Old/New Testament
39 In that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent books and gifts to Hezekiah; for he had heard, that Hezekiah had been sick, and was recovered. (At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah; for he had heard, that Hezekiah had been sick, but now had recovered.)
2 Forsooth Hezekiah was glad on them, and showed to them the cell(s) of sweet smelling spices, and of silver, and of gold, and of smelling things, and of best ointment, and all the shops of his purtenance of household, and all things that were found in his treasures; no word was, which Hezekiah showed not to them in his house, and in all his power. (And Hezekiah welcomed the messengers, and showed them the rooms for the sweet smelling spices, and the rooms for the silver, and the gold, and the best perfumes, and all the shops of his purtenance of household, and everything that was found among his treasures; yea, there was nothing, which Hezekiah did not show them in his house, and of all his power.)
3 Soothly Isaiah, the prophet, entered to king Hezekiah (And the prophet Isaiah went in to King Hezekiah), and said to him, What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, From a far land they came to me, from Babylon.
4 And Isaiah said, What saw they in thine house? And Hezekiah said, They saw all things that be in mine house; nothing was in my treasures, which I showed not to them.
5 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear thou the word of the Lord of hosts.
6 Lo! days shall come, and all things that be in thine house, and which things thy fathers treasured till to this day (and which things thy forefathers treasured unto this day), shall be taken away into Babylon; not anything shall be left, saith the Lord.
7 And they shall take [away] of thy sons, that shall go out of thee, which thou shalt engender; and they shall be honest servants and chaste in the palace of the king of Babylon. (And they shall take away some of thy sons, who shall go out of thee, whom thou shalt beget; and they shall be made honest and chaste servants, that is, they shall be made eunuchs, to serve in the palace of the king of Babylon.)
8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord is good, which he spake. And Hezekiah said, Peace and truth be made only in my days. (And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord is good, which he spoke. And Hezekiah said, Let there be only peace and truth in my days.)
40 My people, be ye comforted, be ye comforted, saith your Lord God. (My people, be ye comforted, yea, be ye comforted, saith the Lord your God.)
2 Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call ye [to] it, for the malice thereof is [ful]filled, the wickedness thereof is forgiven; it hath received of the hand of the Lord double things for all his sins (it hath received from the hand of the Lord double for all of its sins).
3 The voice of a crier in desert [The voice of the (one) crying in (the) desert], Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make ye rightful the paths of our God in wilderness. (The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make ye right the paths in the desert for our God.)
4 Each valley shall be enhanced, and each mountain and little hill shall be made low; and shrewd things shall be into straight things, and sharp things shall be into plane ways. (Each valley shall be lifted up, and each mountain and little hill shall be made low; and depraved, or crooked, ways shall be made into straight ways, and sharp places shall be made into smooth places.)
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be showed, and each man shall see together, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. (And the glory of the Lord shall be shown, and all the people shall see it together, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.)
6 The voice of God, saying, Cry thou. And I said, What shall I cry? Each flesh is hay, and all the glory thereof is as the flower of the field. (The voice of God, saying, Cry thou. And I said, What shall I cry? And he saith, Each person is but a blade of grass, and all their life lasteth no longer than a flower in the field.)
7 The hay is dried up, and the flower fell down, for the spirit of the Lord blew therein. Verily the people is hay; (And the grass drieth up, and the flower falleth down, because the wind of the Lord bloweth there. Truly the people be but grass;)
8 the hay is dried up, and the flower fell down; but the word of the Lord dwelleth, either shall stand, without end. (and the grass drieth up, and the flower falleth down; but the word of the Lord shall stand forever.)
9 Thou that preachest to Zion, go upon an high hill; thou that preachest to Jerusalem, enhance thy voice in strength; enhance thou, do not thou dread; say thou to the cities of Judah, Lo! your God. (Thou who preachest to Zion, go up on a high mountain; thou who preachest to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; yea, lift thou it up, do not thou fear; say thou to the cities of Judah, Lo! your God.)
10 Lo! the Lord God shall come in strength, and his arm shall hold lordship; lo! his meed is with him, and his work is before him (lo! his reward is with him, and his work is in front of him).
11 As a shepherd he shall feed his flock, he shall gather [the] lambs in(to) his arm(s), and he shall raise (them up) in(to) his bosom; he shall bear [the] sheep with lamb. (Like a shepherd he shall feed his flock, he shall gather the lambs into his arms, and he shall raise them up into his bosom; he shall gently lead the sheep that be with their young.)
12 Who meted waters in a fist, and weighed (the) heavens with a span? Who weighed the heaviness of the earth with three fingers, and weighed [the] mountains in a weigh, and [the] little hills in a balance? (Who hath measured the waters with his fist, and weighed the heavens with the span of his hand? Who hath weighed the heaviness of the earth with three fingers, and weighed the mountains on a scale, and the little hills on a balance?)
13 Who helped the Spirit of the Lord, either who was his counsellor, and showed to him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who learned him, and taught him the path of rightfulness, and learned him in knowing, and showed to him the way of prudence?
15 Lo! folks be as a drop of a bucket, and be areckoned as the tongue of a balance; lo! isles be as a little dust, (Lo! the nations be like a drop from a bucket, and be reckoned like the tongue of a balance; lo! the islands weigh but like a little dust,)
16 and the Lebanon shall not suffice to burn his sacrifice, and the beasts thereof shall not suffice to (a) burnt sacrifice. (and even all the mighty trees of Lebanon shall not suffice to burn his sacrifice, and even all its beasts shall not suffice for a burnt sacrifice.)
17 All folks be so before him, as if they be not; and they be reckoned as nothing and (as a) vain thing to him. (All the nations before him, be as if they be not; and they be reckoned as if they be nothing, yea, but like an empty and futile thing to him.)
18 To whom therefore made ye God like? either what image shall ye set to him (for comparison)?
19 Whether a smith shall weld together an image, either a goldsmith shall figure it in gold, and a worker in silver shall dight it with pieces of silver?
20 A wise craftsman choose(th) a strong tree, and unable to be rotten; he seeketh how he shall ordain a simulacrum, that shall not be moved.
21 Whether ye know not? whether ye heard not? whether it was not told to you from the beginning? whether ye understood not (from) the foundaments of [the] earth?
22 Which sitteth on the compass of [the] earth, and the dwellers thereof be as locusts; which stretcheth forth heavens as nought, and spreadeth abroad those as a tabernacle to dwell (in). (It is he who sitteth above, or over, the roundness of the earth, and its inhabitants be like grasshoppers; it is he who stretcheth forth the heavens like a curtain, and spreadeth them abroad like a tent to live in.)
23 Which giveth the searchers of privates, as if they be not, and [he] made the judges of [the] earth as a vain thing. (Who bringeth down the great, as if they be nothing, and who made the judges, or the rulers, of the earth but like an empty and futile thing to him.)
24 And soothly when the stock of them is neither planted, neither is sown, neither is rooted in [the] earth, he blew suddenly on them, and they dried up, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. (And truly when their stock is neither planted, nor is sown, nor is rooted in the earth, he shall suddenly blow on them, and they shall all be dried up, and then a whirlwind shall take them away like stubble.)
25 And to what thing have ye likened me, and have made [me] even (to)? saith the Holy (One).
26 Raise [up] your eyes on high, and see ye, who made these things of nought; which leadeth out in number the knighthood of them, and calleth all by name, for the multitude of his strength, and stalworthness, and might; neither one residue thing was. (Raise up your eyes on high, and see ye, who made these things out of nothing; who leadeth their host out in number, and calleth all of them by name, for the multitude of his strength, and stalwartness, and might, and not one of them is missing.)
27 Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speakest thou, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my doom (is) passed (over) from my God? (Why sayest thou, Jacob, yea, why sayest thou, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my cause is no longer God’s concern?)
28 Whether thou knowest not, either heardest thou not? God, everlasting Lord, that made of nought the ends of [the] earth, shall not fail, neither shall travail, neither ensearching of his wisdom is. (Knowest thou not, or heardest thou not? God, the everlasting Lord, who made the ends of the earth out of nothing, shall not faint, nor grow tired, and there is no one who understandeth his wisdom.)
29 That giveth strength to the weary, and strength to them that be not, and multiplieth stalworthness. (He who giveth strength to the weary, and strength to those who have it not, and multiplieth stalwartness.)
30 (Some) Young men shall fail, and shall travail, and (other) young men shall fall down in their sickness.
31 But they that hope in the Lord, shall change strength, they shall take feathers as eagles; they shall run, and shall not travail; they shall go, and shall not fail. (But they who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall grow wings like eagles; they shall run, and shall not labour, or struggle; they shall go, and shall not faint.)
4 Lords, give ye to servants that that is just and even, witting that also ye have a Lord in heaven.
2 Be ye busy in prayer, and wake in it, in doing of thankings;
3 and pray each for other, and for us [praying together and for us], that God open to us the door of word, to speak the mystery of Christ; for which also I am bound,
4 that I show it, so as it behooveth me to speak.
5 Walk ye in wisdom to them that be withoutforth, again-buying time.
6 Your word be savoured with salt evermore in grace; that ye know, how it behooveth you to answer to each man.
7 Tychicus, most dear brother, and faithful minister, and my fellow in the Lord [and even-servant in the Lord], shall make all things known to you, that be about me.
8 Whom I sent to you to this same thing [Whom I sent to you to the same thing], that he know what things be about you, and comfort your hearts,
9 with Onesimus, most dear and faithful brother, which is of you; which shall make all things that be done here [that shall make all things that be done here], known to you.
10 Aristarchus, prisoner with me [mine even-captive, or prisoner with me], greeteth you well, and Marcus, the cousin of Barnabas, of whom ye have taken commandments; if he come to you, receive ye him;
11 and Jesus, that is said Justus; which be of circumcision; they alone be mine helpers in the kingdom of God, that were to me in solace.
12 Epaphras, that is of you, the servant of Jesus Christ, greeteth you well; ever busy for you in prayers, that ye stand perfect and full in all the will of God.
13 And I bear witnessing to him, that he hath much travail for you, and for them that be at Laodicea, and that be at Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the physician most dear [the leech most dear], and Demas, greet you well.
15 Greet ye well the brethren that be at Laodicea, and the woman Nymphas, and the church that is in her house [and Nymphas, and the church that is in his house].
16 And when this epistle is read among you, do ye, that it be read in the church of Laodiceans; and read ye that epistle that is of Laodiceans.
17 And say ye to Archippus, See the ministry, that thou hast taken in the Lord, that thou fill it [that thou fulfill it].
18 My salutation, by the hand of Paul. Be ye mindful of my bonds. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
2001 by Terence P. Noble