Isaiæ 40
1 Consolamini, consolamini popule meus, dicit Deus vester.
Comfort ye, comfort ye 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 ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her warfare has been completed, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.
3 Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite in solitudine semitas Dei nostri.
The voice of a man crying out in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the 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 shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places smooth.
5 Et revelabitur gloria Domini, et videbit omnis caro pariter quod os Domini locutum est.
And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it.
6 Vox dicentis: Clama. Et dixi: Quid clamabo? Omnis caro foenum, et omnis gloria eius quasi flos agri.
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness of it is as the flower of the field.
7 Exiccatum est foenum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere foenum est populus:
The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of Jehovah blows upon it. Surely the people is grass.
8 exiccatum est foenum, et cecidit flos: Verbum autem Domini nostri manet in aeternum.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand 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:
O thou who tell good news to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain. O thou who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid, say to the 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, the lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 Sicut pastor gregem suum pascet: in brachio suo congregabit agnos, et in sinu suo levabit, foetas ipse portabit.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those who have their young.
12 Quis mensus est pugillo aquas, et caelos palmo ponderavit? quis appendit tribus digitis molem terrae, et libravit in pondere montes, et colles in statera?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 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 known the mind of Jehovah, or being his counselor has taught him?
14 Cum quo iniit consilium, et instruxit eum, et docuit eum semitam iustitiae, et erudivit eum scientiam, et viam prudentiae ostendit illi?
With whom did he take counsel. And who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice. And taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
15 Ecce Gentes quasi stilla situlae, et quasi momentum staterae reputatae sunt: ecce insulae quasi pulvis exiguus.
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing.
16 Et Libanus non sufficiet ad succendendum, et animalia eius non sufficient ad holocaustum.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Omnes gentes quasi non sint, sic sunt coram eo, et quasi nihilum et inane reputatae sunt ei.
All the nations are as nothing before him. They are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 Cui ergo similem fecisti Deum? aut quam imaginem ponetis ei?
To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare to him?
19 Numquid sculptile conflavit faber? aut aurifex auro figuravit illud, et laminis argenteis argentarius?
The image, a workman has cast it, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains.
20 Forte lignum, et imputribile elegit: artifex sapiens quaerit quomodo statuat simulacrum, quod non moveatur.
He who is too impoverished for such an oblation chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for him a skilful workman to set up a graven image that shall not be moved.
21 Numquid non scitis? numquid non audistis? numquid non annunciatum est vobis ab initio? numquid non intellexistis fundamenta terrae?
Have ye not known? Have yet not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 Qui sedet super gyrum terrae, et habitatores eius sunt quasi locustae: qui extendit velut nihilum caelos, et expandit eos sicut tabernaculum ad inhabitandum.
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in,
23 Qui dat secretorum scrutatores quasi non sint, iudices terrae velut inane fecit:
who brings rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
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.
Yea, they have not been planted. Yea, they have not been sown. Yea, their stock has not taken root in the earth. Moreover he blows upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 Et cui assimilastis me, et adaequastis, dicit sanctus?
To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.
26 Levate in excelsum oculos vestros, et videte quis creavit haec: qui educit in numero militiam eorum, et omnes ex nomine vocat: prae multitudine fortitudinis et roboris, virtutisque eius, neque unum reliquum fuit.
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 Quare dicis Iacob, et loqueris Israel: Abscondita est via mea a Domino, et a Deo meo iudicium meum transivit?
Why do thou say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah. And the justice due to me is passed away from my God?
28 Numquid nescis, aut non audisti? Deus sempiternus Dominus, qui creavit terminos terrae: non deficiet, neque laborabit, nec est investigatio sapientiae eius.
Have thou not known? Have thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, nor is weary. There is no searching of his understanding.
29 Qui dat lasso virtutem: et his, qui non sunt, fortitudinem et robur multiplicat.
He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Deficient pueri, et laborabunt, et iuvenes in infirmitate cadent.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.
31 Qui autem sperant in Domino, mutabunt fortitudinem, assument pennas sicut aquilae, current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient.
But those who wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run, and not be weary. They shall walk, and not faint.
