And to whom do you liken God, And what likeness do you compare to Him?
19 Numquid sculptile conflavit faber? Aut aurifex auro figuravit illud, et laminis argenteis argentarius?
An artisan has poured out the carved image, And a refiner spreads it over with gold, And he is refining chains of silver.
20 Forte lignum, et imputribile elegit: artifex sapiens quærit quomodo statuat simulacrum, quod non moveatur.
He who is poor [by] raised-offerings, Chooses a tree [that is] not rotten, He seeks a skillful artisan for it, To establish a carved image—not moved.
21 Numquid non scitis? Numquid non audistis? Numquid non annunciatum est vobis ab initio? Numquid non intellexistis fundamenta terræ?
Do you not know—do you not hear? Has it not been declared from the first to you? Have you not understood [From] the foundations of the earth?
22 Qui sedet super gyrum terræ, et habitatores eius sunt quasi locustæ: qui extendit velut nihilum cælos, et expandit eos sicut tabernaculum ad inhabitandum.
He who is sitting on the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants [are] as grasshoppers, He who is stretching out the heavens as a thin thing, And spreads them as a tent to dwell in.
23 Qui dat secretorum scrutatores quasi non sint, iudices terræ velut inane fecit:
He who is making princes become nothing, Has made judges of earth formless;
24 et quidem neque plantatus, neque satus, neque radicatus in terra truncus eorum: repente flavit in eos, et aruerunt, et turbo quasi stipulam auferet eos.
Indeed, they have not been planted, Indeed, they have not been sown, Indeed, their stock is not taking root in the earth, And He has also blown on them, and they wither, And a whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 Et cui assimilastis me, et adæquastis, dicit Sanctus?
And to whom do you liken Me, And [to whom] I equal? Says the Holy One.
26 Levate in excelsum oculos vestros, et videte quis creavit hæc: qui educit in numero militiam eorum, et omnes ex nomine vocat: præ multitudine fortitudinis et roboris, virtutisque eius, neque unum reliquum fuit.
Lift up your eyes on high, And see—who has created these? He who is bringing out their host by number, He calls to all of them by name, By the abundance of His strength And mighty power, Not one is lacking.
27 Quare dicis Iacob, et loqueris Israel: Abscondita est via mea a Domino, et a Deo meo iudicium meum transivit?
Why say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way has been hid from YHWH, And from my God my judgment passes over?”
28 Numquid nescis, aut non audisti? Deus sempiternus Dominus, qui creavit terminos terræ: non deficiet, neque laborabit, nec est investigatio sapientiæ eius.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The God of the age—YHWH, Preparer of the ends of the earth, Is not wearied nor fatigued, There is no searching of His understanding.
29 Qui dat lasso virtutem: et his, qui non sunt, fortitudinem et robur multiplicat.
He is giving power to the weary, And to those not strong He increases might.
30 Deficient pueri, et laborabunt, et iuvenes in infirmitate cadent.
Even youths are wearied and fatigued, And young men utterly stumble,
31 Qui autem sperant in Domino, mutabunt fortitudinem, assument pennas sicut aquilæ, current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient.
But those expecting YHWH pass [to] power, They raise up the pinion as eagles, They run and are not fatigued, They go on and do not faint!
