Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God.

Consolamini, consolamini, popule meus, dicit Deus vester.

Take heart again, my people, says your God, take heart again.

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.

Loquimini ad cor Jerusalem, et advocate eam, quoniam completa est malitia ejus, dimissa est iniquitas illius: suscepit de manu Domini duplicia pro omnibus peccatis suis.

Speak Jerusalem fair, cry aloud to her that her woes are at an end, her guilt is pardoned; double toll the Lord has taken for all her sins.

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.

Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite in solitudine semitas Dei nostri.

A cry, there, out in the wilderness, Make way for the Lord’s coming; a straight road for our God through the desert!

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.

Omnis vallis exaltabitur, et omnis mons et collis humiliabitur, et erunt prava in directa, et aspera in vias planas:

Bridged every valley must be, every mountain and hill levelled; windings cut straight, and the rough paths paved;

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.

et revelabitur gloria Domini, et videbit omnis caro pariter quod os Domini locutum est.

the Lord’s glory is to be revealed for all mankind to witness; it is his own decree.

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 field.

Vox dicentis: Clama. Et dixi: Quid clamabo? Omnis caro fœnum, et omnis gloria ejus quasi flos agri.

A voice came, bidding me cry aloud; asked I in what words, in these: Mortal things are but grass, the glory of them is but grass in flower;

The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass:

Exsiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere fœnum est populus:

grass that withers, a flower that fades, when the Lord’s breath blows upon it. The whole people, what is it but grass?

The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever.

exsiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos; verbum autem Domini nostri manet in æternum.

Grass that withers, a flower that fades; but the word of our Lord stands for ever.

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:

Super montem excelsum ascende, tu qui evangelizas Sion; exalta in fortitudine vocem tuam, qui evangelizas Jerusalem: exalta, noli timere. Dic civitatibus Juda: Ecce Deus vester:

Good news for Sion, take thy stand, herald, on some high mountain; good news for Jerusalem, proclaim it, herald, aloud; louder still, no cause now for fear; tell the cities of Juda, See, your God comes!

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.

ecce Dominus Deus in fortitudine veniet, et brachium ejus dominabitur: ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.

See, the Lord God is coming, revealed in power, with his own strong arm for warrant; and see, they come with him, they walk before him, the reward of his labour, the achievement of his task,

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.

Sicut pastor gregem suum pascet, in brachio suo congregabit agnos, et in sinu suo levabit; fœtas ipse portabit.

his own flock! Like a shepherd he tends them, gathers up the lambs and carries them in his bosom, helps the ewes in milk forward on their way.

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?

Quis mensus est pugillo aquas, et cælos palmo ponderavit? quis appendit tribus digitis molem terræ, et libravit in pondere montes, et colles in statera?

Who was it measured out the waters in his open hand, heaven balanced on his palm, earth’s mass poised on three of his fingers? Who tried yonder mountains in the scale, weighed out the hills?

Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor, and hath taught him?

Quis adjuvit spiritum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit, et ostendit illi?

No aid, then, had the spirit of the Lord to help him, no counsellor stood by to admonish him.

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?

cum quo iniit consilium, et instruxit eum, et docuit eum semitam justitiæ, et erudivit eum scientiam, et viam prudentiæ ostendit illi?

None other was there, to lend his skill; guide to point out the way, pilot to warn him of danger.

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.

Ecce gentes quasi stilla situlæ, et quasi momentum stateræ reputatæ sunt; ecce insulæ quasi pulvis exiguus.

What are the nations to him but a drop of water in a bucket, a make-weight on the scales? What are the islands but a handful of dust?

And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

Et Libanus non sufficiet ad succendendum, et animalia ejus non sufficient ad holocaustum.

His altar-hearth Lebanon itself could not feed, victims could not yield enough for his burnt-sacrifice.

All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity.

Omnes gentes quasi non sint, sic sunt coram eo, et quasi nihilum et inane reputatæ sunt ei.

All the nations of the world shrink, in his presence, to nothing, emptiness, a very void, beside him.

To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him?

Cui ergo similem fecisti Deum? aut quam imaginem ponetis ei?

And will you find a likeness for God, set up a form to resemble him?

Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?

Numquid sculptile conflavit faber? aut aurifex auro figuravit illud, et laminis argenteis argentarius?

What avails image the metal-worker casts, for goldsmith to line with gold, silversmith plate with silver?

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.

Forte lignum et imputribile elegit; artifex sapiens quærit quomodo statuat simulacrum, quod non moveatur.

What avails yonder wood, hard of fibre, proof against decay; the craftsman’s care, that his statue should stand immovable?

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?

Numquid non scitis? numquid non audistis? numquid non annuntiatum est vobis ab initio? numquid non intellexistis fundamenta terræ?

What ignorance is this? Has no rumour reached you, no tradition from the beginning of time, that you should not understand earth’s origin?

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.

Qui sedet super gyrum terræ, et habitatores ejus sunt quasi locustæ; qui extendit velut nihilum cælos, et expandit eos sicut tabernaculum ad inhabitandum;

There is One sits so high above its orb, those who live on it seem tiny as locusts; One who has spread out the heavens like gossamer, as he were pitching a tent to dwell in.

He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity.

qui dat secretorum scrutatores quasi non sint, judices terræ velut inane fecit.

The men who can read mysteries, how he confounds them, the men who judge on earth, what empty things he makes of them!

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.

Et quidem neque plantatus, neque satus, neque radicatus in terra truncus eorum; repente flavit in eos, et aruerunt, et turbo quasi stipulam auferet eos.

Saplings never truly planted, or laid out, or grounded in the soil, see how they wither at his sudden blast, how the storm-wind carries them away like stubble!

And to whom have ye likened me, or made me equal, saith the Holy One?

Et cui assimilastis me, et adæquastis? dicit Sanctus.

What likeness, then, can you find to match me with? asks the Holy One.

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.

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 ejus, neque unum reliquum fuit.

Lift up your eyes, and look at the heavens; who was it that made them? Who is it that marshals the full muster of their starry host, calling each by its name, not one of them missing from the ranks? Such strength, such vigour, such spirit is his.

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?

Quare dicis, Jacob, et loqueris, Israël: Abscondita est via mea a Domino, et a Deo meo judicium meum transivit?

What, then, is this thought of thine, Jacob, what is this complaint of thine, Israel, that the Lord does not see how it fares with thee, that thy God passes over thy wrongs?

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.

Numquid nescis, aut non audisti? Deus sempiternus Dominus, qui creavit terminos terræ: non deficiet, neque laborabit, nec est investigatio sapientiæ ejus.

What ignorance is this? Has not the rumour of it reached thee? This Lord of ours, who fashioned the remotest bounds of earth, is God eternally; he does not weaken or grow weary; he is wise beyond all our thinking.

It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth force and might to them that are not.

Qui dat lasso virtutem, et his qui non sunt, fortitudinem et robur multiplicat.

Rather, it is he who gives the weary fresh spirit, who fosters strength and vigour where strength and vigour is none.

Youths shall faint, and labour, and young men shall fall by infirmity.

Deficient pueri, et laborabunt, et juvenes in infirmitate cadent;

Youth itself may weaken, the warrior faint and flag,

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.

qui autem sperant in Domino mutabunt fortitudinem, assument pennas sicut aquilæ: current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient.

but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength, like eagles new-fledged; hasten, and never grow weary of hastening, march on, and never weaken on the march.