a swallow or a crane, so do I chatter,I do moan as a dove;Mine eyes fail with looking upward.O Lord, I am oppressed, be Thou my surety. 15What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me,And Himself hath done it;I shall go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.16O Lord, by these things men live,And altogether therein is the life of my spirit;Wherefore recover Thou me, and make me to live.17Behold, for my peace I had great bitterness;But Thou hast in love to my soul delivered itFrom the pit of corruption;For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back. 18For the nether-world cannot praise Thee,Death cannot celebrate Thee;They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.19The living, the living, he shall praise Thee,As I do this day;The father to the children shall make known Thy truth.20The Lord is ready to save me;Therefore we will sing songs to the stringed instrumentsAll the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
21And Isaiah said: 'Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.' 22And Hezekiah said.' What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?'
39At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. 2And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. 3Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him: 'What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?' And Hezekiah said: 'They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.' 4Then said he: 'What have they seen in thy house?' And Hezekiah answered: 'All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.' 5Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah: 'Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6Behold, the days come, that all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. 7And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.' 8Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah: 'Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.' He said moreover: 'If but there shall be peace and truth in my days.'
40Comfort ye, comfort ye My people,Saith your God.2Bid Jerusalem take heart,And proclaim unto her,That her time of service is accomplished,That her guilt is paid off;That she hath received of the Lord's handDouble for all her sins. 3Hark! one calleth:'Clear ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord,Make plain in the desertA highway for our God.4Every valley shall be lifted up,And every mountain and hill shall be made low;And the rugged shall be made level,And the rough places a plain;5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,And all flesh shall see it together;For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.' 6Hark! one saith: 'Proclaim!'And he saith: 'What shall I proclaim?''All flesh is grass,And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field;7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;Because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it—Surely the people is grass.8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;But the word of our God shall stand for ever.' 9O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,Get thee up into the high mountain;O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,Lift up thy voice with strength;Lift it up, be not afraid;Say unto the cities of Judah:'Behold your God! '10Behold, the Lord God will come as a Mighty One,And His arm will rule for Him;Behold, His reward is with Him,And His recompense before Him.11Even as a shepherd that feedeth his flock,That gathereth the lambs in his arm,And carrieth them in his bosom,And gently leadeth those that give suck. 12Who hath 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?13Who hath meted out the spirit of the Lord?Or who was His counsellor that he might instruct Him?14With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him,And taught Him in the path of right,And taught Him knowledge,And made Him to know the way of discernment?15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket,And are counted as the small dust of the balance;Behold the isles are as a mote in weight.16And Lebanon is not sufficient fuel,Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for burnt-offerings.17All the nations are as nothing before Him;They are accounted by Him as things of nought, and vanity.18To whom then will ye liken God?Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?19The image perchance, which the craftsman hath melted,And the goldsmith spread over with gold,The silversmith casting silver chains?20A holm-oak is set apart,He chooseth a tree that will not rot;He seeketh unto him a cunning craftsmanTo set up an image, that shall not be moved. 21Know ye not? hear ye not?Hath it not been told you from the beginning?Have ye not understood the foundations of the earth?22It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth,And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;23That bringeth princes to nothing;He maketh the judges of the earth as a thing of nought.24Scarce are they planted,Scarce are they sown,Scarce hath their stock taken root in the earth;When He bloweth upon them, they wither,And the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.25To whom then will ye liken Me, that I should be equal?Saith the Holy One.26Lift up your eyes on high,And see: who hath created these?He that bringeth out their host by number,He calleth them all by name;By the greatness of His might, and for that He is strong in power,Not one faileth. 27Why sayest thou, O Jacob,And speakest, O Israel:'My way is hid from the Lord,And my right is passed over from my God'?28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heardThat the everlasting God, the Lord,The Creator of the ends of the earth,Fainteth not, neither is weary?His discernment is past searching out.29He giveth power to the faint;And to him that hath no might He increaseth strength.30Even the youths shall faint and be weary,And the young men shall utterly fall;31But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings as eagles;They shall run, and not be weary;They shall walk, and not faint. 41Keep silence before Me, O islands,And let the peoples renew their strength;Let them draw near, then let them speak;Let us come near together to judgment.2Who hath raised up one from the east,At whose steps victory attendeth?He giveth nations before him,And maketh him rule over kings;His sword maketh them as the dust,His bow as the driven stubble.3He pursueth them, and passeth on safely;The way with his feet he treadeth not.4Who hath wrought and done it?He that called the generations from the beginning.I, the Lord, who am the first,And with the last am the same.5The isles saw, and feared;The ends of the earth trembled;They drew near, and came. 6They helped every one his neighbour;And every one said to his brother:'Be of good courage.'7So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,And he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil,Saying of the soldering: 'It is good';And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 8But thou, Israel, My servant,Jacob whom I have chosen,The seed of Abraham My friend;9Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth,And called thee from the uttermost parts thereof,And said unto thee: 'Thou art My servant,I have chosen thee and not cast thee away';10Fear thou not, for I am with thee,Be not dismayed, for I am thy God;I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee;Yea, I uphold thee with My victorious right hand.11Behold, all they that were incensed against theeShall be ashamed and confounded;They that strove with theeShall be as nothing, and shall perish.12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them,Even them that contended with thee;They that warred against theeShall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.13For I the Lord thy GodHold thy right hand,Who say unto thee: 'Fear not,I help thee.' 14Fear not, thou worm Jacob,And ye men of Israel;I help thee, saith the Lord,And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.15Behold, I make thee a new threshing-sledgeHaving sharp teeth;Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small,And shalt make the hills as chaff.16Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away,And the whirlwind shall scatter them;And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,Thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17The poor and needy seek water and there is none,And their tongue faileth for thirst;I the Lord will answer them,I the God of Israel will not forsake them.18I will open rivers on the high hills,And fountains in the midst of the valleys;I will make