ESAIAS -

ESAIAS

I. A vision which Esaias son of Amos saw, fwhich he saw respecting Judea and Jerusalem) in the reign qfOzias, andJoa- tham andAchaz and Hezekias, who reigned over Judea.

2 HEARKEN, O heaven! and hear O earth! what the Lord hath spoken.

“I have begotten children and brought them up; and

3 they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel did not know me. And this people have not regarded me.”

4 Ah! sinful nation—people full of sins! vile race! iniquitous children! you have utterly forsaken the Lord; and provoked to

5 wrath the Holy One of Israel. What! must you persisting in ini-

6 quity be smitten still more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint: from the feet to the head, there is no so undness therein. Is it not, here a wound, there a bruise, there a putrefying

7 sore? there is no applying poultice, nor oil, nor bandages. Your land is a desert: your cities are burnt with fire. As for your country, before your eyes strangers are devouring it; and it is laid

8 waste, being subdued by foreign tribes. Must the daughter of Sion be left as a shed in a vineyard: and as a lodge in a gar-

9 den of cucumbers—as a city taken by siege? Had not the Lord of Hosts left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom and

10 made like Gomorra. Hear a word of the Lord, O chiefs of Sodom! Attend to the law of God, ye people of Gomorra!

“What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the

11 Lord: I am cloyed with whole burnt offerings of rams: in the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats I have no delight;

12 nor should you come to appear before me: for who hath required these at your hands? You shall no more be admitted to

13 tread my court. Though you bring fine flour; it is a vain incense—it is an abomination to me. Your new moons and sabbaths and great day I cannot endure: your fasting and cessation from labour; and your new moons and your festivals my_t

H soul hateth. You are become loathsome to me; I will no longer

15 remit your sins. When you stretch forth your hands, I will turn mine eyes from you: and though you multiply prayer, I will not hearken to you: for your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash and become clean: remove iniquities from your souls; in my presence, cease from your evil deeds; learn to do good;

17 seek judgment; deliver him who is injured; administer justice to the orphan, and plead the cause of the widow: then

18 come—(let our controversy be brought to issue, saith the Lord) and though your sins be as a purple stain; I will make you white as snow—though they be as a stain of scarlet; I will make

19 you white as wool. If you indeed be willing and will hearken

20 to me, you shall eat the good things of the land: but if you refuse and hearken not to me, the sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these words.”

21 How is the faithful city become a harlot? Sion that was full of justice! In it righteousness made its abode; but now murder-

22 ers. Your silver is not pure: thy vintners mix the wine with

23 water. The chiefs are rebellious; associates of thieves: they love gifts; they seek rewards: to orphans they do not administer

24 justice; and to the cause of widows they do not attend. Therefore thus saith the sovereign Lord of hosts.

” Alas for the rulers of Israel! for my wrath against these adversaries shall not abate. On these enemies of mine I will

25 execute judgment: and I will bring my hand over thee, and purify thee with fire. Them who are disobedient I will destroy:

26 and I will take away from thee all transgressors, and establish thy judges as at the first: and thy counsellors as at the beginning: and after these things thou shall be called The city of

27 Righteousness, The faithful metropolis, Sion. For in the exer-

28 cise of judgment her captivity shall be saved: and in the exercise of mercy, the lawless and sinful shall be crushed together; and they who have forsaken the Lord shall be utterly destroyed:

29 for they shall be exposed to shame for the idols on which they doted; as they have been for the gardens which they desired.

30 For they shall belikeanilex, which hath shed its leaves; and like

31 a garden which hath no water: and their strength shall be like tow; and their works like sparks of fire: and the lawless and sin- iul shall be burned up together; and there shall be no extinguisher.”

II. The word -which came to Esaias, son of Amos concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem.

2 BECAUSE in the last days, the mount of the Lord will be conspicuous; and the house of God will be on the top of mountains ; and exalted above the hills : therefore all the

3 nations will come to it. Many nations indeed, will go saying,

” Come, let us go up to the mount of the Lord; and to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us his way, and we will walk therein.”

For from Sion shall go forth a law; and the word of the

4 Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge among the nations; and work conviction in many a people : and they shall beat their swords into plough shares; and their spears into pruning hooks: and nation shall not lift up a sword against nation; nor shall they learn war any more.

5 Now therefore, O house of Jacob ; come, let us walk in

6 the light of the Lord. For he hath forgiven his people, the house of Israel.

(J) ” Because their land was filled as at first with divinations ; like that of the Philistines and many strange children

7 were born to them—for their country was filled with silver and gold, and there was no counting their treasures; and their land was filled with horses, and there was no end to their cha-

8 riots ; and the land was filled with abominations, the workmanship of their own hands; and they worshipped the things

9 which their fingers had made, and the commoner bowed down and the noble humbled himself; therefore I will not forgive them.”—

10 ” Now therefore go into the rocks and hide yourselves in the earth, from the tremendous presence of the Lord; and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall arise, to crush the land.”

11 ” For the eyes of the Lord are lofty; but man is low; and the loftiness of these men shall be humbled; and the Lord

12 alone shall be exalted in tliat day. For the day of the Lord of hosts is against every scorner and haughty man ; and against

13 every one high and lofty, and they shall be humbled : even against every of those high towering cedars of Lebanon; and

14 against every oak of Hasan; and against every lofty mountain;

15 and against every hill that is high ; and against every stately

16 tower; and against every high raised wall; and against every ship of the sea; and against every ensign of beauteous ships :

(J) Jehovah.

17 and every man shall be humbled; and the haughtiness of these men shall fall; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in

18 that day. Then will they hide all these handiworks, carrying

19 them into caverns and clefts of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the tremendous presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall arise to crush

20 the lands. For on that day men will cast to the bats their abominations both of silver and gold, which they made to worship

21 vanities; that they may go into holes of the flinty rock—nay into the very clefts of the rock, from the tremendous presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall arise to crush the land.

III. Behold now the Sovereign Lord of hosts will remove, from Jerusalem and from Judea, all stay and support ofevery

2 kind—the stay of bread and the stay of water; the giant and mighty man and warrior; judge and prophet; instructor and

3 elder; the captain of fifty, and honourable counsellor; the

4 skilful architect and intelligent scholar: and I will make boys

5 their princes ; and scorners shall rule over them. And upon one another the people will fall foul, and justle every man against his neighbour—the boy against the elder and the base against the honourable.

6 Because a man will take hold of his brother, or the head of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing be thou our leader, and let me be supplied with food under thee.”

7 ” Therefore on that day he will answer and say, I will not be thy leader, for in my house there is neither bread nor raiment, I will not be the leader of this people.”

8 Because Jerusalem is forsaken and Judea is fallen therefore their tongues concur with their transgression. They disbelieve the things relating to the Lord. Because their glory is

9 now humbled; and the shame of their countenance is risen up against them: their sin therefore, like the Sodomites, they proclaimed and openly avowed. Alas for their souls ! because they have counselled an evil counsel against themselves, say-

10 ing, ” Let us bind the just one, for he is disagreeable to us;”

11 let them therefore eat the fruits of their deeds. Alas for the wicked ! according to the works of his hands evils shall befal

12 him. O my people ! your task masters glean you; and exactors tyrannize over you. O my people! They who call you happy lead

13 you astray; and disturb the path of your feet.But the Lord will now

14 arise to plead his cause; andhe will arraign his people. The Lord will himself come to a trial with the elders of the people and with their chiefs : “Why have you burned up my vineyard?

15 And why is the plunder of the poor in your houses? Why do you injure my people; and cover with shame the face of the poor.

16 Thus saith the Lord, Because the daughters of Sion are haughty and have walked with outstretched neck and wanton eyes, trailing with them in their gait flowing robes, and mov-

17 ing in set pace with their feet; therefore God will humble the princely daughters of Sion and the Lord will expose their form

18 to view. On that day the Lord will take away the finery of their

19 attire, the cauls and the curls and the crescents, the solitaire and the ornament of the brow, and the gorgeous wreathed tiar, and the necklaces and the bracelets, and the zone and the rings for the fingers, and the ornaments for the right arms, and the ear-rings and the robes with purple borders, and those the middle of which is purple, and the dresses worn at home, and the Laconian gauzes and cotton robes, and those of puqjle and scarlet and cotton, embroidered with gold and purple; and

24 the summer sophas: and instead of perfumes there shall be ashes; and instead of a girdle thou shalt be girded with rushes; and instead of a golden head-dress thou shalt have baldness, on the account of thy doings; and instead of the purple robe

25 thou shalt gird on sackcloth. And thy son the most beautiful whom thou lovest shall fall by the sword; and your mighty

26 men shall fall by the sword and be laid low; and your wardrobes shall mourn; and thou shalt be left solitary and shalt sit

on the ground; and seven women shall lay hold on one man, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own raiment, let us only be called by thy name : take thou away our reproach.”

2 ” But in that day God will with glorious counsel shine on

3 the land, to exalt and dignify the remnant of Israel. And it shall come to pass that what is left in Sion, and what is left in Jerusalem shall be called Holy. Namely all who are enrolled

4 for life in Jerusalem. Because the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and the daughters of Sion, and cleanse the blood entirely from among them; by a spirit of judgment and

5 a spirit of burning; therefore when he shall come, every part of Sion and all around it shall be overshadowed by day with a cloud as of smoke, and by night with that of the light of

6 blazing fire; and with all this glory it shall be covered; and this will be a shade from heat, and it shall be in a shelter and covert from storm and rain.”

III. Let me sing for the Beloved, a song of my Beloved to Ms

vineyard. THE beloved had a vineyard on a mountain in a rich soil,

2 ” and I hedged it around and trenched it; and planted it with the vine of Sorek; and in the midst of it built a tower, and hewed out therein a wine lake; and waited for its .producing grapes, and it produced poisonous berries.

3 ” Now therefore, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of

4 Juda, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could I do for my vineyard that I have not done for it? Because I expected that it would produce grapes, and it hath produced

5 poisonous berries; now therefore I will tell you, what I purpose to do with my vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be exposed to plunder; and I will demolish its

6 wall, and it shall be for a common walk; and I will abandon my vineyard that it may neither be pruned nor digged; and brambles shall overrun it as a waste; and I will give a charge

7 to the clouds not to shed rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel; and the men of Juda his beloved plant. I waited for their executing justice, but they committed injustice, and promoted not righteousness, but an outcry.

8 Woe unto them who join house to house, and who are bringing field nearer to field, that they may take something

9 from their neighbour. Are you alone to dwell in the land ? For these things have come to the ears of the Lord of Hosts. For though there be many houses they shall be for desolation— though great and fair, there shall be no inhabitants therein.

10 For the ground worked by ten yoke of oxen will not yield a bath of wine; and he who soweth six measures shall not raise three.

11 Woe to them, who rise early to follow strong drink, and continue at it till late at night; for the wine will inflame them.

12 For with kithara and psaltery, tabors and pipes, they drink wine; but they regard not the works of the Lord, nor consider

13 the operations of his hands. Therefore my people are become captives, because they did not know the Lord; and multitudes

14 have died of famine and thirst; and Hades hath enlarged its appetite, and opened its mouth, that there may be no want of room; and down shall go the honourable and the great, and

15 the rich and the pestilent men of the land. The commoner shall be humbled; and the noble dishonoured; and the lofty eyes

16 shall be brought down; and the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment; and God, the Holy One, shall be glorified by righ-

17 teousness; and they who have been plundered shall be fed like bulls, and lambs shall graze the waste places of them who have been removed.

18 Woe unto them who draw out sins as for a long cable ; and

19 iniquities as for an ox chain: who say, ” Let what he is to do approach speedily that we may see ; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come that we may know it.”

20 Woe to them who call evil good; and good evil—who put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; who put bitter for sweet; and sweet for bitter.

21 Woe to them who are wise in their own conceit, and in their own eyes prudent.

22 Woe to your mighty men who drink wine; and to your prin-

23 ceswho mingle strong drink: who justify the wicked for re-

24 wards; and deprive the just of his right. For this cause, as stubble will be set on fire by a coal, and consumed by a neglected name; their root shall be like touch wood, and their blossom shall ascend like dust: for they desired not the law of the Lord of Hosts: but provoked to wrath the manifestation of

25 the Holy One of Israel. Wherefore the Lord of Hosts was incensed against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and smote them: and the mountains were convulsed, and their carcasses were as dung in the high way: and for all this his anger was not turned away; but still his hand is high.

26 Therefore he will erect a standard among the nations far off, and summon them from the extremity of the earth; and br-

VOL. III. K

27 hold! with speed they are coming swiftly. They will not hunger, nor will they be weary: they will not slumber, nor lie down to sleep; nor shall their girdles be loosed from their

28 loins, nor the latchets of their sandals broken. Their arrows are sharp; and their bows are bent: the hoofs of their horses have been accounted as flint, and the wheels of their chariots

29 are like a whirlwind. They growl like lions, and are at hand like young lions. He will seize and roar like a wild beast and drive out the people, and there shall be none to deliver them.

30 On that day he will roar against them like the roaring of the billowy sea; and they will look upwards to the heaven and down on the earth; and lo! distressful darkness in their tribulation.

A solemn Vision.

IV. IN the year in which Ozias the king died I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; and the house was filled

2 with his glory. And seraphs stood around him, each having six wings; and with two they covered the face, and with two they

3 covered the feet, and two they used in flying. And they cried one to another and said,

” Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is filled with his glory.”

4 And the lintel of the door was shaken with the sound of their

5 cry, and the house was filled with smoke. Whereupon I said, Ah! woe is me! (for I was confounded) for being a man, and having unclean lips; and dwelling among a people of unclean

6 lips, I have seen with mine eyes the king the Lord of Hosts. Then one of the seraphs was sent to me and he had in his hand

7 a live coal which he had taken from the altar with the tongs. And having touched my lips he said, Behold this hath touch-

8 ed thy Hps, and it will take away thine iniquities and purge away thy sins. Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom

: .9 shall I send? And who will go to this people? And I said, Behold, here am I: send me. And he said,

Go and say to this people; hearing you shall hear, though you may not understand: and seeing you shall see, though you

1O -may not perceive: for the heart of this people is stupefied; and their ears are dull of hearing; and they have shut their eyes. that for a while they may not see with their eyes; and hear with

their ears; and understand with their hearts; and return that I may heal them.

11 Whereupon I said, For how long? O Lord! And he said, Until cities be wasted so as not to be habitable; and houses,

so that there be no men; and the land be left utterly desolate:

12 And after this God will remove the men far away.

They indeed who are left in the land shall be multiplied;

13 for still about the tenth is in it; and shall again be for a prey, and be like the ilex and like the oak when it hath fallen from its station.

VII. V. IN the days of Achaz the son of Joatham, the son of Ozias king of Judah, Rasin king of Aram and Phakee son of Romelias king of Israel came up against Jerusalem to war

2 against it, but could not lay close siege to it. When the house of David was informed that Aram had confederated with Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of his people was

3 moved, as a tree in the forest is shaken by the wind. Whereupon the Lord said to Esaias, Go out and meet Achaz, thou and

4 Forsaken-jasub thy son, at the pool on the upper road to the fuller’s field, and thou shall say to him,

Take heed and be quiet; be not terrified, nor let thy soul be dismayed on the account of these two smoaking firebrands: for when my fierce wrath is come I will again heal.

5 And as for the son of Aram and the son of Romelias; be-

6 cause they have taken evil counsel, saying, Let us go up to Judea and confer with die people and bring them into our

7 measures; and let us make the son of Tabeel king over it, thus saidi the Lord of hosts. This counsel shall not stand; nor shall

3 it take effect. But the head of Aram shall be Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rasin—but further, in three score and five years, the kingdom of Ephraim shall cease from being a people,

9 though Somoron is the head of Ephraim, and the son of Rome- lias, the head of Somoron, yes though you may not believe nor understand.

10 Moreover the Lord proceeded to speak to Achaz saying,

11 “Ask thee a sign from the Lord thy God in the depth or in

12 the height.” And Achaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I try

13 the Lord.” Thereupon he said, Hear now, O house of David,

Is it a small matter for you to contend with men? How is it then that you contend with the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

14 Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel.

15 Doth this child,* before it hath known to chuse good in pre- 16 ference to evil, eat butter and honey, because previous to its

knowing good or evil it disobeyeth evil to make choice of good? The land indeed which thou feareston account of these

17 two kings shall be relinquished; but God will bring uponthec and upon thy people and upon the house of thy father days which have not yet come. From the day he hath taken Ephra-

18 im from Juda [he will bring] the king of the Assyrians. It shall come to pass that at that time the Lord will utter a call to the flies—to that part of them which rule over the river of Egypt; and to the bee which is in the country of the Assyri-

19 ans; and they shall all come into the vallies of this country; and into the holes of the rocks; and into the caves and into every

20 cleft. On that day the Lord will shave with that razor—with that which was hired on the bank of the river—with that of the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hair of the feet: and

21 take off the beard. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a

22 man will keep a young cow and two sheep; and by reason of the abundance he will drink milk—butter and honey will be

23 eaten by every one left in the land. And it shall come to pass in that day every where, though there may be a thousand vineyards, each valued at a thousand shekels income: they shall be

24 for briars and thorns. With bows and arrows men will resort thither. Because the whole country shall be a waste of briars

25 and thorns, therefore every mountain which hath been ploughed will be ploughed, wherever terror could not come; for by- reason of the country’s being a waste of briars and thorns, it shall be a pasture for sheep and a range for the ox.

VIII. Again the Lord said to me, Take thee a strip of a large new roll and write thereon with a man’s pen “Speed quickly to

2 tlie plunder of the spoil” for it is at hand. And let faithful men, Ourias and Zacharias son of Barachias be witnesses for me.

3 Now I had approached to the prophetess and she had con-

* Pointing to his son Jasub.

ceived and when she brought forth a son, the Lord said to me,

4 Call his name “Speed to the spoil—haste to the prey” for be- fore this child shall know to pronounce father or mother, the van of the king of Assyria will take the army of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.

5 Again the Lord spoke yet further to me saying, Because

6 this people reject the water of Siloam which floweth gently and chuse to have Rasin and the son of Romelias to rule over them;

7 therefore behold the Lord will bring upon you the water of the river which is strong and abundant—even the king of Assyria and his glory; and he will rise over all your channels, and over-

3 flow all your banks; and sweep away from Judea every man who can raise his head, or is capable of executing any thing. And the circuit of his camp shall be such as to fill the breadth

9 of thy country, O Emmanuel. Know this, O nations, and be struck with consternation. Hearken ye who are in the remotest parts of the earth; be struck with consternation ye who have made yourselves strong; for though you should again become

10 strong; with consternation you shall again be stricken, and what counsel soever you may take, the Lord will defeat it; and what word soever you may speak shall not take effect among you;

11 because God is with us:

Thus saith the Lord with the strong hand, to them who refuse to walk in the way of this people saying, Perhaps they

12 may order what is hard—(for whatever this people order is hard.)

Be not ye terrified with the fear of them, nor dismayed; hal-

13 low the Lord himself, and let him be thy fear: for if thou hast put

14 trust in him he will be to thee a sanctuary, and you shall not run against a stumbling stone, nor as under a falling rock. But as for the houses of Jacob, they are in a trap, and the inhabitants

15 of Jerusalem are in a pit: for this cause many among them shali be weak and fall and be trodden down and men will safely ap-

16 proach and take them. Then shall they be manifest who seal

17 up the law that it may not be learned. Then will one say, ” I will wait for God, who hath turned away his face from the house of Jacob; and I will trust in him. Here am I and the children whom God hath given me.”

‘ 18 Now when there shall be signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth on Mount

19 Sion; if they should say to you, “Apply to the belly speakers, and to them who cause a voice to proceed from the ground.” Those vain babblers who speak from the belly : should not a nation apply to their God ? Why consult they the dead con-

20 cerning the living ? For he hath given a law for assistance; that they may not speak like such an oracle as this, which is

21 not worth the giving of gifts for it. Upon you indeed there . shall come a grievous famine; and it shall come to pass that

when you are hungry, you will fret and curse the ruler and

22 the customs of your country. And they will look up to the heaven above, then down on the earth beneath, and lo distress and darkness! tribulation and anguish and a gloom so as not

to see! But he who is in distress for a season shall not be abandoned to despair. Drink this first; do it quickly. With regard to the region of Zabulon, the land of Nephthaleim and the rest who inhabit the sea shore, and the banks of the Jor-

2 dan, Galilee of the nations ; ye people who walk in darkness, behold ! a great light! and ye who dwell in a region, the shade of death, on you a light shall shine.

3 With regard to the bulk of the people, whom thou hast brought back in thy joy, they shall rejoice in thy presence, like them who rejoice in harvest, and like them who are di-

4 viding spoils; because the yoke which lay upon them, is taken

5 away, and the rod which was over their neck. For he hath broken the rod of the exactor, as in the day of Madiam : for, with a renewal of friendship, they shall make compensation for every robe collected by deceit, and for every garment; and shall be willing to do so, if they were burned with fire :

6 because for us a child is born, and to us a son is given, whose government is on his own shoulder ; and his name is called, ” The Messenger of Great Counsel” For I will bring peace

7 «n the rulers and health for him. His government shall be great and to his peace there is no boundary, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to re-establish it, and support it with judgment and justice, henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

8 THE LORD hath sent death against Jacob; and it hath ‘ come upon Israel. And all the people of Ephraim shall know- it, and all tlie inhabitants of Samaria, who with haughtiness.

10 and a lofty heart say, ” The bricks are fallen ; but comei let us hew stones and let us cut down sycamines and cedars and build for ourselves a tower.”

11 Though God will dash down them, who rise up against

12 him on mount Sion; and disperse his enemies—Syria in the east, and the Greeks in the west, who are devouring Israel with open mouth; for all this his anger is not turned away, but still his hand is lifted high.

13 The people did not turn till they were smitten; as they

14 indeed did not seek the Lord; therefore the Lord cut off from

15 Israel, head and tail, great and little in one day—the aged and the honourable, this was the head; and the prophet who teach-

16 eth falsehood, he is the tail. Still there will be deceivers, who will call this people happy, and lead them astray, that they may

17 devour them; therefore the Lord will have no pleasure in their young men ; and on their orphans and their widows he will have no compassion; because they are all wicked and regardless of law, and every mouth speaketh perversely. For all this his wrath is not turned away but still his hand is lifted high.—

18 Still iniquity will burn like a fire, and like dry stubble’it shall be consumed by fire. It shall burn in the thickets of the

19 forest, and consume all on the hills around. By reason of the fierce anger of the Lord the whole country is in a flame ; and the people shall be as fuel for the fire. A man will have no

20 pity for his brother, but will turn to the right because he is hungry, and devour on the left, but shall not be satisfied. Man is devouring the flesh of his brother’s arm; for Manasses is devouring Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasses; for they will both together besiege Juda.

For all this his anger is not turned away; but still his hand is lifted high. X. Wo to them who write wickedness ! For writers are

2 writing wickedness; turning aside the cause of the distressed; robbing the poor of my people, of their right; that the widow

3 may be their prey and the orphan, their spoil: what then shall they do in the day of visitation? For tribulation shall come upon you from afar; and to whom can you flee for succour?

4 And where will you leave your glory, that you may not fall into the captive band?

For all this his anger is not turned away, but still his hand is lifted high.

5 Ho! Assyrians !

6 The rod of my wrath, even mine anger is in their hands, I will send this anger of mine to a lawless nation; and I will order this people of mine to gather spoil and take the prey, and to

7 trample down cities and lay them in the dust. But he did not harbour such thoughts; nor did he reason thus in his mind; but his mind will prompt him to destroy nations not a few.

8 Even though they should say to him, Thou alone art chief.

9 He indeed will say,

” Have I not taken the whole country above Babylon and Chalene, where the tower had been builded? Nay have I not

10 taken Arabia and Damascus and Samaria? In the same manner as I have taken these; so will I take all the governments.

11 Howl ye graven images in Jerusalem and in Samaria; for as I have done to Samaria and her images, so will I do to Jerusalem and her idols.”

12 But it shall come to pass, when the Lord hath accomplished his whole work on mount Sion and Jerusalem; that I will cast a look on the stout heart—on the chief ruler of the Assyrians, and on the loftiness of the glory of his eyes.

13 For he said, ” With this power I will perform exploits; and by the wisdom of mine understanding I will remove the

14 boundaries of nations, and make a prey of their strength, and shake inhabited cities, and seize with my hand the whole world as a nest; and carry off the inhabitants like deserted eggs. There is none who can escape me or chirp against me.”

15 Shall an axe boast without him who cutteth with it; or a saw lift itself up, without him who draweth it; as one could lift up a staff or a piece of wood ? No; this shall not be per-

16 mitted : indeed the Lord of hosts will send disgrace on thy

17 honour, and on thy glory a burning fire shall be Ikindled: and the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and shall hallow him with a burning fire, and consume his substance like diy grass.—

18 On that day there shall be an extinction of the mountains, and the hills, and the forests; and it shall consume from the

soul even to the flesh: and he who fleeth shall be like one flee-

19 ing from blazing fire. And those of them who are left shall be

20 few in number, so that a child may write them down. And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel shall no more join, nor shall those of Jacob who have escaped, any more lean on them who have injured them ; but they will place

21 their confidence in God the Holy One of Israel, in truth. This

22 remnant of Jacob shall indeed be for the Mighty God. Yes: though the people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, this remnant of them shall be saved. He is closing an account and mak-

23 ing a deduction with saving goodness. Because with the whole land the Lord will make a reckoning from which a deduction

24 hath been made, therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts,

” O my people who dwell in Sion, be not daunted at the Assyrian, because he will smite thee with a rod; for I am bringing this stroke upon thee that thou mayst see the way of

25 Egypt. For yet a little while and mine indignation shall cease;

26 and my wrath will be against their counsel; and God will raise against them a scourge similar to that of Madiam at the place of affliction.

When his wrath shall be in the western road—in the high

27 way leading to Egypt ; it shall come to pass in that day, that his yoke shall be taken from thy shoulder, and the terror of him from thee—his yoke shall be utterly destroyed from off thy

28 shoulders. For he will come to the city Aggai, and pass on to

29 Mageddo; and at Machmas he will deposit his baggage : then he will pass the valley and come to Aggai. Terror will seize

30 Rama the city of Saul; the daughter of Galleim will flee: he will be heard of at Laisa—he will be heard of at Anathoth.

31 When Madebena hath fainted; then, O inhabitants of Gibbeir,

32 comfort with the new^s of his* halting a day on his march—

33 with the hand comfort the mount, the daughter of Sion. And as for you, O hills, which are in Jerusalem, behold the sovereign Lord of hosts, with majesty confoundeth the glorious. They who are elated with arrogance shall be crushed; and the lofty shall be brought low; yes, the lofty shall fall by the sword; and Li!nums shall full with the lofty.

And there shall spring up a shoot from the root of Jessai— 2 eveu from that root shall spring up a blooming shoot; and the

VOL. III. L

spirit of God will rest upon him—a spirit 6f wisdom and understanding ; a spirit of counsel and majesty; a spirit of know-

3 ledge and piety—by this spirit he will be filled with the fear of God. He will not judge according to opinion, nor will he

4 reprove according to report; but he will administer justice to the lowly, and work conviction in the meek of the earth. And he will smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with

5 a breath from his lips destroy the wicked. His loins will be girded with saving goodness, and his reins clothed with truth.

6 And a wolf shall pasture with a lamb ; and a leopard shall lie down with a kid; and the calf, and bull and lion shall pasture

7 together, and a little child shall tend them. The cow and bear shall feed together; and together their young shall herd; and

8 the lion shall eat chaff like an ox. And the sucking child shall . lay its hand on the holes of asps and on the bed of young asps.

9 And they shall not hurt nor have power to destroy any oni on the mountain which is my sanctuary. Because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as abundant water

10 covereth depths of seas; therefore there shall be in that day, the root of Jesse, even he who riseth up to rule nations: in him nations will put their trust, and his resting place shall be glo-

11 rious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will proceed to shew his hand to provoke to jealousy the remnant of his people—that residue which is left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt and from Babylonia, and from Ethiopia and

12 tlie Elamites, and from the risings of the sun and Arabia. And he will erect a standard for the nations, and gather together the outcasts of Israel, and assemble the dispersed of Juda from the

13 four quarters of the earth. And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away; and the enemies of Juda shall be destroyed: Ephraim shall not envy Jiida; nor.shall Juda vex Ephraim .-

14 And they shall be wafted in the ships of foreign tribes; and they shall spoil both the sea and them of the east and Idumea: and upon Moab they shall first lay their hands; but the sons of

15 Ammon shall first obey. And the Lord will dry up the sea of Egypt, and lay his hand on the river with a vehement wind: and smite the seven channels, so that they may be crossed dry-

16 shod. And there shall be a passage for my people left in Egypt. It shall be for Israel as on the day when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

And on tha*t day thou wilt say, I bless thee, O Lord; because, though thou wast angry with me, thou hast turned

2 away thy wrath and pitied me. Behold! my God is my Saviour, I will trust in him and not be afraid. Because the Lord is my glory and my praise ; and hath become unto me salvation ; therefore draw ye water with gladness from the wells of thanksgiving.

3 Thou shalt say also on that day, O praise the Lord: invoke

4 his name aloud! proclaim among the nations his glorious acts: call them up to your remembrance. Because his name is ex-

5 alted; praise ye the name of the Lord. Because he hath done stupendous acts; proclaim them throughout the whole earth.

6 Shout for joy and be glad, O inhabitants of Sion, for in the midst of it is exalted the Holy One of Israel.

VII. A vision rvhich Esaias son of Amos saw respecting
Babylon, .

2 (J) ON a mount in die plain, erect a standard; raise the voice

3 to them; beckon with the hand. Open O princes! it is I who command. It is I, who am leading these on. Giants are coming to execute my wrath, rejoicing and at the same time arrogant.

4 (p) A sound of many nations on the mountains! A tumultuous sound of many nations! A sound of kings and nations gathered together! the Lord of hosts hath issued or-

J ders to a nation trained for battle. They are come from a far distant country—from the extreme butment of heaven—the Lord and his trained warriors, to destroy all that inhabited land.

‘J Raise the mournful cry! for the day of the Lord is at hand,

‘ and destruction from God will come: therefore every hand shall be enfeebled; and every man’s heart shall be dismayed.

8 The men in power shall be confounded; and pangs shall seize them, like those of a woman in travail. And they shall bewail their calamities, one to another, and be amazed; and their

^ countenances will quiver like a flame. For behold the remediless day of die Lord is coming—a day of wrath and indigna-

(J) Jehovah, (p) the prophet.

tion, to make the empire a desolation ; and to destroy the sin-

10 ners out of it. For the stars of heaven—even Orion and the whole host of heaven, shall not give light; even that of die rising sun shall be darkened; and the moon shall not give her light.

11 (J) I will indeed order evils for the whole empire, and on the wicked their transgressions ; and destroy the arrogance of

12 the wicked; and humble the haughtiness of the proud-; so that those left shall be more precious than tried gold and a man

13 more precious than the ore of Souphir. For the heaven shall be filled with wrath; and the earth shaken from its foundations; at

14 the fierce anger of the Lord of Hosts, on the day when his wrath shall come: and those left shall be like a chased roe and wandering sheep; and there shall be none to collect them together; so that they may return every man to his place, when every one

15 shall be seeking Jiis own country. For whoever is overtaken shall be thrust through and those collected in a body shall fall by

16 the sword. And their infants shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; and their houses shall be plundered and their wives

17 ravished. Behold I am raising up against you the Medes, who

18 disregard silver and have no need of gold. They shall break the bows of the young men, and on your infants they will have no

19 compassion; nor will their eyes spare thee for thy children. And Babylon, which is stiled Glorious, by the king of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorra.

20 It shall not be inhabited for a great length of time, nor shall it be entered for many generations. The Arabians shall not pass

21 through it; nor shall shepherds make their folds therein. But wild beasts shall there go to rest; and the houses shall be filled with howling. There jackals shall make their abode ; and

22 there demons shall hold their revels. And onocentaurs shall inhabit there ; and porcupines shall breed in the houses.

XIV. (p) He is coming quickly and will not tarry, but the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still make choice of Israel; and they shall rest in their own land; and the stranger shall be joined to them, and shall be added to the house of .hi

2 cob. The nations shall take them and bring them to their place; and the house of Jacob shall possess them; when they shall be multiplied in their land, for men servants and for maid servants: and they who captivated them shall be captives; and they who

3 domineered over them shall be brought into subjection. And it shall come to pass in that day when the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and thy grief—from that hard servitude

4 of thine, with which thou hast served them, that thou wilt take up this funeral song over the king of Babylon:

5 his demands! The Lord hath broken the yoke of the sinners—

6 the yoke of the rulers. He smote a nation in wrath with an incurable wound; he smote a nation with a vengeful wound

7 which did not spare. The confidant is gone to rest; the whole

8 earth shouteth for joy ; and the trees of Lebanon rejoice over thee—and the cedars of Lebanon say,

” Since thou hast gone to re”st, no feller is come up against

9 us.” Hades from beneath was in uproar to meet thee: for thee were roused all the giants who had ruled the earth. Having roused from their thrones all the kings of nations, they will all accost thee saying,

.10 ” And art thou caught as we have been? And among us art thou enrolled? Is thy pomp come down to Hades—all thy

11 great festivity?” Beneath thee they will strew corruption fora

12 bed; and worms shall be thy covering. How is Lucifer fallen from heaven! He who was harbinger of the morning—he who sent messages to all the nations, is trampled down into the earth.

13 Thou indeed didst say in thy heart, I will ascend up into heaven ; above the stars of heaven I will place my throne ; I will seat myself on a lofty mountain—on the lofty mountains which

H face the north. I will ascend above the clouds ; I will be like

15 the Most High. But thou must now go down to the mansion

16 of the dead—even down to the foundations of the earth. They who see thee will express their amazement at thee and say, Is

17 this the man who troubled the earth? who shook kings? who made the world a desert? who, when he destroyed cities, never

18 dismissed his captives ? All the kings of the nations have been composed to rest with honour, every man in his own house.

19 But thou shalt be cast out on the mountains, like an abomi-

(c)*”the chorus.

nable corse, with dying crouds, pierced with the sword, descending down to the mansion of the dead.

20 As a mantle stained with blood cannot be clean; for the same cause neither canst thou be clean. Because thou hast destroyed this land of mine, and hast slain this my people; thou

21 shalt not be of long continuance. Wicked seed, prepare thy sons for slaughter, for the sins of their fathers; that they may

22 not rise and possess the land, and fill the world with wars. I will indeed rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and

23 destroy their name and remnant and seed. Thus saith the Lord, I will lay Babylonia waste: that porcupines may inhabit it; and it shall be a desolation. And I will plunge it in the miry gulf

24 of destruction. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, as I have spoken so it shall be; and as I have determined, so it shall stand. I

25 will destroy the Assyrians on this land of mine: and< on these mountains of mine they shall be trodden down; and their yoke shall be removed from my people; and their reproach shall be taken from their shoulders.

26 (p)This is the counsel which the Lord hath taken against the whole empire, and this is the hand which is lifted high

27 against all the nations. For who can disannul what the holy God hath decreed”? and his hand which is lifted high, who can turn aside?

VIII. In the year in which king Acliaz died, this Oracle was de- livered.

29 REJOICE not, foreign tribes, with one consent, because the yoke of him who smote you is broken; for from the seed of a serpent will come forth young asps, and their offspring will be

30 flying serpents. For the needy will be fed by him; and in peace the needy will repose. But with famine he will destroy thy

31 seed—even the remnant of thy seed he will destroy. Raise the mournful cry ye gates of cities; O foreign tribes! let harassed cities scream with one consent: for a smoke is coming from the north, which cannot be endured; what then will the kings of nations say in reply?

52 ” That the Lord hath founded Sion, and by him the poor of his people shall be saved.”

IX. The Oracle against Moab.

IN the night Moab is destroyed; for by night is destroyed

2 the bulwark of Moab. Be in bitterness for yourselves; for Debort also is destroyed. Where your altar is, thither you will go up to weep for Nabau of Moab. Raise the mournful cry. On every head be baldness; let alf yoqe arms be gashed with wounds.

3 In the streets thereof, gird on sackcloth, and on its house tops make lamentation; and in the streets thereof and in its lanes,

4 raise ye all the mournful cry with weeping: because Esebon and Elcale have screamed—even to Jassa their voice hath been heard; therefore the lungs of Moab utter lowings; her soul will

5 be afflicted. The heart of Moab within her uttereth lowings, which reach Segor: for she js a three headed heifer. At the ascent of Louith weepers will come up to thee; by the way of

6 Aroniim destruction and dismay are roaring. The water of Nemereim will be dried up: and its grass will fail; there will be

7 no green grass. But even thus it shall not be saved; for I will

8 bring the Arabs against that valley; and they shall take it. For the cry of war touched the border of Moab at Agaleim, and

9 the scream thereof reacheth even to the well of Aileim. As for the water of Deimon, it shall be full of blood; for I will bring the Arabians against Deimon, and carry off the seed of Moab

XVI. and Ariel; and the remnant of Adama I will send away as reptiles on the earth. Is Petra a desert? There is the moun-

2 tain of the daughter of Sion [to fly to] for thou shalt be—(like the young of a flown bird carried away) Thou, Moab, shalt be a vassal; and after that there will be a greater tribute of lambs.

3 Take counsel [O Sion] and make for her every where a shelter from grief. In midnight darkness they will flee. They

4 are confounded. Be not thou incensed. Let the fugitives of Moab sojourn with thee. They will be a shelter to you from the face of a pursuer. Because thy share in the war is taken away; and the chief who trampled down is destroyed from this land; therefore a throne shall be established with mercy, and on it one shall be seated with truth; in the tabernacle of David, erfe- cuting justice, and searching out judgment and promoting righteousness.

6 (s)” We have heard of the haughtiness of Moab—he is very insolent.”

(J)This haughtiness I have totally removed.

7 “Is not this, is not this the oracle concerning tliee? Moab shall raise the mournful cry, for in the country of Moab they shall all utter the cry of woe, bdt to them who dwell in the habitations of Seth thou shalt extend care and shalt not be

8 ashamed.” The plains of Esebon shall mourn—the vineyard of Sebama. Ye who drink up the nations, trample down her vineyards to Jazer. You need not march in close array: roam through the wilderness. They who were dispatched were wholly given up, for they passed through quite to the sea.

9 (p)Let me therefore weep, as with the weeping of Jazer, for the vineyards of Sebama. He hath cut down thy trees, O Esebon and Eleale.

(J )Because in harvest and at thy vintage I will trample down

10 and all shall be laid prostrate; therefore gladness and the shout of joy shall be taken from the vineyards. And in thy vineyards they shall not rejoice, nor tread out wine in thy cisterns, for a stop is put to the shout of joy.

11 (p) For Moab therefore will my bowels sound like a kithara,

12 and my entrails, as when thou didst consecrate a wall; but it will be for the purpose of making thee ashamed. Because Moab had tired himself at the altars, therefore he will go in to the works of his hands; that they may intercede; but they shall not be able to deliver him.

13 This is the decree which the Lord pronounced against

14 Moab, when he spoke. And now I say, within three years of the years of an hireling the glory of Moab shall be debased with all his abundant wealth; and he shall be left few in number and of no estimation.

XVII. X. The Oracle against Damascus.

BEHOLD Damascus shall be removed from among cities,

2 and shall be for desolation—left for ever for the folding of flocks, and for a resting place where none will scare them.

3 And it shall no more be a fortress for Ephraim to flee to; nor

(s) Sion.

shall there be again a regal government in Damascus—ever hereafter, of the Syrians. For thou art not better than the children of Israel—than that which was their glory. Thus saith the

4 Lord of hosts, there shall be in that day a diminution of the glory of Jacob; and the fatness of his glory shall be shaken;

5 and it shall be as when one gathereth the standing harvest and reapeth the ears of stalks; nay, it shall be as when one gathereth stalks in a sterile vale, still a stalk may be left in it:

6 or like the unripe berries of an olive tree, two or three may be left on the topmost bough, or four or five among the branches.

7 Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, in that day let man trust in his maker, and his eyes look to the Holy One of Israel:

8 and let him no more put confidence in altars, nor in the works of their hands which their fingers have made, nor look to the groves nor to their abominations.

9 In that day thy cities shall be forsaken, as the Amorites and Evites forsook theirs because of the sons of Israel: and they shall become a desolation.

10 Because thou hast forsaken God thy Saviour, and hast not been mindful of the Lord thy helper, therefore thou shalt

11 plant a faithless plant and a faithless seed. On the day thou plantest thou shalt be deceived. Though thou sowcst in the morning, shall it bloom for harvest? or on the day when thou shalt take possession, shalt thou as the father of man take possession for thy sons ?

12 Alas! the multitude of many nations! Like the billowy sea so shall you be tossed, and the back of many nations shall

13 sound like water. The multitude of nations being like a great flood, their flight shall be like that of a mighty torrent rolling on impetuously. For he will repulse them with scorn, and pursue them to a great distance, like chaff before the wind when men winnow, or as a tempest driveth the dust of a wheel.

14 Toward evening there will be grief; before morning they shall be no more. This is the portion of them who have plundered

you; and this the inheritance of them, who have taken possession of you.

XVIII. Ah! wings of the land of ships ! Thou Who surpass- 2 est the Ethiopian streams, thou who art sending pledges by sea, and paper messages on the water; for swift messengers Vol. nt. M

will go to a lofty nation, and to a strange and fierce people. There is one far transcending it. With regard to the nation without hope arid trodden down, at this time, O all ye streams

3 of that land, like an inhabited country, their country shall be inhabited. As if a signal were displayed from a mountain, as

4 with the sound of a trumpet, let the news be spread. For thus hath the Lord said to me, ” There shall be safety in this city of mine; like the light of noontide heat; and it shall be like a dewy cloud in a harvest day.”

5 Before the vintage, when the blossom is perfect, and the young grape is swelling in the blossom; the diminutive bunches are to bfe cut off with pruning hooks, and the small shoots,

6 to be nip’d off and cut away, and left together for the birds of the air, and for the wild beasts of the earth. And against them will be gathered all the birds of the air; and all the wild beasts

7 of the earth will come upon it. At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of Hosts from a people afflicted and peeled—even on account of a people great from this time and forever. A nation having hope, though trodden down, which is in a part of the river of its country, will send them to the place of him, whose name is the Lord of Hosts, even to mount Sion.

XIX. XI. A vision concerning Egypt.

1 BEHOLD the Lord is seated on a swift cloud; and he will come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence; and the heart of the people shall melt within them.

2 And they shall be stirred up, Egyptians against Egyptians, and shall fight; brother against brother and neighbour against

3 neighbour, city against city, and name against name. And the spirit of the Egyptians shall be troubled within them : and I will dissipate their counsel; and they will consult their gods and their idols; and them who cause a voice to proceed from

4 the ground, namely the belly speakers. And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of men—cruel lords; and fierce kings shal have dominion over them.

5 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, The Egyptians drink water even

6 that near the sea, but the river shall fail and be dried up—both the streams and the canals of the river shall fail; and every collection of water shall be dried up, even every fen, where reeds

7 and papyrus grow. And all the quick springing herbage which is around the river, and every thing which is sown by the river

8 shall be dried up and withered by the wind. And the fishermen shall mourn—all who cast drags in the river shall mourn; and they who spread nets and they who are anglers shall grieve:

9 and shame shall seize them who work the split flax, and them

10 who work up the cotton. They who are employed in such works shall be in sorrow; and they who brew beer shall mourn and be grieved in soul.

11 The princes of Tanis shall be fools, those wise counsellors of the king, their counsel shall be turned into folly. How can you say to the king, We are sons of wise men, sons of ancient

12 kings? Where now are these wise men of thine? Let them tell thee publickly and declare what the Lord of hosts hath determined against Egypt.

13 The princes of Tanis have failed; and the princes of Memphis are exalted, and they will lead Egypt astray, tribe by

14 tribe. For the Lord hath mingled for them a spirit of error, and they with idl their works have made Egypt reel, as a drunk-

15 ard doth, when he is vomiting. So that there shall be no work among the Egyptians, of which one can make head or tail, be-

16 ginning or end. And in that day the Egyptians shall be like women in fear and trembling because of the hand of the Lord of Hosts which he will lay upon them.

17 And the country of the Jews will be a terror to the Egyptians : when any one shall mention it to them, they will be in terror, because of the counsel which the Lord of Hosts hath

18 determined against it. In that day there shall be five cities in Egypt which shall speak the language of Chanaan. And swear by the name of the Lord of Hosts: and one of them shall be

19 called the city of Asedek. And in that day there shall be an altar for the Lord in the country of the Egyptians, and at its

20 boundary a pillar for the Lord, and it shall be an everlasting sign for the Lord, in the country of Egypt. Because they will cry to the Lord on account of their oppressors, therefore he will send them a man who will save them: he will vindicate their

-1 cause and deliver them. And the Lord will be made known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will acknowledge the Lord in that day, and offer sacrifices and make vows to the Lord

22 and perform them. Thus will the Lord smite the Egyptians and heal them, and they shall be turned to the Lord, and he will hearken to them and heal them.

23 In that day this will be the highway from Egypt to Assyria; and Assyrians will come to Egypt and Egyptians to Assy-

24 ria; and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians. In that day Israel shall be a third, among the Egyptians and among the Assyrians, blessed in the land which the Lord of Hosts hath blessed saying,

” Blessed is my people which is in Egypt, and which is in Assyria and Israel which is mine inheritance.”

XII. IN the year that Tanathan having been sent by Arna king of Assyria went to Azotus and fought against it and took it, at that time the Lord spoke to Esaias son of Amos saying, ” Go and take the sackcloth from thy loins and loose thy sandals from thy feet; and having done so walk stripp’d and

3 bare foot.” And the Lord said, As my servant Esaias hath walked stripp’d and bare foot, three years; three years he shall

4 be for signs and wonders to the Egyptians, and Ethiopians, that in this manner the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and Ethiopia, young and old, naked and

5 barefoot, exposing to view the shame of Egypt. And they. being subdued shall be ashamed of the Ethiopians in whom, the Egyptians had placed confidence; for they were their

6 glory. And in that day the inhabitants of this country will say,

Behold we trusted to flee for help to them, who were unable to deliver themselves from the king of Assyria: how then shall we escape?

XXI. XIII. The vision of the Desert,

AS, when a whirlwind having passed through a desert, is rushing out of a desert, the sight from the land is terrible ; this vision being also dreadful, was revealed to me. The treacherous dealeth treacherously; the transgressor transgressed*’; the Elamites are upon me ; and the elders of the Persians are coming against me. Am I now to groan and comfort myself?

3 For this cause my loins are filled with fainting; pangs have seized me like a woman in travail. I did wrong not to hear; I shud-

4 dered so that I could not see. My heart is bewildered, transgression overwhelmeth me. My soul is on the brink of despair. Pre-

5 pare the table. Eat, drink ye chiefs. Having arisen prepare

6 shields. Because thus the Lord said to me, ” Go set a watch-

7 man for thyself and proclaim what thou seest.” Thereupon I beheld a chariot with two riders, and a rider on an ass and a rider on a camel.

” Listen with the utmost attention, said the Lord, and call

8 “A fair breeze to the watch tower” I have kept my station all the day long, and by the camp I have stood the whole night; and

9 behold here cometh a man riding in a chariot, and addressing me he said, “It is fallen ! Babylon is fallen ! and all her images, and all the works of her hands are dashed on the ground.”

10 Hear this ye who have been forsaken! and ye, who have been sorely grieved, hear what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts—what the God of Israel hath announced to us.

XIV. The vision concerning Idumea.

11 TO me one calleth from Seir, “Guard ye the fortifica-

12 tions,” I keep watch morning and night. If thou wouldst in-

13 quire ; inquire and dwell near me. Thou mayst go to rest in the western forest, or in the way to Dedan.

14 O inhabitants of the country of Thaiman, bring out water to meet the thirsty ; meet with bread them who are fleeing,

15 because of the multitude of the slain ; and because of the multitude of dispersed; and because of the multitude of swords; and because of the multitude of bended bows ; and because

16 of the multitude of them who have fallen in battle. For thus hath the Lord said to me, ” Within a year, according to the year of an hireling, the glory of the children of Kedar shall fail; and the remnant of the mighty bowmen of Kedar shall l>e small. For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken.”

XXII. XV. The Oracle concerning the valley of Sion.

WHAT aileth thee, that you are all now gone up to the

2 house tops ? This vain city is full of people shouting. Thy

slain are not slain with the sword; nor have thy dead died in

3 battle. All thy chiefs have fled and they who are taken are cruelly bound. Even the mighty men in thee have fled far away.

4 Therefore I said, Let me alone; let me weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for this distress of the daughter of my

5 people. For it is a day of trouble and destruction and treading down. There is indeed some wandering from the Lord of Hosts; in the valley of Sion they are wandering about; from the least to the greatest they are wandering on the mountains.

6 But the Elamites have taken up their quivers; and the horsemen have mounted their horses; and the army is arrayed in

7 order for battle; and.on they will come. Thy choicest valleys shall be filled with chariots; and the horsemen will block up

8 thy gates, and burst open the gates of Juda; and look, on that day, into the choicest houses of the city; and lay open the

9 stores of the houses of David’s citadel. They indeed know that they are many, and that the water of the old pool is turned into

10 the city, and that the houses of Jerusalem have been pulled down, to fortify the wall in the city.

11 You have indeed provided water for yourselves, between the two walls nearer than the old pool, and have not looked to him who formed it of old, nor regarded him who created it.

12 Though the Lord of hosts, on that day, called for mourning, and lamentation, and for shaving of hair and girding with

13 sackcloth, yet they indulged themselves in joy and gladness, slaying oxen and sacrificing sheep, that they might eat flesh and drink wine, saying, ” Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow

14 we die.” Yes, these were their undisguised expressions, in the hearing of the Lord of hosts, therefore this sin will not be for-

15 given you till you die. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Go to

16 the treasury—to Somnas the steward, and say to him, Why- art thou here? and what hast thou here? that thou hast hewn out for thyself a monument, and hast made for thyself a sepulchre on high, and graved for thyself a tabernacle in a rock?

17 Behold the Lord of hosts is now driving out and will utterly destroy men of rank, and he will take away thy robe and this

18 gorgeous crown of thine, and whirl thee into a large immeasurable country, and there thou shalt die. And he will bring to disgrace thy splendid chariot, and make the house of thy

19 chief a publick walk. And when thou shalt be removed from

20 thine office and station: it shall come to pass in that day, that

21 I will call my servant Eliakim son of Chelkias, and clothe him with thy robe. And this crown of thine I will confirm to him, and I will commit to his hands this office of thine: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to them who

22 dwell in Juda. And I will give him the glory of David, and he shall rule and there shall be no antagonist; and on his shoulder I will lay the key of the house of David; and he will open and none shall shut; and he will shut and none shall open :

23 and I will make him a ruler in a sure place, and he shall be a

24 throne of glory for the house of his father. And on him will rely with confidence, every honourable man in his father’s house, from the least even to the greatest. On him they shall be dependant in that day.

25 ‘Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, The man who is now fixed in a sure place shall be removed and taken away and shall fall; and the glory which is on him shall be utterly destroyed for the Lord hath spoken it.

XXIII. XVI. The Oracle concerning Tyre.

RAISE the mournful cry, O ships of Carthage, for Tyre is destroyed and there are no arrivals from the land of the Ki- tians. She is carried away captive.

2 Who could be compared with the dwellers in this island—

3 these merchants of Phoenicia, who traversed the ocean—this offspring of merchants on many a water, who made a traffick of nations as of an ingathered harvest?

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, said the sea—even the strength of the sea said,

” I did not travail nor did I bring her forth; nor did I

5 nourish her youths, nor educate her virgins; yet when the news shall reach Egypt, sorrow for Tyre will take hold on them.”

6 Away to Carthage ! Raise the mournful cry, ye who inha-

7 bit that isle ! Was not she your boast of old, before she was delivered up?

8 ” Who hath taken this counsel against the Tyrians? Is slic inferior? Or hath she not power? Her merchants are glorious chiefs of the earth.”

9 The Lord of Hosts hath determined to destroy all the haughtiness of the glorious; and to bring to contempt every thing glorious on the earth.

10 Work thy land: for ships no more arrive from Carthage, nor is thy hand which vexed kings, any more powerful by

11 sea. The Lord of Hosts hath given a command, concerning

12 Chanaan, to destroy its power: and shall it be said, You must not proceed to insult and distress the daughter of Sidon? Nay though thou shouldst go to the Kitians; yet even there thou

13 shalt not have rest. Away to the land of the Chaldeans, though it hath been wasted by the Assyrians; because its walls had fallen.

14 Raise the mournful cry, O ships of Carthage, because your strong hold is destroyed.

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forsaken seventy years, according to the days of a king, according to the time of a man. And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that Tyre shall be as the song of a harlot.

16 Take a kithara, stroll about, O city, O harlot long forgotten ! Play skilfully; sing many songs, that thou mayst be re-

17 mcmbered. And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that God will take account of Tyre, and she shall be restored to her former state, and be a mart for all the kingdoms of the

18 world; which are on the face of the earth. And her traffick and gain shall be holy to the Lord. All her gain shall not be trea. sured up for themselves, but for them who dwell before the Lord, that they may eat and drink and be filled, and for contributions to be kept in remembrance before the Lord.

XXIV. XVII. Sect. 1. BEHOLD the Lord is about to destroy this inhabited land ! He will lay it waste and uncover the

2 face thereof and scatter abroad them who dwell therein. And it shall be as with the people so with the priest; as with the servant, so with the master; as with the maid, so with the mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the debtor, so with the, credit –

3 or. With destruction the land will be destroyed, and with spoiling this land will be ransacked: for the mouth of the Lord

4 hath spoken this. The land mourned and this empire is dc-

5 stroyed—the lofty people of the land mourned. As for the land, it transgressed by means of its inhabitants. Because they transgressed the law, and changed the institutions—the ever-

6 lasting covenant, therefore a curse devoureth the land. Because they who dwell therein have sinned, therefore the inhabitants of the land shall be distressed, and few are the men

7 who shaH be left. The wine will mourn, the vineyard will

8 mourn, and all that were merry-hearted will sigh. The mirth of the tabrets hath ceased, the sound of the kithara is no more.

9 They are confounded: they have drunk no wine. The palm

10 wine was bitter to them who drank it. Every city is desolated—the houses will be shut up that none may enter.

11 Raise the mournful cry every where for the wine. A stop is put to all the joy of the land—all the joy of the land is gone.

12 The cities will be left desolate, and the houses being forsaken

13 will be destroyed. All this shall come to pass in this land, in the midst of the nations. As when one shall shake an olive tree, so shall they be shaken: and when the vintage is over a shout will be raised.

14 But they who are left in the land shall be gladdened with

15 the glory of the Lord. The water of the sea will be troubled: for this cause the glory of the Lord will be in the isles of the sea. In the isles of the sea the name of the Lord will be glorious.

16 (c)” O Lord the God of Israel! from the outskirts of the earth we have heard of thy wonders: there is hope for die righteous.”

(p)Let them say also, “Woe to the rebels who reject the law!

17 Terror and a pit and a snare are for you who dwell in the land:

18 and it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the terror, shall fall into the pit; and he who getteth out of the pit, shall be caught by the snare. Because the flood gates of heaven are opened, therefore the foundations of the land shall be shaken.

19 With confusion the land will be confounded; with perplexity

20 this land will be peq^lexed. It reeled to and fro like a drunkard when intoxicated: like a lodge in a vineyard the land shall be shaken. For iniquity hath prevailed over it; and it shall fall and

21 shall not be able to rise. When God shall bring his hand on the

22 hosts of heaven, even upon the kings of this land; and the congregation thereof shall have been assembled for imprisonment,

VOL. III. N

and shut up as chaff for many generations; of them there shall be a visitation.

23 (c) When the bricks shall have mouldered away, and the wall shall have fallen; because the Lord will commence his reign from Sion and from Jerusalem, and be glorified in the presence

XXV. of the elders; O Lord God, thee I will glorify: in songs of praise I will extol thy name. For thou hast executed wonderful things, a counsel of old immutably true. 2 Because thou hast reduced cities to a heap of ruins—cities made strong, that their foundations might not fall; (a city of wicked men cannot be built to last forever) therefore the dis-

4 tressed people will bless thee and the cities of injured men will give thee thanks; for thou hast been the support of every humble city and the defence of them who were dispirited; by reason of their weakness. From wicked men thou wilt deliver them. Thou art the support of the thirsty and the breath of men in distress. >

5 (p)When dispirited men shall be thirsting in Sion on account of wicked men to whom thou hast delivered us up;

6 then will the Lord of Hosts make provision for all the nations.

7 On this mount they shall drink gladness: they shall drink wine and be anointed with myrrh on this mount. Hand down all these things to the nations for this counsel is for all the na. tions.

8 Mighty death had swallowed up; but the Lord God hath again wiped every tear from every face; and removed from the whole earth the reproach of this people. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.

9 And in that day they will say, “Behold our God in whom we trusted, will indeed save us. He is the Lord, for him we waited and exulted; let us therefore rejoice in our salvation. God will give rest on this mountain.”

10 Sect. 2. WHEN the country of Moab shall be trodden down,

11 as a threshing floor is trampled with cars and he shall cause his hands to relax, as he indeed humbled him to be slain, and shall humble his pride—those things on which he hath laid

12 his hands, and shall lower the height of his wall of refuge; and it shall be laid low in the dust: in that day shall this song be sung in the laud of Judea.

XXVI. (c.) “Behold we have a strong city! he will make salvation its wall and outworks. Open the gates; let the people

2 enter, who keep righteousness and who keep truth; who sup-

3 port truth and keep peace; because their confidence is placed

4 in thee, O Lord! who art to everlasting, the Mighty, the

5 Eternal God, who hast humbled and brought down them who

6 dwell in lofty places. Fortified cities thou canst demolish and level them with the dust, that the feet of the meek and lowly

7 may trample them. The way of the pious was straight; the way of the pious was well prepared; for the way of the

9 Lord is justice. We have ‘trusted in thy name and in that remembrance which is the desire of our soul by night. To thee, O God, my spirit awaketh early, because thy statutes are a light on the earth. Learn righteousness ye dwellers

10 on earth, for the wicked one is no more. Whoever will not learn justice on earth, cannot act agreeably to truth. Let the wicked be removed that he may not see the glory of

11 the Lord. Thy hand, O Lord, was lifted high; but they did not know it; but when they know they will be ashamed. Zeal will seize an uninstructed people; even now a fire devoureth the adversaries.

12 O Lord, our God, grant us peace, for thou hast given us

13 all things. O Lord, our God, take possession of us! besides thee, O Lord, we know none other. We celebrate thy name. As

14 for those who are dead they would not see life, nor could physicians raise them up; therefore thou hast removed and destroyed and taken away all their males. Heap, O Lord, evils upon them—Heap evils on the vainglorious of the earth.

16 O Lord, in affliction I remembered thee. Thine instruction

17 to us was with a small affliction; and as a woman in labour, when near delivery, crieth in her pangs, so have we been to thy

.8 beloved. On account of the fear of thee, O Lord, we conceived arid suffered the pangs of child birth, and brought forth the spirit of thy salvation; for what we did in that land we are not to fall; but all the dwellers in that land are to fall.

9 (p)The dead shall be raised up again, even they in the tombs shall be raised up: and they in this land shall be filled with joy: for the dew from thee is healing for them; but the

0 land of the ungodly shall fall. Go my people, enter into thy

chambers; shut thy door: hide thyself for a little while; until 21 the anger of the Lord is passed. For behold the Lord from his sanctuary is about to bring wrath on the inhabitants of this land; and the land will disclose the blood on it, and will no longer cover the slain.

XXVII. In that day God will bring his holy sword, even his great and powerful sword, upon the dragon, the flying serpent —Upon the dragon, the crooked serpent; he will slay the dragon.

2 In that day the fair vineyard—I have a mind to lead a responsive song against this.

3 (c) I am a strong city, a city besieged.

(v) In vain shall I supply her with drink: for by night she

4 will be taken, and by day she will fall. There is no wall, or it hath not availed her. Will any one set me to watch a stalk in a field ? On account of this warfare I have rejected her.

5 (c) For this cause therefore the Lord hath executed all that he determined. I am about to be burned up.

(v) Let the inhabitants therein cry aloud, ” Let us make peace with him- Let us make peace.”

6 (p) They who are coming are children of Jacob. Israel shall

7 bloom and blossom; and the world shall be filled with his fruit. He shall not, as he smote, be so smitten: nor, as he slew, shall he

8 be so slain. Having fought and disgraced them he will let them go. Thou hast not been visiting with this severe wind, to destroy them utterly with a blast of anger.

9 (J) By means of this the iniquity of Jacob will be removed: and this will be to him a subject of thanksgiving, when I take away his sin—when they grind to powder all the hewn stones of their altars, and their groves no longer remain, and their

10 idols hack’d to pieces like a forest are far away. The folded flock shall be disconsolate, like a flock which hath been forsaken; and for a long time the country shall be for a pasture, and

11 flocks shall there take their rest. And after a time there will be no verdure in it, by reason of its being parched up. *\

(p) O ye women who are coming from a goddess attend 1 For this is not a people, who have understanding; therefore he

who made them will not have pity on them; nor will he who

J2 formed them shew them any favour.

(J) But it shall come to pass in that day,that God will hedge them about from the channel of the river even to Rinocorouron.

13 Therefore gather ye the sons of Israel together one by one. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be sounded and those shall come who are perishing in the land of Assyria, and they who are perishing in Egypt; and shall bow themselves down before the Lord, on this holy mountain in Jerusalem.

XXVIII. Sect. 3. (p) AH ! the crown of haughtiness! The mercenaries of Ephraini ! That flower which hath fallen from the glory on the top of the fertile mountain! Ye who are

2 drunk without wine ! Behold the wrath of the Lord is a harsh and terrible thing. Like a tempest of hail furiously driven when there is no shelter, like a mighty deluge sweeping a country.

3 In this land it will put a stop to the labour of hands; and with the feet shall be trampled down the crown of your pride, O

4 mercenaries of Ephraim. And the flower which hath dropped from the hope of the Glory, on the top of the lofty mountain, shall be like the early fruit of a fig tree, which he who seeth it will wish to devour, before he can get it into his hand.

5 In that day the Lord of Hosts will be the crown of hope— G the diadem of glory to the remnant of the people. They shall

be left for the spirit of Justice—to administer justice and de-

” stroy the power of opposers. For by wine these were made

transgressors; they were led astray by strong drink. Priest and

prophet were stupefied with strong drink ; they were gorged

with wine—they were agitated by drunkenness; they reeled to

8 and fro. This is oracling! A curse shall devour their counsel;

for their counsel is for the sake of gain.

(f) ” To whom, {jsay they~\ have -we announced evils? And to whom have we announced a message—we who have been weaned from milk, we who have been withdrawn from the breasts? Expect affliction on affliction; hope on hope, yet a little while—yet a little while.

0 On account of the mockery of their lips—because they will speak to this people with a strange tongue, saying to them,

(f) The sententious speeches of the false prophets.

” This is the rest for him who is hungry; and this is the de- 12 struction, but they would not hear.” Therefore the oracle of God will be to them ” Affliction on affliction; hope on hope, yet a little while, yet a little while”’ that they may proceed on and fall backwards; and they shall be broken and snared and

14 caught. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye afflicted

15 men, and ye rulers of this people in Jerusalem! Because you said, ” We have made a covenant with death; and with the grave we have made a treaty: though the furious tempest may pass through, it rvill by no means reach us. We have made falsehood our refuge and by this falsehood we shall be saved.”

16 Therefore thus saith the Sovereign Lord; behold I lay for the foundation ofSion a stone of inestimable worth—a chosen, precious corner-stone for the foundations of it, and he who be-

17 lieveth shall not be ashamed. And I will establish judgment for hope, and my mercy shall be for scales. But as for you who have vainly trusted in falsehood, that the tempest would

18 not reach you; and that it would not break your treaty with death; the hope which you have wjth respect to the grave shall not last: when the furious tempest cometh, by it you shall be

19 beaten down. When it cometh it will overtake you. Early, very- early in the morning it will come, and at night your hope will

20 be wretched. Learn to hear, ” We are straitened for room, -we

21 cannot fight. We are weakened by your pressing upon us” Like a mountain of wicked men the Lord will rise up; and he will be in the valley of Gabaon. With wrath he will execute his work—a work of bitterness; and his wrath will attack in a

22 strange manner ; and its severity will be unusual. As for you therefore, be not filled with joy, yet let not your bonds gather strength. For the things are complete and decisive which I have heard from the Lord of Hosts—which he will execute on all this land.

23 Listen and hear my voice; attend and hearken to these

24 words of mine. Will the ploughman plough the whole day?

25 Or prepare seed before he hath tilled the ground ? Doth he not, when he hath levelled the face of the soil, then sow the small dill or cummin ? and again sow wheat and barley and

26 millet and rye in all thy borders ? So thou shalt be corrected

27 by the judgment of God ; and be made glad. For the dill is not cleaned with a corn drag; nor is the wheel of a wain to

turn round on the cummin ; but with a rod are beaten out

the dill—and cummin. 28 (J) Yet with bread they will be eaten. For I, The I am

will not be angry with you forever, nor shall the voice of my

severity destroy you. These wonders have indeed proceeded

from the Lord of Hosts. XXIX. Hold consultation; exalt vain comfort. Ah city Ariel,

against which David fought! collect provisions year after year;

2 eat; for you shall eat with Moab ; for I will bring distress upon Ariel, and her strength and her riches shall be for me.

3 I will indeed encompass thee as David did; and surround

4 thee with a rampire; and erect towers around thee. But when thy words shall be brought down to the ground; and shall be as if they sounded out of the earth ; and thy voice on the ground

5 shall be feeble; then shall the riches of the wicked be as the dust of a wheel, and the multitude of thine oppressors as chaff

6 blown away : and this shall be as in a moment, suddenly. For from the Lord of Hosts there will be a visitation—a hurricane and a devouring flame of fire, with thunder and an earthquake

7 and a mighty noise ; and the wealth of all the nations which encamped against Ariel, and all they who are warring against Jerusalem, and all who have been assembled against her, and those distressing her, shall be like one dreaming dreams by

8 night: and like men who in sleep are eating and drinking, but when they awake the dream is vain: even as a thirsty man dreameth that he drinketh, and when he waketh he is still athirst, his soul having trusted in a shadow : so shall be the wealth of all the nations, who have warred against mount Sion.—

9 (p) Be sunk in dejection and stand astonished ; be drunk

10 and reel, not with wine nor strong drink ; for the Lord hath drenched you with a spirit of stupefaction, and will close up

11 tlie eyes of them and of their prophets and their rulers. As for your seers of hidden things, all these prophesies will be to you like the words of a book which is sealed : which when they give to a man skilled in letters, saying, Read this : He will say,

12 I cannot read it, for it is sealed. And should the book be put

in the hands of an illiterate man, and they say to him, Read that, he will say, I do not know letters.

13 The Lord hath indeed said, (J) ” This people draw near to me with their mouth; and with their lips they honour me; but their heart is far from me : and in vain do they worship

14 me, teaching the commands and doctrines of men : therefore, behold, I will proceed to the removal of this people and I witt remove them ; and destroy the wisdom of the wise, and dark-

15 en the understanding of the prudent.” Alas ! for them, who deeply form a design, but not by the Lord. Alas’. for them, who form designs in secret, that their works may be in darkness ; and who will say, ” Who hath seen us, and who can

16 find out us, or what we do ? ” Are not you to be considered as the potter’s clay ? Shall the thing formed say to the former of it, thou hast not made me. Or shall the work say to the

17 workman thou hast not made me wisely ? Is it not a little while, ere Libanus shall be changed to a likeness of mount Car-

18 mel ? And Carmel be accounted a forest ? And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and they in darkness, even they in thick darkness—the eyes even of the blind

19 shall see ; and the distressed shall exult with joy because of the Lord; and the disconsolate among men shall be filled

20 with joy. The lawless one hath failed, and the haughty one is destroyed, and these are utterly cut off who maliciously com-

21 mil iniquity, and who by reasoning cause men to err. But as for all them who reprove in the gates they will indeed lay a stumbling block, because of their having turned aside the righteous

22 one for the unrighteous, therefore, thus saiththe Lord respecting the house of Jacob, whom he set apart from Abraham; ” Jacob will not be ashamed now, nor will he now change his counte-

23 nance ; but when his children shall see my works, because oi me they will hallow my name. They will hallow the Holy

24 One of Jacob, and tremble before the God of Israel. And they who have erred in spirit will gain knowledge, and the mur- murers shall be taught obedience, and the trifling tongues will learn to speak peace.”

XXX. Sect. 4. ” AH rebellious children! saith the Lord, you have formed a design, but not by me: and thou hast

made covenants, but not by my spirit, that you may add sins to sins.

2 ” They are setting out to go down to Egypt, without having consulted me—to be assisted by Pharao and protected by

3 the Egyptians. For the protection of Pharao will be your shame, and a disgrace to them who have trusted in Egypt.

4 Because generals are unwelcome messengers at Tanis, they

5 shall labour in vain with a people who will be of no service for assistance; but for a shame and disgrace.

6 This is the vision of the four footed beasts in the desert— A lion and a lion’s whelp were in distress and difficulty; and from them went the asps and the brood of flying serpents, who carried their wealth on asses and camels to a nation which could not profit them.

7 In vain and to no purpose will the Egyptians help you. Announce to them, That this application of yours is vain.

8 Now therefore sit down and write these things in a tablet and make a book that they may be for the appointed time—

9 even for the time to come. Because this is a rebellious pco-

e—lying children, who would not hear the law of God, who say to the prophets, ” Preach not to us,” and to them who see visions, ” Speak not to us, nay, speak to us and tell us another

11 error, and turn us from this way, and take from us this path, and take from us the oracle of Israel.”

12 Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, because you have disbelieved these words and placed your hopes on a lie : and because thou hast murmured, and been confident in this

13 matter; therefore this sin shall be to you like the tottering wall of a fortified city, which hath been taken by surprise; the fall

14 of which is instantaneous. And its fall shall be like the breaking of an earthen vessel, the fragments of which are so small that there cannot be found among them a sherd on which thou canst carry fire or with which thou canst scoop up a little water.

15 Thus saith the Lord, Lord. The Holy One of Israel, when thou shalt return sighing, then thou shalt be saved, and thou shalt know in what a situation thou wast, when thou didst trust .in these vanities.

VOL. III. O

16 Your strength was vain, yet you would not hearken, but said, ” We will flee on horses.” Therefore flee you shall. And. ” We will mount swift coursers,” therefore swift shall be your pursuers.

17 A thousand shall flee at the voice of one; and at the voice of five, many thousands shall flee: until you be left like a beacon on a mountain, and like a flag staff upon a hill.

18 (p) But again the Lord will wait to be gracious to you, and will therefore be exalted for compassionating you. Because the Lord your God is judge, happy are they who wait

19 for him. Because a holy people will dwell in Sion, and Jerusalem with weeping cried, ” Have mercy upon me.” Therefore he will have mercy upon thee. When he heard the sound

20 of thy cry, he hearkened to thee. When the Lord shall have given you bread of affliction and stinted water, they who lead thee astray shall no more come near thee. Because thine

21 eyes will see them who are leading thee astray and thine ears will hear the words of the deceivers behind thee who say, This

22 is the way let us walk in it, whether to the right or left; there- fore thou wilt defile thine idols plated with silver, and cut to pieces those overlaid with gold, and scatter them like pollut-

23 ed water and cast them out as dirt. Then shall there be rain for the seed of thy land, and the bread of the increase of thy land shall be both abundant and nutritive : and thy cattle shall

24 feed in rich and large pastures. Your bulls and your cattle which till the ground shall eat provender mixed with winnow-

25 ed barley. And there shall be on every lofty mountain, and on every high hill streams of water in that day, when many shall

26 be perishing and when towers may be falling. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun; and the light of the sun shall on that day be seven fold; when the Lord will heal the bruises of his people, and when he will cure thy painful wound.

27 Behold the name of the Lord cometh for a time, a burning wrath. The oracle of his lips with glory is an oracle full of

28 indignation, and the fury of the wrath devoureth like fire; and his breath is like a sweeping flood in a valley, which will reacli up to the neck and swell to confound nations for their vain

– errors.

!9 When error shall pursue them and overtake them, before their face ought notyou to rejoice continually and continually go to my solemnities like them who are celebrating a festival? Like them who are gladdened you should go with instrument-

10 al music to the mount of the Lord, to the God of Israel. When the Lord shall cause the glory of his voice to be heard—when, to display the fury of his arm with wrath and indignation and consuming fire, he shall utter tremendous thunder, accompa-

11 nied with a furious tempest of rain and hail. For by the voice of the Lord the Assyrians shall be beaten down by the stroke with which he will smite them.

12 This indeed he shall have from all around him—from every place whence they had a hope of that assistance on which he relied, they will with timbrels and the kithara fight against

3 him, after his rout. Of thee he will previously demand (and hast thou not provided for his reign) a deep valley and wood laid up in piles; the wrath of the Lord will be fire and wood in abundance like a valley burning with brimstone.

iXXI. Sect. 5. ALAS ! They went down to Egypt for help! They trusted in horses and chariots; for they have many and their cavalry is very numerous; and did not rely on the Holy

2 One of Israel, nor did they ask counsel of the Lord. Therefore .he in his wisdom brought evils on them: and that his word may not be slighted, he will rise up against the houses

3 of wicked men and against this hope of theirs which is vain— against an Egyptian—a man, not a god—against the flesh of horses in which there is no help. When the Lord shall lay his

4 hand upon them, then shall these helpers fail and be all de- troyed together. Because the Lord hath thus said to me,

” As the lion or the young lion will roar over the prey which he hath taken; and will repeat his roaring over it, until the mountains are filled with his voice, and the multitude are subdued and terrified at his wrath: so will the Lord of Hosts descend to encamp on this mountain—on this Sion—on the summits

5 thereof: as birds hover over their young, so will the Lord of Hosts protect Jerusalem; he will hover over it and spring for-

uvard, and will protect and save it.”

6 Therefore turn to him, O children of Israel, who are tak- r ing deep and wicked counsel.

7 Because men will in that day reject the works of their hands—their idols of silver and gold which their hands have made; therefore Assur shall fall—not by the sword of a man of valour, nor shall the sword of a mortal devour him; and he shall flee—(not from the face of the sword) and the young

9 men shall be for destruction. For with a rock they shall be enclosed as with a rampart, and shall be subdued; and he who fleeth shall be taken. Thus saith the Lord,

“Happy he who hath a seed in Sion and a family in Jeru- XXXII. salem! For behold a righteous king shall reign

2 and chiefs shall rule with justice. And this man will be one who hideth his words, and he will be hid as from a rolling flood. And he will be seen on Sion like a glorious stream in a

3 thirsty land. And they shall no more put confidence in men;

4 but shall apply their ears to hear. And the heart of the weak will listen attentively; and trifling tongues will soon learn, to

5 speak peace. And they will no more order the fool to govern,

6 nor shall thy servants any more command silence. For the fool will speak foolishly, and his heart will devise vain things; that he may commit iniquity, and utter error before the Lord in or-

7 der to scatter hungry souls: and the thirsty souls he will send away empty. For the counsel of the wicked will devise unlawful devices to destroy the poor with unjust pleas; and to

8 baffle the pleas of the poor in judgment. But the pious have counselled with understanding; and their counsel shall be established.”

9 Sect. 6 (p) ARISE ye rich women and hear my voice,

10 hearken to my words ye daughters of hope! make mention of a day of a year in sorrow, with hope. The vintage is destroyed; it hath failed! must it never come again any more?

11 Be confounded; be grieved, ye confident women! strip;

12 make yourselves bare; gird your loins and beat your breasts,

13 for the lovely field—for the fruitful vine. In this land of my people shall spring up the thorn and the briar, and joy shall be taken from every dwelling.

14 O rich city! O houses wholly forsaken! They shall abandon city, riches, lovely houses; and until the age the villages shall be dens—the joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks, till a

15 spirit come on you from on high. Then will a desert become a

16 Channel and Channel will be accounted a forest; and judgment will make a lasting abode in the desert, and righteous-

17 ness will dwell in Charmel. And the works of righteousness shall be peace; and righteousness shall enjoy rest. As for them who have kept up their confidence till that age—his people

18 shall then inhabit a city of peace and dwell secure, and they

19 shall enjoy rest with riches. Though the hail descend, it shall not reach you: and they who dwell in the forest shall be secure as they in the plain.

XXXIII. (p) Woe to them who miserably afflict you; but none can make you miserable. Even the deceiver doth not deceive you. The deceivers shall be taken and delivered up and like a moth on a garment they shall be crushed.

2 (c) O Lord, have mercy upon us! for in thee we have placed our trust. The seed of the rebellious were for destruc-

3 tion: but thou wast our safety in the time of trouble. At the terror of thy voice peoples were confounded; for fear of thee the nations were dispersed.

4 (p) Now your spoils are to be gathered; the spoils both of small and great. As if one were gathering locusts, so will they insult you.

5 (c) Holy is the God who dwelleth on high, (p) Was Sion filled with judgment and justice?

6 (c) By law they were to be delivered up; in treasures is our safety.

(p) Let there be there wisdom and knowledge and piety towards the Lord, (These are the treasures of righteousness;)

7 then behold with the dread of you they shall be terrified— they, of whom you have been afraid, will for fear of you raise a grievous cry. Messengers will be sent weeping bitterly,

8 suing for peace. For their highways shall be deserted, the dread of the nations is at an end and the treaty with them broken. And you will account them common men.

9 The land mourned; Lebanon was ashamed; Saron was become fens; Galilee and Charmel were bare.

10 “Now will I arise, saith the Lord, now shall I be glorified; U now shall I be exalted; now you shall see: now you shall feel. The strength of your spirit shall be Vain; a fire shall utterly

12 devour you; and nations shall be burned up, as thorns in a

13 field are rejected and burned. The far distant nations shall hear what I have done, they who are near shall know my pow-

14 er. The transgressors in Sion are fled; terror will seize the ungodly. Who will tell you that a fire is kindled? who will pro-

15 claim to you the place which is everlasting? He who is walking in righteousness, speaking of a straight way; who hateth iniquity and injustice; who shaketh his hands from bribes; who stoppeth his ears that he may not hear a bloody sentence;

16 who shutteth his eyes against the appearance of injustice: he shall dwell in a lofty cavern of a strong rock: bread shall be given him and his water shall not fail.

17 (p) You shall see a king with glory; your eyes shall see a

18 far distant land; your soul will meditate on terror. Where are the scribes? Where the counsellors? Where is he who num-

19 bereth them who are fed—the people small and great? Alas! they gave no counsel; nor did they understand him whose voice was so low that a despised people could not hear, and he who heareth hath not knowledge.

20 (c) Behold the city Sion is our salvation. Thine eyes will look upon Jerusalem. It is a rich city composed of tents which should not be shaken; nor should the pins of her tabernacle ever be moved, nor its cords broken.

21 (p) Because the name of the Lord is great to you, it shall be to you a place of streams and canals broad and spacious.

22 cross; for my God is great and will not pass me by. The Lord our judge—the Lord our chief—the Lord our king—the Lord will himself save us.

– 23 (p) Thy tackling broke, for they had no strength, thy mast gave way. It will not support the sails, nor rear a standard until it be delivered up for a spoil; therefore many who are lame will seize the prey: but let not the people who dwell among these-say, “I am wearied out” for their sin is forgiven them.

XXXIV. Sect. 7 ATTEND O nations, and hearken ye chiefs. Let the earth hear and the inhabitants thereof—The world and

2 the people who are therein. Because the wrath of the Lord is against all the nations, and his anger against this number of

3 them to destroy them and deliver them up to slaughter; therefore their wounded and dead shall be cast out, and the stench of them shall ascend; and the mountains shall be drenched

4 with their blood; and all the powers of the heavens shall waste away; and the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine and as leaves fall from a fig tree.

5 (J) My sword hath drunk deep in the heaven; behold it shall come down on Idumea and on the people justly doomed to destruction.

6 (p) The sword of the Lord hath been glutted with blood; it is pampered with suet—with the blood of he-goats and lambs, and with the suet of goats and rams. Because there is a sacrifice for the Lord in Bosor, and a great slaughter in Idu-

7 mea; therefore the fatlings shall fall with them, namely the rams and the bulls. And the land shall be drenched with blood,

8 and glutted with their suet. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year for a judicial retribution to Sion:

9 and its torrents shall be turned into pitch, and its land into

10 sulphur. And its land shall be like pitch burning day and night, and which shall not be extinguished: for a long timt- the smoke of it shall ascend. During its generation it shall be

11 desolate. And for a long period fowls and porcupines, ibises and crows shall dwell therein. And over it shall be stretched a line of devastation; and in it the onocentaurs shall dwell. The

12 chiefs of it shall be no more; for its kings and its nobles shall

13 be for destruction. And in their cities shall spring up brakes; and brambles shall be its fortresses: and they shall be cots

14 for Sirens, and for the ostrich’s court. And demons shall meet onocentaurs; and bellow one to the other. Onocentaurs shall there enjoy repose having found for themselves a.

15 place of rest. There the porcupine hath made its nest; and the land hath safely kept its young. There the deer have assem-

16 bled and seen each other’s face. I counted them and there is not one of them lost. They have’not had occasion to seek each other: for the Lord hath issued orders to them; and his spirit

17 hath brought them together. And he will himself cast the lots for them, his hand hath meted the place for them, to feed.— For a long time you shall inherit it.

XXXV. Rejoice, O desert; shout for joy, O thirsty desert,

2 and blossom like a lilly. Let the deserts of Jordan also bloom and rejoice ; to it hath been given the glory of Lebanon and the honour of Channel. And my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of our God.

3 Be strong ye hands which are feeble, and ye knees which

4 are without strength. Take comfort ye who are faint hearted; take courage, be not terrified; behold our God retributeth judgment; he will indeed make retribution—he himself will

5 come and save us. Then shall be opened the eyes of the

6 blind; and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then will the lame bound like a hart; and the stammering tongue will speak plain.

Because water is burst forth in the desert, and torrents in

7 a thirsty land ; therefore the glowing sand shall become pools, and for the thirsty soil there will be fountains of water. The

8 reedy beds and the pools there will be the joy of birds. There will be there a pure highway, which shall be called The Holy way. And the unclean shall not come there; nor shall there be there an unclean way. But as for the dispersed, they shall

9 travel it, and shall not be led astray. No lion shall be there; nor shall any ravenous beast come up thither, nor ever be found there ; but in it the redeemed will walk, and they who have been collected for the Lord. They indeed shall return and come to Sion with joy, and everlasting joy shall crown their head: for on their heads will be praise and rapture; and gladness shall have full possession of them. Pain and sorrow and sighing arc fled.

XXXVI. IN the fourteenth year of the reign of Ezekias, Sen- nacherim king of the Assyrians came up against the fortified

2 cities of Judea, and took them. And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsakes from Lakes to Jerusalem, to king Ezekias, with a great army. And he halted at the canal of the upper

3 pool in the high way to the fuller’s field. And to him went out Eliakim the son of Chelkias the steward, and Somnas the

4 scribe, and Joach son of Asaph the recorder. And Rabsakes said to them, Tell Ezekias, Thus saith the great king, the king

5 of the Assyrians, On what hast thou placed confidence? Notwithstanding negociation and fair speeches, are not preparations making for war? Now therefore on whom hast thou relied,

6 that thou rebellest against me ? Behold thy reliance is on that staff—that staff of reed—that broken reed, Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will pierce his hand and go through it. Such

7 is Pharao king of Egypt to all who rely on him. But if you

8 say, ” Our confidence is in the Lord our God; ” were you now in close connexion with my master the king of the Assyrians ; and were I to give you two thousand horses ; could

9 you put riders on them ? How then can you revolt and affect to be petty princes. Those are reduced to slavery who have

10 trusted in the Egyptians for charioteers and cavalry. Besides, are we now come up without the Lord against this land to war against it? The Lord hath said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

11 Then Eliakim and Somnas and Joach said to him, Speak to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it. Therefore speak not to us in the Jewish language. Why speakest thou to the ears of the men on the walls ?

12 Thereupon Rabsakes said to them, Hath my lord sent me to your lord or to you to speak these words ? Was it not to those men—to them who are stationed on that wall, that they may eat dung and drink urine, both they and you together ?

13 Then Rabsakes stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language and said, Hear the words of the great king, the

14 king of the Assyrians, Thus saith the king, Let not Ezekias

15 deceive you with .speeches. He cannot deliver you. And let not Ezekias say to you, God will deliver you ; and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assy-

16 rians. Hearken not to Ezekias. Thus saith the king of the Assyrians, If you wish to be happy, come out to me ; and eat, every one, of his own vine and his own fig trees, and drink water

17 from your own cisterns, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of corn and wine, and of bread and

18 vineyards. Let not Ezekias deceive you saying, God will deliver you. Have the gods of the nations, delivered every one his own country out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians ?

Vol. in. r

19 Where is the God of Emath and Arphath ? And where is the God of the city Eppharuim ? Were they able to deliver Sa-

20 maria out of my hand ? Who is there of all the gods of the nations who hath delivered his country out of my hand, that

21 God should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ? But they were silent and none answered him a word, because the king had given a charge that none should answer.

22 Then Eliakim the son of Chelkias the steward, and Som- nas the secretary at war and Joach the son of Asaph the recorder went to Ezekias with their clothes rent and told him

XXXVII. the words of Rabsakes. And when Ezekias heard them he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and went up to

2 the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim the steward and Somnas the scribe and the elders of the priests clodied with sackcloth to Esaias son of Amos the prophet with this message

3 to him, Thus saith Ezekias, ” This day is a day of trouble and of reproach and of rebuke and of wrath; for pangs are come on a woman in travail and she hadi not strength to bring forth.

4 That the Lord thy God may attend to the message of Rabsakes which the king of the Assyrians hath sent to reproach the Living God; and refute the words which the Lord thy God hath heard, thou shouldst pray to the Lord for these poor

5 remains.” So when the servants of king Ezekias came to

6 Esaias he said to them, ” Thus shall you say to your lord,Thus saith the Lord, Be not terrified at the words which thou hast heard; with which the messengers of the king of the Assy-

7 rians have reproached me. Behold I am about to put such a spirit in him, that he having heard news will return to his own country: and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.”

8 So Rabsakes returned and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna, for he heard that he had removed from Lachis; and Thoraka king of the Ethiopians came out to gin

9 him battle. Upon hearing this, he retreated, and sent messen-

10 gers to Ezekias, saying, Thus shall you say to Ezekias king of Judea, Let not thy God, on whom thou relicst, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the bind of

11 the king of the Assyrians: Hast thou not heard what the kings

12 of the Assyrians have done? How they have destroyed all the land? And shall thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my ancestors destroyed? Either, Goza or Charran or Raphath which are in the country of

13 Theemath? Where are the kings of Emath? And where those of Arphath? And where those of the city Eppharuim, of Ana- gougana?

14 When Ezekias received the letter from the messengers and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord; and

[5 having spread it before the Lord, Ezekias prayed to the

16 Lord, saying, ” O Lord of Hosts the God of Israel, who art enthroned on the cherubim ! Thou alone art the God of every

(1 kingdom of the world. Thou hast made the heaven and the earth. Incline, O Lord, thine ear! O Lord, hearken ! Open, O Lord, thine eyes ! O Lord, look down and behold the words of Sennacherim which he hath sent to reproach the Living

8 God. In truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste this whole inhabited land and the country of those [here

.9 mentioned^] and have cast their idols into the fire; for they were not gods; but works of mens’ hands, stocks and stones;

10 therefore they destroyed them. But now, O Lord, our God, save us out of their hands that every kingdom of the earth

!1 may know, that thou alone art God.” Thereupon Esaias son of Amos was sent to Ezekias and said to him, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel,” I have heard the prayer which thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians. This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him,

2 ” The virgin daughter of Sion hath despised thee and mocked thee; at thee the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken

3 her head; whom hast thou reproached and provoked? or against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, (without lifting up

4 thine eye to the Holy One of Israel?) That by thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord? For thou hast said, By the multitude of my chariots, I have ascended the height of mountains, and to the utmost limits of Libanus, and cut down the lofty cedar and beautiful cypress, and entered the stately part

5 of the forest. I have laid bridges and dried up waters and 3 every collection of water.” ” Hast thou not heard those things

of old which I have done? From ancient times I gave com- mand and have now pointed out to lay waste nations in strong

27 places and them who dwell in fortified cities. I weakened their hands and they were dried up, and became like dry grass on

28 house tops, and like a blasted ear of corn. And now I know

29 thy resting place and thy going out and thy coming in. As the rage with which thou hast been inflamed, and thy bitterness

30 are come up to me; I will therefore put a hook in thy nose and a bridle in thy jaws; and turn thee back by the way in which thou earnest.”

31 Now this shall be a sign to thee. Eat this year what thou hast sown, and in the second year what is left; but in the third year sow ye and reap; plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof;

32 for they who are left shall continue in Judea. They shall strike root downwards and bear fruit upwards. For they of Jerusalem shall be left and they of mount Sion shall be saved. The

33 zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this. Therefore thus saith the Lord, With regard to the king of the Assyrians, he shall not enter this city; nor shoot an arrow against it; nor present

34 against it a shield; nor enclose it with a rampire. But by the way which he came, by the same he shall return; and into this

35 city he shall not come. Thus saith the Lord, I will cover this city with my shield to save it for mine own sake and the sake of my servant David. ,

36 So an angel of the Lord went forth and slew of the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty five thousand. And when they arose in the morning they found all these dead bo-

37 dies. Thereupon Sennacherim king of the Assyrians retreated

38 and went and dwelt in Ninive. And as he was worshipping, in his house, Nasarach his ancestor; Adramelech and Sarousar his sons smote him with their swords; and, they having made their escape to Armenia, Asardan his son reigned in his stead.

XXXVIII. At that time Ezekias was seized with a mortal sickness; and Esaias son of Amos, the prophet, came to him and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, Give orders respecting thy household, for thou art at the point of death and shall not

2 live. Thereupon Ezekias turned his face to the wall and pray-

3 ed to the Lord, saying, ” O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee with truth and with an upright heart, and have done the things which are pleasing in thy sight.” And

4 Ezekias wept bitterly. And a word of the Lord came to Esaias

5 saying, Go and say to Ezekias, Thus saith the Lord, the God of thy father David, I have heard thy prayer and seen

6 thy tears, Behold I will add to thy term fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of

7 the Assyrians and cover this city with my shield. And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord, that God will perform

8 this decree. Behold I will bring back the shadow of the steps the ten steps of the house of thy father, which the sun hath gone down. I will bring back the sun those ten steps. So the sun re- ascended the ten steps which the shadow had gone down.

9 The prayer of Ezekias, king ofJudea, when he liad been sick,

and was recovered from his sickness. It) I said in the height of my days I shall go down to the gates

11 of Hades, I shall leave the years which remain. I said, I shall no more see the salvation of God in the land of the living; I shall no more see the salvation of Israel on the earth; I shall

12 behold man no more. I am cut off from my generation, I have left the remainder of my life. He is gone and departed from me, like one striking a tent, having just pitched it. My soul within me was like a web which the weaver was in act to sever from the loom.

13 In that day I was delivered up until morning as to a lion. So did he break to pieces all my bones. For from day to

14 night I was delivered up. Like a swallow so let me twitter; and like a turtle dove so let me moan; for mine eyes were too weak to look up to the vault of heaven—to the Lord who hath

16 rescued me and taken from me the sorrow of my soul. Of this indeed thou, O Lord, wast told, and thou hast restored my

17 breath and I am comforted and live. For thou hast rescued my soul that it should not perish; and hast cast behind thee

18 all my sins. For those in the mansion of the dead cannot praise thee; nor can the dead return thee thanks, nor they in Hades

19 hope for thy kindness. The living will praise thee even as I do;

20 for from this day I shall raise up children, who will proclaim this lovingkindness of thine, O God of my salvation; and I will never cease praising thee with a psaltery, all the days of my life over against the house of God.

21 Now Esaias had said to Ezekias, Take a cake of figs and

22 bruise and apply it as a poultice and thou shalt recover. Whereupon Ezekias said, Let this be a sign to Ezekias, that I shall go up to the house of God.

XXXIX. AT the time when Marodach Baladan the. son of Baladan the king of Babylon sent letters and ambassadors and

2 presents to Ezekias (for he heard that he had been sick unto death and had recovered:) and Ezekias was rejoiced at their arrival and shewed them the house of Nechotha and that of the silver and of the gold; and that for stacte, and for perfumes and for myrrh; and all the treasure houses and all that he had in his trea-

3 suries; there being nothing in his house nor in all his dominion which Ezekias did not shewthem; Esaiasthe prophet thenwent to king Ezekias and said to him, What say those men? And, whence are they come to thee? And Ezekias said, They are

4 come to me from a far distant land, from Babylon. And Esai- as said, What have they seen in thy house? To which Ezekias replied, They have seen all that are in my house. There is nothing in my house which they have not seen: nay, they have

5 seen also what are in my treasuries. Thereupon Esaias said to

6 him, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts! Behold days are coming, when they shall seize all that are in thy house. And all that thy fathers have collected even to this day shall go to

7 Babylon; and nothing shall be left behind. Moreover God hath said, That of thy children whom thou shalt beget, they will take some and make them eunuchs in the house of the king of

8 the Babylonians. And Ezekias said to Esaias, Good is the word of the Lord wihch he spake: let there be, I pray, peace and righteousness in my days.

Sec. 1 COMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, saith ~2 God: O priests, speak to the understanding of Jerusalem; comfort her; for her humiliation is accomplished; her iniquity-is pardoned: for she hath received from the hand of the Lord [blessings] double to the punishment of her sins.

3 A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way

4 of the Lord; make straight the roads for our God. Let every valley be filled up, and every mountain and hill be levelled: and let all the crooked be made a straight road, and the rough way,

5 smooth plains: and the glory of the Lord will appear: And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. For the Lord hath spoken.

6 “A voice of one saying, Proclaim.” Wherefore I said, What shall I proclaim? “All flesh is grass; and all the glory of

8 man as a flower of grass. The grass is withered and the flower fallen; but the word of our God will endure forever.”

9 Ascend a lofty mountain, thou who proclaimest good news to Sion: exalt thy voice with strength, thou who bringest glad tidings to Jerusalem: raise it up; be not afraid; say to the cities

10 of Juda, Behold, your God! behold the Lord! The Lord is coming with majesty; and his arm with dominion. Behold his

11 reward is with him; and his work, before him. Like a shepherd he will tend his flock; and with his arm he will gather the lambs, and comfort the ewes that are with young.

12 Who hath measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span and the whole earth with a hand breadth? Who hath weighed the mountains in scales and the dales with a ba-

13 lance? Who hath known the mind of the Lord? and who hath

14 been of his counsel to teach him? or whom hath he consulted that he might instruct him? or who hath pointed out judgment to

15 him? or who hath shewn him the way of knowledge? If all the nations are as a drop from a cask; and are accounted as the

16 turning of a balance—may be reckoned as spittle; if Lebanon is not sufficient for a fire, nor all the beasts sufficient for an ho-

17 mage offering: and all the nations are as nothing and reckoned

18 as nothing: to whom have you likened the Lord? and to what

19 likeness have you compared him? Hath a carpenter when he hath made an image, or the goldsmith when he hath melted

20 gold and gilded it, prepared this as a likeness of him? for the carpenter chuseth a sound piece of timber and will inquire wisely, how he may place his image that it may not be moved.

21 Will you not know? will you not hear? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not known the foundations

22 of the earth? He it is, who occupicth the circuit of the earth; and the inhabitants thereon areas grasshoppers. He it is, who established the heaven as an arch, and spread it out as a tent to

23 be dwelt in; who givcth chiefs as a nothingness to govern:

24 and hath made the earth as a mere nothing. For they could not plant nor could they sow, nor could their root strike into the ground; he blew upon them and they withered, and a whirlwind will sweep them away like stubble.

25 Now therefore to whom have you likened me; that I may

26 be exalted? said the Holy One. Raise your eyes upwards and take a view: who hath displayed all those? He who bringeth out his host by number can call them all by name. On the account of abundant glory, by reason of the mightiness of his power

27 he hath in no wise escaped thy notice; wherefore, thou, Jacob, shouldst not say, yet what hast thou, O Israel, spoken? “My way is hidden from God” and, “My God hath put off my cause

28 and is gone.” Hast thou then not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, the God who fitted up the ends of the earth, cannot hunger, nor can he be weary; nor can his under-

29 standing be searched out. He it is who giveth strength to the

30 hungry and grief to them who have not had sorrow. For youths will hunger and young men be weary, and chosen war-

31 riors will become strengthless; but they who wait upon God shall have new strength; they shall put forth fresh feathers like eagles; they shall run and not be wearied; they shall march on and shall not faint.

XLI. (J) Dedicate yourselves to me, O Islands, for the Archons will gather new strength. Let them draw near and confer together, then let them announce judgment.

2 Who raised up righteousness from the East—called upon it to attend his steps? when he marcheth on, he will exhibit it before nations and confound kings and dash their swords to the ground, and their bows shall be driven away like stubble.

3 When he pursueth them, the road for his feet shall pass

4 through to peace. Who hath performed and done these things? He who called that righteousness—who from the generations of the beginning is calling it—I God the First, and to the succeeding ages, THE I AM.

5 The nations saw and were affrighted; the ends of the earth

6 drew near and came together. Every one is determining to help his neighbour and his brother, and one will say, The

7 carpenter had strength, so had the smith who beateth with a hammer and plateth it. Sometimes indeed one will say, “It is a beautiful composition?” These things they made strong with nails; they will fix them up that they may not be moved: but

8 thou Israel my servant; thou Jacob, whom I have chosen;

9 thou seed of Abraham whom I loved! have I not taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the speculations thereof called thee, and said to thee, Thou art my servant I have cho-

10 sen thee and have not forsaken thee. Fear not, for I am with thee; be not led astray, for I am thy God. I have strengthened thee and helped thee, and secured thee with my just right

11 hand. Behold all thine adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as nothing and all thine opponents

12 shall be destroyed. Thou mayst seek but thou shall not find the men, who through drunkenness will dare to insult thee. For they shall be as mere nothing: and they who war against

13 thee shall be no more. For I am thy God, who have hold

14 of thy right hand, and who say to thee, Fear not, O Jacob, O diminutive Israel! I have helped thee, saith thy God,

15 \vho redeemeth thcc, O Israel. Behold I have made thee like the wheels of a wain bruising to pieces a brood of pige-

16 ons: thou indeed shall grind mountains and reduce hills to small pieces, and make them like dust: and thou shall winnow them; and a wind shall take them up, and a whirlwind shall sweep them away; but thou shall be gladdened

17 in the sanctuaries of Israel; and the poor and the needy shall exult with joy: for when they shall seek water and there shall be none, and their longue is parched with thirst; I the Lerd their God, I the God of Israel will hear and will not

18 forsake them; but will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of plains: I will turn the wilderness into wa-

19 tery fens, and with streams refresh the thirsty ground. And I will plant in the dry wilderness the cedar and box, Ihe myrtle

20 and cypress and elm: lhal ihey may see and know, and consider and understand at once that the hand of the Lord hath done these things; even what the Holy One of Israel halh pointed out.

21 The trial of you is near, saith Ihe Lord God; your coun-

22 cils are nigh al hand, sailh Ihe king of Jacob; let them draw’ near and tell you what will happen, or such things as ihese before they come to pass. Tell us that we may apply our under- standing, and that we may know the final issue, and the train

23 of events leading lo il. Tell us, announce to us the things in successive train to the issue; and we will acknowledge that you are gods. Confer favours and inflict punishments, and we

34 will pay respect and see at once, that wherever you are thence is your operation.

VOL. III. <

They have chosen you an abomination from the earth ;

25 but I have raised up that one from the north, and that other from the risings of the sun; they shall be called by my name: let the Archons come, and as the clay of a potter—even as a

26 potter treadeth clay so shall you be trampled down. Who now can tell these things from the beginning, that we may know, even these things before hand : that we may say, The prediction is true. There is none who predicteth, nor doth any one

27 hear your words. I will first give notice to Sion and I will

28 comfort Jerusalem on the way. For of the nations behold there is none, and of the idols none giveth warning. And should I ask them, Whence are you ? They could not make

29 me any answer. For are these they who made you ? They are indeed those who vainly lead you astray.

XLII. Sect. 2. (J) JACOB is my servant, I will uphold him, Israel is my chosen one, my soul hath embraced him ; I have put my spirit upon him; he will publish judgment to the na-

2 tions. He will not scream, nor urge with vehemence : nor

3 will his voice be heard abroad in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, nor extinguish a dimly burning taper; but

4 will publish judgment to establish truth. He will shine out, and shall not be broken until he hath established judgment on the earth. In his name therefore let the nations trust.

5 Thus saith the Lord, the God who made the heaven and fixed it; who established the earth and the things therein and who giveth vital air to the people on it, and breath to them who tread

6 thereon; I the Lord God have called thee for saving mercy, and I will take hold of thy hand and strengthen thee; for I have- given thee for the covenant of a race—for the light of nations:

7 to open the eyes of the blind; to lead out from chains them who are bound, and out of prison, them who are sitting in darkness.

8 I am the Lord God; this is my name: this glory of mine I will not give to another, nor these powers of mine to the

9 graven idols. With regard to the former predictions, behold they are come to pass; and these are new things which I now declare; and before their promulgation, they are revealed to you.

10 (p) Sing to the Lord a new song, ye, his government! praise his name, ye from the utmost border of the earth, ye who go down on the sea and navigate it, ye islands, and ye who dwell

1 therein. Let the desert be glad and the villages thereof; the folds for flocks and them who inhabit Kedar : let the inhabitants of Petra rejoice; let them shout from the top of the

2 mountains: to this God let them ascribe glory ; let them pro-

3 claim his powers among the isles. The Lord God of Hosts will come forth and tread down battle ; he will rouse up his zeal, and shout against his enemies with majesty.

4 (J) I have been silent; but shall I always keep silence and forbear ? Like a woman in travail I have endured suffer-

5 ing; I will strike with astonishment and wither at once. I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all the herbage on

6 them. I will make rivers islands and dry up pools, and lead the blind in a way which they know not, and cause them to walk in paths which they have not known. For them I will make the darkness light, and the crooked ways a straight road.

7 These things I will do, and I will not forsake them: but as for them they have turned backwards ! be whelmed in. shame, ye who trust in graven images—who say to the molten images, ye are our gods.

8 (p) Hear, O ye deaf; and ye blind, look up that you may see.—

9 (J) Who indeed is blind but my servants ? And deaf, but those who rule over them ? Even the servants of God are be-

~) come blind. You have seen again and again but have not regarded : your ears have been opened, but you did not hear.

1 (p) The Lord God came to a determination, that he might

2 be justified and might magnify praise. Whereupon I beheld and the people were plundered and dispersed: for the snare was every where in the private chambers, and in the houses also where they had hidden themselves. They were for a prey and there was no rescuer—for a spoil; and there was none

5 who said, Restore. Who is there among you who will give

L ear to these things ? Attend to those leading causes, for which

he hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to them who plun-

(J) Jehovah, (p) the prophet.

dered him. Hath not God, against whom they sinned, and in

whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would 25 not obey—hath not he brought upon them his fierce anger? (J) Though war prevailed over them, and they who were

burning them up were all around, yet they did not, any of them, XLIII. know, nor lay it to heart. Still however thus saith the

Lord, the God who made thee O Jacob, and who formed thee,

0 Israel! fear not. Because I have redeemed thee—have call-

2 ed thee by thy name—thou art mine; therefore when thou passest through water, I am with thee, and the streams shall not overwhelm thee : and when thou passest through fire, thou shalt not be burned up—the flame shall not quite consume thee.

3 Because I the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel am thy Saviour, I have given Egypt for thy ransom and Ethiopia

4 and Soena in thy stead. Because thou hast been precious in my sight—hast been honoured and I loved thee; therefore

5 I will give men for thee and chiefs for thy life. Fear not. Because I am with thee, from the east I will bring thy seed, and

6 gather thee together from the west: I will say to the north, ” Give up” and to the south, ” Keep thou not back; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the

7 earth—all that are called by my name.” For I have prepared

8 him for my glory, I have fashioned him and made him, and have brought out a blind people : for their eyes are as if they were blind; and they are deaf, though they have ears.

9 (p) All the nations were assembled together ; now let all the archons be assembled : can any among them announce these things ? Or can any tell you these things before hand”? Let them produce their witnesses and be justified, and let them hear and tell things true.

10 (J) Be you witnesses for me : and as for me I myself am a witness saith the Lord God; and this servant of mine whom

1 have chosen j that you may know and believe and understand that with respect to me, The I am, There is no other

11 God before me ; and after me none will exist. I am God and 32 there is no Saviour besides me. I have announced and saved;

I reproached when there was no strange god among you. You 13 are witnesses for me; and I the Lord am still the same God from the beginning; and there is none who can rescue out of

14 my hands. I will act; and who can prevent it—Thus saith the Lord, the God who redeemed you, the Holy One of Israel; For your sakes I will send to Babylon, and rouse up alt who are fleeing ; and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

15 I am the Lord God, your Holy One, who pointed out Israel your king.

16 Thus saith the Lord who made a highway in a sea, and a path

17 in the mighty water; who brought out chariots and horses and a mighty host, but they lay down to sleep and shall rise no more:

J 8 they were extinguished like an extinguished taper. Mention not these former things, nor reason from the things of old. Be-

19 hold I am in act to do new things, which shall now spring up and you shall know them—I will make a way in the wilderness,

20 and streams of water in the desert. The wild beasts of the field will bless me—the Seirens and the daughters of the ostrich ; because I have given water in the wilderness, and flowing streams in the desert, to give drink to this race of mine which

21 I have chosen —my people whom I have preserved to recount my praises.

22 I had not now called upon thec, Jacob, nor caused thee,

23 Israel, to weary thyself: thou hadst not brought me thy sheep of thy whole burnt offering ; nor honoured me with thine incense offerings: I had not burdened thee with sacrifices of

24 flour; nor wearied thee with demands of frankincense: nor hadst thou purchased with silver perfumes for me ; nor had I desired the suet of thy sacrifices: but thou stoodest before

25 me in thy sins and in thine iniquities. I even I, THE I AM, am he who blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake;

26 and of thy sins I will no more make mention : but do thou mention them and let us be judged ; do thou first state thy transgressions, that thou mayst be. acquitted.

27 Your fathers first, then your chiefs transgressed against

28 me. When the chiefs polluted my sanctuary, then I gave up XLIV. Jacob to be destroyed, and Israel to reproach. But now,

hear, O Jacob my servant, and thou Israel, whom I have cho-

2 sen; Thus saith the Lord, the God who made thee, and who

formed thee from the womb, still thou shalt be helped. Fear

not, thou my servant Jacob, and thou, beloved Israel, whom

3 I have chosen: for I will give water in their thirst to them who are travelling in a desert. I will put my spirit on thy seed, and

4 my blessings on thy children; and they shall spring up like grass among water, and like a willow by the side of a flowing

5 stream. One will say, ” I belong to God;” and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand, ” I belong to God,” and will surname himself by the name of Israel.

6 Sect. 3. THUS saith God, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the God of Hosts, I am the first and I am the last: be-

7 sides me there is no God. Who is like me? Let him stand up and call and announce, and make ready for me: In as much as I have made a man for this age, let them now tell you the

8 train of events before they come to pass. Hide not yourselves nor be led astray. Have you not heard from the beginning? And have I not told you? You are witnesses whether there be any God besides me. And have not then the fashioners and

9 engravers heard? They are all fools making things to please

10 their fancies—things which cannot profit them : but shame shall cover these god makers, and all the engravers of these

11 useless things. When all by whom they were made are dried up; then let all the stupid among men be collected and stand together, and let them be confounded and ashamed together :

12 for the carpenter sharpened an axe, with a hatchet he modelled it; then he put it into a lathe and with his strong arm fashioned it. Though he be hungry and faint, he must not drink water.

13 The carpenters having chosen a piece of wood framed it by rule and glued the parts together, and made it in the form of a man and with the comeliness of a man, to set it in a house.

14 He cut wood from the forest which the Lord planted—a pine

15 tree, which the rain had nourished, that it might be fuel for the use of man : and having taken some of it he warmed himself; and with other pieces they made a fire and baked cakes, and

16 of the residue they made gods and worshipped them. Did he not burn half of it in the fire, and, with the coals of that half, bake cakes; and having roasted meat with it did he not eat and was satisfied; and when warmed say, ” Aha ! I am warmed, I

17 have enjoyed the fire?” Yet of the residue he made a carved god, and worshipped! it, and prayeth to it, saying, ” Deliver me, for thou art my God.”

18 They had not sense to think; for they were so involved in darkness that they could not see with their eyes, nor under-

19 stand with their hearts: nor did any reason in his mind, nor by his understanding recollect, that he had burned half of it in the fire, and on the coals thereof baked cakes, and had roasted flesh and eaten, and of the residue had made an abomination;

20 so they bow themselves down to it. Know thou that their heart is ashes, and they are led astray and none can deliver his soul. Take a view of it, will you not say, ” There is indeed a lie in my right hand?”

21 Remember these things, O Jacob, even thou Israel, for thou art my servant. I have made thee my servant; therefore

22 O Israel do not thou forget me. For, lo! I have made thy transgressions vanish like a cloud—and thy sins like the murky vapour. Return to me and I will redeem thee.

23 (c) Rejoice, O heavens ! because God hath compassionated Israel. Utter sounds of joy, ye foundations of the earth ! Burst forth into songs, ye mountains and hills, and all ye trees which are thereon! Because God hath redeemed Jacob and Israel shall be glorified.

24 Sect. 4. (J) THUS saith the Lord, who redeemed thee— even He who formed thee from the womb; I am the Lord the Maker of all things; I alone stretched out the heavens and

25 firmly established the earth. Who else can dispel from the heart the signs of belly speakers and divinations? I am he who

26 turneth sages backwards and maketh their counsel foolish; but establisheth the word of his servant, and verifieth the counsel of his messengers—who saith to Jerusalem, ” Thou shall be inhabited;” and to the cities of Idumea, ” Ye shall be re-

27 builded, and in its deserts vegetation shall spring up :” Who saith to the deep, Thou shalt be wasted, and I will dry up the

28 rivers : who saith, to Cyrus [I will give] wisdom, and he shall execute all my pleasure. Who saith to Jerusalem, ” Thou

shalt be rebuilded and the house dedicated to me 1 will found. XLV. Thus saith the Lord God, For mine anointed, for Cyrus, (whose right hand I have taken hold of that nations may listen before him) I will break the power of kings; I will open

2 gates before him, and cities shall not be shut up. I will go before thee and level mountains; I will break in pieces the gates

3 of brass, and burst asunder the bars of iron; and give thee treasures of darkness—deep, hidden, unseen treasures I will disclose to thee, that thou mayst know, that I, the Lord thy God, who calleth thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and of Israel my chosen one, I will call thee by thy name and receive thee kindly.

5 As for thee, thou didst not know me. Because I am the Lord God and there is no God else besides me; I strengthened thee

6 when thou didst not know me; that they from the risings of the sun and they from its goings down may know, that there is no God besides me. I the Lord am God and there is none else.

7 It was I who provided light and made darkness; who make peace and create evils : I the Lord God am he who doth all these things.

8 (c) Let the heaven above be glad; and the clouds shower down righteousness. Let the earth spring and bloom with mercy and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it.

9 (J) I the Lord am he who created thee. Is any thing endowed with excellence? I fashioned it like the clay of a potter. Will the ploughman plough the ground all the day long? Will tlte clay say to the potter, ” What art thou making? Or the work to the workman, ” Thou hast not hands.” Will the

10 thing formed reply against him who formed it? Will one say to his father, What wilt thou beget? Or to his mother, What

11 art thou bringing forth? Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, even he who made the train of events; Do you question me concerning my children; and concerning

12 the works of my hands give me directions ! It was I who made the earth and man on it: it was I who with my hand establish-

13 ed the heaven : it was I who gave direction to all the stars. It is I who have raised him up with righteousness to be king; and all his ways shall be straight. He shall rebuild this city of mine, and send back the captives of this my people, not for ransom nor reward, said the Lord of Hosts.

14 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, That for which Egypt laboured and the traffick of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans men of tall stature shall come over to thee; and they shall be thy vassals and shall follow thee bound with chains. They will come over to thee and pay thee homage and pray to thee be- cause God is in thee.

15 (c) There is indeed no God besides thee. For thou art

16 God and we knew it. The God of Israel is a Saviour: let all that oppose him be shamed and confounded and in shame let them march along.

17 (J) Dedicate yourselves to me, ye islands! The Lord hath saved Israel with an everlasting salvation. They shall not

18 be put to shame nor confounded any more forever. Thus saith the Lord who made the heaven, the same God who displayed the earth to view, and who, having made it, parcelled it out: he did not make it to be waste, but formed it to be inhabited : I

19 am the Lord and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret nor in an obscure part of the earth. I have not said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye a vain thing. I am THE I AM, the

20 Lord, who speak righteousness and proclaim truth. Assemble yourselves together and come; consult together ye who escape from among the nations. They are devoid of knowledge, who carry the wood—their carved image; and who pray to gods

21 which cannot save them. If they will proclaim, let them draw near and know at once, who hath published these things from the beginning : then let them be announced to you. I am God and there is no other besides me ; a just God and a saviour be-

22 sides me there is none. Turn to me and ye shall be saved, ye from the farthest part of the earth, I am God and there is none

23 else. By myself I swear (righteousness shall proceed from my mouth; my words shall not be reversed) that to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear, with respect to God,

24 saying, Righteousness and glory shall come to him, and all that

25 make distinctions among them shall be ashamed. On account of the Lord they shall be acquitted; and in God all the seed of Israel will glory.

XLVI. Sect. 5. BEL is fallen; Nabo is broken to pieces. Their graven images were a load for wild beasts and cattle.

VOL. III. R

You are carrying them bound like a burden on the wean”,

2 fainty, and hungry, who are all without strength and unable to escape from battle; and as for them, they are carried away captives!

3 Hearken to me O house of Jacob and all ye remnant of Israel, who have been carried from the womb, and instructed

4 from childhood to old age; I am the self existent, even till you grow old, I am, I sustain you: I made you and I will bear with

5 you; I will lift you up and I will save you. To what have you

6 likened me? Look ! Contrive, ye wanderers! Collecting gold from a bag, and silver by weight they will put it in a balance; and having hired a goldsmith they made handiworks and

7 bowing themselves down they will worship them. They carry it on the shoulder and move on ; but if they set it in its place, there it remaineth. It cannot move itself. And if any one cry to it, it cannot hear, nor can it save him from evils.

8 Remember these things and groan; reform, ye who have

9 been led astray: return with the heart and remember the things

10 of old, that I am God and there is none besides me, who can declare events before they happen, as if they were already accomplished. When I have spoken, all my counsel shall stand;

11 and all that I have determined, I will effect. Calling from tht. east a winged fowl, even from a far distant land, for purposes which I have resolved on, I have spoken and brought, I have created and made, I have brought it and made its way prosperous.

12 Hear me, ye who have lost understanding—who are far

13 from righteousness! I have brought my saving mercy near; and the salvation which is from me I will not delay. I have placed in Sion salvation for Israel, for a subject of glory.

XL VII. Come down, sit on the ground, O virgin daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground, O daughter of the Chaldeans! for

2 thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate! Take a millstone and grind com. Doft” thy veil; uncover thy grey locks.

3 Make bare thy leg: wade through rivers. Thy’shame shall be exposed; thy nakedness shall be seen. .

4 This vengeance I will take on thy account and no more deliver thee up to men. Thy deliverer is the Lord of Hosts, his name is the Holy One of Israel.

5 Sit in compunction: enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans! thou shalt no more be called the strength of a

6 kingdom. I was angry with my people: thou didst pollute my heritage, I delivered them into thy hand: and thou didst shew them no mercy. The yoke of the aged thou madest very hea-

7 vy, and saidst, I shall be empress forever. These things did not enter thy heart; nor didst thou call to mind what might at

8 last befal thee. Now, therefore, hear these things, thou voluptuary ! thou who art seated at ease, who thinkest thyself secure; who sayest in thy heart; “I am and there is none else. I shall not sit a widow, nor shall 1 know the loss of children.”

9 But now upon thee shall come these two things, suddenly, in one day. The loss of children and widowhood shall come suddenly on thee, in the midst of thy sorcery, in the full strength of thy

0 mighty inchantments. Confiding in thy wickedness thou indeed saidst; “I am and there is none else.” Know thou, the consciousness of these things and thy whoredom shall be thy shame.

1 Thou indeed saidst in thy heart, ” I am and there is none else; “but upon thee shall come destruction, and thou shalt not know— a pit; and into it thou shalt fall. Yes, upon thee shall come misery, of which thou shalt not be able to rid thyself: and destruction shall come upon thee suddenly of which thou wilt have no

2 apprehension. Persist now in thine incantations and in thy manifold sorcery, which thou hast learned from thy youth: if

3 thou canst be benefited by them. Thou hast wearied thyself with thy counsels: let the astrologers now stand up and save thee—let them who gaze on the stars tell thee what is instant-

4 ly coming upon thee. Behold like brambles on a fire they shall all be burned up; and shall not deliver their own life from the flame. Seeing thou hast coals of fire, sit upon them; will they

5 give thee relief? Thou hast wearied thyself with this traffic from thy youth. The men have wandered away, every one to his own home; but for thee there shall be no safety.

CLVIII. Hear these things,.ye house of Jacob, ye who are called by the name of Israel! ye who are descendants of Juda! ye who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, making

2 mention of it, but not with truth, nor with righteousness; and who stay themselves on the name of this holy city, and rely for support on the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.

3 I have already told you former things: when they proceeded from my mouth and were published, I did them speedily

4 and they came to pass. I know that thou art of an untractable temper, that thy neck is a sinew of iron and thy brow, brass;

5 therefore I told thee beforehand what would come upon thee; I published them that thou mightest not say, “The idols have done this to me,” nor say, “The graven or molten images have

6 ordered it for me,” you have heard all these things, and did not yourselves know them. But now I have made thee hear

7 new things, which shall hereafter come to pass. Yet hast thou not said, “Things done now and not formerly!” Yes, never in former days didst thou hear these tilings. Thou shouldst not

8 say, “Indeed I know them.” Thou didst neither know nor didst thou believe, nor did I from the beginning open thine ear: for I knew that, being in rebellion, thou wilt continue to rebel and wilt still be called a transgressor from the womb.

9 For mine own name’s sake I will shew thee my wrath, and bring upon thee my marvellous things; that I may not cut thee

10 off utterly. Behold I sold thee; but not for money; and I have ] 1^; rescued thee out of the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake

I will deal with thee; because my name hath been profaned,

and my glory I will not give to another.

12 Hearken to me, O Jacob! and thou Israel whom I call. I

13 am the first and am forever. My hand hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath established the heaven. Let me sum-

14 mon them and let them stand together. Let them all be assembled and listen. Who hath told them these things? I who love thee have executed thy will on Babylon, to take away the seed

15 of the Chaldeans. I have spoken, I have called, I have brought

16 him, and have made his way prosperous. Draw near to me and hear these things: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret. When it was doing I was there. And now the Lord, Lord hath sent me and his spirit.

17 Thus saith the Lord who hath redeemed thee, the Holy One of Israel, I am thy God. I pointed out to thee, how to find the

18 way in which thou shouldst walk. And hadst thou hearkened to my commandments thy peace would have been like a river

19 and thy righteousness like a wave of the sea; and thy seed would have been as the sand, and the issue of thy bowels as

the dust of the ground. Still however thou shalt not be utterly

20 cut off; nor shall thy name perish from before me. Haste out of Babylon! flee from the Chaldeans: proclaim the joyful news: and let this be published. Proclaim even to the end of the earth—Say ” The Lord hath delivered his servant Jacob; and if they shall thirst (for he will lead them through a desert) a rock shall be cleft and water shall gush forth, that my people

21 may drink.” There is no peace, saith the Lord, for the wicked.

XLIX. Sect. 6. (M) HEARKEN to me, O isles; and ye nations attend! (After a long time one will stand up saith the Lord.)

From my mother’s womb he mentioned my name and

2 made my mouth like a sharp sword and hid me under the cover of his hand.¹ He made me like a chosen shaft, and in his

3 quiver kept me concealed, and said to me, “Thou Israel art

4 my servant, and by thee I shall be glorified.” Whereupon I said, I have laboured in vain; for vanity and for nought I have spent my strength; therefore my cause is with the Lord; and

5 my labour is before my God. And now thus saith the Lord who formed me from the womb. To be his servant to gather Jacob to him, and Israel. I shall be gathered and glorified be-

6 fore the Lord. And my God will be my strength. Moreover he said to me, Is it a great thing for thee to be called my servant to re-establish the tribes of Jacob and bring back the dispersion of Israel? Behold I have given thee for the covenant of a race—for the light of nations; that thou mayst be for salvation to the farthest part of the earth.

7 Thus saith the Lord who delivered thee—the God of Israel, “Hallow him who despised his life, him who was abhorred by the nations, the slaves of the Archons. Kings shall see him and chiefs shall rise up and they shall worship him for the sake of the Lord; because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, therefore I have chosen thee.

8 Thus saith the Lord, “In an acceptable time I have hearkened to thee, and in a day of salvation helped thee; and have formed thee and given thee for the covenant of nations that thou mayst reduce the earth to order and possess desolate he-

(M) The Messiah.

9 ritages, saying to them who are in bonds, Go forth; and to them who are in darkness, “Come into light.” In all the high- ways they shall be fed, and there shall be pasture for them in

10 all the paths. They shall not hunger nor shall they thirst, nor shall the burning wind nor the sun smite them; but he who hath compassion on them will comfort them and lead them to

11 bursting springs of water. And I will make ever- mountain a

12 highway, and every path a pasture for them. Behold they from afar shall come, some from the north and the west and others from the land of the Persians.”

13 (c) Rejoice O heavens; and let the earth be glad, let the mountains resound with bursts of joy; for God hath compassionated his people, and comforted those of his people who were afflicted.

14 (M) Hath Sion then said, “The Lord hath quite forsaken

15 me,” and, ” Why hath the Lord forgotten me?” can a woman forget her child? or not have compassion on the offspring of her womb? Grant that a woman may forget even these, but

16 I will not forget thee, said the Lord. Behold I have engraven thy walls on my hands; and thou art continually before me.

17 And thou shall be speedily rebuilt by them who destroyed thee;

18 and they who laid thee waste shall become thine offspring. Look up with thine eyes all around and view them all; behold they are gathered together and coming to thee. As I live saith the Lord, Thou shalt clothe thyself with them all, as with rai-

19 ment, and wrap them about thee as a bride doth her dress. Because thy waste and desolate and ruinated places will now be too narrow for the inhabitants, and they who devoured thee

20 shall be removed far from thee; therefore thy sons whom thou hast lost will say in thine cars, This place is too strait for me:

21 make room forme, where I may dwell. Whereupon thou wilt say in thy heart, Who hath begotten these for me? I indeed was childless and a widow, Who then hath brought up these for me? I was abandoned and alone; whence then have I these?

22 Thus saith the Lord, Lord, Behold I will lift up my hand to the nations, and I will erect my standard for the isles. And they shall bring thy sons in their bosoms and carry thy daugh-

23 ters on their shoulders: and kings shall be thy foster fathers; and their queens thy nursing mothers. And on the face of the ground they shall pay thee homage, and lick the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that they who wait for me shall not be ashamed.

24 (a) Can any one take spoils from a giant ?

(b) And if any one captivate unjustly shall he be safe.

25 For thus saith the Lord, When one captivateth a giant he shall take spoils.

(a) But can one take from a mighty man and be safe ?

(b) But it is I who vindicateth thy cause, and I will de-

26 liver thy children. And they who afflicted thee shall eat their own flesh, and drink like new wine their own blood and be made drunk ; and all flesh shall know that it is I the Lord who delivered thee. And who uphold the strength of Israel.

Thus saith the Lord, Of what sort was the bill of your

mother’s divorce with which I divorced her ? Or to what creditor have I sold you ? Behold you were sold for your transgressions ; and for your iniquities I divorced your mother.

2 Why, when I came, was there no man ? And why, when I called, did none answer? Is my hand unable to save ? Or have I no power to rescue ? Behold with my rebuke I can dry up the sea, and make the rivers a desert, so that the fishes thereof

3 shall shrivel for want of water, and die for thirst. I can clothe the heaven with darkness, and make its covering like sacb- cloth.

4 The Lord Lord givcth me an instructed tongue, to know when it is proper to speak a word. He gave it me in the morn-

5 ing ; he gave me in addition an ear to hear. And the instruction of the Lord, Lord openeth mine ears and I am not rebel-

6 lious, nor do I gainsay. My back I have given to scourges, and my cheeks to be slapped with an open hand, and I turned not

7 my face from the shame of spittles. Indeed the Lord Lord was my helper; therefore I was not ashamed, but kept my countenance firm as a rock. I knew indeed that I should not be confounded, because he who justified me is near at hand.—

8 Who is he that contendeth with me? Let him stand up with me face to face. Yes, let my accuser, whoever he be, come near

9 me. Behold the Lord, Lord will be my advocate; who can do

(a) An objection stated, (b) The answer.

me any evil? Behold you shall all wax old like a mantle, and the moth shall consume you.

10 Who is there among you who feareth the Lord, let him. hearken to the voice of his servant. Ye who walk in darkness and have no light, trust in the name of the Lord and stay your-

11 selves on God. Behold you are all kindling a fire and increasing the flame; walk in the light of your fire and by the flame which you have kindled. On my account these things have befallen you. You shall lie down in sorrow.

Hearken to me ye who are in pursuit of righteousness

and who are seeking the Lord. Look at that hard rock which you have been hewing, and into that deep pit which you have dig-

2 ged. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who brought you forth. For he was an individual when I called him; and I

3 blessed him and loved him and multiplied him. And now O Sion, I will comfort thee. -I have indeed comforted all her desolations, and I will make her waste places like a garden; and those west of her like the garden of the Lord. In her shall be found joy and gladness, thanksgiving and the sound of praise.

4 Hear me; hear me, O my people, and ye kings; listen to me; for from me shall proceed a law; and my judgment shall be for

5 the light of nations. My deliverance is approaching speedily, and my salvation shall go forth as light; and on mine arm nations will

6 rely. The islands will expect me and on mine arm they will rely. Turn up your eyes to heaven; then look down on the earth below! for the heaven is like smoke condensed, and the earth shall grow old like a garment, and like those things the inhabitants shall perish: but my salvation shall endure forever, and my saving mercy shall never fail.

7 Hearken to me, ye who know judgment; ye people, in whose heart is my law. Fear not the reproach of men, nor be

8 overcome by their contempt. For they are like a garment which shall be worn out by time, and like woollens which shall be devoured by a moth; but my saving mercy shall endure forever, and my salvation to generations of generations.

9 Awake, awake, O Jerusalem! and clothe thyself with the strength of thine arm. Awake as at die beginning of day.

10 Art thou not as the generation of old, which dried up the sea —the swelling water of the deep? Which made the depths ol

11 the sea a road for the delivered and redeemed to pass? For

under the guidance of the Lord they shall be brought back, and shall come to Sion with joy and everlasting gladness; for praise shall crown their head and joy shall overtake them. Grief and sorrow and sighing are fled.

12 I THE I AM am he who comforteth thee. Recollect what thou wast when terrified at a mortal man, and at a son of man

13 who are withered like grass; and forgottest the God who made thee—him who made the heaven and founded the earth; and wast every day in continual dread of the furious countenance of thine oppressor. For how did he consult to carry thee away 1

14 But where now is the fury of thine oppressor? For when thou

15 art saved he shall not stand; nor long continue. Because I thy God am he who tempesteth the sea and causeth the billows

16 thereof to roar; the Lord of Hosts is my name; I will put my words in thy mouth, and cover thee under the shelter of my hand with which I made the heaven and founded the earth; and say to Sion, Thou art my people.

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem who hast drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his indignation. For thou hast drunk the cup of horror—the great cup of his wrath; and

18 drained it. And of all thy children which thou didst bring forth there was not one who comforted thee, nor was there one who took hold of thy hand: no, not of all the sons whom thou

19 didst raise. Because these things have befallen thee, who will condole with thee? Desolation and destruction, famine and the

20 sword; who will comfort thee? Thy sons? Some are astounded; some asleep at the head of every way, like a parboiled beet; Some are full of the indignation of the Lord, enervated by the

21 Lord God. Therefore hear, thou, who hast been humbled, and

22 who art drunk, but not with wine. Thus saith the Lord, the God who judgeth his people, Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of horror—the great cup of mine indignation; and

23 thou shalt no more drink it again. And I will put it into the hands of them, who have injured thee and oppressed thee— who have said to thy soul, Crouch down that we may walk over thee, when thou hadst bent thy body down level with the earth in the street, to them passing along.

LII. .Sect. 7. AWAKE, awake, O Sion! clothe thyself, O Sion, with thy strength. Put on thy glory, O Jerusalem, thou

VOL. III-. S

holy city ! No more shall the uncircumcised and the unclean

2 pass through thee. Shake off the dust, and stand up : assume thy seat, O Jerusalem ! Loose the chain from thy neck, O cap-

3 tive daughter of Sion! For thus saith the Lord, You were sold for nought; and you shall be ransomed, not with money.

4 Thus saith the Lord, My people went down to Egypt at first to sojourn there; and to the Assyrians they were earned

5 by force. Now therefore why are you here? Thus saith the Lord, Because my people were taken away for nought, (express your amaze; and raise the mournful cry !)

Thus saith the Lord, On your account my name is conti-

6 nually reviled among the nations. Therefore in that day my people shall know my name. Because I THE I AM, the same

7 who am speaking, am at hand, like beauty on the mountains— like the feet of one proclaiming peace, like one proclaiming glad tidings. Because I will cause thy salvation to be proclaimed, Saying, O Sion, thy God will reign; because the voice

8 of thy watchmen is lifted up; with thevoice therefore let all at the same time express joy.

9 sionateth Sion; let the ruins of Jerusalem break out together with bursts of joy. Because the Lord hath compassionated her

10 and delivered Jerusalem; let the Lord therefore make bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations ! and let all the ends of the earth see the salvation come from our God.

11 (J) Depart, depart; come out thence, and touch no polluted thing. Come out from the midst of her; be clean, ye who

12 carry the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not come out in haste, nor by flight march along; for the Lord will march before you in front; and the God of Israel will bring up your rear.

13 Behold my servant will mind and be exalted and highly

14 glorified. In the same manner as many will be astonished at thee; (so devoid of glory for men will be thine appearance and

15 thy glory for the sons of men) so many nations will express admiration at him; and kings will shut their mouths, because they, to whom no publication was made concerning him, shall see; and they, who had not heard, will understand.

LIU. (c) OLord, who hath believed this report of ours, and

2 to whom hath the arm of the Lord been made manifest? We have made proclamation as a child before him: as a root in a thirsty soil, he hath no appearance nor glory. We have seen

3 him; and he hath neither appearance nor beauty : but his appearance is mean and defective beyond the sons of men. Being a man in affliction and acquainted with grief, because his countenance was dejected, he was despised and disesteemed.

4 This man beareth away our sins; and for us he is in sorrow: And we considered him as being in trouble and under a stroke

5 and in affliction. But he was wounded for our sins, and afflicted for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon

6 him; by his bruises we are healed. We all like sheep had strayed; every man wandered in his way: and the Lord dc-

7 livered him up for our sins : and he, on the account of his affliction, openeth not his mouth. He was led as a sheep to be slaughtered. And as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he

8 openeth not his mouth. In this humiliation his legal trial was taken away. Who will declare his manner of life.

(J) Because his life is taken from the earth—for the trans-

9 gressions of my people he is led to deatii; therefore for his funeral I will give up the wicked, and the rich for his death. Because he committed no iniquity, nor practised guile with his

10 mouth, and the Lord determineth to purify him from this stroke : when his soul shall be given up for a sin offering; of you he shall see a seed which shall prolong their days. More-

11 over it is the determination of the Lord to remove him from the trouble of his soul—to shew him light and fashion him for knowledge—to justify the Righteous One who is serving ma.

12 ny well, when he shall bear away their sins; therefore he shall inherit many and divide the spoils of the strong.

(p) Because his soul was delivered up to death and he was numbered among transgressors and bore away the sins of many and on the account of their iniquities was delivered up; LIV. rejoice thou barren, who bearest not—break forth with shouts of joy, thou who sufferestnot the pangs of child birth; for many more are the children of the desolate than of her who 2 hath a husband. For the Lord said, Enlarge the place of thy tent and thy curtains; fix up; spare not; lengthen thy cords

3 and make thy stakes strong. Extend still farther to the right and Itft. And thy seed shall inherit nations and thou shall in-

4 habit wasted cities. Be not terrified because thou hast been exposed to shame; nor blush because thou hast been reproached. For thou shalt forget the shame of ancient times, and the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt remember no more.

5 For the Lord who is thy maker, whose name is the Lord of Hosts—even he who delivered thee, shall be called the God of Israel, in the whole earth.

6 The Lord hath not called thee as a wife forsaken and disconsolate; nor as a wife that hath been hated from her youth.

7 Thy God hath said, ” I left thee for a little while; but with

8 great mercy I will compassionate thee: in a short wrath I turned away my face from thee; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on thee.” The Lord who delivered thee

9 hath said, ” From the flood which was in Noah’s time this is my purpose—as I solemnly promised him at that time that I

10 would no more be angry with the earth on thine account, nor in rebuking thee overturn the mountains; and that thy hills should no more be moved; so my kindness for thee shall not fail, nor shall the covenant of thy peace ever be changed: for he said for thee, Be appeased, O Lord.”

11 (J) O thou afflicted and storm beaten ! art thou not comforted? Behold I am preparing for thee carbuncles for thy

12 building stones, and the sapphire for thy foundations; and for thy battlements I will lay jasper; and crystal, for thy gates;

13 and for thy circumambient walls, precious stones : even thy sons, all instructed of God; and thy children in great pros-

14 perity. And with righteousness thou shalt be rebuilded. Abstain from injustice and thou shalt not be affrighted; and as for

15 terror, it shall not approach thee. Behold proselytes shall come to thee for my sake; and they shall sojourn with thee and fly to

16 thee. Behold I have created thee, not like a coppersmith blowing coals and using a tool for the work. But I have created

17 thee, not for destruction. Perish every weapon formed against thee! I will not prosper it. Though every voice should rise up against thee for judgment, thou shalt overcome them all and in the trial they shall be condemned. There is an inheritance for them who serve the Lord, therefore you are to be just for me, saith the Lord.

Sect. 8. HO ! ye who are thirsting, come to water ! and ye who have no money, come buy and eat, without money

2 and without price, wine and the choicest bread. Why are you expending money and labour for that which will not satisfy ? Hearken to me and you shall eat good things; and your

3 soul will be regaled with delicacies. Incline your ears and follow in my paths; hearken to me and your soul shall live on good things ; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant—the gracious promises to David which are faithful.

4 Behold for a testimony to nations I gave him, a,chief and a

5 lawgiver to nations. Nations which knew thee not will fly to thee, for the sake of the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord; and when you find him call upon him.

7 And when he draweth near to you ; let the wicked man forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his counsels, and turn to the Lord and he shall find mercy; for he will abundantly

8 pardon your sins. For my counsels are not as your counsels;

9 nor are my ways as your ways, saith the Lord. But distant as the heaven is from the earth, so is my way distant from

10 your ways ; and your thoughts from my understanding. For as the rain when it descendeth, or snow, from the heavens, doth not return thither, till it hath watered the earth, and caused it to generate and bloom and yield seed for the sower and

11 bread for food ; so shall it be with my word : when it hath proceeded from my mouth, it shall not be reversed, till all are accomplished which I willed; and till I prosper thy ways

12 and my commandments. For with gladness you shall go forth; and with joyfulness you shall be taught: for the mountains and hills shall leap for joy, expecting you; and all the trees

13 of the field will clap with their branches. And instead of the briar, shall spring up the cypress ; and instead of the thistle, shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord shall be for a name, and for an everlasting sign which shall not fail.

LVI. Thus saith the Lord, Keep judgment and practise righteousness ; for my salvation is near, just ready to come, and 2 my saving kindness to be revealed. Happy the man who doth these things and the mortal who adhereth to them ; and who is careful not to profane my sabbaths, and who restraineth his hands from doing evil.

3 Let not the stranger who cleaveth to tlie Lord say, ” The Lord vviil separate me from his people.” Nor let the eunuch

4 say, “I am a dry tree.” For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, Whoever of them shall keep my sabbaths, and chuse the things

5 in which I delight and adhere to my covenant; I will give them, in my house and within my walls, an honourable place better than sons and daughters—I will give them an ever-

6 lasting name which shall not fail. And with regard to the strangers who cleave to the Lord to serve him, and love the name of the Lord—to be his man servants and maid servants, even all who are careful not to profane my sabbaths and who

7 adhere to my covenant; them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer : their burnt offerings, and their sacrifices shall Ix: acceptable on mine altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.—

8 Sect. 9. THE LORD who gathered! the dispersed of Israel

9 said, Because I will gather a congregation for him, O all ye

10 beasts of the field come ! O all ye beasts of the forests, devour! you see that they are all blind; that they have not knowledge. They are dumb dogs, they cannot bark : they are asleep in

11 bed, they love to slumber: yet these dogs are of untamed appetite ; they can never have enough. They are indeed mischievous, they have no consideration. They all followed their own courses, every one according to his own purpose. You

LVII. see how a righteous one was destroyed, and no one layeth it to heart. And righteous men are taken away, and 110 one observeth, tliat on account of iniquity the righteous one

2 was taken away. His sepulture shall be in peace. He is taken from among you.

3 But as for you, draw near hither, ye lawless sons! ye seed

4 of adulterers and of fornication! in what have you indulged yourselves? and at whom have you opened yQur mouth, and at whom lolled your tongue? are you not children of destruction

.”> —a lawless race? invoking idols under shady trees, slaying 6 your children in the valleys among the rocks? This shall be thy portion—this thy lot—as thou hast poured out libations to them and to them offered up sacrifices, shall I not for these

7 things be incensed? On a high and lofty mountain thou hast

8 made thy bed, and caused thy sacrifice to ascend thither; and behind the posts of thy door thou hast set up thy memorial. Didst thou think, that, if thou departedst from me, thou shnuldst have something more? Thou hast loved them who lay

9 with thee and multiplied thy fornication with them, and hast done it with many who are far from thee; and hast sent ambassadors beyond thy borders; and humbled thyself even to Hades;

10 With thy long journies thou hast wearied thyself and hast not said, I will take some rest. Because in thy full strength thou hast done this; therefore thou shouldst not supplicate me.

11 Of whom hast thou been so anxiously afraid that thou hast dealt falsely with me, and hast not remembered nor taken me into thy thoughts, nor into thy heart? When I saw and ne-

12 glected thee thou didst not fear me. Now I will declare my righteousness and thine evil deeds which shall not avail thee.

13 When thou criest; let them deliver thee in thine affliction. A wind indeed shall overtake them all; and a whirlwind shall sweep them away. But they who adhere to me shall possess

14 the land, and inherit my holy mountain. And they will say, Clear the ways before him, remove obstructions out of the road of my people.

15 Thus saith the Most High, who on high inhabiteth eternity, who is Holy among holies; whose name is THE MOST HIGH; who at rest in the holies giveth patience to the humble,

16 and life to them who are of a contrite heart; I will not contend with you forever, nor will I be continually angry with you, for from me spirit is to proceed and I have made every breathing

17 soul. Because of sin I grieved him a little while and smote him and turned away my face from him; and he was grieved

18 and went his ways sorrowing; I have seen his ways and healed

19 him, and^comforted him,.and given him true consolation; peace upon peace to them near and to them far off. So the Lord said,

20 I will heal them. But the wicked shall be tossed like waves -1 and shall not be able to rest. There is no peace, said God, to

the wicked.

LVIII. Sect. 10. (J) CRY aloud and spare not: raise thy voice like a trumpet: proclaim to my people their sins, and to

2 the house of Jacob their iniquities. Day after day they seek me, and desire to know my ways; like a people who have practised righteousness, and who have not forsaken the ordinance of God. They now ask of me a just decision and desire to draw

3 near to God. Saying, “Why have we fasted and thou hast not seen? We have humbled our souls and thou hast not known.” In the very days of your fasts you enjoy your own pleasures

4 and goad all them who are under your controul. You fast for strife and debate; and smite the poor with your fists. Why fast ye for me as to-day that by a cry your voice may be heard”?

5 This is not such a fast as I have chosen, that a man should afflict his soul for a day. No: though thou shouldst bend thy neck like a hook and lay sackcloth and ashes under thee: even in that case you are not to call it an acceptable fast.

6 It is not such a fast as this that I have chosen, saith the Lord. But loose every bond of iniquity; dissolve the obligations of onerous contracts; set at liberty them who are oppress-

7 ed, and tear in pieces every unjust stipulation in writing: deal out thy bread to the hungry, and take into thy house the poor who have no shelter; if thou seest one naked, clothe him, and

8 look not scornfully on dependants of thy race; then shall thy light break forth like the morning, and thy remedies shall spring up speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee,

9 and the glory of the Lord will surround thee. Then thou shah cry and God will answer thee; and whilst thou art speaking he will say, Lo I am here.

If thou remove from thee the bond, and the vote and de-

10 tree which occasion murmuring, and from thy soul give bread to the hungry and satisfy an afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness; and thy darkness shall be as the noon

11 day: and thy God-will be with thee continually; and thou shalt be satisfied as thy soul desireth; and thy bones shall be made fat and be like a watered garden, and like a spring whose water

12 never failed. And thine old waste places shall be rebuilded; and thy foundations shall last for generations of generations: and thou shalt be called the repairer of breaches, and shalt enjoy rest in the midst of thy paths.

13 If on account of the sabbaths thou restrain thy foot from doing thy pleasure on that holy day; and call the sabbaths delightful, dedicated to God; and wilt not lift up thy foot for any

14 work; nor utter a word in anger from thy mouth; and trust continually in the Lord; he will then mount thee on the good places of the land and feed thee on the inheritance of thy father Jacob: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these words.

LIX. It is not that the hand of the Lord is unable to save; nor

2 that his ear is grown dull to hear; but your sins make a separation between you and your God; and on account of your sins he hath turned away his face from you that he may not ex-

3 ercise compassion. For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with sins; your” lips have spoken iniquity,

4 and your tongue contriveth injustice. None speaketh just things, nor is there any just judgment. They trusted in vanities and they speak lies. Because they hatch mischief, therefore

5 they bring forth iniquity. They hatched the eggs of asps, and are weaving a spider’s web; and he who was about to eat some of their eggs, upon breaking one that was hatched found there –

6 in a viper. Their web will not serve for a mantle, nor can they clothe themselves with their works; for their works are

7 works of iniquity. Their feet are running to evil; they are swift to shed blood. And their reasonings are reasonings for

8 murders. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the path of peace they do not know, nor is there any judgment in their ways; for the paths which they travel are crooked and

9 peace they do not know. Therefore judgment is far from them, and saving mercy shall not overtake them. When they were waiting for light, darkness came upon them, expecting a

10 blaze of light they walked in obscurity. They shall grope like blind men for a wall and feel about like men who have no eyes,

11 and fall at mid-day as at midnight. When dying they will groan like a bear and mourn like a dove; and at their departing say, “We waited for judgment and there is none: and as for

12 safety, it is far from us. For our manifold iniquity is before thee; and our sins are risen up against us: for our iniquities

13 are in us, and we know our transgressions. We have sinned; we have lied, and turned back from following our God; we

VOL. III. T

14 have spoken things unjust, and have been disobedient; we have conceived and meditated from our heart lying words, we have indeed turned judgment backward, therefore saving mercy standeth aloof.”

(p) Because truth was destroyed in their ways and they

15 could not walk in straight paths; and truth was removed and they substituted opinion in place of knowledge, therefore the Lord took a view, and it displeased him that there was no judg-

16 ment. When he took a view and there was no man; and made close observation, and there was no helper; then with his own

17 arm he defended them and with mercy supported them. And he put on righteousness as a breast plate, and placed on his head the helmet of salvation, and threw around him the mantle

18 of vengeance; and his cloak, as about to retribute retribution— reproach to his adversaries: and they from the west shall re-

19 vere the name of the Lord; and they from the risings of the sun, his glorious name. For he will come like an impetuous

20 stream—for the wrath of the Lord will come with fury. For the sake of Sion the Deliverer will come, and turn away un-

21 godliness from Jacob. And this shall be my covenant with them, said the Lord, this spirit of mine which is upon thee, and these words which I have put in thy mouth shall not fail from thy mouth, nor from the mouth of thy seed, (for the Lord hath spoken) from this time forth forever.

Sect. 11. BE ENLIGHTENED: be enlightened, O Jerusalem! for thy light is come; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Behold darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness the nations: but upon thee the Lord will shine and his glory over thee will be conspicuous. And kings will walk by thy light: and nations by thy splendour.

4 Raise thine eyes around and behold thy children gathered together; all thy sons are come from afar, and thy daughters

5 shall be carried on shoulders. Then thou wilt look and be filled with awe and astonished at heart; because the riches of the

6 sea and of nations and peoples will pour in upon thee. And for thee will come herds of camels and those of Madiam and Gaipha will cover thee, and those of Saba will come bringing gold and will also bring frankincense, and with joy proclaim

7 the salvation of the Lord. And all the flocks of kcdar shall be gathered together; and the rams of Nabaioth will come; and acceptable offerings will be made on mine altar, and my house of prayer will be glorified.

8 (c) Who are thote? They are flying like clouds, and like doves with their young towards me!

9 (J) For me the islands waited, and among the first the ships of Tarsis to bring thy children from afar and their silver and their gold with them. And because of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorious;

[0 therefore strangers shall rebuild thy walls and their kings shall wait upon thee. For on account of my wrath I smote thee, but

LI for mercy’s sake I have loved thee; and thy gates shall be open continually (by day or by night they shall not be shut) to introduce to thee the wealth of nations and their kings pompous-

L2 ly attended. For the nations and kings which will not serve thee shall perish—such nations indeed shall be utterly laid waste.

13 The glory of Lebanon also shall come to thee, with the cypress ana the pine and the cedar, to adorn the place which

14 is dedicated to me. And to thee shall come trembling the sons of them who afflicted and humbled thee, and thou shall be called, City Sion of the Holy one of Israel.

15 Because of thy having been forsaken and hated when there was no helper, I will make thee an everlasting boast—a joy for

16 perpetual generations. And thou shall suck the milk of nations, and feed on the wealth of kings, and shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour, and that thy Redeemer is the God

17 of Israel. And instead of brass I will bring thee gold; and instead of iron I will bring thee silver; and instead of wood I will bring thee brass and instead of stones iron. And I will make

18 thy chiefs peaceful and thine overseers righteous; and violence shall no more be heard in thy land, nor destruclion nor misery in thy borders; but thy walls shall be called Salvation and thy

19 gates, sculpture. And thou shall no more have the sun for a light by day nor shall the rising of the moon enlighten thy night; but the Lord will be to thee an everlasting light; and thy

20 God will be thy glory. For thy sun shall not go down nor shall thy moon ever wane: For the Lord will be to thee an everlasting light;

21 and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. And thy peo-

pie shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, 22 preserving the plant, the works of their hands, for glory. The fewest in number shall become thousands, and he who is smallest, a great nation. I the Lord in due time will gather them.

LXI. Sect. 12. (M) THE SPIRIT of the Lord is upon me, for the business for which he anointed me. He hath sent me to publish glad tidings to the poor, to heal them who are broken hearted; to proclaim a deliverance to captives, and a recover’

2 of sight to the blind: to proclaim an acceptable year of the Lord and a day of retribution. To comfort all who are mourn-

3 ing; that to the mourners in Sion may be given, glory instead of ashes, oil of joy to the mourners, robes of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called generations of

4 righteousness, a plant of the Lord for glory. And the wastes of old times shall be rebuilded; and former desolations shall be repaired, and wasted cities renewed which had lain in ru-

5 ins for ages. And strangers shall come and feed thy flocks and

6 foreigners shall be thy ploughmen and vine dressers. But you shall be called priests of the Lord, ministers of God. You shall eat the wealth of nations and for their riches be admired.

7 Thus shall they again inherit the land; and everlasting joy shall

8 be on their head. For I am the Lord who love righteousness and hate the spoils of injustice; and I will give the righteous the fruit of their toil and make an everlasting covenant with

9 them and their seed shall be distinguished among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of peoples. Every one who seeth them will know them, that they are a seed whom God

10 hath blessed. And they shall rejoice in the Lord with joy.

(c) Rejoice in the Lord, O my soul, for he hath clothed me with the mantle of Salvation, and with an under garment of gladness, he hath crowned me as a bridegroom with a crown

11 and adorned me as a bride, with jewels, and like the earth blooming with flowers. And as a garden causeth its seeds to vegetate, so will the Lord cause righteousness to spring up and’joy in the presence of all the nations. :

LXHi-‘r’ (M) For Sion’s sake I will not be silent, and for the sake of ‘Jerusalem I will not rest; until the righteousness thereof

2 break forth as light, and my salvation blaze like a torch; and nations see thy righteousness, and kings this glory of thine. When he shall call thee by a new name which the Lord him-

3 self will give thee; then thou shalt be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4 And thou shalt no more be called, Forsaken; nor shall thy land any more be called, The desert; but thy name shall be called, My Delight; and that of thy country, The inhabited land. Because the Lord is well pleased with thee therefore thy

5 land shall be thickly inhabited: and as a youth cohabiting with a virgin bride, so shall thy sons inhabit it: and as a bridegroom will rejoice in his bride, so will the Lord rejoice over thee.

6 Now upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen all the day; and all the night, they will not cease continually

7 to mention the Lord; for there is none like you. When he shall have re-established and made Jerusalem a boast on the

8 earth—the Lord hath sworn by his glory and by the power of his arm, I will no more give thy corn and thy food to thine enemies; nor shall the sons of strangers any more drink thy wine,

9 for which thou hast laboured. But they who reap the harvest shall eat and praise the Lord; and they who gather the vintage

10 shall drink wine in my holy courts. Go through my gates and prepare the way for my people and throw the stones out of the

11 way. Erect a standard for the nations. For lo! the Lord hath published this to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Sion, Behold the Saviour is come for thee, having his own re-

12 ward and his work before him. And he will call this a holy people, redeemed by the Lord; and thou shalt be called the city sought and not forsaken.

LXIII. (c) Who is this who is coming from Edom? What redness of mantles from Bosor! He so magnificent in apparel? He marcheth with majesty!

2 (M) I proclaim righteousness and the judgment of salvation.

3 (M) I am full of a country trodden down; and of the nations there is not a man with me. I have trodden them down

in my wrath, and crumbled them like dust and shed their

4 blood on the earth. For the day of retribution came upon them

5 and the year of redemption is at hand. When I looked and there was no helper and observed that none upheld; then mine own arm delivered them. Mine indignation indeed was rous-

0 ed, and I trampled them down in mine anger and shed their blood on the earth.

7 (c) I recollected the loving kindness of the Lord—the mercies of the Lord in all those things which he retributeth for us. The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel. He

8 dealeth with us according to his tender mercy and according to the abundance of his saving goodness, and said, ” Is not

9 this my people? Children should not rebel.” And he became their Saviour from all their distress.

It was not an ambassador nor a messenger; but he himself saved them. Through his love and his indulgence to them, he himself redeemed them and took them up, and exalted them

10 all the days of old. But they rebelled and provoked his holy spirit; so he became their enemy. He fought against them; though he remembered the days of old.

11 O ! where is he who caused the shepherd of his flock to come up out of the sea ? Where is he, who put his holy spi-

12 rit in them ? That glorious arm of his which led Moses by the right hand ? He forced back the water from before him,

13 to make himself an everlasting name. He led them through the deep, like a horse through a desert; and they were not

14 fatigued : and like cattle through a plain. A spirit from the Lord descended and conducted them. Thus thou didst lead

15 this people of thine, to make thyself a glorious name. Return from heaven and take a view from the house of thy sanctuary and thy glory. Where is thy zeal and thy majesty ? Where the abundance of thy loving kindness and tender affections, that thou hast withdrawn thyself from us ? For thou art our

16 father. Because Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel hath not acknowledged us; do thou, O Lord, our father, do thou de-

17 liver us. From the beginning thy name is upon us ; why, O Lord hast thou suffered us to wander from thy way, and our hearts to be hardened so as not to fear thee ? Return for the sake of thy servants—for the sake of the tribes of thy heritage, 18 that we may inherit a little of thy holy mountain. We arc be-

19 come as at the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when we were not called by thy name.

LXIV. If thou wilt open the heaven, at thy presence terror

2 will seize the mountains, and they will melt as wax melteth before fire; and a fire will bum up the adversaries, and thy name will be manifest to the adversaries—At thy presence

3 the nations will be troubled. When thou executest thy glorious works, because of thee terror will seize the mountains.

4 Never have we heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides thee ; nor works such as thine, which thou wilt do for

5 them who wait for mercy. For it will meet them who practise righteousness, and they will remember their ways. Behold

6 thou wast angry when we sinned; because of this we wandered and became all of us as unclean, and all our righteousness was like a polluted rag ; and for our iniquities we have

7 fallen like leaves ; so that the wind will sweep us away. There is indeed none who invoketh thy name, or who remembered to lay hold on thee; because thou hast turned away thy face from us, and delivered us up for our sins.

8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father. Though we are clay,

9 we are all the works of thy hands: be not angry with us to the uttermost ; nor remember forever our sins : but, O, look down

10 now upon us; for we are all thy people. The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert: Sion is become like a desert; Jell rusalem, for a curse. The house, our sanctuary—even tliat glory which our fathers blessed, is utterly burnt up with fire, 12 and all our glorious things are in ruins; yet for all these things, thou, O Lord, hast refrained, and been silent. Thou hast humbled us exceedingly. . .”

LXV. (M) I became manifest to them who inquired not for me ; I was found by them who sought me not. I said, ” Behold here I am” to the nation which did not invoke my name.

2 I stretched out my hands all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people, who were walking not in a good way, but

3 following their own sins. This people are provoking me continually to my face. They will sacrifice in the gardens and bum incense on the tiles, to demons which have not an ex-

4 istence. They sleep in tombs and in caverns for the purpose of dreaming: they eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of sacri-

5 fices ; all their vessels are polluted ; yet they say, ” Keep at a distance from me; come not near me, for I am clean.” This is a smoke which causeth my wrath; a fire is kindled by it every

6 day. Behold it is written before me : I will not keep silence, until I have retributed into their bosom their sins; and the

7 sins of their fathers, saith the Lord. They have burned incense on the mounts, and treated me with scorn on the hills, I will retribute their works into their bosom.

8 Thus saith the Lord, As when a good grape is found in the cluster, they will say,^<l Destroy it not; for there is a blessing in it,” so will I do for the sake of him who serveth me;

9 for his sake I will not destroy them all. I will indeed bring forth the seed from Jacob namely, from Juda, and he shaU inherit my holy mountain : and my chosen ones and my ser-

10 vants shall inherit and dwell there ; and there shall be in tk forest folds for flocks ; and the valley of Achor shall be a rest-

11 ing place of herds, for my people who have sought me. But as for you, who forsake me and forget my holy mountain, and who prepare a table for the Demon, and fill up a mixed

12 potion for Fortune, you I will deliver up to the sword; you shall all bow down to slaughter. Because I called and you answered not: I spake and you would not listen ; but did what is evil

13 in my sight; and chose the things in which I did not delight; therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold my servants shall eat;

but you shall be hungry : behold my servants shall drink; but you shall be thirsty: behold my servants shall rejoice; but you

14 shall be ashamed: behold my servants shall triumph with joy: But you shall scream for sorrow of heart, and howl for anguish

15 of spirit. For you shall leave your name for a loathing to my chosen. As for you, the Lord will destroy you ; but to my

16 servants, a new name shall be given which shall be blessed on the earth : for they will bless the true God : and they who swear on the earth, will swear by the true God. For they will forget their former affliction and it shall not recur to their

17 mind: for there shall be a new heaven and the earth shall be new : and they shall no more remember former things, nor

18 shall they ever come again into their mind. But in this they shall find joy and gladness : for behold I am about to make

Jerusalem a subject of joy, and this people of mine a subject of

19 rejoicing. And I will exult in Jerusalem and rejoice in my people ; and there shall no more be heard therein, the voice of

20 wailing nor the sound of a mournful cry. Nor shall there any more be there an untimely birth, nor an old man, who shall not complete his term. For he who is a hundred years old shall be young; and the sinner, who dieth at a hundred years,

21 shall be deemed accursed. And they shall build houses and dwell therein: and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruits

22 thereof. They shall not build, and others inhabit: nor shall they plant and others eat: for according to the days of the tree of that life, shall be the days of this my people : for they

23 shall out wear the works of their toils. My chosen ones shall not labour in vain, nor shall they bring forth children for a curse. Because they are’ a seed blessed of God, both they and

24 their offspring: therefore it shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer them: and while they are yet speaking

25 I will say, What is the matter. Then shall the wolves and the lambs feed together : and the lion shall eat straw like the

LXVI. ox. But the serpent shall eat dust as bread. They shall not hurt, nor shall they destroy on my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and tlie earth, my footstool: what sort of an house will you build for

2 me ? And of what sort shall be the place of my rest ? For all these things my hand hath made : and all these things are mine saith the Lord. Upon whom therefore will I look down, but upon him only who is humble and quiet, and who trem-

3 bleth at my words ? As for the wicked man, who sacrificeth to me a young bull: he is one who slayeth a dog: and though he oflereth me fine flour : it will be as the blood of swine.— Though he oflereth incense for a memorial, he is as a blasphemer. As they have chosen their own ways: and their soul

4 hath delighted in their abominations: I also will chuse their delusions, and pay them back their sins. Because I called them and they did not answer—I spake, but they did not listen: but did that which is evil in my sight, and chose the things

5 in which I did not delight; hear the decisions of the Lord— ye who tremble at his word, say, ” O onr brethren—(to them

VOL. III. U

who hate you and are abominable, that the name of the Lord may be glorified and appear to their joy, when they shall be

6 ashamed) a sound of screaming from the city ! a sound from the temple ! the voice of the Lord rendering a recompense to his adversaries!

7 That a woman hath brought forth before she travailed; that before her pangs came on, they are over and a male child

8 born; who hath heard such a thing, or who hath seen the like ? Did ever the earth bring forth in a day, or was ever a nation bom at once ? That Sion should travail and bring forth

9 her children, I myself gave this expectation ; yet thou didst not remember me, saith the Lord. Behold did I not make her who beareth ; and her who is barren ? Said thy God.

10 Rejoice O Jerusalem! and sing praises therein, all ye who love her! Be exceedingly joyful with her, all ye who mourn for her!

11 That you may suck and be satisfied from the breast of her consolation—that you may suck and be fed deliciously, at

12 the commencement of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold I will glide to them like a peaceful stream, and like a torrent deluging the glory of nations. Their children shall be

13 carried on shoulders, and shall be dandled on knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and in

14 Jerusalem you shall find consolation. And you shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice; and your bones shall flourish like a green herb. And the hand of the Lord will be made known to them who fear him. And it will terrify them who are disobe-

15 dient. For behold! the Lord will come as a fire, and his chariots as a whirlwind, to execute his vengeance with wrath

16 and his rebuke with flaming fire. For with the fire of the Lord all this land shall be tried, and all flesh widi his sword. Many

17 shall be the slain of the Lord! They who consecrate and purify themselves for the gardens, and they who, in the outer courts, eat swine’s flesh, and the abominations and the mouse, shall for this be consumed together, said the Lord.

18 As I know their works and their reasoning I am coming to gather together all the nations and die tongues, and

19 they shall come and see my glory. And I will leave among them a sign, and those of them who escape I will send to the nations—to Tharsis and Phud and Lud and Mosach and to Thobel and Greece and to the far distant isles. They who have not heard my name nor seen my glory—even they shall

20 proclaim my glory among the nations; and they shall bring your brethren from all the nations, as a gift for the Lord with horses and chariots, in litters borne by mules with umbrellas over them, to the holy city Jerusalem, said the Lord; as the children of Israel brought up their sacrifices for me with songs

21 of praise to ‘the house of the Lord. And of them I will take

22 priests and Levites, said the Lord. For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I make, shall remain in my presence, saith the Lord; so shall your seed and your name be establish-

23 ed. And it shall be, that month after month and sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, in Jcrusa-

24 km, said the Lord. And they shall go forth, and see the carcasses of those men, who have transgressed against me. For their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to aH flesh.