Isaiæ 40
1 Consolamini, consolamini popule meus, dicit Deus vester.
Comfort you, comfort you 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 you comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of the LORD’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 him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the LORD, 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 be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 Et revelabitur gloria Domini, et videbit omnis caro pariter quod os Domini locutum est.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
6 Vox dicentis: Clama. Et dixi: Quid clamabo? Omnis caro fœnum, 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 thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 Exiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere fœnum est populus:
The grass wither, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD blows on it: surely the people is grass.
8 exiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos: Verbum autem Domini nostri manet in æternum.
The grass wither, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand 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 Zion, that bring good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up your 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 GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: 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, fœtas ipse portabit.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
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 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 directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counselor has taught 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 took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
15 Ecce gentes quasi stilla situlæ, et quasi momentum stateræ reputatæ sunt: ecce insulæ quasi pulvis exiguus.
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted 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 thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Omnes gentes quasi non sint, sic sunt coram eo, et quasi nihilum et inane reputatæ sunt ei.
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 Cui ergo similem fecisti Deum? Aut quam imaginem ponetis ei?
To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?
19 Numquid sculptile conflavit faber? Aut aurifex auro figuravit illud, et laminis argenteis argentarius?
The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains.
20 Forte lignum, et imputribile elegit: artifex sapiens quærit quomodo statuat simulacrum, quod non moveatur.
He that is so impoverished that he has no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks to him a cunning workman to prepare 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 terræ?
Have you not known? have you not heard? has it not been told you from the beginning? 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.
It is he that sits on the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that 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 terræ velut inane fecit:
That brings the princes to nothing; he 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.
Yes, they shall not be planted; yes, they shall not be sown: yes, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow on them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 Et cui assimilastis me, et adæquastis, dicit Sanctus?
To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be 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 behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails.
27 Quare dicis Iacob, et loqueris Israel: Abscondita est via mea a Domino, et a Deo meo iudicium meum transivit?
Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
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, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither 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 them that have 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 aquilæ, current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient.
But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
