Isaiæ 40
1 consolamini consolamini populus meus dicit Deus vester
Comfort you, comfort you my people, says God.
2 loquimini ad cor Hierusalem et avocate eam quoniam conpleta 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 faenum 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 exsiccatum est faenum et cecidit flos quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo vere faenum est populus
8 exsiccatum est faenum cecidit flos verbum autem Dei nostri stabit in aeternum
The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.
9 super montem excelsum ascende tu quae evangelizas Sion exalta in fortitudine vocem tuam quae evangelizas Hierusalem exalta noli timere dic civitatibus Iudae 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 eo
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 fetas 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 adpendit 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 fecistis 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 lamminis 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 inputribile 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 scietis numquid non audietis numquid non adnuntiatum est ab initio vobis 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 lucustae 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 plantatos neque satos neque radicato in terra trunco 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 adsimilastis 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 Israhel abscondita est via mea a Domino et a Deo meo iudicium meum transibit
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 adsument pinnas 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.
