Isaiah 40

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 'Console my people, console them,' says your God.	1 Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God.
2 'Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and cry to her that her period of service is ended, that her guilt hasbeen atoned for, that, from the hand of Yahweh, she has received double punishment for all her sins.'	2 Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: she hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries, 'Prepare in the desert a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across thewastelands.	3 The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God.
4 Let every val ey be fil ed in, every mountain and hil be level ed, every cliff become a plateau, everyescarpment a plain;	4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain.
5 then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed and al humanity wil see it together, for the mouth of Yahwehhas spoken.'	5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.
6 A voice said, 'Cry aloud!' and I said, 'What shal I cry?' -'All humanity is grass and all its beauty like thewild flower's.	6 The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the held.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of Yahweh blows on them. (The grass is surely thepeople.)	7 The grass is withered, and the dower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass:
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.'	8 The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever.
9 Go up on a high mountain, messenger of Zion. Shout as loud as you can, messenger of Jerusalem!Shout fearlessly, say to the towns of Judah, 'Here is your God.'	9 Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God:
10 Here is Lord Yahweh coming with power, his arm maintains his authority, his reward is with him andhis prize precedes him.	10 Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule: Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him.
11 He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breastand leading to their rest the mother ewes.	11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young.
12 Who was it measured the water of the sea in the hol ow of his hand and calculated the heavens to thenearest inch, gauged the dust of the earth to the nearest bushel, weighed the mountains in scales, the hil s in abalance?	12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with his palm? who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who directed the spirit of Yahweh, what counsellor could have instructed him?	13 Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor, and hath taught him?
14 Whom has he consulted to enlighten him, to instruct him in the path of judgement, to teach himknowledge and show him how to understand?	14 With whom hath he consulted, and who hath instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding?
15 See, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, they count as a grain of dust on the scales. See, coastsand islands weigh no more than fine powder.	15 Behold the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold the islands are as a little dust.
16 The Lebanon is not enough for the burning fires nor its animals enough for the burnt offering.	16 And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Al the nations are as nothing before him, for him they count as nothingness and emptiness.	17 All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom can you compare God? What image can you contrive of him?	18 To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him?
19 The craftsman casts an idol, a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it.	19 Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
20 Someone too poor to afford a sacrifice chooses a piece of wood that will not rot; he then seeks out askil ed craftsman to set up an idol that wil not totter.	20 He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved.
21 Did you not know, had you not heard? Was it not told you from the beginning? Have you notunderstood how the earth was set on its foundations?	21 Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations of the earth ?
22 He who sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, the inhabitants of which are like grasshoppers,stretches out the heavens like a cloth, spreads them out like a tent to live in.	22 It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the world to mere emptiness.	23 He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the soil, than he blowson them and they wither and the storm carries them away like chaff.	24 And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 'To whom can you compare me, or who is my equal?' says the Holy One.	25 And to whom have ye likened me, or made me equal, saith the Holy One?
26 Lift your eyes and look: he who created these things leads out their army in order, summoning each ofthem by name. So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one fails to answer.	26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things: who bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by their names: by the greatness of his might, and strength, and power, not one of them was missing.
27 How can you say, Jacob, how can you repeat, Israel, 'My way is hidden from Yahweh, my rights areignored by my God'?	27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Did you not know? Had you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, he created the remotest partsof the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming.	28 Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth: he shall not faint, nor labour, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom.
29 He gives strength to the weary, he strengthens the powerless.	29 It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth force and might to them that are not.
30 Youths grow tired and weary, the young stumble and fal ,	30 Youths shall faint, and labour, and young men shall fall by infirmity.
31 but those who hope in Yahweh wil regain their strength, they wil sprout wings like eagles, thoughthey run they will not grow weary, though they walk they wil never tire.	31 But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.