Isaiæ 40
1 Consolamini, consolamini popule meus, dicit Deus vester.
Comfort you, comfort you my people, says 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, you priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double [the amount of] her sins.
3 Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite in solitudine semitas Dei nostri.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of 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 filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked [ways] shall become straight, and the rough [places] plains.
5 Et revelabitur gloria Domini, et videbit omnis caro pariter quod os Domini locutum est.
And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken [it].
6 Vox dicentis: Clama. Et dixi: Quid clamabo? Omnis caro foenum, et omnis gloria eius quasi flos agri.
The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:
7 Exiccatum est foenum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere foenum est populus:
8 exiccatum est foenum, et cecidit flos: Verbum autem Domini nostri manet in aeternum.
The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.
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 you that bring glad tidings to Zion, go up on the high mountain; lift up your voice with strength, you that bring glad tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Juda, 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! The Lord is coming with strength, and [his] arm is with power: behold, his reward is with him, and [his] work before him.
11 Sicut pastor gregem suum pascet: in brachio suo congregabit agnos, et in sinu suo levabit, foetas ipse portabit.
He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and shall soothe them that are with 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 water in his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in scales, and the forests in a balance?
13 Quis adiuvit spiritum Domini? aut quis consiliarius eius fuit, et ostendit illi?
Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?
14 Cum quo iniit consilium, et instruxit eum, et docuit eum semitam iustitiae, et erudivit eum scientiam, et viam prudentiae ostendit illi?
Or with whom has he taken counsel, and he has instructed him? or who has taught him judgment, or who has taught him the way of understanding;
15 Ecce Gentes quasi stilla situlae, et quasi momentum staterae reputatae sunt: ecce insulae quasi pulvis exiguus.
since all the nations are counted as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, [and] shall be counted as spittle?
16 Et Libanus non sufficiet ad succendendum, et animalia eius non sufficient ad holocaustum.
And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering:
17 Omnes gentes quasi non sint, sic sunt coram eo, et quasi nihilum et inane reputatae sunt ei.
and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing.
18 Cui ergo similem fecisti Deum? aut quam imaginem ponetis ei?
To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him?
19 Numquid sculptile conflavit faber? aut aurifex auro figuravit illud, et laminis argenteis argentarius?
Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted gold, gilt it over, [and] made it a similitude?
20 Forte lignum, et imputribile elegit: artifex sapiens quaerit quomodo statuat simulacrum, quod non moveatur.
For the artificer chooses out a wood that will not rot, and will wisely enquire how he shall set up his image, and [that so] that it should not be moved.
21 Numquid non scitis? numquid non audistis? numquid non annunciatum est vobis ab initio? numquid non intellexistis fundamenta terrae?
Will you not know? will you not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have you not known 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 that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a chamber, and stretched [it] out as a tent to dwell in:
23 Qui dat secretorum scrutatores quasi non sint, iudices terrae velut inane fecit:
he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing.
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.
For they shall not plant, neither shall they sow, neither shall their root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a storm shall carry them away like sticks.
25 Et cui assimilastis me, et adaequastis, dicit sanctus?
Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? 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 displayed all these things? [even] he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them all by name by [means of his] great glory, and by the power of his might: nothing has escaped you.
27 Quare dicis Iacob, et loqueris Israel: Abscondita est via mea a Domino, et a Deo meo iudicium meum transivit?
For say not you, O Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel, [saying], My way is hid from God, and my God has taken away [my] judgement, and has departed?
28 Numquid nescis, aut non audisti? Deus sempiternus Dominus, qui creavit terminos terrae: non deficiet, neque laborabit, nec est investigatio sapientiae eius.
And now, have you not known? have you not heard? the eternal God, the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding.
29 Qui dat lasso virtutem: et his, qui non sunt, fortitudinem et robur multiplicat.
He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not suffering.
30 Deficient pueri, et laborabunt, et iuvenes in infirmitate cadent.
For the young [men] shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice [men] shall be powerless:
31 Qui autem sperant in Domino, mutabunt fortitudinem, assument pennas sicut aquilae, current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient.
but they that wait on God shall renew [their] strength; they shall put forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not hunger.
