Isaiah 40 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 [Consolamini, consolamini, popule meus, dicit Deus vester.
1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
2 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.
2 “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.”
3 Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam Domini, rectas facite in solitudine semitas Dei nostri.
3 The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4 Omnis vallis exaltabitur, et omnis mons et collis humiliabitur, et erunt prava in directa, et aspera in vias planas:
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5 et revelabitur gloria Domini, et videbit omnis caro pariter quod os Domini locutum est.
5 Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
6 Vox dicentis: Clama. Et dixi: Quid clamabo? Omnis caro fœnum, et omnis gloria ejus quasi flos agri.
6 The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 Exsiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere fœnum est populus:
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8 exsiccatum est fœnum, et cecidit flos; verbum autem Domini nostri manet in æternum.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
9 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:
9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
10 ecce Dominus Deus in fortitudine veniet, et brachium ejus dominabitur: ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.
10 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 Sicut pastor gregem suum pascet, in brachio suo congregabit agnos, et in sinu suo levabit; fœtas ipse portabit.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their 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?
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Quis adjuvit spiritum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit, et ostendit illi?
13 Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?
14 cum quo iniit consilium, et instruxit eum, et docuit eum semitam justitiæ, et erudivit eum scientiam, et viam prudentiæ ostendit illi?
14 Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Ecce gentes quasi stilla situlæ, et quasi momentum stateræ reputatæ sunt; ecce insulæ quasi pulvis exiguus.
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16 Et Libanus non sufficiet ad succendendum, et animalia ejus non sufficient ad holocaustum.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 Omnes gentes quasi non sint, sic sunt coram eo, et quasi nihilum et inane reputatæ sunt ei.]
17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 [Cui ergo similem fecisti Deum? aut quam imaginem ponetis ei?
18 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?
19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
20 Forte lignum et imputribile elegit; artifex sapiens quærit quomodo statuat simulacrum, quod non moveatur.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
21 Numquid non scitis? numquid non audistis? numquid non annuntiatum est vobis ab initio? numquid non intellexistis fundamenta terræ?
21 Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 Qui sedet super gyrum terræ, et habitatores ejus sunt quasi locustæ; qui extendit velut nihilum cælos, et expandit eos sicut tabernaculum ad inhabitandum;
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
23 qui dat secretorum scrutatores quasi non sint, judices terræ velut inane fecit.
23 who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
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.
24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 Et cui assimilastis me, et adæquastis? dicit Sanctus.
25 “To whom then will you liken me? Who is my 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 ejus, neque unum reliquum fuit.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
27 Quare dicis, Jacob, et loqueris, Israël: Abscondita est via mea a Domino, et a Deo meo judicium meum transivit?
27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God”?
28 Numquid nescis, aut non audisti? Deus sempiternus Dominus, qui creavit terminos terræ: non deficiet, neque laborabit, nec est investigatio sapientiæ ejus.
28 Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 Qui dat lasso virtutem, et his qui non sunt, fortitudinem et robur multiplicat.
29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30 Deficient pueri, et laborabunt, et juvenes in infirmitate cadent;
30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
31 qui autem sperant in Domino mutabunt fortitudinem, assument pennas sicut aquilæ: current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient.]
31 but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
Cross references (31)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Corinthians 1:4; Isaiah 51:12; Isaiah 51:3; Zephaniah 3:14–17; Zechariah 1:13
- 2 Zechariah 9:12; Isaiah 61:7; Hosea 2:14; Jeremiah 33:8–9; Revelation 18:6
- 3 Malachi 3:1; Mark 1:2–5; John 1:23; Matthew 3:1–3; Luke 1:16–17
- 4 Luke 3:5; Ezekiel 21:26; Luke 18:14; Isaiah 42:15–16; Isaiah 45:2
- 5 Habakkuk 2:14; Isaiah 52:10; Joel 2:28; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Luke 3:6
- 6 Psalm 103:15–16; 1 Peter 1:24–25; Psalm 102:11; James 1:10–11; Job 14:2
- 7 Job 41:21
- 8 Mark 13:31; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25; Psalm 119:89–91; Matthew 5:18
- 9 Isaiah 52:7–8; Ephesians 6:19; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 61:1
- 10 Revelation 22:12; Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 17:14; Matthew 28:18; Isaiah 49:4
- 11 Revelation 7:17; Psalm 23:1–6; Micah 5:4; Ezekiel 34:23; John 10:11–16
- 12 Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:10–12; Psalm 102:25–26; Job 38:4–11; Isaiah 48:13
- 13 1 Corinthians 2:16; Romans 11:34; Job 36:22–23; Job 21:22; Luke 10:22
- 14 Job 21:22; Colossians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 12:4–6; James 1:17
- 15 Jeremiah 10:10; Isaiah 40:22; Job 34:14–15; Isaiah 29:5; Isaiah 11:11
- 16 Micah 6:6–7; Psalm 50:9–12; Psalm 40:6; Hebrews 10:5–10
- 17 Psalm 62:9; Daniel 4:34–35; Isaiah 29:7
- 18 Isaiah 46:5; 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 40:25; Exodus 15:11; Acts 17:29
- 19 Jeremiah 10:9; Isaiah 46:6–7; Exodus 32:2–4; Habakkuk 2:18–19; Psalm 115:4–8
- 20 Jeremiah 10:3–4; Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 46:7; Isaiah 2:8–9; Daniel 5:23
- 21 Isaiah 46:8; Isaiah 48:13; Acts 14:17; Romans 1:19–21; Psalm 50:6
- 22 Proverbs 8:27; Isaiah 42:5; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 66:1; Jeremiah 10:12
- 23 Psalm 107:40; Job 12:21; Jeremiah 25:18–27; Isaiah 34:12; Isaiah 24:21–22
- 24 Isaiah 41:16; Isaiah 17:13; Jeremiah 23:19; Haggai 1:9; Proverbs 1:27
- 25 Isaiah 40:18; Deuteronomy 4:15–18; Deuteronomy 4:33; Deuteronomy 5:8
- 26 Colossians 1:16–17; Jeremiah 32:17–19; Isaiah 48:13; Isaiah 51:6; Psalm 147:4–5
- 27 Isaiah 49:4; Luke 18:7–8; Isaiah 49:14; Job 27:2
- 28 Romans 11:33–34; Psalm 147:5; 1 Timothy 1:17; Isaiah 55:8–9; Philippians 1:6
- 29 Isaiah 41:10; Philippians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10; Colossians 1:11; Zechariah 10:12
- 30 Amos 2:14; Psalm 34:10; Psalm 33:16; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Isaiah 9:17
- 31 Lamentations 3:25–26; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Psalm 27:13–14; Psalm 103:5; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And thus He forewarns us: "Behold, the Lord [cometh], and His reward is before His face, to render to every man according to his work." He exhorts us, therefore, with our whole heart to attend to this, that we be not lazy or slothful in any good work.
Ye have heard "that the heavens are meted out in the palm of [His] hand:" tell me the measure, and recount the endless multitude of cubits, explain to me the fulness, the breadth, the length, the height, the beginning and end of the measurement,--things which the heart of man understands not, neither does it comprehend them.
Because the scroll shall be rolled together, and the grass over which it was spread shall with its goodliness pass away; but Thy Word remaineth for ever, which now appeareth unto us in the dark image of the clouds, and through the glass of the heavens, not as it is; because we also, although we be the well-beloved of Thy …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
Thus the prophet saith that he shall come saying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." And he himself when he was come said, "Bring forth fruits meet for repentance," which corresponds with, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Seest thou that both by the words of the prophet, and by his own preaching, this …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
For the voice is heard of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)