chapter xxxv. describes the flourishing state of the Church

consequent upon the execution of the Divine judgments.

+I. There is a parallel between God's dealings with individuals and society.+ Such a parallel may be presumed to exist, inasmuch as any society is made up of individuals; and God cares equally for the single and the corporate life. Taking the mass of men, evil dispositions lead to evil deeds, and these to habits, before they are turned to the service of God. God intervenes in the way of judgment; times of judgment are appointed them, foreshadowing a future day of the Lord's vengeance. 1. _Individual judgments._ God's controversy with Jacob at Peniel, when Jacob's thigh was put out of joint, was but the climax of the Divine vengeance in respect of his sinful past, and became the _turning-point_ of his life. Not only are bad men changed in this way, but good men are made better (xxxviii. 12-14; Lam. iii. 3-21; Job x. 16-20; H. E. I. 56-59, 66-70, 116). God strikes, that human nature may be laid bare in its depths, and a thorough work of regeneration accomplished, proceeding from within outward. Afflictions do not always soften; but they do so often enough to form a large part of the method of the Divine vengeance. 2. _Social and national judgments._ Jacob became Israel, and Israel the Church of God, the representative of God on earth, even as Edom, of which Esau, the godless, was the ancestor, is regarded in Scripture as the representative of the world-power. Edom was emphatically the troubler of Israel. Its judgments--prophetic of greater in the future--were sent by the Defender of Zion--(1.) To make manifest its sin; (2.) To show the theocratic character of Israel.

But the Edom, or world-spirit, was in Israel herself; hence the judgments of the Church. The idea of the theocracy was interfered with when Israel wished a king, like the other nations (1 Sam. viii. 6, 7). That could only be entertained by Jehovah if kings had their right to rule direct from Himself. And so He raised up _David and David's line_ (1 Sam. xvi. 1-13; Gen. xlix. 8). Hence the institution and perpetuation of the prophetic line--Samuel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, &c.--to assert and maintain the idea of the theocracy.

With a grander display of the Divine power this tale has been re-told under the Christian dispensation. Social and national crises are still brought about, in the wise judgment of God, first, to make manifest the sins of communities and nations; and, second, to direct men to the Church of Christ. In times of _the Church's unfaithfulness,_ apostles, truly apostolic men, reformers, &c., interfere.

+II. Antagonism between the Church and the world must end in the defeat and subjugation of the world.+ Jehovah is the defender of the cause of Zion through the ages. He has espoused the cause of holiness against ungodliness. His people may be dispersed, but the Church does not die out. From the lowest ebb it returns to the flow. The blood of its martyrs becomes seed. Its opponents turn ever feebler. This is seen in their more spasmodic efforts. Its benign influence has extended far; ever larger numbers are being brought under its yoke. The world fights every inch of the ground; but--

+III. The great day is surely coming.+ There must come a complete manifestation of the Church's inherent glory. 1. This manifestation will take place by displays of Divine vengeance on the enemies of Zion. This method of the ancient time has not become obsolete. 2. The manifestation will not be short-lived, but continue, so that destruction may be succeeded by a realised state of salvation. 3. Last of all, there shall be seen the triumph of the Church, when Church and world shall be conterminous, and fulness of blessing be enjoyed. (Chapter xxxv. still awaits its largest fulfilment.)

CONCLUSION.--1. We have a Gospel of terror to preach to the world--a _Gospel of terror,_ for the Divine vengeance is informed by the greatest heart of love. Is the Church, as some say, becoming less powerful in our time? Let the question at least provoke searchings of heart. God still sends judgments upon unfaithful Churches. 2. Remember, in times of darkness and trial, that the Lord has the deepest interest in His Church. It cannot disappear from the world; but be alive to removing from it causes of weakness. 3. Let us encourage one another in the hope of a time when the Church's glory shall be fully manifested, when the time of recompense for the long controversy of Zion shall arrive. Let us work in the Church so as to help to bring about the glad time coming.--_J. Macrae Simcock._

A CALL TO STUDY.

xxxiv. 16. _Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, and read, &c._

On the supposition that a Divine revelation is given to man, its most convenient method will be that of a permanent written record, thus available for the use of successive generations. Disparagement of a book revelation proceeds from misconception of its nature and ends. Out of its existence flows the universal right to its perusal, unless it is restricted in terms. Not only the right, but the duty. By personal study every one should know it (John v. 39). Our Lord appealed to the conscience of the people, combined with their knowledge of the Word of God.

The duty is here urged in reference to the prediction of the downfall of Idumea. It was to become a desolation. Those into whose hands the prophecy falls are to search and read in the Book of the Lord, and compare the event. Nothing shall fail. Everything said shall find its mate, its corresponding fact; for God's Spirit is the Author of the prediction. Idumea to-day is its confirmation.

We use the text in order to urge the study of Scripture as a Christian duty--

I. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS DIVINE.

2 Tim. iii. 16; 2 Pet. i. 21. It is the Book of the Lord. The Bible is a collection of the records of Divine revelations made at various times, but bearing on its great design. The inducement to read a book often depends on the author. We believe him to be endowed with literary skill, or an authority on the subject of the book. And if God is, in some way, through the various writers, the Author of the Book, the authorship is an important reason for reading it (H. E. I. 522, 523). Consider who and what He is, and the solemn relations in which He stands to us (H. E. I. 561). Its subjects will be worthy of Him and important to us. It will be authoritative. From the uncertainties of human thought we find in the Lord's Book a safe resting-place.

II. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS INTERESTING.

In its form, apart from its subject-matter. Some form it must have. It might have been in the form of didactic statement only, without illustrative facts or poetic beauties. It would not have been read with interest. Or it might have been in the catechetical form. However useful this method in fastening definite notions in carefully chosen words, it would have failed to be a book to which men and women would return with delight as they return to the Bible after the period of youth has passed away. It is made interesting by the varied forms in which truth is communicated. It is poetic, historical, biographical. Its teaching is usually so connected with events and persons as to present points of interest always fresh. The man finds a solution of the profoundest problems of time and eternity. The child finds in its narratives of persons and events a charm that never fails. To its interesting form is owing, in a large degree, its hold on those who read it from day to day (H. E. I. 607-609, 3860).

III. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS INSTRUCTIVE.

It contains a large amount of information, not only with regard to the Jewish nation, but also other nations of the ancient world. But this is not its main design. It is subordinate to the revelation of man as a sinner and of God as a Saviour. God's character, man's relation to Him, human duty, the future state, are all instructively treated; but they all find their place in relation to God's great plan for man's recovery, through the mediation of Christ, from misery and sin. And is not this the most important of all instruction? What would all history be, all science, all philosophy, if no voice from Heaven was heard respecting the most vital of all questions? Do you desire instruction respecting salvation? Search and read in the Book of the Lord.

IV. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS DIRECTIVE.

Is not the course of human life like that of a vessel exposed to the winds that may drive her leagues out of her proper course? Does not man need careful guidance? Conscience is the captain, but conscience untaught and unguided will manage the ship uncertainly and erroneously (H. E. I. 1299-1307). The Book of the Lord is the directory for the conscience. No position demanding moral action can ever occur in which adherence to its direction will not issue safely. How pure its principles! How righteous its commands! How wise its directions! They touch our life at every point.

V. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS CONSOLATORY.

Sorrows are incident to human life. There are present troubles. Some are heart-breaking. We need help and comfort. The world does not contain it. Here is the balm that can heal every wound.

And there is the future. The prospect of death and eternity. Without the Book of the Lord men are uncertain and hopeless. It sheds clear light on both. How many in the prospect, are delivered from fear and filled with hope! What comfort it affords under the bereaving stroke!

For all these reasons "seek ye out the Book of the Lord." Bring every question to it. Read it daily, thoughtfully, for yourself, for others. In your youth. In your active manhood. In your old age.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE BOOK THAT WILL ENDURE TESTING.

xxxiv. 16. _Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, and read, &c._

We may be sure that God would not give a revelation without affixing His seal to it; otherwise it would be useless, there being no evidence of its Divine origin. Supposing a revelation given, what would constitute a satisfactory proof of its Divinity? Evidently it must be some sign not capable of being counterfeited, some unmistakable indication that GOD has spoken to us. This might be given by some exertion of Divine power or some manifestation of Divine knowledge. As such, miracles and prophecy would furnish indubitable proof that a revelation was from God, and those which attest the Bible are its proper seals. Along with the internal evidence and the argument drawn from the success of the Gospel, they are so many buttresses supporting the edifice of revealed truth; but each is a distinct and sufficient support by itself. The Scriptures themselves appeal to the evidence of fulfilled prophecy in support of their reception as the Word of God, and one of the most pointed of these appeals is that before us. In this chapter Isaiah predicts the desolations that were to come on the chief city of Edom. Placing himself forward in time amid the scenes he predicts, he challenges any one to compare the predictions in the Book of the Lord with the actual condition of the city; he is confident that "the Book" will bear that test, and will come out of it triumphantly.

+I. Read the prophecy before us in the light of its fulfilment.+ The apologetic value of prophecy has often been discredited. Attempts have been made to explain it on natural grounds, as a sagacious forecast, a shrewd prognostication. But what natural sagacity could have foreseen that Edom, so powerful and prosperous in Isaiah's time, would become a desolate waste? It has been well remarked that prophecy possesses as a proof of Divine revelation some advantages that are peculiar. Its fulfilment may fall under our own observation, or may be conveyed to us by living witnesses. The evidence from miracles can never be stronger than it was at first; but that of prophecy is increasing, and will go on increasing until the whole scheme of perdition is fulfilled. It is the accomplishment, and not the mere publication of a prophecy, which supplies a proof of the Divine origin of the Bible; and this evidence is constantly accumulating. The prophets themselves did not understand some of their oracles (1 Pet. i. 11, 12). They were like documents written in colourless ink, to which some chemical preparation must be applied to make their characters legible. Their meaning could be seen only in their fulfilment. But all the prophetic writings are not thus obscure; many are clear and definite; more like the details of a historical narrative than the visions of prophecy. Nothing can be plainer than the description here given of the state to which Edom would be reduced. The wards of this lock are too intricate to be opened by any key which we choose to apply to it; but the fitting key has been found. "The whole," says Alexander, "is a magnificent prophetic picture, the fidelity of which, is notoriously attested by its desolation for a course of ages." The chief city in the region of Mount Seir was Selah or Petra, the Rock City. It was long unknown till it was discovered by Robinson, and since then it has been visited by successive travellers. It lay embedded among the hills. So nestled was it in its rocks "that it could only be approached by two narrow defiles. Dwellings cut out of the solid stone line the face of the cliffs, and the central space indicates that a large city once stood upon it." Malachi speaks of its utter desolation (Mal. i. 2, 3), but afterwards it recovered for a time. Its condition for centuries as described by unbiassed witnesses is a standing evidence of the truth of the prophetic Word.

+II. We may test "the Book" in other fields.+ As a tourist verifies his guide-book and finds it trustworthy at every step, so in many regions do we find the prophetic Word made sure (2 Pet. i. 19-21). Babylon, Tyre, and the fortunes of the Jewish people, all bear witness to the truth of the prophecies. But especially in the career of our Lord and Saviour do we meet with remarkable fulfilments of Scripture. What could be more minute than some of the prophecies concerning Him? His miracles, His submission to unmerited suffering, His riding upon an ass, His being pierced, His being sold for thirty pieces of silver which should be applied for the purchase of the Potter's Field, the lots cast on His vesture, and the vinegar given Him to drink, were all the subject of definite prediction.

+III. The Bible will bear testing in its declarations concerning human nature.+ No book so unveils us to ourselves. We feel its truth in what it says about our noble origin, our lamentable fall, our sinfulness, and the strife within us between the flesh and the spirit. Because it tells us all that ever we did, we feel that it must be Divine.

+IV. From all this two sound and important conclusions follow+:--1. _We may put equal confidence in its declarations concerning God._ Nothing but Divine knowledge and insight can so disclose the future and the hidden; and if we have found the Bible reliable when it tells us of earthly things, may we not believe it when it tells us of heavenly things? 2. _We may be sure that its prophecies concerning the future of Christ's kingdom and the destiny of the human race will in like manner be fulfilled to the letter_ (Ps. lxxii. 11, 17; Rom. viii. 19-23). So many of the prophecies of God's Word have already been accomplished, that we should feel confident that those not yet fulfilled are surely marching on to their fulfilment. The prospects of success in the mission field are brighter in our day than ever they were. The Church is taking an interest in the enterprise quite unknown to former generations, and openings have been made into lands before closed alike against commerce and Christianity. But even if our hopes of success were less cheering, we would not despair. With so many Bible predictions behind us in the past now become history, we cannot but be encouraged to look for the fulfilment of those glowing prophecies concerning the future coming of the Redeemer's kingdom which stand on the inspired page. Let us never lose sight of those grand predictions; let us cherish a hopeful and expectant spirit, and in the confidence of success descend to the spiritual harvest of the world (H. E. I. 1166-1168).--_William Guthrie, M.A._

THE CERTAINTY OF GOD'S JUDGMENTS.

xxxiv. 16, 17. _Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, &c._

The text occurs midway between a series of predicted judgments pronounced on Edom as the representative of the wicked world, and another series of blessings foretold concerning the Church of God, but it is evidently retrospective.

While a minute verification of these predictions of vengeance might form a solid, convicting argument for the validity of trust in the Bible as the rule of faith and practice, there is another and more general way of regarding the text. Search into a certain book is enjoined because it is the Book of JEHOVAH.

Human faith finds its ultimate basis in God Himself. The certainty of the Divine judgments may therefore be inferred from--

I. THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE BEING.

If the Bible be not merely a revelation _from_ God, but a revelation _of_ God, too much attention cannot be paid to those aspects of the Divine nature afforded by it which man may apprehend although he cannot comprehend them. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" &c. No; but enough may be learned of God to make us sure that it is madness to disobey Him or trifle with His commands. 1. _The long-hidden Name of God._ Proper names were made very expressive among the Jews. The name JEHOVAH was sacred above all others; they treated it with a superstitious reverence, not daring to pronounce it, &c. Doubtless they referred with awe to the time and circumstances of the communication to Moses (Exod. vi. 1, 2). And so may we in thinking of the Divine judgments. JEHOVAH, it is said, "remembered His covenant," and was about to redeem the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt "with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments" (Exod. vi. 1-8). JEHOVAH: what does the Name mean? _Being_--unconditioned, absolute, immutable, eternal Being. If, then, God changes not, but is JEHOVAH, to sin against Him is inevitably to call down judgment; for JEHOVAH'S will must be done on earth as it is in heaven. 2. _Some of the attributes by the use of which we try to compass the Divine nature._ (1.) _God is just._ But sin, in all its forms, is a crying injustice, and affronts God so that the Divine majesty must assert itself in punishment. (2.) _God is good._ But sin, as selfishness, is radically opposed to goodness in God, who has might, as well as right, on His side, and, therefore, pursues selfishness to its last resort. (3.) _God is holy._ Separateness from all sin distinguishes Him in the midst of His _relations_ to man. How, then, can sinners go unpunished? (H. E. I. 2281, 2282, 4478-4479, 4603-4610).

II. THE CHARACTER OF DIVINE LAW.

Law is a transcript of the Divine nature; the Divine _character_ or handwriting making Him known to us; the far-reaching _hand_ of the Eternal. God reveals Himself in its _sanctions, reward,_ and _punishment._ To obey is to reap reward; to disobey is to be laid hold of _instantly_ by the outraged majesty of law. There is no human way of escape. Visible judgment may be deferred, but the Divine law is cognisant of all transgression. In the matter of the first sin, the formerly existing _potentiality_ of punishment became an _actuality._ The character of the Divine law may be seen--1. _In the physical world._ The designer of a ship or bridge diverges from mathematical truth only to produce disaster. 2. _In Providence._ 3. _In the Word of God._

APPLICATION.--_If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?_ 1. The Divine judgments cannot be evaded. "God is love;" but what love! God is "a consuming fire;" not sentimentally weak; not given to winking at transgression. 2. God's _grace_ magnifies His name and law. He condemned Christ as the _Sin-Bearer_ to _death._ Thank God! the sinner may be pardoned, but the impenitent are surely handed over to punishment.--_J. Macrae Simcock._

TRANSFORMATION.

xxxv. 1, 2, 7. _The wilderness and the solitary place, &c._

Chapters xxxiv., xxxv., form one prediction, first announcing the doom of Edom, and then taking us into a new sphere where all is light, beauty, and gladness; a prediction which had a fulfilment in the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem, which they set above their chiefest joy. But the prophecy is one of those in which the so-called secondary meaning is, in truth, the primary; the spiritual takes precedence to the natural, and the fulfilment is to be looked for, not in a remnant of Israel returning to the land of their fathers, but in these grand Gospel times, in which humanity, cursed and bloated by sin, is blessed, saved, and dignified by the influences that stream from the Cross of Calvary.

+I. The end condition of the localities on which the Gospel is intended to operate.+

How suggestive the descriptive symbols: a "wilderness," a "solitary place," "parched ground," a "habitation of dragons." The desolation turns mainly on the absence of water. No other similes could so vividly depict moral barrenness and death. The unregenerate heart is desolate, weary, solitary. Moreover, it is "a habitation of dragons," a foul serpent-brood of uncontrolled passions.

This true of the world as well as of the individual. Think of the great unreclaimed wastes of heathendom. Can civilisation renew them? It has been tried and found wanting.[1] Only the Water of Life, gushing from the smitten Rock, can give moral life.

+II. The effects produced by the kingdom of Jesus.+[2]

Even we can appreciate the value of water and the beauty of its effects. But to Orientals water is a matter of life and death. Hence as an emblem it is employed to bring before the mind the blessed and joy-giving results of the kingdom of Christ. Note these results as they are brought before us in our text. 1. _Gladness._ "The wilderness and the solitary place," &c. Music of Nature after copious rains following on scorching heat. This an emblem of the joy brought to human hearts by the Gospel. The wilderness state one of sorrow; the river of the water of life running through the heart makes it glad. This is seen in cases where sin and terror are cast out of the heart by the love of God. How this result has been manifested in modern times in nations converted from idolatry to Christianity (H. E. I. 1134). 2. _Fertility._ "It shall blossom," &c. The desert is barren. The Gospel changes moral wilderness into fruitful gardens; the individual, the nation. 3. _Beauty._ Think first of a part of the earth's surface parched, desert, and barren, and then of it as a garden covered with the fairest flowers. The first and most striking impression made upon the mind by such a transformation would not be so much that of fertility as of surpassing beauty. So with this moral transformation. Contrast the state of a country before with its condition after having received the Gospel (H. E. I. 1126, 1127). Look at the annals of missionary effort: Madagascar, Samoa, the Fiji Islands, &c. The same change occurs in individual character. 4. _Glory and majesty._ "The glory of Lebanon," &c. Symbols of all that is glorious and majestic. To live by the power of Jesus the secret of a noble life. Alliance with heaven raises men to regal dignity. The Gospel elevates the character and dignifies the pursuits of men. Our lower pursuits are ennobled by a Christian aim, whilst the higher life has the very glory of God resting on it. 5. A vision that extends into the Holy of Holies. "They shall see the glory of Jehovah," &c. Only in Christ can we see this. He is the glory of God. The Shekinah is seen above the blood-besprinkled mercy-seat.--_John Key in the Modern Scottish Pulpit,_ vol. i. pp. 133-143.

This chapter is an anticipation of the great prophecy of the restoration (xl.-lxvi.) The firm confidence in God, the boundless hopefulness, the glowing visions of the future, the vigour and joyousness that spread so broad a splendour over that famous Scripture are here in a brief compendium. It has been assigned to the state of Judah under Hezekiah, to the return from the exile, to the Christian dispensation, to a future condition of Palestine, to some future state of the Church or of the world, as well as to some other occasions. Two plain facts are before us--1. At no period of Jewish history was there any approach to a perfect realisation of the magnificent promises of this and allied predictions. 2. God has already given to us so substantial a foretaste of the blessings here promised, that we may rest assured that the one satisfying fulfilment of the prophecy will be in the triumph of the kingdom of heaven through the power of the Gospel of Christ.

Let us look at the picture in the light of its glowing fulfilment.

I. THE OLD SCENE OF THE GARDEN.

We are not independent of things around us. Christianity has a transforming influence over our earthly surroundings. It is the most beneficent factor in material civilisation, the truest patron of art, science, literature, commerce (H. E. I., 1124-1131, 1134). But behind this lies a deeper truth. By transforming our hearts the Gospel changes all things to us. This transforming influence is shown in various relations. 1. The _wilderness_ of old bad things is cleared, and gives place to new and better things. The axe must come before the plough. 2. _The solitary place and the desert._ It is not all weeds and bushes. The task of fertilising the desert with irrigation not less difficult than that of clearing the wilderness. (1.) So there are souls that seem to have lost all soil for spiritual life. (2.) Then there are deserts of ruin, the remains of old withered hopes and joys and loves.

II. THE NEW CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GARDEN.

1. _Life._ This is the first and most important thing. Christ, the one Saviour of society, was the greatest of iconoclasts. But He was also the greatest founder, originator, constructor. He sows seed, gives increase, brings life. 2. _Beauty._ The desert blossoms as the rose. The garden is not to be solely utilitarian. The Church is the bride of Christ, and as such she is to be adorned with every grace. 3. _Gladness._ Life and beauty bring joy. The Church not a prison-house of melancholy devotion. 4. _Varied accessories._ The garden will not only produce its own seedlings, but plants from all quarters are to be carried into it. Lebanon gives her cedars; Sharon her far-famed rose. Christians are heirs of all things. "All things are yours."

In conclusion, observe two important points:--1. _This wonderful transformation will be brought about by the power of God_ (ver. 4). We have tried long enough to reform the world by merely human agency. The Hebrew prophets promised Divine help. Christ fulfils that promise. He comes with life-giving power. See Him in faith and obedience. 2. _All this is a picture of the future._ Christ has done much for the weary world. But the old promises are as yet fulfilled in but a small part. The Hebrews set the golden age not in the past, but in the future. We too must assume their attitude of faith, and hope, and patience (H. E. I. 3421). Are we ready to cry, "Why tarry the wheels of His chariot?" Let us remember that God has all eternity to work with. Meanwhile, let us do what we can to convert our little corner of the vast wilderness into some beginning of the garden of the Lord.--_W. F. Adeny, M.A.: Clerical World,_ i. 231.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The civilisation of Greece and Rome did not affect anything in the way for changing spiritual death into spiritual life. The utmost which it succeeded in effecting was to cover the frightful corruption of death with a more beautiful funeral pall--to hide the naked hideousness of sin behind a veil spangled with silver, and gold, and precious stones. But death was there none the less, and sin of such a kind that the foulest impurities of the most degraded heathen could not exceed the impurities of Athens and of Rome. The old lesson is being taught us, if we would but learn it, in our own day. It is not civilisation that can change the moral desolation of France, of Spain, of Austria. It is not civilisation, as understood by men of science and doctrinaire philosophers, that can change the moral wilderness existing in our large cities, and in much of our rural population. It will only do what it did in Greece; it will merely cover the ghastliness of death with a more decent covering.--_Kay._

[2] See outlines on pp. 364, 365 (THE MORAL WILDERNESS TRANSFORMED and PEACE THE WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS).

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE TIMID.

xxxv. 3, 4. _Strengthen ye the weak hands, &c._

The Christian ministry addresses itself to men of various character in various states. It must be adapted to all. Sometimes warning and denunciation, sometimes tenderness, but always love. The text is addressed to the officers and leading men of Jerusalem in a time of general alarm. The prophet declares that the power of the enemy shall be broken, and that instead of desolation there shall be gladness. The timid and weak were to be encouraged. God's strength is made perfect in man's weakness.

I. THE PERSONS TO WHOM THIS ENCOURAGING MESSAGE IS ADDRESSED.

"The weak hands,"--"the feeble knees,"--"them that are of a fearful heart." Timidity has paralysed them. After a desolating war the nation might thus lose heart. A timid woman who sees insuperable difficulty always in the way. A man in a storm at sea lies lamenting that he ventured on the waters. Some characters shrink from every touch. They are well-intentioned, but their faint hearts bar every effort; and they pass through life purposing and projecting, but never accomplishing anything (H. E. I. 2053, 2054).

This timid and feeble disposition may be manifested in spiritual as well as in other things. For instance--1. _In relation to Christian experience._ It is the privilege of believers in Christ to know their salvation. But many fail to attain it. They do not doubt His sufficiency, but their own interest in it. They fear their sins are not forgiven, their spiritual experience not genuine. Sometimes this is the result of a tendency to view every subject in its darker aspects. Sometimes it is the result of disease. Sometimes of unwatchfulness, negligence, and sin. Sometimes of defective conceptions of the Gospel. Sometimes of a microscopic self-scrutiny which exposes failings and defects with severe faithfulness. The victim of such fears is like one who wishes to reach the city but is never sure that he is in the right way. 2. _In relation to Christian enterprise._ Christians are not converted merely for their own safety. There is a work to do. Sinful habits, dispositions, tempers to be overcome. The dark mass of humanity to be brightened. The Gospel is to be carried to the destitute. This work requires the gifts and opportunities in the hands of Christians. But the weak and faint-hearted tremble at every undertaking. To them the missionary enterprise is a hopeless expenditure of money and life. The time for useful labour in the Church never arrives. If it is commenced, it is abandoned when difficulties present themselves. These weak brethren do nothing themselves and repress the plans and efforts of bolder and more enterprising Christians (H. E. I. 2057, 2058). Among your fears let there be the fear lest by your fears you should hinder the cause of Christ!

II. ITS NATURE AND IMPORT.

It is intended to strengthen and confirm the feeble. God's messengers are to speak words by which faith and courage be reanimated. They contain--

1. _An assurance of deliverance._ The deliverance of the Jewish people included the punishment of their enemies. God saves in a way suitable to each case. If your own resources are inadequate, the Divine resources are equal to the emergency. He will save you from your spiritual fears. Has He not sent His Son? Has not Jesus died and risen again? Does He not intercede? Does not His Spirit work? His willingness to save is equal to His ability. What wondrous love to man in the work of redemption! Do you fear that you will be eventually rejected, or that you will fail in the service to which He calls you? (John vi. 37; Matt. xxviii. 20). The message is addressed to your faith. It reminds you of God's power and grace in Christ. It casts you on the all-sufficiency of God.

2. _A rebuke of fear._ "Fear not." Hope is the opposite of fear and the accompaniment of courage. The fear of the unaccustomed sailor is dissipated when the captain announces that the storm is passing away. The little child alone in a dark room is afraid, although she knows not why. But the mother comes and says there is nothing to fear; there is no fear where she is. So let God's presence and promise drive away all fear respecting our spiritual condition and our Christian work (P. D. 1248, 1257, 1258).

3. _An incitement to labour._ "Be strong." When God's work calls, we must neither yield to fear nor indolence. The father leads his child to the post of duty where his life-work must be done. He sees something of the complicated work of the manufactory, and fears that he will never be equal to it. His father says, "Be a man; face your work, and strength for it will come." So God says, "Be strong." Here is work in the Church and the world. You are weak. Use the strength He gives. It will grow by use. "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. ii. 1). "Strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Eph vi. 10).

Thus God sends the message of encouragement. Weak hands are strengthened. Feeble knees are confirmed. Fearful hearts are rendered courageous. And His encouragement is necessary to comfort in the Christian life, performance of duty, endurance of suffering and reproach. And it helps to recommend the Gospel.--_J. Rawlinson._

Presumption and fear are the Scylla and Charybdis of the Christian life, and it requires Divine guidance, together with all our own watchfulness, to steer safely between them. On the one hand, many are inclined to indulge in vain confidence, and take to themselves the Christian name and hope when not entitled to them; and on the other, many are fearful and disposed to shrink back from duties and privileges which really belong to them. It demands much wisdom on the part of a pastor so to speak as not to encourage false hopes, nor discourage weak and timid piety, especially in reference to a public profession of religion. My object is, to suit the case of those who are well entitled to hope for the Divine mercy through Christ Jesus, but are disquieting themselves, or are disquieted by the enemy, with needless fears. In meeting their wants I will state, and reply to, the reasoning by which I know that many disturb their own peace.

1. "I cannot indulge the hope that I am a Christian, _because I have never passed through the same religious exercises and experience that others profess to have felt and enjoyed._" It is not necessary to dwell at large upon this difficulty. God has brought many sons to glory, but no two of them have been led thither in precisely the same way, or have been exercised with precisely the same feelings. If, in the main, our experiences correspond with the Word of God in the great points of faith and love, it need not disquiet us though we never heard of another case exactly like our own (H. E. I. 1410-1429).

2. _"If I were truly a child of God, sin would not prevail against me as I find it does."_ Answer:--Sin is never perfectly subdued in our hearts as long as we remain upon earth. Some boast of having attained to sinless perfection, but they seem to be labouring under a sort of hallucination, like that of one in an insane asylum, amid his straw and rags, who fancies himself a king, when he is indeed but a poor pitiable object. "The righteous falleth seven times a day," &c. Read St. Paul's experience in the last part of the 7th of Romans and be encouraged thereby (H. E. I. 329, 1057, 2313, 2861, 4571-4573).

3. "I find that sin not only prevails against me, _but I seem to be worse than when I first strove against it; my heart appears to grow more wicked, my corruptions stronger, and my strength to resist to be less._" Answer:--To _perceive_ more of our sin than usual does not always prove that we are more sinful, but often the reverse, just as when one cleanses a room, though the air is filled with dust floating in the sunbeams, there is no more of it actually than before, and there will soon be less of it as the operation goes on. We do not know the strength of our evil passions until we begin to oppose them. It is also undoubtedly true that when one is making a special effort to lead a Christian life, that then he is especially tempted and hindered, and that the motions of sin are then more violent. And further than this, when any are endeavouring to break away from the dominion of Satan, then he assails them with his most powerful temptations (H. E. I. 1060-1062, 1066-1068, 2524, 2525).

4. Another class of disquieted ones affirm that they cannot hope they are true Christians, _because they seem to love everything else more than God._ But in estimating our love to God compared with our love to earthly things, we are not to conclude that we love that most which most excites our affections. It has been well remarked "that a man may be more moved when he sees a friend that has long been absent, and seem to regard him more for the moment than he does his own wife and children, and yet none would think that the friend was loved the most;" so neither must we conclude because when we are abroad in the world we find our affections vehemently stirred towards its various objects, that therefore they are supreme in our hearts. We should judge of our comparative affection by asking ourselves soberly which of the two objects we should prefer to part with (H. E. I. 3365, 3366, 4188, 4189).

5. _"A person may in appearance be like a Christian, and yet be really destitute of any true piety."_ Answer:--Fear is usually the best remedy against the thing feared, and none are farther from the danger of making a false profession than those who are most afraid of it (H. E. I. 339, 2050-2053).

6. Some again have fears that they are not true Christians, _because they come so far short of the attainments of some eminent Christians of their acquaintance._ We reply that the worst part of the character of those exalted saints may not be known to us, or they may not have our hindrances, or they may have been long in growing up to that state, while we are only, as it were, babes in Christ (H. E. I. 2508-2526).

7. Another class say _that they cannot think any real Christian ever was so tempted and distressed with evil thoughts as they are._ We reply, Job was tempted to curse God, and Christ Himself to worship Satan. We may have very wicked thoughts entering our minds, but if we strive against them and they are painful to us, they are no evidence against us. Christ had thoughts as vile as these suggested to Him, but He remained sinless (H. E. I. 4767-4779).

8. Another class say _that they have doctrinal difficulties, that certain things in the Bible do not appear clear to them,_ and they fear to make any public confession of Christ till these things are made plain. We reply that the best way to solve doctrinal difficulties is to engage in practical duties. Any one perplexed upon points of doctrine should read but little on those points, but engage earnestly in all acts of obedience which the Bible enjoins, praying fervently and humbly to be guided into all truth. One day's labour in the field of charity, or one step onward in the path of known duty, will bring more light into the soul upon disputed points than weeks of speculation and controversy (H. E. I. 590-596, 1797). It would be endless to recount all the ways in which doubts and fears assail us. Their name is legion, and our prayer should be that Christ would command them to come out of the man who is troubled with them, and to enter no more into him.--_W. H. Lewis, D.D.: Plain Sermons for the Christian Year._

THE HEALER AND JOY-GIVER.

xxxv. 5, 6. _Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, &c._

This beautiful prophecy is not exhausted by the first fulfilment of the promise which immediately precedes. However great the political deliverance, it did not include the literal giving of sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf. Nor is it only poetic imagery. It points to something in the time of the Messiah, to whose manifestation the scheme of Old Testament history and prophecy is subordinate. We find in this text--

I. THE BLESSINGS CHRIST IMPARTS.

1. We find in the life of Christ a literal fulfilment of the text, which compels us to regard it as fulfilled in Him (Matt. xx. 30-34; Mark vii. 32-35; John v. 5-9, &c.) Now these are historical facts. Useless to say they are miracles, therefore incredible, because a miracle is impossible. Who taught you that a miracle is impossible? You are assuming what you are bound to prove. The testimony of the writers of this history is worth as much as that of any other historical writers (H. E. I. 3527-3529). Many things have occurred in the world the like of which we have never seen. Moreover, the power of God must be taken into account in deciding whether a thing is possible or not. Is it not astounding presumption for a man to measure Divine power by his own; to say, because neither himself nor any other man at present can work a miracle, therefore God cannot and never has? After all the argument, the fact remains. 2. We find that the coming of Christ is identified with improvements in the general character and condition of mankind, such as may be shadowed forth in these physical blessings. Where Christianity comes, the intellectual, moral, and material standard rises. Savage peoples become civilised; civilised nations reach a higher plane. The influence of personal Christianity commonly improves the social position of the individual. 3. But beyond this we find that the coming of Christ is identified with the bestowment of spiritual blessings and the effectuation of spiritual changes as remarkable as the miracles it wrought in the physical region. The spiritual disease of sin, analogous to the physical diseases it has caused, is cured by the Gospel. Take a case. One thoroughly imbued with hatred to Christ. Not content with simple indifference to Him, or rejection of His claims, he throws all the energy of an unusually energetic nature into the active measures that were adopted for the suppression of His cause. But the saving power of Christ finds him in a way unexpected and unusual. He surrenders on the spot, and finds himself under the command of Christ to do whatsoever He wills. He becomes a missionary of the cross. He is sent to the Gentiles "to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." And this case is a type of multitudes whose spiritual diseases have been healed, some of them the most virulent and malignant. It is a work within their souls, which the power of God alone can effect. It is a change of the heart's deepest principles and affections under the influence of spiritual considerations only. It is a moral revolution. The blind eyes are opened to the glory of Christ's truth. The deaf ear listens to His voice. The dumb tongue is eloquent of His salvation, and sings His praise. And the lame man gladly walks in the way of His commandments.

II. THE JOY HE CREATES.

Gladness runs through the text. Leaping and singing are expressions of joy. The blessings of salvation find the soul in the condition of a traveller in the sandy desert, weary, footsore, lame, and silent, who unexpectedly finds a springing well, and begins to talk, and sing, and leap for joy. Joy arises in the heart--1. _From the supply of a conscious need._ Imagine the joy of those whom Christ healed, when the blind saw the light and became interested in the objects around him, when the deaf heard the sound of the human voice, when the dumb was able to make himself understood, when the lame recovered the use of his limbs. What joy was brought into many a home! And when He comes to the heart with His forgiving, cleansing, healing love, what gladness He brings! It is the beginning of days. It is the enjoyment of life. Christians have sources of happiness of which the world knows nothing. "Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory" (H. E. I. 3041). 2. _From the manifestation of a compassionate Saviour._ His healing miracles illustrate His character. Beneficence, tender sympathy with human suffering, love to man marked His steps. It brought Him down from heaven. It nailed Him to the cross. And He is still the same. He is personally interested in His people (H. E. I. 952-957). He is the object of Divine love, and therefore joy. 3. _From the satisfaction of settled faith._ Faith connects the soul with Him. But it is often assailed. It needs support even where it exists. The disciples sometimes wavered, then some new confirmation was afforded. John the Baptist in prison doubted, therefore received the message (Matt. xi. 4-6). Jesus uses His miracles in evidence. Nor must we surrender their evidential power. And there is the confirmatory evidence of expression. This is always fresh.

1. This subject calls for grateful love. Give evidence of your cure by getting the spirit of Christ's compassionate love, and by using His instruments for the cure of others. 2. You too are still in the power of the disease; come to Him for healing.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE CURSE DONE AWAY.

xxxv. 5, 6. _The eyes of the blind shall be opened, &c._

The years of fulfilment linger, and faith is weak and faint. The picture of hopeless helplessness is painted in the context (vers. 3, 4). If we fail, God's promise cannot (vers. 1, 2). The transformation of the desert, the planting of Eden there, and the coming of God with vengeance and recompense are one. They signify one vast display of gracious power. It is no abstract salvation that we wait and hope for, but a Saviour. The text describes the blessings of Messiah's kingdom.

+I. "Is not this poetry?"+ Yes, but is poetry the opposite of truth? Have not prophets ever been poets? Is not poetry the sweetest or strongest or sublimest expression of man's noblest conceptions of truth? This poem of Isaiah is an expression of God's realities. The poetry, the prophecy has its answering reality in history. The age of Christ spake back to it, and both speak on to us. Nothing shall be wanting to complete the scene. The glorious in nature shall but typify the more glorious in man's body, mind, morals, and spiritual satisfaction and joy.

+II. Spiritual and physical evil are intimately connected.+ 1. They are cause and effect. The physical is the sign of the spiritual. Something _radical_ was wrong before the wrong things could come. The doctrine is philosophic as well as biblical. 2. It is not meant that any and every special personal affliction is the result of any given or particular personal transgression. A man is not blind because he or his parents are sinners, but _because of sin._ We are living in a violated order.

+III. The cessation of physical evil can only follow the cure of evil that is spiritual.+ God's life, God's health, God's gladness must be poured into the dumb before his tongue can sing. The spirit of the blind must be thrilled with a heavenly vision before his eye can open on the outer world. God must come and save before the cripple can bound as the deer. 1. Man's sin must be cured, then his sorrow. The miracles of healing in the Gospels teach us this. We can never overlook the moral element in them. It was when Christ saw _faith_ that He said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee" (Matt. ix. 2). 2. Health and soundness could not be given to mankind by a mere miracle-power apart from spiritual considerations. No mere almightiness could effect it. Pentecostal gifts, if repeated, would probably produce similar signs and wonders; still miracles can never be more than periodic and intermittent. The progressive life of the Spirit of God must achieve in the race what they in the individual only foretoken. Physical healing must keep pace with moral. The body must protest against sin. 3. Any philanthropy springing from other hope lacks truth and wisdom, and must fail. It proceeds upon a mistaken conception of human nature. It only deals with symptoms. All true philanthropy must begin at the Cross. The Cross is the sign that God has come for vengeance and for recompense.

CONCLUSION.--_Learn counsel and courage._ 1. Counsel as to life's mysteries, burdens, sufferings, and sorrows. 2. Courage to endure them, and strive with them in manful faith and hope. (1.) Broken health, pains, malformations, insanities, idiocies, and all bodily and mental degeneracies and anomalies are the dreadful issue of spiritual depravity and alienation from the life of God. (2.) Sin's destined Victor is in the combat, and with His own shield and spear will take the throne. The world in which He reigns will be a world where evil is not, but good is all in all.--_William Hubbard: Christian World Pulpit,_ xvi. 232.

BEAUTIFUL VISIONS EXCHANGED FOR REALITIES.

xxxv. 7. _And the parched ground shall become a pool._

Read for "parched ground" _mirage,_[1] and it suggests the inquiry, what would be the feelings of a wearied traveller if the mirage he was vainly pursuing should suddenly become a pool? It would be new life to him; if the vision became a reality, it would be enough. But it is not only the traveller in southern deserts beneath the burning sky that sees visions of beauty floating before his gaze. Countless thousands thirst for something better and nobler than they have. So it has been from the beginning; and 2500 years ago the prophet declared that in the days of the Messiah the soul's desires should be satisfied, that that which had been only a vision should become a reality, the mirage should become a pool.

+I. Past prediction has become actual fact:+ in Christ ideal visions have become realities.

1. In bygone days some nobler souls dreamed dreams of a perfect human character. The "Phædo" of Plato is an illustration of this. But the dream remained a dream until Jesus of Nazareth lived among men. In Him all excellences that were scattered were localised, focused, centralised; and in Him we see of what nobleness our nature is capable. 2. The yearning of some is for truth, pure truth, stripped of all human accretions and confusions. How earnestly search has been made for it! In this search philosophy and theology have been traversed and ransacked. But it is to be found only in Christ. He Himself declared, not vainly, "I am the truth." In Him are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 3. In others, conscience is the most active faculty. Sin is to them a burden and a torment. They yearn for peace of conscience. No suffering seems to them too great if this can be attained. But they never find it until they seek it in Christ. Coming to Him, they are filled with "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." The vision has become a reality; the reality goes beyond the vision. 4. There are others led on by visions of a strong virtue and a noble life. They struggle against their passions and the allurements of the world. But alas! how numerous and lamentable are their defects! They never learn the secret of victory until they come to Christ; but when they have done this, presently they find that with truth they can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." 5. Happiness. Who has not had visions of it? Who has not sought it? But, alas! the confession to which we are all brought is that of Solomon: "Vanity of vanities! all is vanity!" And yet even this thirst is satisfied in Christ--profoundly, exultantly satisfied. In Him we find a happiness that breaks forth in song, and triumphs over the pains and sorrows of this mortal life. The mirage has become a pool.

+II. Actual fact is present prediction;+ in Christ ideal vision will become realities. The soul still thirsts--1. For perfect purity; 2. For perfect rest from the carking cares of earth, and infinite calm in Jesus' love; 3. For the perfect communion of saints. In vision John saw all this in the new Jerusalem; and to all who are Christ's indeed they shall all become realities (1 Cor. ii. 9).

1. Let those to whom the prediction of our text has been fulfilled tell the glad news to others. 2. All for those who have had these visions all their lives, but up to this moment have been utterly disappointed, (1) let them learn from the experience of others, who tell them they never knew truth and happiness until they sought them in Christ; (2) let them listen to the voice of rest; (3) let them be sure that until they do come to Christ, the parched ground will never become a pool. The soul needs more than the vision, however bright and beautiful it may be; it needs the reality, and the reality can be found only in Christ.--_Clement Clemance, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The word _sharab,_ "parched ground," A.V., more exactly "looming sand-waste," refers to the mirage, of which it is the Arabic name. The vain shadows of the world, which deceive and never satisfy, are to be replaced by the enduring joys of the kingdom of God.--_Birks._

Some years ago we were riding over a desert in intense and almost distressing heat. We could but lie still and endure it. We turned our eyes to the south, and, lo! in the horizon there suddenly appeared a beautiful lake, which appeared studded with islands of palms! But it was only appearance, there was no water; and had we been perishing from thirst, the beautiful vision would but have mocked our need.--_Clemance._

No one can imagine, without actual experience, the delight and eager expectation (when the vision first is seen), or the intense and bitter disappointment which the appearance of a mirage occasions to travellers, specially when their supply of water is spent.

"Still the same burning sun! No cloud in heaven! The hot air quivers, and the sultry mist Floats o'er the desert, with a show Of distant waters mocking their distress."--_Kitto._

The word _sharab,_ here rendered "parched ground," is the same that in Isaiah xlix. 10 is translated _heat:_ "They shall hunger no more, they shall thirst no more; the _sharab,_ nor the sun, shall never smite them more."

The primary sense of _sharab,_ giving the key to both applications, is the dazzling, vibrating, noonday heat. Thence it is here taken as a name for its effect, of the mirage in the desert caused by the intense meridian rarefaction and refraction. It is a well-known delusive appearance, arising from the motions of the heated atmosphere, taking great varieties of form, but especially suggesting pictures of grove and fountain scenery--lakes, rivers, green valleys, waving trees, cool and sequestered shades, with every image most grateful to the imagination of the wearied traveller. These often seem so vivid as to be mistaken for realities.

The very common use of the same word (_sarab_) by the Arabian poets, in this mirage sense, makes certain the real meaning here. It gives it, too, a glorious significance of which our translation, though etymologically correct, and, to a certain extent, quite plausible, falls far short. It should be rendered: "The mirage shall become a lake (a _real_ lake, not a mere mockery of one), and the thirsty land springs of water." For the expressive meaning of the word rendered "thirsty-land," see Deut. viii. 15--"that great and terrible wilderness." So Gesenius, very happily: _Et desertum aquœ speciem referens commutabitur in lacum--in veram aquam._ (And the desert having the _appearance_ of water shall be changed into a lake--_into true water._)

The spiritual idea which the passage, thus interpreted, suggests is most striking, whilst at the same time commending itself as having a solid basis, and far removed from the character of an arbitrary sentimentalism. It has a substantial philological support, and comes so directly from the peculiar word employed, that we are compelled to regard it as entering into the prophet's conception.

The primary reference is to the exiles returning from captivity, passing through the land of drought, the valley of Baca (Ps. lxxxiv. 6), and refreshing themselves at "the wells of salvation;" but there is a glow and a glory in the language, as in so many other parts of the Scriptures, that carries it far beyond this, though the Rationalist, if he chooses, may rest in the lower sense, and maintain it on undeniable exegetical grounds. The spiritually-minded reader finds something more--something which alone comes up to the splendour of the style, and without which the hyperbole, beautiful as it is, would seem tumid and extravagant. It is a _mounting sense,_ as we may call it, rather than a _"double"_ or enigmatical representation. The lower is the basis, undoubtedly, but we cannot rest in it. As elsewhere, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, the earthly salvation is described in terms and figures powerfully suggestive of higher spiritual realities. The exegesis, therefore, that comes from this is not arbitrary. To the mind in spiritual harmony, it seems to be the only one that truly satisfies the emotional glow and fervour of the language. The mirage of this world in the highest reality it can claim--still more the mirage our "vain imaginations" create in it--is worse than the dry desert itself; its delusions, when discovered, produce more pain; the disappointment intensifies the thirst. Hence the exceeding impressiveness of the prophet's figure when rightly understood. The unreal shall vanish; truth, substance, eternal reality shall take the place of all that is false. Man shall cease "walking in a vain show" (_betselem_), an image, a shadow (Ps. xxxix. 6). This mirage of time shall become a fountain of _real_ water, of "_living water,_ springing up to everlasting life." "With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isa. xii. 3).

"The shadows are gone, truth has come." Mohammed seems to have, in some way, caught a spark from the prophetic inspiration, when he represents the righteous saying this, as they lift up their hands in the morning of the resurrection. In the Arabic, as in the Hebrew, the power comes from the graphic mode which both languages possess, in so high a degree, of picturing the future in the present, and even in the past. "Joy and triumph _are_ overtaking them, sorrow and sighing _have fled_ away." This is not the land of reality. The idea comes down from the pilgrim language of the patriarchs, who so pathetically declared themselves to be but "travellers and sojourners upon the earth." They were looking for "the better country," the _real_ home, the "city which hath foundations," firm and everlasting. Something of the same idea, and from the same early source, perhaps, may be traced in the most ancient Arabian poets who lived before the days of Mohammed. From them he most probably borrowed the striking similar figure we find in the Koran (Sura xxiv. 29), entitled "Light." It has the same word (_sharab_), and, in other respects is immediately suggestive of the passage in Isaiah: "As for the unbelieving, their works are like the _sarab,_ the mirage of the plain. The thirsty traveller thinks there is water there; but lo, he comes and finds it nothing." The latter parts remind us of the description in Job vi. 17, which may be cited, too, as one of the examples of its Arabian imagery. It is a picture of the thirsty traveller sustained by the hope of finding the refreshing wady stream; but instead of the imagined reality, nothing meets the eye but dried-up bed whose waters have vanished, "gone up to _tohu,_" the formless void, as the Hebrew so graphically expresses it

"What time they shrink deserted of their springs, As quenched in heat they vanish from their place; 'Tis then their wonted ways are turned aside: Their streams are lost, gone up in emptiness. The caravans of Tema look for them; The companies of Sheba hope in vain; Confounded are they where they once did trust; They reach the spot and stand in helpless maze."

Another very striking passage, where the same word is used, may be found in the Koran (Sura lxxviii. 20): "When the hills are set in motion, and become like the _sarab_"--the vanishing mirage. It is a description of the day of judgment, when the world will be found to have been a _sarab,_ a departing dream. Or it may represent its exceeding transitoriness, like that other name _ajalun,_ the _rolling, hastening, passing_ world, which the Koran and the early Arabian poets give to this present mundane system as compared with the reality of Paradise. Hence the word _sarab_ becomes a common or proverbial expression, _pro re evanida,_ for anything light, transient, and unsubstantial. There is a beautiful allusion to it in the very ancient poem of Lebid (_Moallaka de Lebid, De Sacy's ed.,_ p. 294). See also the account of the phenomenon as given by Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. ch. 50. It differs, however, from the picture usually presented by the Arabian poets, in that the appearances are those of animals and wild beasts, rather than of rivers and fountains. The particular kind of phantoms, however, would depend very much on the kind of imagination possessed by the travellers, and the circumstances by which it was excited. It is, in any way, an apt representation of a delusive world, whether in its images of terror or of attraction. That the word is thus frequently used in the Arabic, and that it corresponds well to its ancient Hebrew etymology, is sufficient to warrant us in thus interpreting the idea the prophet so impressively sets forth.--_Taylor Lewis._

THE EXILES' RETURN.

xxxv. 8-10. _And an highway shall be there, &c._

The chapter of which these words are a part testifies of Christ. The prophet, while foretelling it in the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, is enabled to look forward to a more spiritual and much greater deliverance. With the eye of faith he sees the kingdom of the Messiah established in the earth, and beholds Him open a new and blessed road by which a multitude of the enslaved and perishing escape from their miseries and are led to His kingdom. This prophecy calls upon us to consider--1. The travellers of whom it speaks; 2. The way along which they are journeying; 3. The home to which it is leading them.--_Charles Bradley: Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 127, 128.

Whatever primary reference this prophecy might have to the return of the tribes from captivity, it is evident that all its interesting and beautiful descriptions can only be fully realised in the blessedness and glory of the Gospel dispensation. Consider it as spiritually referring to the Gospel way of salvation.

I. THE WAY ITSELF.

A religious course is often spoken of as a way (Prov. xv. 21; Jer. xxi. 8; Matt. vii. 14). The way of which our text speaks is described--1. _As a highway._ It is not a secluded private path, but a public highway opened by the authority of the King of kings; a way designed for the general accommodation of the human race, and leading to the metropolis of the universe. 2. _It is a holy way._ 3. _It is a plain way._ Not a way requiring extensive philosophical knowledge or deep metaphysical research to comprehend it. All the Gospel requirements and duties are plain. 4. _It is a safe way._[1] Satan may try to allure us from it, but he cannot interrupt us while walking in it.

II. THE CHARACTER OF ITS TRAVELLERS.

"The redeemed," &c. 1. _Once they were slaves._ Slaves of sin and Satan. 2. _They have been redeemed._ By the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Redeemed to God; redeemed from sin, the power of Satan, and the wrath to come. 3. _They are now the Lord's freemen._ Now sons, members of the Divine family; sharers of the Divine goodness and peace; and they bear a holy resemblance to their Elder Brother.

III. HOW THEY TRAVEL ALONG IT.

"They shall return and come to Zion with songs." 1. They sing the praises of their great Deliverer (Rev. i. 5, 6). 2. They sing on account of the deliverance itself. 3. They sing on account of the joys of their present experience. 4. They sing on account of their glorious prospects.

IV. THE BLESSEDNESS TO WHICH IT LEADS THEM.

1. They shall be crowned with joy. 2. They shall possess a perfect fulness of felicity. 3. Their felicity shall be uninterrupted and eternal.--_Jabez Burns, D.D.: Four Hundred Sketches and Skeletons of Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 160-163.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This is important in our own country, where there are no ferocious animals lying in wait to destroy; but it was peculiarly important in Judæa and the countries adjoining it. Many parts of these are said to have been infested with beasts of prey, which frequently rushed from their places of concealment upon the passing traveller, and rendered even the public roads exceedingly dangerous. Hence the prophet says of the way to heaven through Christ, that "no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up thereon; it shall not be found there." Not that we are to conclude that the redeemed have no foes to combat, and no difficulties to surmount in their course. Like the Israelites returning from Babylon, they have to pass through an enemy's country in their journey to Zion. But He who has redeemed them accompanies them in their pilgrimage; and though they are called to struggle and fight, He gives them the victory, and renders their path as safe as though there were no dangers near it, nor any to hurt and destroy.--_Bradley._

THE ROAD TO THE CITY.

xxxv. 8-10. _And a highway shall be there, &c._

Human life is a journey--a journey to the grave. The Christian life is a journey--a journey to a better country. Abraham journeyed to the land of Canaan; Israel in the wilderness; their descendants on the return from Babylon (Ezra viii. 31). If you would reach your destination, it is necessary to know and traverse the way.

+I. It is a way easily known.+ Some are difficult to find. They are crossed and intersected so often, and so imperfectly supplied with guiding-posts, that mistakes are almost inevitable. This is a way in which "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err." Serious mistake is almost impossible. You have a directory so clear that reference to it settles every question. God's Word is the guide of life. He may read who runs. It is true there are no difficulties in the ascertainment of the way of life. The road the child travels to his home is quite plain and easy, yet he may be ignorant of the means by which it was made, the materials of which it is constructed, the sources whence they were obtained, the engineering appliances by which they were bound together, the quarters from which the cost was defrayed. At present he has no information, or it is beyond his comprehension. Thus in the Bible there are many things difficult and beyond the present knowledge of the student. They diminish with advancing knowledge and thought. And even if they remain, they do not affect the matters on which certainty is necessary. The way of forgiveness through the Saviour's death is written with the clearness of a sunbeam. The rule of life in its application to all circumstances is so clearly laid down that all cases in the court of conscience find an easy settlement; where there is a disposition to follow it, no practical difficulty exists. It is like the pillar of cloud and fire which infallibly guided the children of Israel in the wilderness.

+II. It is a purified way.+ "The unclean shall not pass over it." It is a holy way. The text fastens attention on those who traverse the road as giving it its character. They are holy persons in the company of holy persons. What is holiness? It is separation, setting apart, purity, always with reference to God. 1. Its meaning is not covered by morality. That term is ordinarily met by the performance of the duties that arise between man and man. 2. Nor is the meaning of the term "holy" covered by humanity. We hear much of what is called "the religion of humanity," which means a benevolent desire for the well-being of mankind. Like morality, it is to be commended as far as it goes. It is, indeed, a step in advance of morality. It is a man's worldly interest to practise its virtues. Humanity rises higher. It looks beyond self. In proportion as a man looks out from himself to the well-being of others, he is ennobled. Holiness includes them both, but they do not necessarily include holiness. They terminate in man, whereas holiness is in immediate relation to God. It is the separation of a man's nature from all sin against God, and is consecration to Him. God brings a sinner under the power of His grace, and a saint emerges. The love of God in Christ, which pardons him, so influences his nature that he comes into sympathy with God, and desires to be like Him. He makes the Divine will the rule of his life. He is born anew. He is holy in heart. His growing practical obedience to the Divine authority is his walk in the way of holiness. Those who have not experienced such a change cannot walk in it. They tire. Holiness of heart precedes holiness of life (H. E. I. 2813-2817).

+III. It is a pleasant way.+ There are pilgrim songs. The walk through the country may be so pleasant that nothing is thought of its difficulty or its fatigue. The way of holiness is rendered pleasant by congenial companions, by Divine thoughts, by heavenly communings. There are difficulties. The way is sometimes steep; here and there are formidable obstructions. There are temptations to weariness and abandonment of the way. Yet the difficulties are not insurmountable. They disappear before the traveller's sanctified determination. The ability of anything to give pleasure depends on our feeling in relation to it. Especially in things of a moral nature. The regenerated nature of a Christian makes every step of his progress a source of pleasure. Christians are the happiest of men, partly because happiness is not sought as their main end (H. E. I. 1080-1084, 4161-4163).

And it is safe as it is pleasant. All pleasant paths are not safe. Some pleasant ones are extremely perilous. The Lord of the way has cleared it of dangers. "He will keep the feet of His saints." "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon."

+IV. It is a completed way.+ Some roads lead to nothing. They abruptly terminate, and you must retrace your steps. This is continued to the destination. "They shall come to Zion." As the Jews reached the earthly Jerusalem we shall arrive in heaven. The holy city is a fit termination of the holy way.

Are you in the way? Keep in it. Turn not aside. Advance toward your destination. Anticipate arrival.

Are you not in the way? Consider whither you are going. Renounce the world. Enter the road. Do not say it is hard. Do not say you cannot encounter the difficulties. God will help.--_J. Rawlinson._

There are a thousand wrong roads, but only one right one. 1. The road of the text is _the King's highway._ It spans all the chasms of human wretchedness; it tunnels all the mountains of earthly difficulty; it is wide and strong enough to hold all the millions of the human race. The King sent His Son to build the road. He put head, and hand, and heart to it, and after it was completed cried, "It is finished." 2. It is spoken of as a _clean road._ "The unclean shall not pass over it" (Prov. xiv. 12; Heb. xii. 14). 3. _A plain road._ "The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." The pardon is plain. The peace is plain (1 Tim. i. 15). If you are saved, it will be as a little child (Matt. xviii. 3). 4. _A safe road._ "No lion shall be there," &c. His soul is safe. His reputation is safe (Ps. cxxv. 2). 5. _A pleasant road._ God gives a bond of indemnity against all evil to every man that treads it (Rom. viii. 28; Matt. vi. 26, 28; Prov. iii. 33; 1 Cor. x. 13). He enables him to be glad with a great joy (Ps. xxvii. 1; Rev. vii. 14, 16, 17; Exod. xv. 1). 6. _What is its terminus?_ "The ransomed of the Lord shall come to Zion." Zion is the King's palace, a mountain fastness, impregnable. Heaven is the fastness of the universe. And Jesus is there!--_T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.: Christian Age,_ vol. ix. pp. 3-5.

THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN.

xxxv. 10. _And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c._

"Zion," literally speaking, was the proper name of the city where David dwelt (2 Sam. v. 7). But the name was also given to the ancient Jewish polity in church and state (Ps. cii. 13, 16), to the Gospel Church, with all the spiritual blessings of the Christian dispensation (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7); and also to the Church in glory, or the heavenly state of final and complete happiness with God and Christ for ever (Heb. xii. 22, &c.) We may therefore regard this text as revealing _the general features of the happiness of heaven._

+I. To whom does the hope of heaven belong?+ To "the ransomed of the Lord," whom He has delivered from bondage and is bringing back from exile (H. E. I. 2730, 2829-2832).

+II. How do those who attain to heaven come there?+ Triumphantly, "with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." This is said perhaps with allusion to the ovations of victorious chiefs, or to troops coming home from hard-fought fields and the privations even of a successful campaign, crowned with garlands and waving palms, singing some martial air, and approaching their homes and families with shouts of gratitude.

+III. What do the redeemed realise when they reach heaven?+ "They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." In heaven--1. There will be _an entire cessation of every occasion of grief_ (H. E. I. 1629; P. D. 1753, 1767). 2. _There will no longer be any possibility of falling._ What a blessed peace will spring from this fact! In this world the sincerest believers, like pilots steering into port through narrow and winding channels beset with sunken rocks and hidden shoals, must work out daily their own salvation with fear and trembling (1 Cor. ix. 27). But in heaven the spirits of the just are "made perfect," and, like God Himself, "cannot be tempted of evil." 3. _We shall meet again with our long-lost loved ones, never more to part_ (Rev. vii. 15-17; P. D. 2996-2998). 4. _The companionship of saints and angels._ The best and purest friendships here are often marred by the blots and blemishes of good men; but there will be no jarring in the exalted fellowships of heaven. 5. _The possession of Christ and the beatific vision of God for ever_ (1 Pet. i. 8; Isa. xxxiii. 7).--_R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 128-149.

THE BANISHMENT OF SORROW.

xxxv. 10. _And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c._

+I.+ "They shall obtain joy and gladness," &c.--+this is undoubtedly the distinctive and ineradicable hope of human nature.+ Is that hope a glorious, and perhaps in its effects a beneficent, delusion never to be realised? Or is it the earnest of a reality far greater than its highest imagination can conceive? The question receives contradictory answers from the two conflicting voices within the soul, as from time to time one or other gains a temporary predominance. But the Christian revelation allows no doubt on this matter for a moment, and yet it does not bid us shut our eyes to the darker phases of actual life. The picture drawn in this chapter deals with every sphere of human life. It begins with the outward: it tells how the "desert shall rejoice," &c.; it turns, then, to the lower nature of man himself--"the eyes of the blind shall be opened," &c.; lastly, it speaks to the spirit of man: the light of God shows a "highway through the desert of life" on which "the redeemed can walk" safely; and at the end there is a heavenly Zion of perfection, to which the "ransomed of the Lord shall come with songs," &c.

+II. When did the prophet look to see his vision fulfilled?+ He may well have thought first of the all but present deliverance from the gigantic power of Assyria by the redeeming arm of the Lord. Some such shadow of fulfilment there may have been, in the last gleam of unclouded prosperity which ever fell upon Judah, before its sun set in the great captivity: such shadows of fulfilment may have been felt in the history of man again and again. Isaiah unquestionably looked on to the kingdom of the Messiah as the one ideal of a perfect manifestation of God and a perfect exaltation of man. Such fulfilment Christ claimed for Himself; but it is in the actual manifestation of the kingdom of Christ on earth that the prophetic picture is realised in its fulness.

+III. If the kingdom of Christ is what it proclaims itself to be, it must necessarily be, as on the Mount He proclaimed it, a kingdom of blessing.+ What are the two great sources of the sorrow which broods over life? 1. Over our bodily life, and the world of nature which subserves it, there is _the blight of pain and suffering._ 2. _Spiritual evil_--the blindness, weakness, sin of man himself. How does the Gospel profess to face and scatter both? By the revelation of the Cross it hallows doubly the law of suffering and death, by overruling it to good for ourselves, and by making it a condition and a means of helping the redemption of others. The Gospel deals still more decisively with the burden of sin: in this lies the essence of its redemption. "God is in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. . . . We pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." This is its first message; but it is not all; "Sin," it goes on to say, "shall not have dominion over you." "Ye are sanctified in Christ Jesus."

+IV. But is that promise actually realised?+ We answer boldly, Yes. It must be remembered that by the very nature of the case the kingdom of Christ is seen by us, as yet, only to the first stages of its conflict against the powers of evil. What it can offer, as yet, is a true but only imperfect earnest of the future. In all the three phases of this prophecy, Christ asserted its power to bless the whole world. He held the reins of the forces of nature; lifted the burden of disease and resisted death; brought in the new life of His grace. He had joy, like no other joy, amid His continuous conflict with evil; and to those who were His, He gave peace in proportion as they entered into His spirit. The last conflict was but for a moment, the chill of dreariness before the dawn. "Then," amidst some fear, and awe, and perplexity, "were the disciples _glad_ when they saw the Lord." It is, thank God! a matter of daily Christian experience, that, just in proportion as we are really Christ's, the promise is realised again and again to us. There is joy in nature, and a deeper joy and peace in communion with God. Sometimes we feel that these things are the only reality in a fleeting and unsubstantial world around us. But this reality is yet imperfect; sorrow and sighing are rather kept at bay than driven away; but we have a sure and certain hope of a perfect future. Without the realisation of His peace in the present, without the sure and certain hope of the future, one hardly sees how man can care to live; one dares not think how he can die.--_Canon Barry, D.D.: Christian Age,_ vol. xx. pp. 81-83.

MODERN RABSHAKEHS, AND THEIR ATTEMPTS TO TERRIFY GOD'S PEOPLE INTO A HUMBLE SURRENDER.

xxxvi. 4. _What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?_

Sennacherib is surprised at the attitude of resistance taken by Hezekiah, and sends an embassy to dissuade him from his mad project. When they appear outside the walls, some officers of Hezekiah's court come out to confer with them, and Rabshakeh opens upon them with the taunting question, _"What confidence," &c._ The proud king of Assyria had another end beyond that of conquest. His aim was to show that Jehovah was on a level with the gods of the nations. This was, therefore, a religious war. Every country he subdued was another god overcome, and if only Jerusalem were taken, his triumph would be complete. _The situation here described is an image of the Christian faith assailed by modern unbelief._ The forces of infidelity have become bold and insolent. The Bible is subjected to the hostile criticism of men who would rejoice to see it overthrown. Unbelief is marshalling her forces against the citadel of revealed truth. She has on her side some prominent leaders of modern thought, and employs both press and lecture-room for accomplishing her destructive designs. If she can only get the Christian faith out of the way, the world will be her own. Our modern Rabshakehs are hurling against us the taunting question, _"What confidence," &c._

+I. What is this confidence of ours which is so assailed?+

The question implies that we _have_ a confidence. Our opponents admit it, though to them it is inexplicable. They are forced to bear testimony to a strange but courageous faith by which we are supported in life and death. Jerusalem had nothing to rest on but God's presence and promise. Their king had encouraged them with the noble words of 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8. Here is the secret of the confidence which so surprised the Assyrian king; and on the same ground do we take our stand against the opposing hosts of unbelief. God's presence and faithfulness are the bulwarks behind which we may safely entrench ourselves. We have believed God's Word and have taken shelter in Christ (Phil. iii. 3). On His exalted throne He is directing the Church's energies, restraining her enemies, and giving success to her enterprises.

+II. What assaults are made upon our confidence?+

They correspond to those by which Rabshakeh tried to subvert Hezekiah's confidence. He puts the question in a contemptuous tone, and then proceeds to answer it, and to show that the confidence cherished had no solid basis. 1. He points to _the slenderness of Hezekiah's resources_ (ver. 5, 6, 8, 9). "The Egyptians can no more be relied on than the frail reeds that grow on the banks of their Nile. No help can come from abroad; and see how weak you are in yourselves. If you can find riders, I will supply 2000 horses." How could such a puny kingdom withstand the power of Assyria with its magnificent military equipment? So unbelief tries to undermine faith, not knowing that God's strength is perfected in human weakness. Cardinal Cajetan tried to browbeat Luther,--"Do you think that your electors will take up arms for you? I tell you, no; and where then will you be?" The brave answer was, "Then, as now, in the hands of God." 2. Rabshakeh tries to _close the door of Divine help_ (ver. 7). "How can you expect support from a God whose worship you have suppressed?" But this was a needful reform, for these rural places of worship had degenerated into scenes of idolatry. So the enemies of the faith in our day try to make capital out of the changes and reforms that have taken place. They point to our ecclesiastical divisions and theological controversies as an argument against us. "How can that be true about which there is so much diversity of opinion? How can Divine help be expected to defend the Christian faith, when there are so many sects and parties, disestablishment agitations, and ecclesiastical rivalries?" We answer that there is a unity among all who love the Lord Jesus, and however much we may deplore the need of change and reform, we are not to be deterred from effecting them by any fear of God's displeasure. It can never offend God to maintain His truth and worship in all their purity (H. E. I. 1372-1374). 3. Another reason for surrender is urged in ver. 10, where the Assyrian _claims to be commissioned by God_ to destroy the land. This was only a piece of bluster intended to alarm Jerusalem. It has its counterpart in our day in those men of science, who come to us in the name of God with the truths they have discovered, and throw them in our face as inconsistent with faith in the Scriptures. But there can be no real disagreement between science and revelation. We are not going to open our gates to arrogant scientists who claim that their department embraces everything; to materialists who tell us that our heaven is six feet below the ground. Let science keep to its legitimate sphere. It was a good remark made by Professor Ball to a lady who put to him some questions about comets, to each of which he replied, "I do not know." "Then," she said, "may I ask what is the use of your science?" "To let me know, madam," he replied, "that I cannot know some things" (H. E. I. 538, 539). 4. Rabshakeh presses a surrender in view of _the hardships the people would have to endure._ He threatens them with famine and thirst, and (vers. 16, 17) promises them ease and plenty if they will but suppress the sentiment of patriotism, abandon their confidence, and give up their city into his hands. This is an old and well-used device to make the believer cower in the face of trials and privations. But the men of faith are proof against such selfish considerations. They will fight the Lord's battles at whatever cost; for however hard their outward lot may be, they have inward joys which more than counterbalance the loss of all things. 5. The last argument which Rabshakeh employed is this (vers. 18-20): _Other gods were unable to defend their worshippers against the victorious march, and why should the Lord be able to defend Jerusalem?_ This was his last thrust, and was intended to bring home to the people the utter baselessness of their confidence. This reasoning is not unlike the patronising tone in which infidels speak of the Christian religion, as one of the many superstitions, all well enough for their day, but now effete, or destined to perish before the advance of intelligence; as one of those venerable systems, all of which are not losing their hold on the intellect and heart.

+III. Why should we still hold to our Christian confidence in spite of these attempts to overthrow it?+

The agnosticism and infidelity which in our time are so loud and pretentious are only systems of negation; they have no substitute for that which they endeavour to destroy. If we allow them to rob us of our faith, we are spiritually bankrupt, for these destructive agencies have nothing to satisfy the heart and conscience. Never let us lower our flag for all their threats and boastful arrogance. Perhaps the best way to deal with them is that which was followed by Hezekiah's officers (ver. 21; Matt. vii. 6).

+IV. What will be the end of all the assaults made upon the Christian faith?+

We know what came of the boastful insolence of Rabshakeh. Not only did he fail to unhinge the confidence of Hezekiah, but he brought upon himself confusion and defeat. God answered his blasphemies; God employs the hostile efforts of unbelief to confirm us in our confidence. What our enemies intend for the subversion of the truth only places it on a more solid basis. Christianity can never suffer from the most rigid investigation, for this only reveals its immovable strength. We throw back on our opponents their own question, "What confidence have you, what light in the dark lonesome hour of death?" Or, the strange "credulity of unbelief," which accepts the most glaring fallacies, whose reason is clouded by a proud and insolent defiance of God! We have nothing to fear, then, from the boastful Rabshakehs of our day. The assaults to which our faith is now subjected are nothing new. Old weapons are refurbished, old stratagems resorted to; but it has survived attacks as clever as those now made upon it (H. E. I. 1165).

CONCLUSION.--Let me put to you the question in a different tone with all affection and anxiety for your spiritual welfare. It is good to have our position assailed that we may see its strength (H. E. I. 1136-1139). Is yours a confidence that can resist the thrusts and subtle reasonings and plausible solicitations of the world? The best answer you can give to the insolence of unbelief is to hold your peace, and go quietly forward in resolute faith and persistent well-doing, giving not the answer of the lip, but of the life--a life nourished, strengthened, and beautified by faith in Christ.--_William Guthrie, M.A._

IN WHOM ART THOU TRUSTING?

xxxvi. 5. _. . . Now on whom dost thou trust?_

The question is important in ordinary life, but it is overwhelmingly so in spiritual things.

I. A LITTLE BUNDLE OF ANSWERS.

1. "I do not know that I have thought about the matter; I have left the matter of dying, and of eternity, and of judgment out of my consideration." How foolish! There are more gates to death than you dream of. Have not you walked with dying men? Suppose you were sure of a long life, why delay being happy? Christ says of the rich man in hell, "He lift up his eyes." He might and should have done so before, but he said, "Tell my brethren." 2. "I thank God I am about as good as most people." Company in being ruined will not decrease, but rather increase the catastrophe. You are trusting in yourself. But is conscience quiet? Only the absolutely perfect man can be saved by his own works. 3. "I trust in my priest." Has any priest grace to spare for you? You are, or may be, as much a priest as any man can be; Christians are "a royal priesthood." 4. "Well, God is merciful." You are trusting in the mercy of God; but, as you state it, you are trusting in what you will never find. If you go to God out of Christ, you will find Him to be a consuming fire; instead of mercy you shall receive justice (H. E. I. 2315-2317, 2349-2350). 5. "Well, I do not say that I can trust to my works, but I am a good-hearted man." There is much truth in the saying, "If it is bad at the top, it is worse at the bottom; and if it is not good on the surface, it will never pay for getting at it" (Jer. xvii. 9; H. E. I. 2669-2680).

II. THE CHRISTIAN'S ANSWER.

I trust a triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I trust to the Father's choosing me; to the Son, as my Redeemer, Intercessor, my resurrection, and life; to the Holy Spirit, to save me from my inbred sins, to sanctify me wholly.

To some men this does not look like a real trust. "We cannot see God; how do we know all this about the Trinity?" Cannot you trust in a thousand things you have never seen or heard? You have never seen electricity nor gravity. Those that have trusted in God find Him to be as real as if they could see Him. "Can we prove that God interferes to help His people?" Yes, He hears prayer. A Christian is sometimes asked whether he has a right to trust God. He has God's promise to help him. "Is He worthy to be trusted?" He has proved Himself faithful and true. The Christian commends God to others in saying that he feels he can rest upon Him for the future.

III. SOME WORDS OF ADVICE TO THOSE WHO ARE TRUSTING.

1. _Drive out all unbelief._ With such a God to trust to, let us trust with all our might. It is an insult to Him to doubt Him. The devil calls God a liar, but it is hard if a man's own child is to think ill of his father. We are verily guilty in speaking hard things of our God. 2. _Seek the Holy Spirit's help._ We have often said we would not doubt again, yet we have. Let us ask to be strengthened. We often forget that the Author of our faith must be the Finisher of it also. 3. Try to _bring others to trust_ where we have trusted (John i. 40-42, 45). 4. Love Him who thus gives Himself to be trusted by us. The sister graces ever live together. Show your love. 5. We must _prove our faith by our works._ Let us do more for God. "No day without a deed." Cease working and you will soon cease believing.--_C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,_ vol. xi. pp. 469-480.

HEZEKIAH'S PRUDENT SILENCE.

xxxvi. 21. _But they held their peace, &c._

Dr. Geikie says of Hezekiah, "Ready for war when necessary, and alike brave and skilful in its conduct, he was more inclined to the gentle arts of peace." Among these "gentle arts" should be reckoned his cultivated gift of prudence. Prudence is undervalued by some, as not taking rank among the higher virtues, and even sometimes decried as essentially selfish. But prudence guards the life of the highest virtue, and thus becomes of almost equal importance with it. Prudence is short for "providence;" "the provident man," as the phrase is used, shows prudence in one direction, and is praised for it. Greater praise is surely due to the all-round prudent man. Prudence in man is, in one aspect, but the counterpart of providence in God, and those who are given to esteem it lightly are not pious, like Hezekiah, but already doubters of, and disbelievers in, the general and special providence of God, or likely to become so (P. D. 2914).

It is prudent to be silent--1. _When the judgment, based upon the knowledge of available facts, dictates silence as sound policy._ Silence may, and often does, imply something quite different from a wisely calculated policy; it may indicate abject fear, cowardice, indifference. All silence is not "golden;" sometimes the basest metal goes to its composition. The order to be silent, whether addressed by Hezekiah to his ambassadors, or to the people generally, or to both, may be conjectured to have sprung from the king's desperate case. But even if we leave out this element, enough remains to justify the command, "Answer him not." It may be presumed that the messenger of the "great king," "dressed in a little brief authority," conducted himself as Hezekiah _foresaw_ he would, outdoing Sennacherib himself in blasphemy and all impiety. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself." Hezekiah did this in the most literal sense, and his command to all concerned was to hide the spirit of their mind behind a veil of silence. Such prudence, then, is more than foresight, it is foresight connecting itself with a certain course of action as the wisest or best possible in certain given circumstances (P. D. 3086, 3089). How rare is such prudence! Not from evil intent, but through want of thought, do many persist in running their heads against adamant. Available knowledge is neglected, and judgment, where there is any in such a case, is adrift and mistaken.

2. _When the deepest feelings are agitated so as to be beyond immediate control._ Hezekiah's ambassadors obeyed their orders until Rabshakeh uttered words the effect of which upon the people there was good reason to dread (ver. 10); then they broke in, carried on a great wave of impulse (ver. 11); but only to make the blasphemer more arrogantly insolent. Feeling, like fire, is a good servant but a bad master; it is blind, and blindly seeks its own objects. Only in the most highly educated moral natures can it ever be expected to flow in proper channels; but in none should it be intrusted with the reins of government. "I will keep my mouth with a bridle," said the Psalmist, "while the wicked is before me" (cf. James i. 19, 20, 26).

3. _When wise counsel is at hand_ (xxxvii. 1, 2). "Hezekiah went into the house of the Lord;" "and he sent Eliakim unto Isaiah the prophet." There is a kind of piety which disdains human aid, because each man may go direct to God. This may not have wrought so much harm in the world as the Romish doctrine of mediators, but it is equally mistaken. Blessed is the man who knows of a prophet--a brother-man of spiritual insight, moral integrity, and Christian courtesy--before whom he can lay his case! Thrice blessed he who, knowing such an one, can hold his peace until he has sought and obtained the Heaven-provided help! God may well hold us insincere if we go to Him and neglect His servants' aid.

CONCLUSION.--Let us hear and understand the words of the preacher: "There is a time to keep silence," as well as "a time to speak." We are lacking in silence and reserve. Silence is a glorious temple, but in it there are few worshippers. Be it ours to wait and worship there!

The worshippers find the very walls translucent, the rays of heaven descend in unbroken brightness there. Silence is the birthplace of the world's progress, and from the rays of truth that flash into it are born the grand visions of the prophets of God, and kingly purposes too; and from these are forged the weapons with which men shall sweep away the hindrances to all wisdom.--_J. Macrae Simcock._

A FOOLISH KING AND A WISE ONE.

xxxvii. 1. _And it came to pass, &c._

The message to which our text refers was sent by a foolish king to a wise one. Look at them both.

I. THE FOOLISH KING.

Sennacherib. Ignorant of God, he fell into various follies. 1. _Pride and arrogance._ Unaware that he was but an instrument in the hand of God (chap. x. 5-7), he imagined that his triumphs were due entirely to his military genius and the power under his control. Blind as to the true nature of his past career, he looked into the future with boastful confidence; he had no doubt that he would go on conquering and to conquer. His proud survey of the past and this arrogant outlook into the future are follies repeated by many men much smaller than Sennacherib. But every wise man will remember that he owes all his past successes to God (Deut. viii. 10-18), and that all his future is absolutely in the hand of God (James iv. 13-15). 2. _Blasphemous undervaluing of the power of God_ (vers. 18-20). He therefore imagines that God's people are in his hand. On this account he presents to them a curious reason why they should surrender (chap. xxxvi. 16, 17). He promises them a quiet possession of their own vines, which they possessed already but for his disturbance; and in the same breath he adds, "Until I come and take you away;" and then, to soften that sentence, he promises to take them to a land like their own. He promises them no more, after all, than they had already on the safe tenure of their own laws. The reason for surrender was either a mockery of men whom he believed incapable of resisting him, or an indication of the mental weakness into which pride was betraying him. Ere long there was a terrible demonstration of his folly (ch. xxxvii. 36, P. D. 3413), an appalling fulfilment of the prediction concerning him (ch. x. 12-19).

II. THE WISE KING.

Hezekiah. His disposition does not appear to more advantage in any passage of life, nor his conduct exhibit lessons more generally useful, than in the circumstances to which our text alludes. A message is brought from a proud invader; threats mixed with blasphemies are sounded in his ears; a force far superior to his own draws near to his city. In his extremity he sought help, not from man, but from God. In drawing near to God, he testifies his _penitence_ for his own sins and the sins of the people by rending his garments and covering himself with sackcloth, the usual tokens of sorrow in the East; his _faith_ and _hope_ by resorting to the house of God, his accustomed place of prayer. Observe the wisdom of the order of his procedure. 1. He began with demonstrations of repentance. He knew well that without repentance there could be no hope towards God. (1.) This is the true order for individuals (H. E. I. 145-147). (2.) For the Church of God. 2. Beginning with repentance, he could cherish hope (vers. 2-4). Why? He felt that the Lord would not permit Sennacherib's words to pass unpunished; and that, if the sins of the people did not operate to prevent it, help would surely be sent him. But he spoke with caution, "it may be," &c. The best reasons may be found for what we call "delays" in providential helps. There was room for expectation that help would be given, room for prayer that it might be given, but no room for overweening confidence that it must be so. With his hope there was mingled submission to the will of God, and that doubtless helped to win for his prayer a favourable hearing.

CONCLUSION.--This narrative presents us with the results, on the one hand, of pride and arrogance; and on the other, of repentance and an humbled spirit. In times of extremity let us not entertain hope without an humble and repentant suit to God; and when that ground of penitence is laid for its support, let us not dismiss our confidence. God is always able to help His people. Like Hezekiah, then, to Him, let us resort in every time of trouble, whether it be a time of public danger or of domestic affliction.--_J. H. Pott: Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 282-299.

A KING IN TROUBLE.

xxxvii. 14. _And Hezekiah received the letter, &c._

The armies of Assyria had overthrown the cities of Phœnicia and Philistia. Samaria had fallen. Many of the strongholds of Judah had been destroyed. Hezekiah attempted to turn aside the tide of war by sending a tribute to the conqueror. Like all compromises of unbelief, this act of submission resulted in increased trial. Sennacherib did not desire to make peace with Hezekiah. To have left Jerusalem unsubdued as he advanced towards Egypt would have been impolitic and unsafe. So he determined to destroy it, and sent a letter full of boastful arrogance, threats, blasphemy, false insinuations, and insults to the king.

I. HEZEKIAH'S TROUBLE.

1. Kings cannot escape trouble. Storms howl on mountain-tops when sunshine gilds the plains (H. E. I. 47; P. D. 2142, 2143). 2. Neither does piety prevent trouble. If it were an absolute evil, the righteous would escape it; but it is often an angel in disguise stooping to serve them. The best need discipline. The pious are often more benefited by trouble than by joy (H. E. I. 116-142). 3. Trouble may arise, not from our own wrong-doings, but from the wrong-doing of others. Sennacherib's lawless ambition then troubled the whole earth. God uses evil even to discipline His saints. He knew what Hezekiah needed, and used Sennacherib to discipline him (H. E. I. 85). 4. Great troubles may be conveyed to us by insignificant means. A letter only was received; but who can tell what trouble a letter may convey? 5. Hezekiah's trouble was great. It included--(1.) _The threatened loss of his kingdom._ He saw before him the loss of all his greatness and honour. (2.) _Threatened captivity or death._ (3.) _Possible demolition of the royal city._ Jerusalem was dear to every Jew. Especially so to Hezekiah, who had fortified and beautified it. (4.) _The ruin and exile of his people._ (5.) _The dishonour of Jehovah._ Sennacherib had insulted God. If Jerusalem were taken, His holy and beautiful house would be profaned, His glory tarnished, and His worship, which had been lately restored, obliterated from the earth.

II. HEZEKIAH'S REFUGE.

All men have not a Divine refuge in trouble. The irreligious cannot rush into the sheltering arms of God. Hezekiah had done all that a wise monarch could do to defend his city (2 Chron. xxxii. 1-8), and after this he committed his way to God. Fanaticism despises means, but true faith uses them, and then soars above them to rest in Omnipotence. 1. _Hezekiah sought God, his refuge, in the Temple._ For the spiritual training of a people who were to be God's witnesses to the end of time, God's presence was more especially revealed there. Special promises were given to those who prayed there. Moreover, it was Hezekiah's accustomed place of prayer. Helpful memories often crowd around us in places where we have prayed, and bear us up, as upon eagles' wings, into the Divine presence. 2. _He would set a good example to the nation._ He would lead his people to seek God in that day of trouble. 3. _He would publicly manifest his confidence in God's power to protect and save._ His faith found expression in an act which honoured God and quickened His people's confidence in Him. He spread the letter before the Lord. A most significant act--a prayer in action. Probably done in solemn silence, words afterward rising to his lips. He would not answer this letter, but would leave it with God to answer it. Many letters might better be left with God than answered. If enemies threaten us, let us make God our refuge, and our deliverance also will be sure (P. D. 779).

_Learn_--1. So to live as to have those troubles only which come to us by Divine appointment. 2. In the greatest of these troubles never to despair of Divine help, but to expect it. 3. To be pious in prosperity, that when adversity comes we may have God for our refuge (H. E. I. 3877-3879).--_W. Osborne Lilley: The Homiletic Quarterly,_ vol. i. pp. 389-391.

The conduct of Hezekiah recited here teaches us _our first duty and best resource in any emergency._ Sennacherib had captured all the defended cities of Judah, and at length, determining to capture Jerusalem, he sent a taunting, boastful, threatening letter to Hezekiah, reminding him of the Assyrian conquests, and warning him against a vain confidence in the help of his God. This letter Hezekiah spread before the Lord in earnest prayer. The sequel shows how wisely he acted, and a consolatory message was sent by Isaiah to Hezekiah. Sennacherib was not allowed to shoot an arrow against Jerusalem; his army was destroyed, and he was compelled to return ignominiously to his own land, where he shortly afterwards perished. Here we have an example that should be followed by any one harassed, irritated, alarmed.

1. _Sorrowful ones,_ take note of it. In this world there is much to trouble, harass, annoy us, but we should be more proof against such things if we were more accustomed to have recourse to the Divine helps graciously offered us. You know what a source of comfort it is to lay open your grief to a sympathising friend. This source of help and consolation may fail you, but there is no imaginable state in which you may not spread your sorrow before the Lord. Nor can any friend so fully enter into it, compassionate it, relieve it. What a privilege it is to have such a Comforter always at hand! How completely are they enemies to their own happiness who neglect to avail themselves of such an advantage (H. E. I. 3739-3741, 199, 2311, 2322; P. D. 96, 2820).

2. Connected with Hezekiah's sorrow there was _fear._ The more reason for spreading his case before the Lord, of all friends the most willing and able to remove the cause of apprehension. Daniel in the den of lions, Shadrach and his brethren in the furnace, Paul and Silas in prison, might be quoted in proof of God's readiness to deliver His people from fear and danger. Whatever may be the nature or the source of your fear, spread it before the Lord (H. E. I. 4058).

3. Another feeling which the perusal of Sennacherib's letter was likely to produce in Hezekiah's mind was _irritation._ It was written in a tone of proud sarcasm, well calculated to produce this effect. If Hezekiah found any such feeling arise in his mind in reading it, what could he do better than lay it before the Lord? We are continually liable to meet with circumstances calculated to ruffle the temper. Then, if we wish to feel and act as Christians should, let us spread the case before the Lord; let us not trust to our command of temper, or to any resolutions we may have formed, but meet the sudden call upon our patience and forbearance by a prompt application to the Fountain whence those graces flow. It is possible to pray under any circumstance. Ejaculatory prayer is a most precious privilege, especially in circumstances of sudden trial or temptation. As anger springs up so suddenly in the mind in cases of irritation, it is most happy that there is an antidote to its evil effects on the mind that may be resorted to as speedily (H. E. I. 3765-3773). How much better is prayer than angry retorts (H. E. I. 261-271).

The good effects of the habit of carrying everything to God are not limited to those three cases; they extend to every conceivable circumstance of trial or temptation. They have yet to learn the value of religion who do not know the difference it makes in a state of trial and affliction to have the privilege of turning to a reconciled and loving Father, and spreading our calamity before Him, and asking His tender and strong support. As trials may befall us at any hour, we should live in constant fellowship with Him (H. E. I. 3872-3879).--_John Marriott, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 434-436.

A KING'S PRAYER.

xxxvii. 15-20. _And Hezekiah prayed, &c._

+I. Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah as the God of his nation.+ "O Lord God of Israel." 1. The nation bore the name of one of its progenitors, who "as a prince had prevailed with God." The name Israel had been more generally applied to the northern kingdom, which had already been overthrown, but Hezekiah claims it for the remnant that was left. When he uttered that name, did he wish to remind himself of Jacob's power in prayer, or of God's special interest in His nation? Perhaps both. God had chosen, defended, saved it. Names which recall Divine deliverance may encourage us in prayer. 2. His nation was Jehovah's peculiar dwelling place: "Which dwelleth between the cherubim." The Shekinah, symbol of the Divine presence, shone forth from between those weird figures on either side of the mercy-seat. Hezekiah"s reference to this peculiar Divine manifestation was intended to suggest that God would protect His own dwelling-place. This is true. God's dwelling-place is always safe, whether it be a nation--a man--a church (H. E. I. 1246-1251).

+II. In his prayer Hezekiah recognises the sole supremacy of Jehovah.+ "Thou art the God," &c., "and have cast their gods into the fire," &c. Polytheism prevailed in the nations surrounding Judæa. Sennacherib had spoken of Jehovah as if He were the God merely of the Jews, and in his ignorance supposed that Hezekiah had offended Him by removing the "high places." Hezekiah asserted--1. That Jehovah was the only true God. 2. That He exercised supreme control over all the kingdoms of the earth.

+III. He appealed to Jehovah as the Maker of heaven and earth.+ In the sublime acknowledgement these truths are involved:--1. _That He is eternal_ (H. E. I. 2253; P. D. 1492, 1518). 2. _That He is separate from all His works._ He is immanent in them, but independent of them (P. D. 1519). 3. _That He is omnipotent._ He who made the universe must be almighty (H. E. I. 2270; P. D. 1509). 4. _That He has all things under His control_ (H. E. I. 4023). This conception of God afforded solid ground for Hezekiah's faith. Before the greatness of Jehovah the might of His enemies sank into nothingness. Large conceptions of God will ever give large expectations in prayer. The more we widen our views of God, the more confidence we shall have in Him in trouble.

+IV. Hezekiah prayed with great earnestness.+ "Lord, bow down Thine ear," &c. "Now, therefore, O Lord, our God, _I beseech Thee._" Fervent desires lead invariably to ardent expressions. Cold prayers are no prayers. Earnestness is needed, not to lead God to observe our condition, nor to create in Him a disposition to help us, but--1. That the strength of our desires may be revealed. 2. That we may be raised from the low condition of formal devotion. 3. That we may have all the spiritual culture which the outcries of real need may impart. 4. That we may be prepared to receive deliverances thankfully (H. E. I. 3831-3838, 3893).

+V. Hezekiah recognised the greatness of the deliverance which he sought.+ "Of a truth, Lord," &c. Other kingdoms had fallen; why not his? Only that his hope was in God. No human ingenuity or might could deliver him. Men must be brought to see that their need of deliverance is great. Sometimes they are brought to see this by temporal emergencies. Such crises teach us more of God than years of ordinary living (H. E. I. 117-121). Spiritual deliverances must come from God alone. The soul is a besieged city. The forces of Diabolus are around Mansoul. Its Sennacherib is mighty. The deliverance which it needs is great. To recognise the greatness of the deliverance we need will--1. Deepen our sense of our own helplessness. 2. Stimulate the exercise of great faith. 3. Prepare us for the manifestation of God's great delivering hand.

+VI. Hezekiah associated the glory of Jehovah with the deliverance which he sought.+ The reproaches that had been cast upon him had been cast upon God. The deliverance of Jerusalem would manifest God's sole supremacy in the earth--"that all the kingdoms," &c. No prayers are so powerful as those which seek God's glory, for _that_ is the real and ultimate good of humanity. Many prayers will not bear this test; they are earthly, narrow, selfish (P. D. 2842).

Hezekiah's prayer prevailed. The besieging army was destroyed; whether, as Kingsley suggests, "by a stream of poisonous vapours as often comes forth out of the ground during earthquakes and eruptions of burning mountains, and kills all men and animals that breathe it," or by a pestilence, or by the simoom, we cannot tell. But it was God's delivering hand put forth in answer to Hezekiah's faith and prayer--1. That His people might learn to put their trust in Him; and 2. That all the earth might know that none can defy His power and prosper.--_W. Osborne Lilley: The Homiletic Quarterly,_ vol. i. pp. 521-524.

A CHRISTIAN PRAYER.

xxxvii. 20. _Now, therefore, O Lord our God, save us, &c._

The conclusion of Hezekiah's prayer. Sennacherib had accomplished the conquest of several countries, notwithstanding the protection of their gods. He declared that the God who Hezekiah trusted would also be unable to deliver him. What could the king do better than spread the letter before the Lord, cry for help, and make the reproach of the Almighty's power the principal plea? God's honour was at stake. If Jerusalem was saved it would be a demonstration of God's exclusive Divinity to all the nations around. The result was that the angel of the Lord destroyed the Assyrian camp, so that Sennacherib returned to Nineveh. It is one of the most remarkable answers to prayer.

This is pre-eminently a Christian prayer--that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that the Lord is God alone. It is the end toward which all Christian desire and effort is directed. We will consider it in this view, and notice--

I. THE CONSUMMATION WHICH IS DESIRED.

It is that all mankind may believe in the one true God. Most of the nations of ancient times believed in a multiplicity of divinities, as the inhabitants of India do now. But many of these peoples were devoted to some one god in particular, who was supposed to take their country under his protection. The gods were local. They did not exclude each other. In time of war the question, so far as the gods were concerned, was not which nation was protected by the true God, but which god was the strongest.

The spirit of Judaism was entirely antagonistic to this. The unity of God was its great doctrine. It was not missionary; it was a _silent_ protest. So far as they were faithful to the teaching they had received, the belief of the Jewish people was, that while the Divine Being stood in special covenant relations to them, He was the exclusive Divine Being; that until the nations should become acquainted with Him they had no God at all.

Christianity occupies a similar position, only the position is extended. When it commenced its career, it made itself felt, not as a silent protest, but as an active aggressive agency which aimed at the overthrow of all idolatry. It assumed the position that all the religions of the earth are false, while it is the only religion for man. From that position it has not descended. To do so would be to efface itself, therefore it cannot accept the modern paganism. It cannot take its place as one of the many forms, perhaps the most enlightened, in which the religious sentiment is expressed. It cannot accept the courtesies of "thoughtful men" on these terms. It must be all or nothing. It is the channel through which the one God has revealed Himself as the redeeming God. The consummation desiderated by the Christian Church is that all the nations of the earth may be brought to the knowledge of Him as thus revealed.

II. THE REASON WHY IT IS DESIRED.

1. _Because it is essential to the Divine honour._ God is not regardless of His glory, He might have remained alone; but He chose to call into existence creatures able to contemplate His glory. Before them He has set His works. He wishes to live in their thoughts and affections, not merely as a distant object of awful contemplation, but as one enshrined in their heart's love. He desires to be so real to them as that they shall connect Him with all the events of history and all the experience of life. But this cannot be, if He is unknown or regarded as one of many. The honour of the sovereign cannot be divided; neither can the honour of God. It is something by itself. He is jealous of it. So are His people. They are anxious that He receive His proper honour from all the world.

2. _Because it is necessary to religious worship._ Some religious worship enters into the life of mankind everywhere. But it cannot be indifferent whether it shall be offered to the only Being capable of receiving it, or to nothing. The notion entertained of the object of worship regulates the nature of worship. Contrast heathen with Christian worship. An unknown God cannot be satisfactorily worshipped. The God of Christianity can be the object of a worship that is real so far as the worshipper is concerned, and acceptable to Him to whom it is presented.

3. _Because it affects the experience of life._ A man's thoughts respecting God must affect his life at every point. He must not believe in any. He may believe in many. He may believe in one. He will be influenced in relation to the duties, the trials, and the difficulties of life. Is not the ideal of possible excellence for humanity higher under the influence of the Christian than under any other form of belief or unbelief respecting God? In the inevitable sorrows of life, is it not a very different thing to be ignorant of God from what it is to know Him as one who sympathises with the sufferer, and whose hand will remove the suffering when it has accomplished its appointed work? The knowledge of God is the most practical of all knowledge. It moulds our life, character, experience, conduct, at every point.

4. _Because it secures the salvation of the soul_ (John xvii. 3). There must be an experimental acquaintance with Him. It is realised in the friendship with Him that comes through faith in Christ. It is an abiding spiritual life, gradually unfolding into eternal life.

III. THE MEANS BY WHICH IT WILL BE REALISED.

The prayer contemplates Divine action as evidence. "Save us from his hand." According to the reasoning of the time this would be the proof. Reasoning from facts still the most satisfactory. Thus we may reason--1. From _creation._ The wisdom and power displayed are the wisdom and power of One. 2. From _redemption._ God has interposed for many. He has actually saved many. Every conversion strengthens this argument. 3. From _the preservation of the living Church._ In spite of persecution, infidelity, lapse of time.

We may therefore make it a plea for the bestowment of saving blessings, as Hezekiah did.

Do you believe in him? Live as you believe. Think what would be the effect if all did so. Tell it to the heathen. Pray for them in praying for yourself.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH A CONTINUATION OF THE JEWISH.

xxxvii. 31. _And the remnant that is escaped, &c._

When the power and splendour of the family of David were failing, the prophets foretold that the kingdom of the saints should one time be restored. Has this promise yet been fulfilled or no? and if fulfilled, in what sense?

There are other prophecies parallel to the text, _e.g.,_ Jer. xxxi. 31-33; Ezek. xxxiv. 23; Isa. xli. 14, 15, lxii. 1, 2.

_That these and a number of other prophecies are fulfilled in the Christian dispensation is plain from the express assertions of inspired persons_ (Acts xv. 13-17). This explains the language of Moses, in which the perpetual obligation of the law is asserted, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you," &c.; and after punishment, return of prosperity was promised, on condition of returning to the law (Deut. iv. 30, xi. 22-25).

Consider one or two difficulties--

1. It may be well said that the prophecies have not been, and never will be, fulfilled in the letter, because they contain expressions and statements which do not admit, or certainly have a literal meaning. But the use of figures in a composition is not enough to make it figurative as a whole; we constantly use figures of speech whenever we speak, although the main course of our conversation is to be taken literally. Now this will apply to the language of the prophets. The words "David," "Israel," "Jerusalem," and the like, are not so much figures as proper names which have a figurative origin, or words which, having first had a confined sense, come, as language proceeds, to have a wide one. All these words convey a literal truth in their substance.

2. It may be asked whether it is possible to consider the Christian Church, which is so different from the Jewish, a continuation of it. It may be argued that Christ founded His Church as a new thing in the earth. Observe--(1.) That the chosen people had in former ages gone through many vicissitudes, many transformations, before the _revolution_ which followed on Christ's coming. They had been shepherds, slaves; the place of God's presence had moved about; they had been governed by a lawgiver, by judges, by kings, by priests. The change when Christ came from a local into a catholic form, was not abrupt, but gradual; what was first a dispersion became a diffusion. And let it be observed, a change in externals was anticipated as regards the city of God in the Old Testament. "Thou shalt be called by a new name," says the prophet (chap. lxii. 4). (2.) It may be objected that the change was internal, not external only; it became a Church of Gentiles, instead of a Church of Jews. But changes of this kind had occurred before, _e.g.,_ the change which destroyed the substantive existence of the ten tribes; in an earlier age, only two of those who left Egypt with Moses entered the promised land. The line of continuity, surely, was not less definite when the Church became Christian. The sacred writers show themselves aware of this peculiarity in the mode in which God's purposes are carried on from age to age. They are frequent in speaking of a "remnant" as alone inheriting the promises (Rom. xi. 2-5; Isa. i. 9; Ezek. xi. 13; Jer. xl. 15; Hag. i. 14; Joel ii. 32; Micah v. 8; Zech. viii. 12). There was no substitution of a new Church for an old; it was the manifestation of the old law of "the remnant," by which the many were called and the few chosen. We may consider, then, the word "remnant," so constantly used in Scripture, to be the token of identity of the Creator, before and after the coming of Christ. Paul expressly inculcates that the promises made to Israel are really accomplished, without any evasion, in the Divine protection accorded to Christians.

To conclude:--1. Whether we can clear up these points or no, they are not greater than the difficulties which attend on other confessedly fulfilled and very chief and notable prophecies, as that of the dispersion of the Jews. They were threatened with the evils which have befallen them, supposing they did _not_ keep their law; whereas in the event the punishment has come upon them apparently _for keeping_ it; because they would not change the law for the Gospel, _therefore_ have they been scattered through the nations. In this it is implied that in rejecting the Gospel they in some way or other rejected their law, or that the Gospel is the continuation or development of the law. In a similar way are the prophecies concerning the elect _remnant_ fulfilled in the history of the Christian Church. 2. If the prophecies in their substance certainly have had a literal fulfilment, then this will follow, viz., that the very appearance of separation and contrast does but make it more necessary that there should be some great real agreement and inward unity between one and the other, whether we can discover what it is or not on account of which they are called one. All Scripture has its difficulties; but let us not, on account of what is difficult, neglect what is clear. Perchance, if we had learnt from it what we _can_ learn by our own private study, we should be more patient of learning from others those further truths which, though in Scripture, we cannot learn from it ourselves.--_John Henry Newman: Sermons on Subjects of the Day,_ pp. 180-198.

HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER.

Isa. xxxviii. 1-19.

In this narrative there are three points of difficulty and many points of instruction.

I. THREE POINTS OF DIFFICULTY.

1. _Why was Hezekiah afraid to die?_ Answer: (1.) Even to a _Christian_ man, death is an event of unutterable solemnity, for which he feels it necessary to make the most serious preparation, and which he would not like to have occur to him suddenly. (2.) Hezekiah had not that _clear_ view of the future which has been granted to us (ver. 18; 2 Tim. i. 10). (3.) His kingdom was threatened by a powerful enemy, and the important reforms which he had been prosecuting were incomplete; and even good men are apt to forget that God can raise up others to do His work more efficiently than they have done it. (4.) At that time he had no child, and that he should die childless appeared inconsistent with God's promise to David (1 Kings ii. 4). Probably it was a recollection of this promise that prompted his reference to his integrity (ver. 3). In those words there is no boastfulness; they are an appeal to the Divine faithfulness. On all these accounts a prolongation of his life seemed to Hezekiah desirable, and he sought it from God in prayer.

2. _When we compare vers. 1 and 5, do we not find an astonishing reversal of a Divine decree altogether inconsistent with the doctrine of God's unchangeableness?_ No. "The same decree that says, 'Nineveh shall be destroyed,' means, 'If Nineveh repent, it shall not be destroyed.' He that finds good reason to say, 'Hezekiah shall die,' yet still means, 'If the quickened devotion of Hezekiah importune Me for life, it shall be protracted.' And the same God that had decreed this addition of fifteen years had decreed to stir up the spirit of Hezekiah to that vehement and weeping importunity which should obtain it" (_Bishop Hall_).

3. _What was the nature of the sign given to confirm Hezekiah's faith?_ For a discussion of this point, see note.[1]

II. MANY POINTS OF INSTRUCTION.

1. _Sickness and death are the common lot of mankind._ Kings are liable to them as well as beggars (H. E. I. 1536, 1537). 2. _In the extremity of suffering, when all human help is vain, the righteous can turn to God._ Pitiable would have been Hezekiah's case, monarch though he was, if he could only have "turned his face to the wall." 3. _In every extremity, the most powerful of all remedies is prayer_ (H. E. I. 3720-3724). 4. _How promptly God sometimes answers prayer_ (2 Kings xx. 4). 5. _God answers prayer instrumentally._ In this case He did it by suggesting a simple remedy (ver. 21), which perhaps the court physicians had thought it beneath their dignity to employ. 6. _Those who have been restored from dangerous illness should make public acknowledgement of God's goodness._ 7. _How great are our privileges in possessing the Gospel,_ through which "life and immortality are brought to light," and death stripped of its terror! In the market-place of Mayence stands a statue of Gutenberg, the inventor of printing, on the base of which there is this honourable inscription:--"The knowledge which was once the exclusive possession of princes and philosophers he has put within the reach of the common people." A similar statue might be erected to the honour of our Saviour, who has made those views of the future life which cheered only a few of the noblest saints (such as David in Ps. xxiii. 6) the common heritage of the whole Church. No true believer can now be so much afraid of death as Hezekiah was (1 Cor. xv. 55-57).

FOOTNOTE:

[1] _"And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz."_--2 Kings xx. 11.

How was this wonderful result secured? Did God arrest the earth as it revolved on its axis, and wheel it round in the opposite direction? No one who considers what would be the natural result of such a proceeding, and what a stupendous series of miracles would have been needed to have prevented the destruction of all life upon the earth, will think so for a moment, especially when a course much simpler, and equally efficacious, is suggested by the very words of the different narratives. Isaiah indeed says, "So the SUN returned ten degrees" (xxxviii. 8). But his record of what seemed to occur must be interpreted by what God had promised to do: "Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward." And in the narrative in the Book of Kings it is the _shadow_ and not the sun that is spoken of throughout. To reverse the shadow in the dial it needed nothing more than a _miraculous refraction of the light;_ and we believe that this is what occurred, not because it was an easier thing for God to do, but because it is in harmony with all that He does to believe that when two courses were open to Him, one exceedingly simple and one exceedingly complex, He would choose the simple course. God never wastes power. The extraordinary results produced by the refraction of light are familiar to all who have given any attention to natural philosophy. The atmosphere refracts the sun's rays so as to bring him in sight, on every clear day, before he rises on the horizon, and to keep him in view for some minutes after he is really below it. Contradictory as it may sound, on almost any summer evening you may see the sun at least five minutes after he is set. It is entirely owing to refraction that we have any morning or evening twilight. That the rays of the sun can be so refracted as to cause him to be seen where he actually is not is thus a matter of daily experience. And there are some extraordinary cases on record. Kepler, the great astronomer, mentions that some "Hollanders, who wintered in Nova Zembla in the year 1596, were surprised to find that, after a continual night of three months, the sun began to rise almost _seventeen days_ sooner than he should have done." This can only be accounted for by a miracle, or by an extraordinary refraction of the sun's rays passing through the cold dense air in that climate. In 1703 again, the prior of the monastery at Metz, in Lothringen, and many others, observed that the shadow of a sundial went back an hour and a half. It is thus abundantly plain that the result related could have been secured by a refraction of the light, a common occurrence in Nature. The miracle consisted _in its happening at that particular moment;_ just as in the case of the fish that Peter caught which contained money. Many fish containing money have been caught; but there was the miracle--that this fish was caught at the very time which Christ had indicated. In like manner the miraculous element in the regression of the shadow on the sun-dial of Ahaz was its occurring just at the very time at which it was needed to verify the prophet's word and strengthen the monarch's faith.

PREPARATION FOR DEATH.

xxxviii. 1. _Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live._

This announcement was made to Hezekiah when suffering under dangerous illness. In answer to his prayer the sentence was mitigated. Fifteen years were added to his life. It is not wrong to pray for the prolongation of life when important interests are concerned, and when we pray with due submission to Him whose prerogative it is to fix its duration.

The text furnishes a theme for useful meditation. It contains--

I. A SOLEMN ANNOUNCEMENT.

"Thou shalt die." It may be viewed either as the declaration of a familiar truth or as the prediction of an immediate event. 1. _As the declaration of a familiar truth._ Nothing is more familiar. The universal reign of death over all the generations that have preceded us necessitates the conclusion that, unless we are alive when the Lord comes, we shall follow them. We are reminded of the truth by obituary notices in newspapers, by the spectacle of funerals passing quietly along the streets, by the silent departure of friends. "The sentence of death has passed upon all men." However long life may be protracted in individual instance, it never suggests the question whether they will be exceptions to the general rule. It only suggests the wonder that in any instance life is so far protracted. The only uncertain thing is how much longer or shorter than the average our own life will be. Death may come to us when in fullest health by the unexpected accident, or by the illness which has been caught we know not how, or by the subtle disease which silently undermines the system, eating away the cord that has bound us to life (H. E. I. 1536-1546; P. D. 751, 752).

Nor is this event a mere departure from the present life. To our friends it is chiefly that. It is their deprivation of all that makes us interesting and valuable to them. To ourselves it is very much more. It is the precursor of our appearance before the judgment-seat of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. v. 10; Rom. xiv. 12; Matt. xxv. 34, 41; Rev. xx. 12). It is to us a much more serious matter than passing into nothingness.

Is it, therefore, a subject to be studiously avoided? Is it not one that should be often before us? Look it in the face; dwell on it. Such thought will not produce indifference to the present. It will invest it with a deeper seriousness. Its interests and duties will be contemplated in their connection with the great future. The smallest thing has such a connection. The attitude we assume towards God, Christ, the Divine commands, His kingdom. Our conduct in business, the family, among men. The influence of our words, acts, spirit, character. All these come into this great account. Death closes the account. Does not this attach dignity, solemnity, earnestness to the whole of life? (H. E. I. 1557-1566).

2. _As the prediction of an immediate event._ Supposing, instead of familiar truth, it were announced to us on good authority that immediately, or within a given time, we should die, what would be the effect? There are aged Christians, whose life-work is done, to whom it would be welcome news. There are young Christians who have recently found peace in Christ but have not yet realised the privilege of working for Him, to whom it would be welcome. There are others to whom it would be terrible, because they have not yet found Christ nor surrendered to God. It would be to them like the knell of doom (P. D. 684). And yet it may be the duty of some one to make that announcement.[1]

II. A SUITABLE DIRECTION.

"Set thine house in order." This direction is twofold. 1. _With regard to your worldly affairs._ The king was directed to give command concerning his house. His wishes respecting the succession to the throne. Every business-man should keep his affairs in such order that if he were suddenly called away there would be no difficulty. Every one possessed of property should, in view of the uncertainty of life, make his will. Many leave this duty to the last. If it has been so left and sickness comes, it should be one of the first things done. It will not hasten death. It will save expense. It will secure the rights of all. It will prevent disputes. It will relieve the mind. It will leave it free to attend to the soul. 2. _With regard to your eternal interests._ Think of the soul's future. Are you prepared for the great journey? Are you ready with your accounts? Recall your obligations to the Almighty. Consider how they have been discharged. Overcome your reluctance to a thorough conviction of sin. Let there be humility, contrition, repentance. Seek mercy. There is a Saviour. Believe in Him. Yield your heart. If already a Christian, survey the position. If near death, all this is obviously necessary. If not near death, or death not apparently near, it is necessary on the ground of your liability to death. It will come some time. The only safety is to close with Jesus now.--_J. Rawlinson._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It is a distressing duty. It requires the skilful and delicate hand. But it must be performed. There is the tender and delicate girl who took a cold some time ago. She was better and worse. It was nothing. Somehow she became weaker. At length she had only strength to lie in bed. She is sure that with more genial weather she will recover. All has been done. One day the physician, with grace and sympathetic manner, tells her mother the case is hopeless. Break it to her. How can she? There is a fear that the revelation may accelerate the catastrophe. It may not. The sick are not usually so much alarmed at the thought of death as is supposed. At any rate, it seems only fair to them that they should know the seriousness of their position. If they are already saved, it will probably lead them to plant their feet more firmly on the Rock of Ages. If they are not yet saved, it may not be too late.--_Rawlinson._

DUTIES OF THE SICK AND DYING.

xxxviii. 1. _Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die._

This message sent from God to Hezekiah in his sickness contains a warning applicable to us all. It becomes us all to maintain such order in our worldly and spiritual affairs as that death, whenever he knocks at our door, may find us prepared to obey his summons (H. E. I. 1562-1566). But this is especially the duty of those who are visited, even now, by the forerunners and harbingers of death (H. E. I. 1561).

Most men, when laid aside by sickness, are disposed to turn in their pain and apparent peril to God who hath smitten, and who alone can heal; and to prepare for the great change in which the sickness may terminate. But few when thus called upon know how to set about the work, which they are then ready to allow to be most necessary and urgent. Even those who have lived outwardly blameless lives, are apt to be so distressed and confused by fear of death, that they do not know how to do what will turn the king of terrors into a messenger of peace, rest, and immortality (H. E. I. 1567, 1568, 1570; P. D. 684, 741, 761). Therefore, let those who are now in health receive some hints for their behaviour under sickness.

I. DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED BY THE SICK AND DYING.

1. The first act of the mind on receiving any warning of our mortal and most frail condition should be an act of recollection, a solemn meditation on the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Most High, in whose hands alone we are, who can kill and make alive.[1] Let us think especially of the love which He has shown us in the gift of His Son and the help of His Holy Spirit.

2. When our minds are thus sobered and composed, we must consider what means are yet within our reach to interest God's power and mercy in our favour. This may be best accomplished by repentance. To this an examination of our past life is absolutely necessary.

In this examination let us attend to the following cautions:--(1.) Let it be honest, however much this may humble us. (2.) Let us not attempt to plead our own good deeds in extenuation of our sins. (3.) Let us not be too particular or dwell too long in our recapitulation of such sins as are gone by and are irremediable; for these regrets, however natural, are useless, and beyond a certain degree injurious. With such recollections a guilty pleasure may be received in our souls; our fancy may return with more regret than horror to the scenes of our former enjoyment. (4.) Let us be more anxious to recollect those sins, if there be any, for which it is in our power to make reparation. In this let us be most searching and honest. Thorough restitution is essential to prove that our repentance is genuine, and so also is sincere forgiveness of our enemies.

3. Thus truly penitent, let us by faith grasp firmly God's promises of forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 John i. 9).

4. If we have been so unwise as to have left our worldly affairs unsettled, let us not be influenced by any foolish fear of alarming our family, or of appearing alarmed ourselves, from immediately making such a disposition of our property as we shall not fear to give account of in the hour of judgment.

5. Let us make up our mind to renounce the world entirely, and all restless hope of recovery; resigning all our prospects entirely into the hand of God, who is best acquainted with our wants and with the wants of those whom we are about to leave behind; and who is infinitely able to protect and provide for us and them (H. E. I. 157, 158, 4055).

6. That our meditations may become holy and comfortable, our repentance sincere and effectual, our restitution humble and public, our charity pure and edifying, our justice without taint, our resignation without reserve, let us give ourselves diligently to prayer (H. E. I. 177, 178, 3739-3746).

7. In order that we may be assisted in these spiritual duties, let us send promptly for the minister of the Church to which we belong.

II. SINS AGAINST WHICH WE MUST BE ON OUR GUARD.

The sins to which the sick and dying are most exposed are evil and trifling thoughts, unthankfulness, impatience, peevishness, and hypocrisy. To the first two of these men are liable on any remission of pain, or appearance of approaching amendment. There is no other cure for these than an immediate return to prayer and meditation. These remedies will also keep us from murmuring and ill-temper. Hypocrisy may seem a strange vice to impute to a sick or dying person, but it is not uncommon. It is shown in seeking compassion and kindness by counterfeiting the appearance of greater suffering than really belongs to our cases, or in the affectation of more faith, or resignation, or humility, or peace of conscience than either our own hearts or God will sanction. The desire of worldly praise will sometimes linger so late, and cling so closely about the affections of man, that some persons continue to act a part until their voice and senses fail them.

Let the difficulty of the duties which a sick man has to perform, and the number and greatness of the temptations to which he is liable, be an argument with us to leave as little as possible to be done in that state of weakness and alarm (H. E. I. 4251-4258).--_Reginald Heber: Sermons,_ vol. i. pp. 92-111.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This will lead us to submit with more temper and mildness to whatever means are prescribed for our recovery, and also to wait their event with less querulous eagerness than if we corroded our thoughts by the pangs we endure or by the earthly succours whereby we hope to escape or lessen them. There is something soothing as well as sublime in the contemplation of greatness and power. We feel it when we gaze on the great works of Nature. He whose heart expiates in the prospect of the ocean or of the starry heaven is for a time insensible to his own resentments or misfortune, and is identified, as it were, with the glorious and tranquil scene before him. One of the principal joys of heaven, we are told, is the delight of gazing upon God; and even in this state of mortal darkness and misery, if we can for a time so forsake the thoughts of earthly things as to call up to our mind whatever images of greatness, and power, and perfection the Scriptures have revealed to us concerning Him, our heart will be filled as by necessity with love and admiration for an object so glorious, and our resignation to His decree will become a matter, not only of necessity, but in some respects of choice. . . . Most unreasonable is their conduct who, in the beginning of sickness, drive away all serious thoughts from the soul, through a fear of injuring the body. Even if this were necessarily the case, the risk is so far less in dying soon than in dying unprepared, that the former danger should be cheerfully encountered rather than incur the possibility of the latter. But the cases of sickness are very few in which, at the beginning of a disorder, such religious considerations can do our bodily health any harm. On the contrary, that awe and tranquillity of soul which are induced by them may in many cases be of real advantage.--_Heber._

DISTRESS IN PROSPECT OF DEATH.

xxxviii. 2, 3. _Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, &c._

The causes of Hezekiah's reluctance to die may be gathered from his circumstances. {See Outline: _Hezekiah's Prayer,_ p. 426.] That ungodly men should be terrified at death is what might be expected (P. D. 684); but reluctance to die is not confined to them (H. E. I. 1570).

I. _The Christian has naturally a feeling of repugnance at the very thought of the disruption of the union between soul and body._ What precedes death, the stroke itself, and its consequences, all excite feelings of dread (P. D. 741, 761).

II. _True believers may feel reluctant to die because of the doubts which they entertain with respect to their eternal state._ After death is the judgment. Their fears may proceed from various causes. From constitutional temperament, increased by a relaxed state of the nervous system; from the prevalence of unbelief, the imperfection of knowledge and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; from the powerful agency of the god of this world in producing them. A last desperate effort is made to overthrow faith. While these prevail, recovery from bodily distress is felt to be a mercy of no ordinary kind (H. E. I. 323).

III. _Religion may be in a declining state in them, and a consciousness of this may render the prospect of death distressing to them._ The progress of the Christian is not uniform. If, while in a backward state, he is called to die, conscience is awakened, and he is thrown into alarm (Matt. xxv. 1-13).

IV. _The prospect of death may be distressing, because the believer will then be deprived of all opportunity of honouring God in this world._ This was one reason for Hezekiah's unwillingness to die. He was in the prime of life. Believers, at a like time, may pray to live in order to be useful in the Church and world. The prayer proceeds from a right principle--a desire to honour God. It seems hard for the minister of Christ, after a long course of laborious preparation, to be smitten down to die before he has well begun the great work of preaching. The philanthropist, like Howard, feels a bitterness in the stroke. The Christian parent also. In these and like circumstances a rare strength of faith is called for.

V. _God may see good to withhold from true believers the comforts of religion under bodily distress and in their dying moments._ To what is the difference in the measure of comfort enjoyed on a death-bed to be ascribed? The sovereignty of God must here be admitted. Objection against it here applies equally in other circumstances. The Divine reasons may be inscrutable to man, although assuredly dictated by infinite wisdom. The newly converted may die joyfully; the veteran Christian may have much less comfort. But generally the faithful life will end, at least, in a peaceful death (H. E. I. 1264).

Would you meet death without terror? 1. _Improve by faith that righteousness which Christ wrought out in our nature._ 2. _See to it that your hearts are changed by the Spirit of God._ 3. _Devote yourselves unreservedly and unweariedly to the cultivation of holiness in heart and life._ The longer we are here, we are the more prone to get our hearts upon the world as if it were our rest. It is from this tendency that the aged Christian sometimes feels as great a reluctance to depart as the Christian in the morning of life (Col. iii. 2).--_James Anderson: Scottish Christian Herald,_ iii. 569.

THE SHORTENING OF HUMAN LIFE.

(_A Funeral Sermon._)

xxxviii. 10. _I am deprived of the residue of my years._

Briefly narrate the facts of Hezekiah's illness. The words of the text naturally suggest this general observation, that God deprives many of the human race of the residue of their years.

I. WHEN GOD DEPRIVES ANY OF MANKIND OF THE RESIDUE OF THEIR YEARS.

1. _When He calls them out of the world before they have reached the limits of life which are to be found in Scripture_ (Ps. xc. 10). Hezekiah undoubtedly numbered his years according to this standard when he spoke (at forty years of age) of being deprived of the residue of his years. 2. _When He calls them out of the world before they have reached the bounds of life fixed by Providence._ Thought the Scriptures limit life to seventy or eighty years, yet Providence often extends it to a longer period, even to a century. Many aged persons enjoy a large measure of health, strength, and activity; should any of these be suddenly cut down by disease or accident, they would be deprived of the residue of their years which they had anticipated, according to the course of Divine providence in fixing the limits of life to the aged. 3. _Even those who die before they have reached the bounds of life which are imposed by the laws of Nature, may be said to be deprived of the residue of their days._ Nature sets bounds to every kind of life in this world, not excepting human life. What the natural limit of human life is we cannot tell, but from the fact that some have survived for over a century and a half, we may infer that God has deprived the vast majority of the human race of the residue of their years, and has not allowed even one in a million to reach the bounds of life which Nature has set.

II. WHY GOD THUS SHORTENS THE LIVES OF MAN AND CUTS OFF THEIR EXPECTED YEARS.

1. Sometimes it is _to teach the living that He is not dependent on them in the least degree._ Though He can and does employ them in His service, yet He can lay them aside whenever He pleases, and carry on His designs without their assistance. Let eminent and useful men like Hezekiah remember this, that they may not yield to the temptation of pride (H. E. I. 2218-2219). 2. In order _to teach mankind their constant and absolute_ dependence upon Himself. This they are extremely inclined to forget, and their forgetfulness arises in a great measure from the consideration of the general bounds of life which Scripture, Providence, and Nature have set. To these well-known periods they naturally extend their views, desires, and expectations. But to make them sensible that they still live, move, and have their being in Himself, God continually deprived one and another, and much the larger portion of mankind, of the residue of their years. 3. _To teach the living the necessity of being continually prepared for another life_ (H. E. I. 1543-1546). 4. _To teach the living the importance of faithfully improving life as long as they enjoy it._ All men are naturally slothful and strongly inclined to postpone present duties to a more convenient season. The best and most industrious of men need the sharp spur of the possibility of sudden death, and of being called away before their work is complete. When God cuts down the active and useful in the midst of their days, He warns us most solemnly (Eccl. ix. 10; H. E. I. 1562-1566). 5. God sometimes cuts short the days of the wicked _to prevent their doing evil in the time to come_ (Ps. lv. 23; Prov. x. 27; Eccl. vii. 17). 6. God sometimes shortens the lives of His faithful servants to prevent their seeing and suffering public calamities. It seems to have been in mercy to Hezekiah that God added only fifteen years to his life; had fifty years been added (and then at death he would only have been ninety), he would have been involved in the dreadful evils which were coming upon both his family and his kingdom (Isa. lvii. 1).

APPLICATION.--1. If God does not always deprive men of the residue of their years, _there is a propriety in praying for the lives of the aged as well as for the lives of the young._ Even the oldest persons living, though labouring under pains, infirmities, and diseases which seem to indicate the near approach of death, may yet pray for the removal or mitigation of their disorders, and for a longer space of life. Life is a blessing, and to pray for its continuance is a duty. 2. If God so often deprives men of the residue of their years, _it is extremely unreasonable and dangerous to flatter ourselves with the_ _hope of living a great while in the world._ What ground have we to expect that our days will be greatly prolonged; that _we_ shall escape all the dangers and diseases which have proved so fatal to others, and live as long as men can live according to the course of nature? This expectation is as dangerous as it is absurd. It encourages the wicked to continue in sin. It is the strangest and most fatal error that mankind ever embraced (James iv. 14; Matt. xxii. 44). 3. Since God deprives so many of the residue of their years, _we ought to beware of placing too much dependence upon the lives of others, as well as of our own._ Others are as liable to leave us as we are to leave them (Ps. cxlvi. 3-5). 4. If God so often deprives men of the residue of their years, then _long life is a great as well as a distinguishing favour._ It is a talent capable of being improved to the highest public and private advantage We should desire it for the sake of having greater opportunity of getting good, and still more of doing good. Had Hezekiah, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, and David died in early manhood, how little comparatively they could have done for Israel! Since good men are to be rewarded according to their works, the longer they are permitted to live, the greater opportunity they enjoy of promoting their own future blessedness. 5. If God always has wise and good reasons for depriving men of the residue of their years, then _it is as reasonable to submit to His providence in one instance of mortality as another._ He knows all the disappointment which a strong man feels in being cut down in the midst of his days, all acute sorrow that is caused by an untimely death and He sympathises with it all. He never afflicts willingly, nor grieves the children of men; He takes no pleasure in giving anxiety and distress to the dying, nor in desolating the hearts of the living; and when He does either, it is for a reason that is infinitely wise and infinitely kind. It behoves us then to say with Job: (Job xiii. 15, or Job i. 21).--_Dr. Emmons: Works,_ vol. iii. pp. 79-92.

A CRY FOR HELP.

xxxviii. 14. _O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me._

This prayer ascended from a sick-bed. State Hezekiah's circumstances. From many sick-beds it still ascends. 1. From the sick-bed of the Christian who is distressed by thoughts of what may befall his wife and children after his removal from them. 2. From the sick-bed of the Christian who perceives that the world has been gaining much on his heart. Overtaken in the very strength and flower of his days by a sudden and dangerous illness, he sees that in the midst of the bustle and business of an honest calling he has gradually drawn off from a life of watchfulness and prayer, and that, while keeping the forms of godliness, he has lost much of its power. Death apparently at hand, his soul starts up alarmed. 3. From the sick-bed of the worldly man, who at length perceives his guilt and danger. His awakened conscience fills him with darkness and fear (H. E. I. 1334-1339), and the approach of death terrifies him (H. E. I. 1567).

Show how graciously God deals with all these suppliants when they sincerely call upon Him.--_Richard Monks: Sermons,_ pp. 230-249.

A good prayer:--1. _For the young man entering upon the duties of life._ Surrounded by the snares of the world, exposed to many temptations, and having in himself no strength or wisdom to deal with them aright. 2. _For the young man entering upon his Christian course._ Experimentally sensible of the deceitfulness of the heart, and conscious that there is one ever watchful, every willing to encourage him in evil (H. E. I. 1061). 3. _For the Christian perplexed in the path of duty._ 4. _For the Christian on his dying bed_ (H. E. I. 1570-1593).--_H. Montagu Villiers, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 194-211.

Hezekiah's prayer reminds us of _man's need of a Divine Helper._ We need some one who can undertake to be our guide through life; to sustain us under the sorrows of life; to strengthen us against the temptations of life; to effect reconciliation between us and a justly offended God; to succour us in death; to welcome us in heaven, and to assign us our place in it.--_Horace Monod._

THE SURETYSHIP OF CHRIST.

xxxviii. 14. _Undertake for me._

+I. That man needs a surety.+ This is evident from several considerations. Man--1. _Is an insolvent debtor;_ 2. _a captive;_ 3. _a criminal;_ 4. _helpless and mortal._

+II. That a surety has been provided+ (Heb. vii. 22, viii. 6, ix. 15, xii. 24). Christ was constituted a surety; not _for God to us,_ but _for us to God._ He undertook to do for us, and in us, what we could not do for ourselves. Is man a debtor? Christ has paid the debt. Is man a captive? Christ came to set the captive free. Is man a criminal? Christ has endured the curse (Isa. liii. 6; 2 Cor. v. 21). Is man helpless and mortal? Christ has provided everlasting strength (2 Cor. xii. 9).

+III. That there must be a believing application made to that Surety.+ We must put in claim for share in the suretyship of Christ--must say in faith, "Lord, undertake for me; be surety for me."

+IV. The effects of such application.+ These are many and most important. In case of Hezekiah several are mentioned. God had sent him an alarming message. He wept and called upon God. His prayer was answered. A sign was given. During his sickness and after his recovery he had great exercises of soul. He thought of death (ver. 10); was annoyed because he was about to be cut off from the worship of God (ver. 11), and that by a premature death (ver. 12). But was there not a _remedy_? Yes. _What?_ A believing application to the Lord as surety. "O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me." And what was the _consequence_? The whole tone of his thoughts was changed. He now recognises God's hand in the dispensation (ver. 15); sees these things to be good for his soul (ver. 16); believes his recovery certain--realises the forgiveness of sin--is enabled to praise God (ver. 19); can now resolve to teach his children about God's truth and determine with them to bless and magnify God for ever (vers. 19, 20). Thus the realisation of God as surety, and a believing application to Him for help, proved the _turning-point_ for good in Hezekiah's experience.

APPLICATION.--1. _In the way of warning._ (1.) Not to depend on ourselves for salvation. (2.) Not to neglect the means of grace. 2. _In the way of encouragement._ (1.) Jesus Christ is surety for all who believe in Him. (2.) All who are oppressed in body or soul may and should, by God's grace believe in Jesus as their surety.--_T. Oliver: The Study and the Pulpit,_ New Series, 1876, pp. 419-421.

HEZEKIAH'S RESOLUTION.

(_A New-Year Motto._)

xxxviii. 15-20. _I shall go softly all my years, &c._

This resolution grows out of that singular experience of sickness and recovery recorded in the preceding verses. It furnishes an excellent motto for the year. Our translation is somewhat defective, but if we substitute _"on"_ for _"in,"_ the correct sense will be clear. The meaning is that the recovered king would walk through the fifteen years that were added to his life in salutary remembrance of his dangerous illness, and of the goodness of God in prolonging his days on earth. The memory of that trouble and of the mercy that rescued him would put a staff in his hand to make his walk more devoted, circumspect, and consistent. Understood thus, the words are applicable to all. Some of you may be able to trace a close resemblance between your experience and that of Hezekiah. Like him, you may have escaped from a well-nigh fatal illness. But all of us can look back on similar periods--on mercies received and dangers averted--and in recollection of them we may say, "I shall go softly all my years _on_ the bitterness of my soul."

I do not know any better commentary on these words than the opening stanza of Tennyson's _In Memoriam_:--

"Men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things."

A good New Year's motto, which harmonises so sweetly with it. Our past experiences, our dead selves, may be made stepping-stones on which we may climb to a clearer vision and a loftier devotion. What, then, was the nature of that pathway of life which this good king engaged to pursue? What was the prospect which opened up before him?

1. _A walk of humble dependence on God._ This element in the resolution is distinctly expressed. In vers. 15, 16, God's Word and acts are viewed as the real supports of life. Looking above all secondary causes and natural agencies, the king acknowledges God as the Source and Giver of life. This is a great lesson, and one which an experience like that of Hezekiah can teach. It seems to us a natural thing to live on; we count on continued health and long life till some sickness lays us low, and we are brought to feel as we never felt before that our times are in God's hand. But whether we have passed through a dangerous illness or not, the resolution befits us all. Let us remember that God sustains and orders our lives.

It was, indeed, a singular position in which Hezekiah was placed. He knew precisely how long he would live. The duration of our pilgrimage is just as fixed as his was, only we do not know it (P. D. 2252). The thread of our life is in God's hand. Thus was Hezekiah taught to "go softly." His soul had passed through "great bitterness," and he shall bear it in mind, and his rescue from it deepen his dependence on God.

2. _A walk of usefulness._ It was on this plea that he had prayed for the prolongation of his life (ver. 3). He had rendered valuable service and had borne a consistent testimony. The convalescent king saw a prospect of further work for God on earth. He who a short time before this seemed about to leave his kingdom in confusion without an heir to the throne is now able to say, "The father of the children shall make known thy truth." Does it not become us to ask, Why is my life prolonged? Why have I been permitted to enter on a new year? Is it not for this reason, among others, that we may become increasingly serviceable in advancing the cause of truth? Better far that life should terminate than that we should live to no purpose, for every year adds to our responsibilities. Advance, then, into this year resolved that, God sparing you, you will live more useful lives (H. E. I. 3228-3251; P. D. 2269).

3. _A walk of thankfulness_ (vers. 19, 20). How thankful this convalescent was for his restoration to health, and all the more so because to him, as to other saints of his age, the grave seemed dark and gloomy (ver. 18). It needed the Gospel of Christ's resurrection to dispel the darkness and the gloom. This psalm is itself a proof of Hezekiah's thankful spirit, and perhaps the 118th Psalm is another production of his pen, containing as it does words of hope suitable to this period of his history (Ps. cxviii. 17, 18). Are we too resolved that our remaining years shall be years of thanksgiving, our lives a psalm of praise?

4. This fifteen years' walk was to be _a walk of peace_ (ver. 17). The meaning here is that the affliction was sent with a view to his obtaining a more settled and abiding peace; it teaches us, as nothing else can, the secret of inward peace. What are the sources of dispeace? One of them is found--(1.) In our _earthly strivings and ambitions._ "There is no peace to the wicked." He is constantly on the rack of avaricious struggles, unsatisfied longings, sensual desires. Affliction can show us the utter vanity of earthly things. How poor the world looks as seen from within the curtains of a dying bed! The sufferer who has come back from the gates of death is able to estimate earthly things at their right value. He ceases from the low ambitions and carnal desires that once raged within him. (2.) _Bodily pain and weakness_ is another cause of unrest. An experience of this bitterness brings peace when the patient is restored to health. We set greater value on a blessing which we have lost and regained. One of our poets describes a convalescent gathering strength, and coming forth after long confinement to look upon the scenes of Nature--

"The common earth and air and skies To him are opening paradise!"

To have such feelings we must have known affliction. For the enjoyment of this peace we must have tasted "great bitterness." (3.) But the greatest source of dispeace is _unpardoned sin_ (ver. 17). How complete is the forgiveness of sin as thus expressed! What a peace is enjoyed when guilt is removed and God's love shed abroad in our hearts! (H. E. I. 1893, 1894; P. D. 2675, 2677).

What more do we need to make this year a happy one than to set forward with this resolution? We cannot break away from the past. We are now what it has made us. Our "dead selves" make our living present selves. From our trials and sorrows we may gain supports for nobler endeavour. "I shall go softly," meekly, submissively, prayerfully, "on the bitterness of my soul." Do you wish some spring, some impulse to send you forward thus in life's pathway? Think of some bitterness in your past experience, some Marah which the Lord sweetened for you, some trouble from which He rescued you when you lay on the brink of death, or under the accusations of a troubled conscience, and make that "dead self" a support for the path before you.--_William Guthrie, M.A._

THE RESTORATION OF BELIEF.

xxxviii. 15. _I shall go softly all my years, &c._

In the case of Hezekiah, belief was restored by a great shock which brought him into contact with reality. He had been living, as many of us live, a pleasant, prosperous life, till he had really grown to believe that this world and its interests were the only things worth caring for. His treasures, his art collections, the beauty of his palace, made him love his life and dream that it was not a dream. God appeared to him not as to Adam, in the cool of the day, but as He came to Job, in the whirlwind and the eclipse, and Hezekiah knew that he had been living in a vain show. The answer of his soul was quick and sad, "By these things men live, O Lord;" these are the blows which teach men what life really is.

Many are prosperous, happy, and at ease. It will be wise for these to remember that thoughtless prosperity weakens the fibre of the soul (H. E. I. 3997-4014).

The blow which sobered Hezekiah was a common one. It did nothing more than bring him face to face with death. The process whereby his dependence on God was restored was uncomplicated. But there are far worse shocks than this, and recovery from them into a godlike life is long and dreadful.

1. One of these is the advent of irrecoverable disease--protracted weakness or protracted pain. Then we ask what we have done: we curse our day. But our misfortune brings round us the ministering of human tenderness: slowly the soul becomes alive to love; and through the benign influence of human love the first step towards the restoration of belief has been made, the soil is prepared for the work of the Spirit of God. Then the Gospel story attracts and softens the sufferer's heart. Afterwards he reads that Christ's suffering brought redemption unto man, and begins to realise how he can fill up what is behindhand of the sufferings of Christ. This is not only the restoration of belief--it is the victory of life.

2. More dreadful than protracted disease is that shipwreck which comes of dishonoured love--

"When all desire at last, and all regret, Go hand in hand to death, and all is vain, What shall assuage the unforgotten pain, And teach the unforgetful to forget!"

For some there is no remedy but death. Others live on in a devouring memory. And the memory poisons all belief in God. But there are many who recover, and emerge into peace and joy. Can we at all trace how this may be? Lapse of time does part of the work. It does not touch the memory of love. The pain of having a gift thrown aside has passed; the sweetness of having given remains. When we thought ourselves farthest from God, we were unconsciously nearest to Him. And so we are saved, faith is restored. Like Christ, we can say, "Father, forgive them, for they knew not what they did."

3. Many are conscious, in later life, that their early faith has passed away. It was unquestioning, enthusiastic. It depended much on those we loved. Religious feelings which had been without us and not within, slowly and necessarily died away. Becoming more and more liberal, we also become more and more unbelieving, and at last realised that our soul was empty. Are we to settle down into that? It is suicide, not sacrifice, which abjures immortality and prefers annihilation. Our past belief was borrowed too much from others. Resolve to accept of no direction which will free you from the invigorating pain of effort. Free yourself from the cant of infidelity. It boasts of love, it boasts of liberality. Its church is narrower than our strictest sect. Bring yourself into the relation of a child to a father. We need to come to our second self, which is a child--to possess a childhood of feeling in the midst of manhood.--_Stopford A. Brooke: Christ in Modern Life,_ pp. 380-392.

A GREAT DELIVERANCE.

xxxviii. 17. _Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back._

The text forms part of a king's song on recovering from a severe illness. "When we are raised from deep distress, our God deserves a song." But it points beyond temporal deliverance to salvation from the power and punishment of sin.

I. THE SINNER'S CONDITION.

In "the pit of corruption." This description suggests--1. _Loathsomeness._ It is a fit simile of the world in which the unconverted live. It is not a quagmire, but a pit; not a dry pit, but one full of corruption--filth, death, worms. To God, "glorious in holiness," every man in the pit of corruption must be loathsome. He may be educated, loving, philanthropic, and worldly wise, but being _dead in trespasses and sins,_ he is fit only for being buried out of the sight of God and good men. 2. _Helplessness._ A man in a pit is helpless, like Joseph. No man ever yet got out of the pit of corruption by his Latin, his logic, or his mother wit. It is not for him to postpone the date of a deliverance once vouchsafed. 3. _Increasing danger._ Men never mend in the pit.

II. THE SINNER'S HELPER.

"Thou," &c. In vain does the sinner look within himself or to his fellow-men for help, but God gives it. Every saint praises God for his salvation: _"Thou,"_ &c. Note, 1. The _freeness_ of God's redeeming love. There is nothing in a man wallowing in a pit of corruption to draw out love. Where it is shown, it is a free gift. 2. The _fulness_ of that love. "Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back." Some wink at our sins others cast them into our teeth on all occasions. God does neither. He abhors sin, but when He forgives the sinner, He forgets the sin (Jer. l. 20; Rom. viii. 33; Ps. xxxii. 2; H. E. I. 2322-2337).

III. THE SINNER'S DUTY.

He is not to lie quiet, but to cry for a deliverer. Wishing, hoping, thinking will not do. The crying, to be effectual, must be made _now._ Now God says, "My arm is not shortened," &c. (lix. 1). When once gone, to all your cries His reply will be, "Because I called," &c. (Prov. i. 24-26).

Why will you die? Bring forth your strong reasons against salvation.--_M.: Christian Witness,_ xviii. 392-393.

FORGIVENESS OF SIN.

xxxviii. 17. _For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back._

This is part of the song which Hezekiah wrote when he had recovered from his sickness. He had betaken himself to prayer. The nation, threatened with invasion from the powerful kingdom of Assyria, could ill afford to lose its head. His prayer was heard. The prophet was sent with a new message. The Divine hand was visible, although ordinary means were employed. This the king fully recognised (ver. 20). God's mercies should not be forgotten when the occasion has passed.

The king sees the connection of his disease with sin, and the removal of disease with the removal of his sins. From the text we observe that the forgiveness of sin is necessary, possible, complete, knowable.

+I. Forgiveness of sin is necessary.+ Scripture traces suffering to sin. The fact of sin is prominent in the history of mankind. Its universality is the groundwork of the revelation of its remedy. It is written on the conscience. However, oblivious to the fact in health and prosperity, men in sickness and disaster usually think of their sins as the remote or immediate cause. It is sometimes God's way of awakening attention (H. E. I. 56-89).

Until sin is forgiven, it is before the face of God (Ps. xc. 8; Heb. iv. 13). The accountability of men would be an unmeaning phrase if it did not involve the idea that an account is taken of his actions. They are all noted, good and bad, and tested by the Divine standard. Every man's are before the face of the Supreme Ruler and Judge for the purpose of being dealt with. This is his case until it is changed by the exercise of forgiveness. It is useless to ignore the need of forgiveness under the impression that we can, in some way, remove the stain. However much good a man may do, the fact of sin remains; and so long as he is under a law which requires unsinning obedience, the good cannot be set against the bad in the hope that the former will wipe the latter away. Forgiveness of the past is the first necessity.

+II. Forgiveness of sin is possible.+ The Gospel builds on the groundwork laid. It provides and makes known a way by which forgiveness may be obtained. It is not by the enactment of a law obedience to which will have this effect. Law brings the sinfulness into clear relief and renders escape impossible. Nor is it by the declaration of a general amnesty, which would virtually neutralise the law and its penalties. Nor is it by an exercise of the Divine sovereignty in the way of mercy to all men, nor even to the penitent, simply as such. God's way of forgiveness provides for the exercise of mercy by the satisfaction of the claims of righteousness. For its manifestation He prepared during long ages of teaching. In due time He sent His Son (Gal. iv. 4, 5). The interposition of Christ renders forgiveness possible. It includes His taking the sinner's obligations on Himself (Col. i. 14). This is the Divinely appointed way of forgiveness. It satisfies all the requirements of the case. It provides an adequate Mediator. It provides forgiveness on honourable terms. It is, so far as the sinner is concerned, a free forgiveness. It imposes no impossible condition. It says to the sinner under the burden of the law, which is impossible to him, is no longer demanded, because it has been rendered by His great Substitute. It simply calls upon him to believe, repenting of his sins. If you see your sinfulness, if your soul is troubled by it, if you are anxious to obtain mercy, the Gospel bids you come to Jesus, and come at once. It assures a present, immediate, free pardon.

+III. Forgiveness of sin is complete.+ "Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back." They were previously before the face of God. They are now taken thence and cast behind His back. You do that with a thing you have done with and intend to see no more. It is a most expressive representation of the Divine forgiveness. It attracts attention to its completeness. "All his sins," without exception or reservation, have been cast out of sight. They will never be produced against him. This is complete forgiveness. We can realise it better by comparison with the forgiveness exercised by men. Man's forgiveness is often very poor. "I can forgive, but I cannot forget." "I forgive, but I shall have no more to do with that man." Many do not even pretend to forgive. But God forgives, completely, fully (H. E. I. 2328-2348).

+IV. Forgiveness of sin is knowable.+ The text is the language of assurance. Hezekiah inferred it from his recovery. We may be certified--1. By the written Word. 2. By consciousness of the Spirit's work in us--repentance, faith, love, surrender. 3. By the moral effects. Put all these together (H. E. I. 309, 310, 324, &c.)

Do you possess assurance? Your experience--1. Illustrates the Divine character: "merciful and gracious." Its most attractive light. 2. Produces grateful love. The greatest boon has won the heart. 3. Invites to holy obedience. Appeals to what is best. 4. Suggests evangelic action. Tell others. Seek the salvation of the worst.

Are you not forgiven? Perhaps indifferent. Perhaps desirous, but hesitating. Perhaps procrastinating. Do not trifle. Do not neglect. Do not delay. Be reconciled to God.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE SONG OF HEZEKIAH.

(_Sermon to the Young._)

xxxviii. 18, 19. _For the grave cannot praise Thee, &c._

This is part of Hezekiah's song of praise to God. He was very ill. A good man, yet rather afraid of death; certainly very anxious to live. When we are strong and full of life, it is easy to talk of braving all worldly sorrows; but when the time comes for us to prove our words, many who are now in heaven have said, "Spare me a little before I go hence and be no more seen." In what affecting terms did Hezekiah bewail his sickness! "I said, in the cutting off my days. . . . I shall not see the Lord," in His holy sanctuary on earth; "I shall behold man no more;" never again behold the human face divine, never meet again the welcoming smile of child or friend.

God heard Hezekiah's prayer, took pity upon him, turned back the sundial of his life fifteen years. The good king rejoiced in this gift of lengthened life: "The grave cannot praise Thee," &c.

Let us follow out this rejoicing of the king, this setting forth the advantages of the living above the dead. 1. The living are in possession of the time which is given to make reconciliation with God and secure an everlasting interest. We are all by nature strangers to God, enemies to Him in our mind and inclination. We are defiled and guilty creatures; this is the hour of cleansing, whilst the fountain stands open in which our sins may be washed away (2 Cor. vi. 2). We are by nature utterly unfit for heaven; this is the day of repentance as well as of pardon. At the summons of death we must go, whether prepared or unprepared, holy or unholy, hoping or despairing. While your hearts were unholy, your death, had it happened, must have been dreadful. Let those who have improved this gift of life to make their reconciliation with God highly value it, and magnify its important advantages with all the gratitude and zeal of the king of Judah. 2. Life is a precious and golden gift, because it affords a field for increasing in good works. We are required to be "zealous of good works." _Zealous;_ not to touch a good work as if we were afraid of burning our fingers. Such works "are good and profitable to men." The days and years of life should be numbered by the multitude of good works, as by the revolutions of the earth. Lost and wasted time should not come into the account of life. Ah! if we reckoned thus, what a shrinking and contracting would take place! A Roman emperor, a heathen, used to say, "I have lost a day," if he had not done any good action in it. How many are there who live to no purpose at all, whom the world will not miss when they are gone! How many live to wicked purposes, and the world is glad to get rid of them! Some are mere cumberers of the ground; they bear the Christian name, but how different from Christ! "The night cometh," said He, "in which no man can work." "Ye are the light of the world," said Christ to His disciples, and how dark would this earth be were there no disciples of Christ upon it! "Ye are," said He, "the salt of the earth;" if the salt were gone, what corruption of manners, what filthy communications, what odious practices would overspread and defile society! One child of God in a family is like the ark in the house of Obed-Edom, of which we read, "The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-Edom," &c.; or like Joseph in Potiphar's house, of whom we read, "The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake," &c. We may follow up this idea, and say if one child of God is so great a blessing in a family, many may bless and save whole cities and nations. We find this to have actually been the case from what is said of Noah, Daniel, and Job. God said three thousand years ago, "Righteousness exalteth a nation," and it is equally certain that wickedness overthroweth it. In all the Old Testament history, we see how He ascribes prosperity to the keeping of His commandments, and ruin to the breaking of them. We cannot suppose that it is in any way different now; that the Ruler of the Universe is in slumber, or, being awake, has altered the rules of His government. Life, and especially youthful life, is the time for good works and good actions; not one can be done in the grave.

CONCLUSION.--Let young persons value life. It has been said that we "take no note of time save from its loss;" let not this be said of you. It is the gift of _time_ that alone places you in a position to profit by all other gifts. Make good use of life; of this its pleasant morning; be obedient, be diligent, love each other, avoid quarrelling and evil words. Live so that the end will conduct you to a world where, though time will be no longer, life will continue for ever.--_George Clark, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 239-246.

PRAISE FOR PRESERVATION.

(_Last Sunday of the Year._)

xxxviii. 19. _The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day._

Such was Hezekiah's burst of thankfulness when God heard his prayer, and gave him fifteen years more of life. While the danger lasted, he was surprised into more of alarm than became his place and character; but now, marvellously spared, he calls upon the living everywhere to praise God for His goodness. _His_ case, he feels, was _theirs_ too. All men alike live upon God's bounty, and are debtors to His patience. He guards them from evil,--sends them good things, without which life must be presently extinguished,--renews their being, and makes it over to them by a fresh grant, not only when the closing year reminds us of the gift, but at each day's working time. Therefore Hezekiah is not satisfied with a solitary strain of thanksgiving. He looks round upon a world teeming with animated, intelligent beings, and in every brother who God hath made and kept alive he finds one who should bring in his tribute of praise. He wants a chorus of rejoicing worshippers.

1. This season naturally makes us thoughtful. We think of what life has been to us lately, and what it might have been. We have nearly passed another stage on our journey to the grave, and we miss some who began it with us. We stand, like unwounded soldiers on the battlefield with the dead and the dying all round them. This is all God's doing. He who gives life sustains it. If to have lived on be deemed a blessing, and praise for the boon be due anywhere, it can only be to Him whose providential government of the world is like an hourly repetition of the creative power which called it out of nothing.

2. But is life worth having? Is prolonged life a blessing, and may we fairly require men to be grateful for it? This is assumed by Hezekiah. Life and praise may go well together, because to so great a degree life and happiness go together. Not always. Some are so unhappy that they cry out under their burden, and almost wish, for a moment, for deliverance at any cost. But the settled feeling of men's minds is the other way. To almost all of them life is the hoarded treasure which they will guard at any price. They will put up with the worst they have to bear before they will accept release on the terms of being banished straightway to an unknown world. The reason is, that by the side of this harvest of woe, of which they reap a few ears now and then, there groweth a harvest of blessing, of which they are constant reapers (P. D. 2282, 2256).

3. Remember the "common mercies" of which through another year we have been partakers. Our very senses are so many curious inlets by which pleasures, more or less vivid, come thronging in from the wide world around us. Continued health. Senses and faculties marvellously kept from injury. The happiness of our houses; specially to be remembered at this season. When we call upon the living to praise God, we have much more to show for the demand than the bare fact that God lets them live. He lets most of them live happily. He causes their cup to run over with blessings. He does all this, in spite of forgetfulness and disobedience on their part that would wear out any other love but His (H. E. I. 2307-2309). Praise God for the "common mercies" of another year.

4. While we live we are on mercy-ground. _That_ is the special mercy beyond all our common mercies. Life, while it lasts, connects us with all that is blessed and glorious in the scheme of salvation. While we are here, "there is but a step between us and death;" but while we are here, too, the door stands wide open through which we may pass into the presence-chamber of our King. _While you are here,_ if you will make Christ your friend, sin may be cast out, and the blessed Spirit of truth become your daily Teacher, and your future years be all rich in blessing and bright with hope. Praise God for the prolongation to you of this great opportunity, and embrace it now! Let the new year find you serving Christ.

5. Living saints, as well as spared sinners, should praise God for His preserving mercy. They have had fresh opportunities for serving God and for growth in grace. They have no righteousness of their own wherein to stand before God, and never will have; but talents improved and laid out for God will bring a blessing. He is too bountiful a Master to let any of His servants work for nought. Heaven itself is not alike to all, though it shall be satisfying to the meanest child in God's family. The disciple whom Jesus specially loved leant on His bosom at the Last Supper; and at the marriage-supper, when all the guests shall be assembled from many lands, they who have attained to the godliest stature in their days of conflict shall sit nearest to the King, and wear the brightest crowns (H. E. I. 2751-2753, 3288; P. D. 412, 1752). Every year is a fresh sowing-time for a more abundant harvest.

6. Some among you have special reasons for saying with Hezekiah, "The living," &c. (1.) This strain belongs to the aged man or woman, who has already lived beyond the allotted term of human life. In your feebleness, God has carried you through another stage. Beyond your expectation, perhaps, you have seen another Christmas. Many are the mercies of one year, but when they come to be multiplied by near fourscore, what an array we have then! Praise the Lord! (2.) Some before me, while the year was running out, thought they should never see the end of it. Like Hezekiah, you prayed for life when death seemed to be close upon you. God restored your life to you. What have you done since to show yourself grateful for that mercy? Have a care that your mercies do not make your case worse. If they do not melt, they harden.

7. If the living should praise God, how largely is He defrauded of His due! We are surrounded with living men. Each one of these has a fresh grant of life with each day's sun-rising. What a tide of praise should be going up unceasingly to His throne! Do we find the world so full of praise? Alas! no; if praise be the sign of life, we seem to be walking among the tombs. God is forgotten in His own world. While common friends are thanked for trifling favours, the Giver of mercies, repeated with every breath, is to many of us an unheeded stranger.--_John Hampton Gurney, M.A.: Sermons, chiefly on Old Testament Histories,_ pp. 297-312.

HEZEKIAH'S STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS.

xxxix. 1, 2. _At that time Merodach-baladan, &c._

A study of the character of Hezekiah is profoundly instructive. The sacred writers impartially present him to us in his strength and in his weakness.

I. HEZEKIAH IN HIS STRENGTH.

He was in the full sense of the word a good king (2 Kings xviii. 3, 5). He was conspicuous--1. For his religious zeal. Though, politically, it was a hazardous thing to do, he utterly abolished idolatry in his kingdom. 2. For his religious wisdom (2 Kings. xviii. 4).[1] 3. For his strong faith. This was shown especially in his conduct in the matter of the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. When we consider these things, we may well understand the high praise given to Hezekiah; certainly there were few kings like him; perhaps none who exhibited a ripeness of religious knowledge and a strength of character so remarkably superior to the times in which he lived.

II. HEZEKIAH IN HIS WEAKNESS.

The weakness of his character was displayed--1. When the king of Babylon sent messengers and a present to him to congratulate him on his recovery from his illness. Then he must needs take them over his house and his armoury, and parade before them all the strength of his dominions (2 Kings xx. 12-13). It was natural and right that he should be pleased with the conduct of the king of Babylon; it was gratifying to him personally; it augured well for the future, as concerning his kingdom, that he should be on good terms with the king of Babylon, now rising into power; but it was unworthy of him to lose his self-possession in the manner described. (1.) He was evidently overcome for the nonce by silly feelings of vanity. He seems to have thought that inasmuch as the king of Babylon had considered him worthy of the compliment of sending to him, he on his part must show that he was indeed a very magnificent king, as the king of Babylon had no doubt heard that he was. (2.) His vanity caused him to forget how little service his armoury and his treasures had been to him in the hour of peril (H. E. I. 3998, 4000, 4001, 4011). (3.) His vanity caused him to forego an opportunity of honouring God and of instructing his neighbours in Divine truth.[2] Doubtless it was his failure in duty in this respect that brought upon him so severe a rebuke (vers. 3-7). 2. The weakness of his character had already manifested itself in his conduct during his illness. In the prospect of death his strength of mind quite broke down (ch. xxxviii.) But there was a difference: in the other case he acted unworthily of his knowledge; in this case he was weak because he was, compared with ourselves, weak in religious privileges. He looked to his grave with such melancholy feelings because he could not clearly see a life beyond it. The answer of the great riddle of humanity had been guessed by many before Christ, but His resurrection made the truth clear (2 Tim. i. 10; H. E. I. 3415). If it were not for the light which our Lord has thrown into the grave, we should mourn like Hezekiah, and our eyes would fail as did his. Having more light than he had, it is our duty to live a nobler life than he did, and not to be cowards in prospect of death (H. E. I. 1570-1643).--_Harvey Goodwin, M.A.: Plain Truth Sermons,_ Third Series, pp. 78-92.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Amongst other idolatrous forms of worship which he destroyed, he broke in pieces the brazen serpent which Moses had made in the wilderness (2 Kings xviii. 4). Many men would have been ready to destroy all the heathen forms of idolatry; they would have made no peace with Baal, or Dagon, or any other gods of the nations, but they would have hesitated to destroy a relic of the life of Israel in the wilderness; they would have thought it sacrilegious to break up an image which Moses himself had made, and they would have reasoned that the religious feelings of the people were so entwined about this memorial of their early days, that it would do more harm than good to violate their feelings, and take away that which excited in their minds religious thoughts. If a king of Judah had so argued, it would not have seemed right to confound him with the mere rabble of idolaters. If Hezekiah had destroyed all other forms of idolatry and left this remaining, we could easily have found an excuse for his conduct; but forasmuch as he took a higher view of his duty, we are bound to give him credit for that higher view, and to remark his spiritual discernment. Hezekiah was not deceived by any flimsy arguments about the sacred nature of the relic which the people adored; it was a cause of idolatry, that was enough. It had been sacred once. In the wilderness, when it was held up as an object upon which the people might gaze, it would have been a sacrilege to mutilate it; but now it was but "a piece of brass," and if that piece of brass be the centre of a system of idolatry, there is but one safe course, and that is to destroy it.--_Goodwin._

[2] If his purpose was to impress upon the Babylonians the greatness of his strength, the story of the destruction of Sennacherib would have answered his purpose much better. If Hezekiah had taken the ambassadors to the Temple, and told them how he had spread Sennacherib's letter before the invisible presence of his God in that holy house, and how he had prayed that the designs of his enemy might be brought to nought, and how that eventually the Assyrians had all either perished or fled, the men of Babylon would have been far more impressed with the power of Hezekiah, believing as they would that he was under the protection of an unseen Hand, than they possibly could be by the mere vulgar display of treasures and armour, which their own country would show in abundance, and which was the very thing calculated to excite their desire of plunder.--_Goodwin._

HOME LIFE AND INFLUENCE.

xxxix. 4. _What have they seen in Thy house?_

State briefly the circumstances that gave rise to this question. It evidently suggests to Hezekiah that he has not made the best use of the visit of the Babylonians. He might have turned it to greater account than the gratification of his vanity by displaying his treasures. Instead of magnifying the greatness and glory of God, and thus lifting the minds of his visitors to the highest themes, he had only held out a bait to their covetous desires, and tempted them to steal the treasures so vainly displayed. This was to be the result of his folly (ver. 6). This is how we miss the great opportunities of our life. There come to us golden seasons when we might bear valuable testimony for God; but we have some petty, personal desires of our own to carry out, and they pass away unimproved. Then comes the prophetic message, borne by our own conscience, that the plan we adopted to gratify our improper desires will only lead us to confusion and unhappiness.

The extent to which Hezekiah came under the censure of God in this matter we shall not now further consider. We shall extend the application of this question to the matter of _home life and home influence._ So it has a bearing on all of us. "What have they seen in _thy_ house?"

I. It should be seen that our home is the common centre of attraction for all the family (P. D. 1828-1830, 1836).

II. In the home each member of the family should be seen faithfully discharging the duties of his or her relationship to it; husbands, wives, fathers, &c.

III. It should be seen that every Christian gift and grace is carefully cultivated. "For Christ's sake," should be the motto of the whole family. In all they do, every member of it should seek to display love such as He manifested when He dwelt among us: His love was patient, magnanimous, sympathetic. This is the way to make the humblest home happy (P. D. 1823, 1834, 1838, 1839).

CLOSING REFLECTIONS.--1. If we do not thus exhibit Christianity at home, it may be questioned whether we possess it at all (H. E. I. 2994). 2. If others know that there is no practical Christianity displayed by us at home, they will rightly set but little value upon our religious performances abroad. 3. It is from the culture of home life that our hopes are to spring with regard to the spiritual life. In the home lurk the disorders that disturb society. The true way to bring these disorders to an end is to endeavour to make the homes of our land the nurseries of every Christian grace and virtue. 4. Let us aim at the accomplishment of the needful national reforms, by each of us doing what we can to make _our own home_ all that it ought to be.--_William Manning._

HEZEKIAH TRIED.

xxxix. 8. _Then said Hezekiah, &c._

In the narrative connected with the text we find much in Hezekiah to be avoided and much worthy of imitation.

+I. We find Hezekiah in great affliction.+ He had recently escaped from great public and national calamity; he is speedily involved in private and personal suffering (ch. xxxviii. 1). "He was sick," and Isaiah was sent to prepare him for death. He was greatly alarmed at the approach of death (ch. xxxviii. 9-14) How different from St. Paul (Phil. i. 23). He lived in a dark and imperfect dispensation; few then had clear views of the world to come (2 Tim. i. 10). Hezekiah's faith failed him greatly, and he clung to life with pertinacity.

+II. In his trouble he sought the Lord+ (ch. xxxviii. 2, 3). He made solemn vows of what he would do if spared (ch. xxxviii. 15). When partially restored, he renewed his vows (ch. xxxviii. 19). Thus believers in every kind of trouble should seek comfort of God in earnest prayer; nor is it improper then solemnly to give ourselves to God, and renew our vows. We are encouraged to do this by the speed with which a gracious answer was sent to Hezekiah (ch. xxxviii. 4, 5). Isaiah was hardly gone out from pronouncing the judgment when he was sent back with a message of mercy (2 Kings xx. 4-5). How wonderfully compassionate is God to His feeble people! Their poor, trembling prayers, uttered in fear and doubting, are heard and answered. He not only hears prayer, but answers directly (Dan. ix. 20-23).

+III. We find him speedily forgetful of the mercy he had received.+ Ambassadors arrive at his court. Whence and for what purpose? (vers. 1, 2). What an opportunity for him to redeem his vows, and to proclaim the power and goodness of God to these heathens! Alas! he shows them all his riches, &c., but of God and His temple he says nothing. Flattered and betrayed by the world (vers. 3, 4), what a heart his and ours must be! _How could this be?_ We are told (2 Chron. xxxii. 31) that such is man when left to himself! We are never in greater danger than after seasons of great mercy and special providences (H. E. I. 4902-4904).

+IV. He humbly received the rebuke that was sent to him+ (text). Here the habit of his mind appeared: he had fallen into the sin of vanity, but humility and resignation to the will of God, especially to His afflicted dispensations, were his usual characteristics. A clear evidence of true godliness, meekly and cheerfully to submit to fatherly correctives. Aaron (Lev. x. 1-3), Eli (1 Sam. iii. 18), the bereaved mother (2 Kings iv. 26), David (Ps. cxix. 75).

LESSONS.--1. _Let us cultivate humility, watchfulness, and jealously of ourselves_ (H. E. I. 4883, 4901). 2. _Let us not be disconsolate because we are conscious of weakness and unworthiness._ The errors and failings of the best of men are left on record, not to extenuate our sins, but to save us from despair. They were men of like passions with ourselves--the same infirmities and corruptions--yet God bore with them, and saved them out of all their distresses. Let us therefore "hope to the end," and "patiently continue in well-doing," believing that we shall be "more than conquerors through Him who hath loved us" (H. E. I. 1117, 2376).--_F. Close, A.M.: Fifty-two Sketches of Sermons,_ pp. 52-55.

SUBMISSION UNDER GOD'S REBUKE.

xxxix. 8. _Then said Hezekiah, &c._

I. THE REBUKE.

The character of Hezekiah is well known. One of the very best of the kings of Judah (2 Kings xviii. 3-7). Nevertheless even in this excellent man there were moral weaknesses which were displayed when his physical malady was removed. The arrival of the Babylonian ambassadors excited within him hopes of political advantages arising from alliance with the idolatrous king whom they represented, and in order to impress the envoys with a sense of his importance, he made an ostentatious display of his wealth (ver. 2). This displeased the Lord. Why? 1. Because Hezekiah let slip a favourable opportunity of making known to the heathen the glory and the goodness of the God of Israel.[1] 2. Because his ostentation made it plain that pride was usurping the throne of his heart (2 Chron. xxxii. 26).

But this was not the habitual frame of Hezekiah's mind; he was a good man, and therefore God lovingly chastened him. If it had been the wicked Ahab who had done this deed, the Lord might possibly have taken no notice of it; He might have left that idolatrous sinner to have followed his own devices. But seeing this evil spirit begin to show itself in a pious and humble man, the Lord mercifully and savingly interposes to check it in the beginning (vers. 3-7).

II. THE MANNER IN WHICH IT WAS RECEIVED.

Sharp as was the rebuke sent him by Isaiah, Hezekiah so received it as to give a rare example of pious and cheerful resignation (text). Both parts of his reply are remarkable. 1. _"Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken."_ None but a child of God could have used this language in sincerity, under such trying circumstances. But he has such faith in God, that although it is impossible for him to foresee what wickedness his posterity would commit, he knows that the decree will be found to be righteous (1 Sam. iii. 18). But doubtless he meant something more than submission to God's sovereignty; he meant to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord to himself, of which this very rebuke was a new manifestation (H. E. I. 190-196, 162-165). 2. _"He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days."_ That is, God hath been pleased to inform me that my children are to be carried into captivity and to suffer much affliction; but in my grief for this, I must not forget to thank Him for His tender mercies to myself. He has declared that I shall have peace, and this is far more than I deserve.

APPLICATION.--1. We may learn what exceeding sinfulness and immense danger there often is in sins which we are apt to pass over as trifles, and hardly to notice in ourselves (H. E. I. 4897, 4898, 4516). 2. Remark an inestimable privilege of the children of God's love: they may fall into the very same troubles as their naughty neighbours, but in the one case calamity is the angry lash of the law, in the other it is the faithful rebuke of an anxious Father. 3. For the history of God's dealings with Hezekiah we may infer what must be the wisest wish for any man to make, viz., that God would take us into His holy keeping and choose our inheritance for us. If we were left to determine for ourselves, some would choose one thing, and some another. Yet "sorrow is better than laughter;" and the history of Hezekiah is proof of it (H. E. I. 211, 3986, 3998-4001). 4. If sin have brought rebuke unto you, search and try your ways, that you may see what your transgression and weakness is; and then accept the chastening of the Lord as a token of His love (H. E. I. 144-147). 5. Whatsoever may have befallen you, remember always that the mercies which remain are far greater than you deserve; and that in the day of prosperity, no less than in the evil, there is need for perseverance and watchfulness (H. E. I. 4888-4890).--_Archdeacon Bather: Sermons on Old Testament Histories,_ pp. 275-285.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] If, instead of showing them his treasures, he had related to these idolatrous Chaldeans, who were worshippers of the sun, the account of his marvellous cure, and especially the miracle by which the shadow was made to go ten degrees backward on the dial, he might have been the means of bringing them to the knowledge of the true God who made the heavens, and of convincing them that He was master even of that glorious luminary, which they ignorantly adored instead of its Creator.--_Bather._

ADDITIONAL OUTLINES.

* * * * * * * *

INSTINCT FOLLOWED--REASON DISREGARDED.

i. 3. _The ox knoweth his owner, &c._

"We are wise." So spake the Greek of old in the pride of his intellectual powers, and so speak many in our own day who have imbibed the spirit of the Greek. Reason is a wonderful faculty, and there have not been wanting, in any age of the world, those who have felt elated by their successful exercise of it. It can look before and after, deriving experience from the past and suggestions provision against the future. It can explore the hidden secrets of Nature and render the world of matter subservient to man; it can turn in upon itself and speculate upon its own processes; nay, it can teach us something of the existence and attributes of the Most High. Such being the triumphs of reason, it can hardly be matter of wonder that the wise men of this world plume themselves on the attainment of those triumphs.

The vainglorying of men, however, whatever form it may assume, is abomination in the sight of God. In the scheme of salvation which God has devised there is no room for boasting either of our moral or intellectual endowments: "It is excluded." That scheme is essentially humbling in its character; it is so constructed as to shut out pride at every cranny where it could possibly insinuate itself; it is such as to stop every mouth and bring in all the world guilty before God. And not only guilty, but blind also. He will have all the world convicted in the court of Conscience of folly, no less than of sin. In order to bring His people to this conviction, he expostulates with them in many passages of His Word on the vainglorious boasts they were in the habit of uttering, shows them their utter emptiness, and exhibits the inconsistency of man's moral conduct with his pretensions to wisdom and enlightenment (cf. Jer. viii. 7, 8).

Our text implies two things--1. That the religion subsisting between the brute creation and man is in some measure similar to that which subsists between man and God; and, 2. That the acknowledgement made by dumb animals of their relation to mankind strangely contrasts with the natural man's refusal of acknowledgement to God.

+I. We are to compare the relations subsisting between an inferior and a superior creature with those subsisting between a superior and the Creator.+ Note, though these relations may be susceptible of comparison, and may be used to lift up our minds to apprehension of the truth, there is an insufficiency in the lower relation to type out the higher. The distance between man and the inferior creatures, if great, is measurable; whereas the distance between finite man and the Infinite God is incalculable.

The dumb creature recognises the master whose property it is: "The ox knoweth his owner." What constitutes man's right of ownership in the ox? Simply the fact that he bought it. He did not create it. If he supports its life, it is only by providing it with a due supply of food, not by ministering to it momentarily the breath which it draws, nor by regulating the springs of its animal economy. That is the sum of his ownership. _But what constitutes God's right of ownership in us, His intelligent and rational creatures?_

1. We are the work of His hands. Creation constitutes a property in all our faculties and a claim to our services which no creature hath or can have in another.

2. Our property is most entire, our claim of right most indisputable, in those things which, having been once deprived of them by fraud or violence, we have subsequently paid a price to recover. The flocks and herds in the possession of civilised European settlers in uncivilised countries are often swept away by a barbarous horde of native freebooters. Imagine, then, a case in which, it being impossible to bring the offenders by justice (by reason of their numbers and strength), the owners of the cattle should effect a ransom of their property by laying down a sum equivalent to its value. Is it not thenceforth theirs by a double claim--the claim of original ownership and the claim of subsequent ransom? Such is the claim which God has over us. That claim, grounded originally upon the fact of creation, has been confirmed, enlarged, extended a thousand-fold by the fact of redemption (1 Cor. vi. 20; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19).

3. Our text suggests another detail of the claims which our Heavenly Owner has upon our allegiance: "The ass knoweth his master's crib." He knows the manger at which he is fed and the hand that feeds him. Here is a palpable claim upon regard, although by no means so high as those previously advanced. It is a claim appreciable by the senses, capable of being understood and responded to by the mere animal nature. In palliation of man's neglect of those claims of God which are established by creation and redemption, it might haply be pleaded that he is a creature of the senses, and that the facts of creation and redemption are not cognisable by them. These stupendous facts are transacted and past. But even this paltry justification is entirely cut off by the fact here implied, that man is indebted to God for his daily maintenance, for the comfort and the convenience even of his animal life.[1]

Observe, also, that it is not the brute creation _in a savage state_ whose relations towards men are here drawn into comparison with the relations of man towards God. To illustrate his argument the inspired writer has chosen instances from the domestic animals, who share man's daily toils, live as his dependants, and are familiarised by long habit with their master's abode and ways of life. In drawing out the contrast, he does not mention mankind generally, but "_Israel_ doth not know, _my people_ doth not consider." It were in some measure excusable that the heathens should refuse acknowledgement to the living God, whom they know not. But what shall we urge in extenuation of the indifference of "Israel," who from his very infancy has been of the household of God, domesticated by the hearth of the Universal Parent, and furnished with every means of access to His presence?

+II. A contrast is drawn between the acknowledgement made by dumb animals of their relation to their owners and Israel's refusal of acknowledgment to his God.+

The cattle "know" or recognise the voice of their owner; his call they heed, in his steps they follow; irrational creatures though they be, they are not insensible to their benefactor's fond cares. What a cutting reproof of the insensibility of God's people!

1. They recognise not God in His warnings, whether they be addressed to them as individuals or to the nation of which they are members. Afflictions arrest them not in their career of vanity and sin. Judgments stir them not out of their lethargy of indifference. They hear not, see not, God in them.

2. They do not acknowledge God in His mercies. God's blessings of Nature and Providence are accepted by them as a matter of course. If regarded at all, they are traced no higher than to secondary causes. The continual experience of them renders them not one whit more submissive to the yoke of God's service. As to the higher blessings of forgiveness and grace, they feel no need of them, and evince no gratitude for them.

Want of consideration is the root and reason of this strange insensibility. It is not that "Israel" lacks the faculty of apprehending God, but he will not be at pains to exercise that faculty. It is not that he lacks a speculative knowledge of the truths now set forth, but that he does not lay to heart this knowledge, nor allow it its due weight.--_E. M. Goulburn, D.C.L.: Sermons,_ pp. 153-181.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Of this fact a strongly figurative but very beautiful statement is contained in a passage of Hosea--a passage remarkably illustrative of that before us, inasmuch as there also the imagery is drawn from man's dealings with the cattle. "I drew them," says God, "with the cords of a man, with bonds of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them." _"I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws."_ The owner of the ox does not overtask his strength, does not cause him to toil in the furrow without intermission. At the approach of evening the faithful animal is driven homewards, and freed from the shackles of the galling and burdensome yoke. An image this of God's dealing with His human children. Our every period of refreshment and repose, of ease and relaxation from toil, is from the unseen hand of our heavenly Owner. Those many fractions of comfort and happiness which lighten the load of life--those numerous (although momentary) glimpses of sunshine which relieve the plodding routine of our daily career--those flowers with which the path of the great majority is more or less strewed: the innocent sally of mirth, the smile of affection, the expression of sympathy, the cheering word of encouragement from those whose encouragement is justly valued--these, like all other mercies, are from God, and (though these be but a small part of what we have to be thankful for) are designed to draw us towards Him in bonds of gratitude and love.

_"And I laid meat unto them."_ By those who avail themselves of their services, the cattle are supplied with provender. God not only called us into being, but maintains us in being. He it is who gives us our daily bread, and spreads our board with food convenient for us; for food, for health, for continuance of life our dependence upon Him is absolute. By means of these and similar mercies it is that God establishes a claim to the gratitude and devotedness even of those among His rational creatures who have most deeply buried themselves in the things of time and sense, and whose hearts seem to be stirred by no breath of spiritual aspiration, and troubled by no prospect of eternity.--_Goulburn._

THE CESSATION OF WAR.

ii. 4. _They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more._

A prediction of times yet to come. It is never yet been fulfilled. It is true that when the religion of Christ came to the world it came with the spirit and principles of an all-pacific dispensation (_"On earth peace, goodwill towards men"_); and true that, in the degree of its actual prevalence, this has been the effect. But how far is this from anything adequate to the terms of the prediction, which exhibit a bright and ample idea of this spirit and tendency of Christianity realised, reduced to fact, on the great scale!

+I. War has been a prominent character of all ages.+

1. Man, when he came fresh from his Creator's hands, must have had in his soul the principle of all kind affections (Gen. i. 27), a state of feeling that would have been struck with horror at the thought of inflicting suffering. Yet in the first family of man war and slaughter began. Men may argue and quibble against our notion of _"the fall,"_ but here was fall enough! and demonstration enough!

2. War prevailed among the antediluvians (Gen. vi. 5, 12). We are told of some that "became mighty men, men of renown." How? Partly perhaps in a war against savage beasts, but far more in the exploits of that "violence" which filled the earth, and doomed it to be overwhelmed.

3. War prevailed among the race descended from Noah. It was by the descendants of the only faithful friend and servant of the Almighty found on earth that the desolated world was to be repeopled, and we might have hoped for a better race, if human nature were intrinsically good, or corrigible by the most awful dispensations. But the Flood could not cleanse the nature of man, nor the awful memory of it repress the coming forth of selfishness, pride, ambition, anger, and revenge. (1.) The history of the Jews is to a large extent a history of wars. (2.) The history of the other races is a history of their conflicts with each other, of a terrible process by which the smaller states were absorbed in others, until they were all included in the Roman empire. How many millions of human beings were destroyed in the process! (3.) Since that period the history of the world has been to a large extent written in blood.[1]

_Reflections:_--1. What a state of the spirit of mankind is here disclosed to us! 2. What a state of Christianity, or to any real prevalence of it, among the nations denominated Christian! 3. How necessary that all religious persons, especially tutors and parents, should set themselves systematically, as opportunities offer, to counterwork that maddening enchantment of the "glory" of war; of war considered merely as the field of great exploits. Let them strive to break up, in the view of young and ardent minds, this splendid, pestilent delusion about heroes, conquests, fame, and glory.

+II. War is not necessarily sinful, nor are those engaged in it to be always condemned.+ Defensive war does not violate Christian principles. Nay, it is sometimes a duty.[2] An opposite opinion is held by some who rest on the literal and extreme construction of a few expressions, such as "Resist not evil," "Give place to wrath," "Love your enemies," "To him that smiteth thee on one cheek, turn also the other." These interdict revenge. But their unqualified literal interpretation requires that Christianity should subject mankind universally to the unrestrained will of whoever is the most unjust and wicked; should teach that so long as there are men who have more of Satan and Moloch in them than the rest, and are intent on practicing oppression and cruelty, it is the absolute duty of Christians, as such, individually and nationally, to let them do it,--at least rather than resist them in such a way as to endanger their persons. This would be a delightful doctrine to all the tyrants, bigots, slave-drivers, robbers, and murderers! But the magistrate is not _so_ to leave the matter to God's disposal, or to refrain from using the "sword" against the doers of evil. And the government of a nation is but a magistracy on a large scale.

But those principles upon which a Christian casuist would justify war, under certain possible circumstance, would not justify perhaps one in twenty of the wars that have been waged. Very rare has been the instance of a war, on either side, strictly and purely defensive, of either the nation itself or any other endangered or oppressed people depending on its protection. Hence--

+III. We rejoice over this prediction that war is to cease on the earth.+

1. This prediction spreads a visionary sense before us so new, strange, and delightful, that nothing but prophecy, and faith in the Divine power and goodness, could enable us to expect its realisation.[3]

2. It is difficult to conceive the practicability of its attainment. For it is something intrinsic in the soul and nature of man, throughout the whole race, that war has sprung from. _There_ is the hot and terrible element that has burst abroad in so many thunders. And yet is it _man_ that is to be universally at peace! How can it be? (2 Kings vii. 2). Vicious selfishness, ambition, envy, rivalry, rapacity, revenge, these are the things in men that cause wars between them, on the small scale and the great. How can these ever be so repressed, subdued, extirpated, that all war shall cease?

3. Certainly not by experience, philosophy, or civilisation.[4]

4. Nothing will operate efficaciously to this grand effect that does not go deep into the constitution of men's souls, and quell internally those fatal passions which have perpetuated external war. And that is what cannot be done by any civilisation, national refinement, science, or even an enlightened theoretical policy. All these may be but like fair structures and gardens extended over a ground where volcanic fires are in a temporary slumber below. All these may be shattered and exploded by some mighty impulse of ambition or some blast of revengeful anger. No; there must be a greater, nobler power brought into prevalence among mankind. Nothing springing merely from the action of the human mind can suffice. It must be something coming from heaven. CHRISTIANITY is the appointed and qualified agent.

+IV. It is credible that Christianity will cause wars to cease upon the earth.+

1. It has accomplished something in this direction already. To _it_ is mainly attributable the mitigation of ferocity and exterminatory rage, so evident in modern wars. We dare not assert even that it may not have prevented some wars.

2. It is essentially a peacemaker. Look at its genuine tendency, as displayed on the smaller scale, in a family, a neighbourhood, a district: a family in a constant state of hostility within itself, but at length the members of it are converted by the religion of Jesus Christ. The consequence how happy! (H. E. I. 1126.)

3. Precisely as it progresses among any people it will produce a distaste for war.[5]

4. Consequently its progress among the nations is a progressive abolition of war. Every extension of this blessed religion is so much gained against war; quenching still another and another spark of infernal fire; repressing in some more minds those evil passions which are the prompters and the essential power of war.

5. Christianity _is_ progressing among the nations.

6. Consequently it is reasonable to cherish the hope of a scene of universal peace (P. D. 2675).

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS.--1. The universal cessation of war means much more than merely the cessation of much mischief. Think what will be effected when the wealth, time, labour, art, ingenuity, of truly Christian nations are directed to the noblest purposes of peace! 2. Extirpate the war-spirit from your own breast. The selfish, proud, arrogant, envious, revengeful, are essentially of the _war tribe,_ however, little they have to do with actual war, however much they may condemn and profess to deplore it. Such individuals are not fit for that future terrestrial "kingdom of heaven."--_John Foster: Lectures, Second Series,_ pp. 142-173.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] What a vision of destruction! Think of all that tormented and desolated the earth during the long period of the fall of the Roman Empire,--of that inundation of revenge and death, the progress and utmost extension of the Mahomedan power; of the mighty account of slaughter in the Spanish conquest of America; of the almost incessant wars among the states of civilised Europe down nearly to the present hour. Think even of the bloody wars within our own island, especially on the border between its northern and southern divisions; the hundreds of remaining fortresses, monumental of war. And to complete the account--as if the whole solid earth were not wide enough--the sea has been coloured with blood, and received into its dark gulf myriads of the slain, as if it could not destroy enough by its tempests and wrecks!--_Foster._

[2] Almost four or five years since, our Government had a war with the Pindarees--a terrible assemblage of outlaws, robbers, and murderers, to the number of fifty thousand, occupying a strong and almost inaccessible tract on the northern frontier. Thence with impetuous rapidity, they rushed down, all horsemen, on the country, inhabited by a population of cultivators; seized whatever could easily be carried off, and with furious eagerness demolished, burnt, destroyed the rest. But far more than this, they were universally possessed with the spirit of murder; they killed the people without regard to sex or age. Not only so, but when sufficiently at leisure for such amusement, they inflicted excruciating tortures previous to death.

Now, when the Governor-General had intelligence of this--_what was he to do? what,_ acting as a Christian? _Nothing?_ What, as a great magistrate, did he "bear the sword" for? What was he Governor at all for? To lie in splendid state, and number and tax the people? Or was he to direct that prayer should be made in the churches for something very like a miracle? And on failure of that, prayers that the wretched people he governed might be all meekly resigned to their fate? and that even should the fell and fiendish legion, being unresisted, choose to pursue their way all down to Calcutta, all the people in their tract could not escape, and at last himself and the people of the city, might be enabled calmly to submit to a sovereign dispensation of Providence?

He did not do this. He chose rather to set out on the rule of his appointment, to be "a terror to evil-doers," "a minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon them that do evil" (Rom. xiii. 4). But if war is in all possible cases wrong, he perpetuated an enormous crime against Christianity in marching his armies with a celerity unparalleled in that climate, and encountering, intercepting, and exterminating the murderers, so that the surviving people could feel themselves in peace.

* * * * * * *

Put the stronger case of an immense host of northern barbarians being landed on our coasts (Tartars, Cossacks, Calmucks), and joined there by the legions of the Popish states, what would happen if we all, as Christians, judged it wrong and wicked to fight? Unless, indeed, we should suppose a divided opinion in the nation with respect to the Christian principle of the case, and that so a very large and powerful proportion was resolute to resist in all the array and action of war. Now, while with the utmost sacrifice and peril they were doing so, and suppose successfully, what a remarkable phenomenon would be presented! namely, the other division of the people deploring these very proceedings and successes by which their houses are saved from ravage and desolation,--deploring them as an awful outrage against Christian rectitude,--praying for the instant _conversion_ of these deluded men to a right apprehension of Christian duty,--that they might immediately throw away their arms and allow the barbarian inundation to burst forward! Or, having failed in this prayer (and a mighty victory having finally cleared the land of the infernal irruption), then lamenting that a dreadful national violation of Christian principles had been irretrievably consummated! And as success purchased by crime can in the result be little else than a calamity and a judgment, they might be alarmed and dismayed to find themselves still in possession of their former freedom of worship, of speech, of action, and of all their rights as citizens.--_Foster._ (Written in 1823.)

[3] It is difficult to realise the fact to our imagination. No fighting on the face of the whole earth! no armies, no military profession, no garrisons, nor arms, nor banners, nor proclamations! No leagues, offensive or defensive; no guarding of frontiers; no fortresses; no military prisons! No celebrating of victories in gaudy pomps and revelries for the vulgar, or in prostituted poetry for the more refined! A wondering what kind of times those could be in which mankind accounted it the highest glory to kill one another! Truly this is a state of things we are ill prepared even to conceive!--_Foster._

[4] Such things will be _included,_ certainly, in whatever process can and shall reduce the world at length to peace; they will be taken as accessories and subsidiaries to the Master Power in operation. But whoever would reckon on such things alone should be strangely mortified, one thinks, in adverting to many facts of old and recent history. What, for example, is he to do with the history of Greece? or of the Italian Republics? Or nearer home, Britain and France account themselves the most enlightened and civilised states in the world; they have not been, with all their might, fighting and slaying each other and neighbouring nations for centuries, almost without intermission, down to this time! In the French revolutionary government, which, after a time, became essentially warlike, there were more philosophers, speculative, literary men, than ever in any other. In our own country, through the last half-century, the enlightened and civilised people (often so described and lauded at least) have needed but a little excitement, at any time, to rush out into war. Our institutions of learning, and even theology, have constantly abetted the spirit. An ever-flowing, impetuous stream there has been of oratory, poetry, and even pulpit declamation, mingling with and inspiriting the coarse torrent of the popular zeal for battles and victories. We have had both poets and divines actually sending the most immoral heroes to heaven, on the mere strength of their falling in patriotic combat. All this tells but ill for the efficacy of civilisation, literature, refinement, and the instruction of experience to promote the spirit of peace, without the predominance of some mightier cause.--_Foster._

[5] What will the natural consequences be in respect to war? Will it not be coldness towards that pernicious phantasm, martial "glory";--a loathing of that sort of eloquence and poetry that are making a god of it;--a hatred of the very name of ambitious conquerors;--horror at the image of vast masses of men waiting to destroy one another;--a sense of the flagrant absurdity, as well as iniquity, of the avenging some little wrong at the cost of so mighty a portion and variety of misery;--and a faith that Providence has not so abandoned the world that we are not to wait one moment for any interposition from it in favour of justice, but, the instant the scales of justice are poised, we must throw in the sword? Such would be the spirit and temper of a nation predominantly Christian.--_Foster._

GOD EXALTED IN THE GREAT DAY.

(_Advent Sermon._)

ii. 17. _The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day._

Two questions: What is "that day?" How shall the Lord then be exalted?

I. _"That day."_ "The first five verses of this chapter foretell the kingdom of the Messiah, the conversion of the Gentiles, and their admission into the Church. From the sixth verse to the end is foretold the punishment of the unbelieving Jews for their idolatrous practices, their confidence in their own strength, and distrust of God's protection; and, moreover, the destruction of idolatry in consequence of the establishment of Messiah's kingdom."--_Lowth._ But here, as in many other portions of Scripture, a larger and remoter meaning looms beyond and behind the first sense of the expressions, which would otherwise be too big and swelling for the actual interpretation of them. Compare the description in which the text twice occurs with the almost parallel passages in chap. v. 14-16. How magnificent! What startling terms! What emphatic iterations! Surely a want of fitness and congruity would almost be felt if expressions such as these referred _only_ to some temporal calamity of the Jewish nation; surely we cannot mistake in looking onward to some mightier catastrophe, to some final exaltation of God and abasement of all creatures. By "_that_ day," therefore, we mean what is elsewhere called "_the_ day," "the great day," "the day of judgment," "the great and terrible day of the Lord"--the consummation of all things.

When that day shall come I do not know, and I am content to remain in ignorance. It may come suddenly, without warning, unannounced. Then it is for men always to have their lamps burning and their hearts in readiness, lest they be taken by surprise. It may come with great signs preceding and accompanying it. Then it is for men, according to their capacity, to note and discern those signs. It is the very uncertainty connected with it that is to make us watchful (Matt. xxiv. 36, 42). We are to be vigilant and observant, without pretending to determine what God has left unrevealed. Such attempts have in all ages been made, and in all ages have been falsified. The failure of those attempts has not only covered those who made them or believed in them with ridicule, it has brought into discredit the sacred Book which the aim was to expound. It is our first duty and highest interest to be at every moment prepared; but a far other and better preparation may, and must be made for it, than in the futile endeavour to discover its precise date.[1]

Equally unwise is the disposition to specify with a minute particularity the events which are to usher in the great day of the Lord, or the convulsions of nature which shall herald and proclaim it, or the astonishing circumstances with which it shall be arrayed. God has chosen to involve them in a mysterious and solemn indistinctness. In bold and sublime figures the inspired writers have delineated a scene which must stand singular and by itself, without any precedent or parallel, and which, therefore, neither human language can directly express nor human understanding adequately comprehend. Instead of endeavouring to explain the images and symbols employed, prudence will lead us to confine ourselves to the very words of Scripture, such as Dan. xii. 2; Joel iii. 11-15; 2 Cor. v. 10; Matt. xxv. 31, 32; Rev. xx. 11-13; 1 Cor. xv. 51-53.[2] On these declarations we should meditate with serious and chastened minds, for if Scripture be true these words cannot be without a real and solemn meaning, and that meaning can only be that there shall be a day in which the world shall be judged by God in Christ, and that from before the Divine tribunal the good and the evil, separated from each other, shall depart to destinies final and irreversible (P. D. 2109).

II. _In that day the Lord alone shall be exalted._

1. How is this possible? Is not God always exalted far above all blessing and praise? He will then be exalted in the sense in which He is now said to be glorified. He will be exalted in the visible homage and submission of an assembled universe. He will be exalted by the full manifestation of His attributes, in their unclouded and effulgent lustre, but the exhibition, before men and angels, of His omnipotence and justice, His wisdom and truth, His love and mercy, of the holiness of His law, the equity of His administration, the abundance of His grace, so that all hearts shall be bowed down at His footstool, and every mouth shall be stopped.

2. In that day God shall be exalted _alone._

(1) The text may lead our minds to other deities as opposed to Jehovah. They shall indeed be gone; in that day they shall be seen to be less than the least of all their worshippers.

(2) It will be the great day of the disclosure of all things; and all creatures shall see the Lord as He is, and themselves also as they are. Therefore shall all the highest orders of celestial intelligences, the cherubim and seraphim, and all the ranks of existence which may occupy the interval between man and His Maker, veil their faces before His throne; they shall be as nothing in _His_ sight. Then shall all creatureship fall low before the one Creator; all derived, dependent being shall shrink into its true dimensions before the Absolute, the Eternal, the I AM.

(3) Even Christ Himself, His office as the Messiah having been accomplished, and His administration of the Church, in His human character, being brought to a close, shall resign His mediatorial sway (1 Cor. xv. 24-28; H. E. I. 985).

(4) But our chief concern, as we are men, is with humanity: "The lofty looks of _man_ shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of _man_ shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."

That day shall indeed declare the impotence of human power, the emptiness of human ambition, the nothingness of human renown.[3] The very circumstances on account of which men have most lifted themselves up in their lifetime will be the occasions of their profoundest humiliation then.

In that day our sinfulness shall sink us into the dust, and cover us with shame and confusion even more than our vanities. Shall any one of us hope then to be exalted, when the memories of us all shall retrace so many sterile and unproductive intensions, so many good impressions never fostered and ripened into fruits of righteousness, so many talents misused by our iniquity, or buried by our idleness? Then there shall be no more concealments, no more deceits, no more false excuses, no more of those pretences, equivocations, subterfuges, and sophisms which our reason is now so fatally ingenious in playing off upon itself (P. D. 661, 2106). Oh, think of these things, and let not your sins be dearer to you than your salvation. Think of them ere the night cometh, and the sun of your probation has quite gone down.

"The Lord _alone_ shall be exalted in that day." Will He then confound the righteous with the wicked? As compared with God there shall be no distinctions between men. All men on that great day at the bar of the Omniscient and the All Holy shall have upon them a universal sense of imperfection, unworthiness, insufficiency, nothingness. But as compared with each other there will be immense differences between them. It is one purpose of the great day to make manifest to all orders of being the infinite value and superiority of moral goodness, the infinite preciousness of a holy obedience above and beyond all else; then God, who sees it in secret, will reward it openly. When the wicked shall be turned into hell, with all the people that forget God, the righteous shall shine forth as the stars of heaven. Therefore estimate all things _now_ as you will estimate them then. Lean less upon earth and man and the things present, set your affections more upon the things to come, upon heaven, and upon the Ruler of heaven. Cultivate diligently those dispositions which are pleasing in His sight. For then, when all social forms shall have vanished away, when all material substances shall have been obliterated, as the shapes in a cloud, and dissipated as the morning dew, your moral temper will abide with you, and your spiritual state, as discerned by the unerring Judge, will decide, and will attend, your immortal destiny (H. E. I. 720).--_James Shergold Boone, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 359-399.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] During the fifth century Chrysostom expressed himself in language which sounds almost like an anticipation of much that we hear at the present day. "No long time now remains until the consummation; but the world is hastening to its end. This the wars declare, this the afflictions, this the love which hath waxed cold. For as the body, when in its last gasp and near to death, draws to itself ten thousand sufferings; and as when a house is about to fall, many portions are wont to fall beforehand from the roofs and walls; so is the end of the world nigh and at the very doors, and, therefore, ten thousand woes are everywhere scattered abroad" (_Homily_ xxxiv.) Towards the close of the tenth century, Bernhard, a hermit of Thuringia, and other persons, spread or encouraged the belief, that after the end of the thousandth year, the fetters of Satan were to be broken; and that, after the reign of Antichrist should be terminated, the world would be consumed by sudden conflagration. This wild and extraordinary delusion pervaded and possessed every rank of society. It seized on nobles, princes, and even bishops, as well as on the common people. Many renounced their pursuits and professions; abandoned their friends and families; gave themselves up to superstitious prayer and terrifying expectations, and made over all their substance to some adjacent church or monastery. Almost all the donations which were made to the Church in this century proceeded from this avowed motive, that the end of the world was drawing near. The form ran, _"Appropinquante jam mundi termino,"_ &c. Others permitted their lands to lie waste, and their homes to decay; or betook themselves in hasty flight to the shelter of rocks and caverns, as if the temples of nature were destined to preservation amidst the wreck of man and his works.--_Boone._

[2] I forbear to expatiate on the phenomena or the tokens which shall be the premonitory of the Millennium or of the day of judgment. God has not seen fit, even in Scripture, to withdraw the curtain of obscurity from between us and that supreme future. We may well be content that our apprehensions should be vague, when the language of the Bible is not definite, and when we find rather the sublime and half-luminous gloom with which poetry or painting can invest its delineations, than the sharp and precise outline which the chisel can carve.--_Boone._

[3] What shall they all be, the strong rivalries and contentions, which shall have been hushed in the grave; the towering structures of vanity and earthly hope, which shall have been crushed before the moth; the schemes and plottings, the contrivances and expectations, the struggles and triumphs, which shall have been dropped into the burial-place where the worm is feeding on them! Oh, the thrones and dominions of mortality, the crowns and sceptres, the regal splendours and the imperial sway, how shall they then be reduced to their real and intrinsic insignificance! The victories of the warrior who conquered in a hundred fights, and the projects of the politician, whose statesmanship could grasp the globe; the famous men and heroes of the earth, with the poets who celebrated them, and the historians who recounted their exploits, what shall they be before the word of Omnipotence! The learning and science of the philosophers who framed their system of the universe for the admiration of posterity, what shall they be, before the blaze of illumination which shall be poured upon us in another world! The pageantries of courts and palaces; the banquets and the wine-cups, the spectacles and the entertainments, the mirrors and the lamps, the golden furniture of pomp, and the flowing robe of luxury; the great and the affluent, whose patronage was requested for busy undertakings, who were besieged with flattery and obsequiousness from morning to night; the noble and the beautiful, who gathered homage as they moved; the writers and the orators, whose popularity was unbounded, and who lived amidst the incense of human applause; they, and all that appertained to them, where and what shall they be, as we stand poor, and naked, and miserable before Him with whom we have to do! They, the heedless and the selfish, swimming in pleasure, who thought that the whole voyage of life was to be like Cleopatra's passage along the Cydnus, one scene of mirth and gorgeousness; of prodigal dissipation and fatal revelry, with soft music and delicate odours floating in the air; what shall become of _them_! How black and cold shall be the cinders of their joy!

All human dynasties will then have crumbled to pieces, and all the gradations in the scale of human rank will then have been blotted out; for all must be dwarfed and prostrated before the ineffable majesty of the Most High God. All other differences must fade when the Divine summits are placed in contrast with them; as from the top of an exceeding high mountain the whole ground beneath is as a level plain, because from that vast altitude all smaller elevations are lost, all minuter inequalities of surface vanish. Human celebrity will then be as a sound, the very echoes of which will have departed. The pompous titles with which the vanity of man was pampered; the distinctions which kings could confer, or heraldry emblazon; privileges of caste, nobility of blood, the pride of ancestry, the blaze of reputation, the splendour of talents, shall then be confounded, one and all, as frivolous toys and trifling baubles. The mighty ones of the earth shall be no more than they who were of the poorest condition; the great shall stand abashed with the mean, the learned with the ignorant, monarchs with their subjects, senators and princes, commanders of fleets and armies, the loftiest and most renowned by the side of the husbandman and the labourer; for what shall they all be in contrast with Him, the Universal Creator, whose dwelling-place is eternity, and to whom belong, throughout all ages, all glory and dominion, sovereignty and praise!--_Boone._

THE INEXCUSABILITY AND HOPELESSNESS OF UNBELIEF.

v. 4. _What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?_

In a subsequent verse God condescends to explain what is here meant by His "vineyard," so that there might be no doubt as to the scope and import of the passage (ver. 7). God has done everything which could be done for the spiritual culture of His ancient Church (vers. 3, 4). This assertion that "as much had been done as could be done" is very affecting and startling. And if this could be said of the Jewish vineyard, what shall be said of the Christian?

There is a peculiar argument thus suggested, which, wrought out, will show that men are inexcusable in persisting in their unbelief, since nothing more could have been done to win them to the side of righteousness and to turn them to God. Notice carefully _the variety of the arguments addressed in Scripture to the thoughtless and obdurate._ At one time they are attacked with terrors, the picture being set before them of Divine wrath; at another they are acted on by the loving-kindness of God, and allured by the free mercies of the Gospel. In the text it is not precisely either the one or the other of these methods. There is nothing alleged but the greatness of what has been done for us--a greatness such that nothing more can be done, consistently, at least, with that moral accountableness which must regulate the amount of influence which God brings to bear on men. If this be so, if we are not convinced and renewed under the existing instrumentality, there is nothing that can avert from us utter destruction.

But is this so? Review the means provided and proffered for our rescue, and let us see whether any of us can be other than silent. If we were arguing with a man who disbelieved the existence of God, we should probably reason up from the creation to the Creator. Our adversary might challenge us to prove that nothing short of Infinite Power could have built and furnished the planet. It may be allowed that certain results lie beyond human agency, and yet disputed whether they need such an agency as we strictly call Divine. We do not, therefore, maintain that the evidences in creation are the strongest which can be conceived. Hence we should not perhaps feel warranted in saying to the atheist, "What more could have been done to produce belief in you if you resist all these tokens of God in Nature?" But if we cannot say to the atheist, when pointing to the surrounding creation, "What more could have been done that has not been done for your conviction?" we can ply the worldly-minded with this question when pointing to the scheme of salvation through Christ. We deny that the worldly-minded can appeal from what God has done on their behalf to a yet mightier interference which imagination can picture. It is the property of redemption, if not of creation, that it leaves no room for imagination. Those who turn with indifference from the proffers of the Gospel are just in the position of the atheist who should remain such after God had set before him the highest possible demonstration of Himself. It is not, we think, too bold a thing to say that, in redeeming us, God exhausted Himself--_He gave Himself._ And we may not argue that, resisting what has been granted, you demonstrate that you cannot be overcome, and thus your condemnation is sealed by the incontrovertible truth involved in the question of the text?

Looked at more in detail, the argument is--+I. As much has been done as could have been done, because of the Agency through which man's redemption was effected.+ In looking at the cross, considering our sins as laid on the Being who hangs there in weakness and ignominy, the overcoming thought is, that this Being is none other than the Everlasting God, and that however He seem mastered by the powers of wickedness, He could by a single word, uttered from the altar on which He immolates Himself, scatter the universe into nothing, and call up an assemblage of new worlds and new creatures.--_What a condemning force this throws into the question of the text!_ If it give an unmeasured stupendousness to the work of our redemption, that He who undertook, carried on, and completed that work was "the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person," then surely what has been done for the "vineyard" proclaims us ruined if we bring not forth such fruits as God requires at our hands.--_If the extent of what has been done may be given in evidence that if it prove ineffectual there remains nothing more to be tried, what say you to the justice of the question? what to the condemnation under which it leaves the worldly-minded and rebellious?_

+II. As much has been done as could have been done, regard being had to the completeness and fulness of the work, as well as to the greatness of its Author.+ We might have been sure beforehand that what the Divine Agent undertook would be thoroughly effected. The sins of the whole race were laid on Christ. There is consequently nothing in our own guiltiness to make us hesitate as to the possibility of _forgiveness._ The penalties of a violated law have been actually discharged.

The scheme of redemption provides also for our _acceptance,_ so that happiness may be obtained. If it met our necessities only in part, there might be excuse for refusing it our attention. When you add to the unsearchable riches of grace in Christ _the continued and earnest agency of the Holy Spirit,_ have you a word to plead against the remonstrance of God in the text?

+III. We are bound to regard the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the grand revelation of future punishment and reward.+ Until the Redeemer appeared and brought more direct tidings from the invisible world, the sanctions of eternity were scarcely, if at all, brought to bear on the occupations of time. So imperfect had been the foregoing knowledge regarding the immortality of the soul that Paul declared of Christ that He "abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel." Much of what has been done for the "vineyard" consists in the greatness of the reward which the Gospel promises to righteousness, and the greatness of the punishment which it denounces on impenitence.

It was not redemption from mere temporary evil that Christ effected. Redemption does not make men immortal, but, finding them so, it sheds its influence throughout their unlimited existence, wringing the curse from its every instant, and leaving a blessing in its stead. The Gospel sets before us an array of motives, concerning which it is no boldness to say, that, if ineffectual, it is because we are immovable; if heaven fails to attract, hell to alarm--the heaven and the hell opened to us by the revelation of Scripture--it can only be because of a set determination to continue in sin. _What more could have been done for the vineyard?_ If you are waiting to be forced, you are waiting to be ruined. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near."--_Henry Melvill, B.D.: Golden Lectures,_ pp. 485-492.

MORAL PERVERSITY.

v. 20. _Woe unto them that call evil good, &c._

If the judgments of men are habitually influenced by their affections, it is not surprising that their speech should bear the impress of the same controlling power. What we hear men say in the way of passing judgment upon things and persons, unless said deliberately for the purpose of description, will afford us, for the most part, a correct idea of their dispositions and prevailing inclinations. There is, indeed, a customary mode of talking in which familiar formulas of praise and censure as to moral objects are employed as if by rote; but this dialect, however near it may approach to that of evangelical morality, is still distinguished from it by indubitable marks. One who thus indulges in the use of such expressions as imply a recognition of the principles of Biblical morality, but whose conduct repudiates them, in expressing his opinions on moral subjects avoids, as if instinctively, the terms of censure and of approbation which belong to Scripture. He will speak of an act or a course of acts as wrong, perhaps as vicious,--it may even be as wicked, but not as _sinful._ There are crimes and vices, but no sins in his vocabulary. Vice and sin are referable, it would seem, to an abstract and perhaps variable standard, while sin brings into view the legislative and judicial character of God. Two men shall converse together upon truth and falsehood, employing the _same_ words and phrases; and yet when you come to ascertain the sense in which they severally use the same language, you shall find that while the one adopts the rigorous and simple rule of truth and falsehood laid down in the Bible and by common sense, the other holds it with so many qualifications and exceptions as almost to render it a rule more honoured in the breach than the observance. But who does not know that men are often worse in the bent of their affections than in the general drift of their discourse? If we err, therefore, in the application of the test proposed, we are far more apt to err in favour of the subject than against him. He who is invariably prompted, when there is no counteracting influence, to call evil good and good evil, is one who, like the fallen angel, says in his heart, "Evil, be thou my good!" and is, therefore, a just subject of the woe denounced by the prophet in the text.

+I. The expression is descriptive of those who hate good and love evil--not of those who err as to what is good and what is evil.+ A rational nature is incapable of loving evil, simply viewed as evil, or of hating good when simply viewed as good. Whatever thing you love, you thereby recognise as good; and what you hate or abhor, you thereby recognise as evil. No man can dislike a taste, or smell, or sound which at the same time he regards as pleasant, nor can he like one which he thinks unpleasant. But change the standard of comparison, and what appeared impossible is realised. The music which is sweetest to your ear may be offensive when it breaks the slumber of your sleeping friend; the harshest voice may charm you when it announces that your friend still lives. The darling sin is hated by the sinner as the means of his damnation, though he loves it as the source of present pleasure. When, therefore, men profess to look upon that as excellent which in their hearts and lives they treat as hateful, and to regard as evil and abominable that which they are seeking after and which they delight in, they are not expressing their own feelings, but assenting to the judgment of others. And if they are really so far enlightened as to think sincerely that the objects of their passionate attachment are evil, this is only admitting that their own affections are disordered and at variance with reason. It is as if a man's sense of taste should be so vitiated through disease, that what is sweet to others is to him a pungent bitter. So the sinner may believe, on God's authority or man's, that sin is evil and holiness is good, but his diseased eye will still confound light with darkness, and his lips, whenever they express the feelings of his heart, will continue to call good evil and evil good.

The three forms of expression in the text appear to be significant of one and the same thing. The thought is clothed first in literal and then in metaphorical expressions. The character thus drawn is generally applicable to ungodly men. If the verse be taken merely in this general sense, the woe which it pronounces is a general woe, or declaration of Divine displeasure and denunciation of impending wrath against the wicked generally, simply equivalent to that in chap. iii. 11.

Such a declaration, awful as it is, would furnish no specific test of character, because it would still leave the question undecided who it is that chooses evil and rejects good. But the prophet is very far from meaning merely to assert the general liability of sinners to the wrath of God. In view of the context, then, consider--

+II. An enumeration of particular offences then especially prevailing.+ The text is the fourth in a series of six woes denounced upon as many outward manifestations of corrupt affection then especially prevalent, but by no means limited to that age or country; and these are set forth, not as the product of so many evil principles, but as the varied exhibition of that universal and profound corruption which he had just asserted to exist in general terms. 1. _The avaricious and ambitious grasping after great possessions, not merely as a means of luxurious indulgence, but as a distinction and a gratification of pride_ (ver. 8). To such the prophet threatened woe (ver. 9), and to such the Apostle James also (James v. 4). 2. _Drunkenness_ (ver. 11). Here also the description of the vice is followed by its punishment, including not only personal but national calamities, as war, desolation, and captivity. 3. _Presumption and blasphemy_ (vers. 18, 19). 4. _Moral perversity,_ as set forth in the text. 5. _Overweening confidence in human reason as opposed to God's unerring revelation_ (ver. 21). 6. _Drunkenness, considered,_ not as in the former case, as a personal excess, producing inconsideration and neglect of God, but _as a vice of magistrates and rulers, and as leading to oppression and all practical injustice_ (vers. 22, 23).

This view of the context is given for two reasons--1. To show that in this whole passage the prophet refers to species of iniquity familiar to our own time and country; and 2. Chiefly to show that we have in the text the description of a certain outward form in which the prevailing wickedness betrayed itself. An outward mark of those who hate God and whom He designs to punish is their confounding moral distinctions in their conversation. Consider, then--

+III. How moral distinctions are confounded.+ When one admits in words the great first principles in morals, yet takes away so much as to obliterate the practical distinction between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, religion and irreligion, he does virtually, actually, call evil good and good evil. When one admits generally the turpitude of fraud, impurity, intemperance, malignity, &c., and yet in insulated cases treats these as peccadilloes, inadvertences, &c., he cannot be protected by the mere assertion of a few general principles from the fatal charge of calling evil good. And as a counterpart of this, he who praises and admires all goodness in the abstract, but detests it when realised in concrete excellence, really and practically calls good evil. And he who, in relation to the self-same acts performed by different men, has a judgment suited to the case of each, all compassion to the wilful transgressions of the wicked, and all inexorable sternness to the infirmities of godly men, to all intents and purposes incurs the woe pronounced on those who call evil good and good evil. These distinctions may at present appear arbitrary, frivolous, or false, and, as a necessary consequence, the guilt of confounding them may almost fade to nothing,--to a stain so faint upon the conscience as to need no blood of expiation to remove it. But the day is coming when the eye of reason shall no longer find it possible to look at light and darkness as the same, and the woe already heard shall then be seen and felt. From the darkness and bitterness of that damnation may we all find deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord!--_J. Addison Alexander, D.D.: The Gospel of Jesus Christ,_ pp. 568-578.

THE SERVICE OF THE SERAPHIM.

vi. 1, 2, 5-7. _I saw also the Lord, &c._

In that perfect prayer which our Lord bequeathed to His disciples we are taught to ask that God's will may be done in earth as it is done in heaven. Thus angelic service is set before us as a model and pattern. Not that the services we are called upon to render are the same with those assigned to angels. Their sphere is heaven, ours for the present is the earth; and each of these spheres has its distinct and peculiar duties, appropriate to the nature and faculties of its occupants. But the spirit in which the employment of angels and men should be prosecuted is the same. One common sentiment--the sentiment of adoration and devotedness--should animate and govern them all. Hence the passage before us, although containing a record of the transactions of another sphere, contains a lesson, if not respecting the nature of our duties, yet respecting the method in which we should seek to fulfil them.

+I. The twofold life of a servant of God, whether human or angelic, is here very beautifully exhibited to us.+ The seraphim are represented as veiling their faces and feet with their wings while they stand in adoration before the throne of God. But although engaged in ceaselessly adoring the Divine perfections, they do not lead a life of barren contemplation. The words, "with twain he did fly," intimate to us that they are also engaged in the active execution of those errands with which God has charged them. The Christian's life, like that of the seraphim, branches out into the two great divisions of contemplative devotion and active exertion. It is the life of Mary _combined_ with that of Martha (P. D. 2417).

1. _The devotional branch of the Christian's life._ In the exercises of the closet and of the sanctuary are to be found the springs of the Christian's exertions in his Master's cause. These exercises are not originating sources of grace, but they are channels and vehicles through which God's Spirit conveys Himself to the soul--pitchers in which may be drawn up the waters of the River of Life to refresh and recruit the energies of him whom a painful resistance to evil within and without has rendered weary and faint in his mind (H. E. I. 3426, 4107, 4108, and 3438-3448). If devotion be essential to the perfection of a seraph's service, how much more essential must it be to ours, our necessities being so immensely greater than those of the bright inhabitants of heaven! The exigencies of our time make devotion especially needful now. The present is emphatically a period of the world's history in which "many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased." Moreover, there is a revival of outward energy and activity in the cause of religion. This is a blessing. But remember, days of excitement are not days of deep devotion. There may be much of rapid movement abroad in the world without a corresponding adoration of God in the secret chamber of the heart--much of flying without veiling of the face.[1]

2. _The outward manifestation of the Christian life_ discernible by the world. Care must be taken not only that the lamp shall be filled with oil, but that there shall be a light shining before men (Matt. v. 16; H. E. I. 1042, 1044, 3906). The seraphim are not so wrapt up in adoration of God that they are forgetful of active service. "With twain they did fly" for the execution of the errands on which they were commissioned.

Here is a reproof of the monastic principle, that seclusion from the society of our fellow-men and from the active duties of life is necessary in order to secure an uninterrupted period of leisure for solitary spiritual exercises. Undue predominance is thus given to one branch of God's service, to the prejudice and neglect of the other and no less important branch. Exercise as well as nourishment and repose is essential to the health of the body, and so toil in the vineyard--earnest endeavour to advance the kingdom of God in our own hearts and the hearts of others--is no less essential to the health of the soul. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;" but for what purpose? That they may walk in good works, and run with patience the race that is set before them (chap. xl. 31; H. E. I. 1736-1742).

+II. Some practical lessons concerning the maintenance and manifestation of the twofold Christian life.+

1. _A lesson as to the spirit which should pervade all devotion._ These bright and glorious beings are without sin. Still, such is their sense of the infinite distance between themselves and their Creator, that they veil their faces and their feet before His throne in token of adoring reverence. The first and most essential element of devotion is a feeling of deep awe flowing from a sense of God's transcendent excellences and leading to profound self-abasement (H. E. I. 3798, 3799, 5074). If reverence was befitting in the seraphim, how much more is it necessary in sinful men! (Luke xviii. 13; Ezra ix. 6).

The vision of God wrought in Isaiah a feeling almost akin to despair. It seemed to him as if the perfect holiness of God was engaged to banish for ever every creature possessing the slightest taint of moral evil (ver. 5). In vers. 6, 7 we have the glorious remedy. What is the significance of the symbols? By the work of the Son of God a mighty Altar of Propitiation has been reared up, and thence there comes to the penitent sinner cleansing as well as pardon. The "live coal" is an emblem of that love and zeal in God's service with which the Holy Spirit imbues the souls of these who flee to the Altar of Atonement as their only refuge from the wrath to come. A participation in that Spirit's influence is absolutely essential to our true participation in the chorus of the angelic host (H. E. I. 2887).

2. _A few words on that active service which is the outward manifestation of the principles nourished by devotion._ (1.) We must prepare for it by the care and culture of our own heart.[2] (2.) There is also an outward work which God has made binding on all of us. He has assigned to each of us a certain position in life. Every such position involves its peculiar responsibilities, snares, and occupations. The responsibilities must be cheerfully and manfully met, the occupations diligently fulfilled, as a piece of task-work allotted to us by the Lord of the vineyard (Eph. vi. 7). Besides, God has intrusted to us, in various measures, substance, time, abilities influence, and these we are diligently to use for the promotion of the cause of God in the world. In our busy path through life, which brings us in contact with so many individuals, opportunities are ever and anon presented to us of being useful to our fellow-men; and to watch for, seize, and improve such opportunities is not the least important of these branches of active service (P. D. 40, 3567, 3569).

CONCLUSION.--1. It is not the intrinsic dignity of our duties, nor the large result of our fulfilment of them, which renders the diligent performance of them an acceptable work in God's eyes. The great design of our being places in this world is not that we may do some signal service, or large amount of service, to our Creator, but rather that we may execute the service (be it great or small) allotted to us in a spirit of fidelity, zeal, and love. The spirit which is thrown into and pervades the work is everything--the work itself (comparatively) nothing. Be the sphere what it may which Divine Providence has assigned to us, let the duties of it be executed in a seraphic spirit (P. D. 1484). 2. We have overwhelming motives, if we did but rightly appreciate them, to devotedness of our every faculty to the services of our God. The redeemed sinner owes to God far more of allegiance than the angel who has retained his integrity. Angels no such Fall have known, "angels no such Love have known," as we.--_E. M. Goulburn, D.C.L.: Sermons,_ pp. 77-99.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] If this be the case with any of us, if, with the busy occupation of the hands in the furtherance of religious objects, we have glimpsed the inward life of communion with God to decline, how painfully do we resemble those virgins who took no heed to provide for their dying lamps a continual supply of oil! The profession which we have made before men, however bright its blaze, will one day be shown to have been delusive--to have been destitute of those animating principles of faith and love from which alone can flow an acceptable service.--_Goulburn._

[2] God requires us to set a strict watch over its outgoings--a watch such as sentinels keep over the persons and goods which pass out of a city whose allegiance to the sovereign is suspected--to curb and quell at the earliest outbreak every rising of vanity, temper, bitterness, passion, and lust--to drag forth from its dark recesses and to stay every cherished iniquity which has found there a harbour and a hiding-place. Our own heart is a vineyard over which God hath set every one of us to dress it and to keep it. We are to extirpate the soil's poisonous produce, and to implore upon the soil of this vineyard the precious dews of the Divine Spirit, which may remedy its native barrenness and turn it from a desert into the garden of the Lord.--_Goulburn._ See also H. E. I. 1841, 1842, 2695-2708.

THE MORAL HISTORY OF A RISING SOUL.

vi. 5-8. _Then said I, Woe is me, &c._

Whilst holiness is the normal, depravity is the actual state of man. A restoration to that spiritual condition is his profoundest necessity, his want of wants. The recovery of holiness involves the recovery of all other good. There seem to be, in the nature of the case, _five states through which the soul must pass in this all-important and glorious transit._

I. A VISION OF THE GREAT RULER AS THE HOLIEST OF BEINGS. Isaiah had this: "Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Three facts will show that a spiritual vision of God is the first step of the soul towards holiness. 1. _There can be no excitement of the moral sensibilities and powers without a vision of God._ Show me a soul that has never had an inner vision of God, and you show me a soul whose conscience, whose moral powers, are entirely dormant. The passions, the intellect, the imagination may move, but the conscience, the heart, the moral essence, the _self_ of the man, moves not--is dead. 2. _The means which God has ever employed to restore men are visions of Himself._ What is the Bible but a record of Divine visions and manifestations to man? What is the Gospel--"God's power unto salvation"--but the manifestation of the Eternal in Christ? Here He appears to man in the "face of Jesus Christ." 3. _The history of all restored souls shows that the improvement commences at this stage._ The explanation which Paul gives of the first upward movement would generally be true of all: "When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me," &c. What the sun is to the plant, God is to the soul.

II. A PROFOUND CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR FALLEN STATE. "Then, said I, Woe is me," &c. His consciousness included four things--1. _A deep sense of his personality._ "_I_ am undone." He feels himself singled out from the millions. When conscience is touched, she breaks the bond, individualises the man, and makes him feel as if he stood alone before the Eternal Judge. 2. _A sense of personal ruin._ "Woe is me, for I am undone." My prospects are blighted, my hopes are gone. 3. _A sense of personal ruin arising from a sense of personal sin._ "I am a man of unclean lips;" I am a sinner, and therefore "undone." 4. _A sense of personal sin, heightened by the remembrance of his neighbour's sins._ "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." So long as conscience is torpid, men often make the sinful conduct of others an apology for their own; but when conscience awakes, such sophistries depart.

III. A REMOVAL OF THE CRUSHING SENSE OF GUILT. "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand," &c. Three thoughts are suggested by this--1. _There are Divine means for the removal of sin._ This "live coal," this altar, and seraphim in the vision, symbolise this truth. 2. _The means are something in connection with sacrifice._ Fire is a purifying element, and is regarded as the emblem of purity. This "live coal" was taken from the altar of burnt-offering. The fire of that altar as at first kindled by the Lord, and ever afterward kept burning. What is the power that takes away sin? The Divine Word in connection with Christ's sacrifice--the doctrine of the Cross. This, like "fire," has a purifying power. 3. _The means are employed by a Divinely-appointed ministry._ Let that seraph stand as the emblem of a true minister, and we see that his work is to take the purifying elements from the altar and apply them to men.

IV. AN EVER-OPEN AND SENSITIVE EAR TO THE VOICE OF GOD. "I heard the voice of the Lord, saying," &c. Three thoughts will develop the general and practical meaning of these words--1. _God has deep thoughts about our race._ The Bible reveals some of these thoughts, and so does Nature. 2. _Just as the soul is cleared of sin does it become conscious of these thoughts._ Let the conscience be thoroughly cleared of sin, and it will hear the voice of God in every sound and see His glory in every form. The universe to a holy being is the tongue of God (P. D. 2545, 2552, 2560, 2563, 2564). 3. _This consciousness of the Divine thoughts about our race is a necessary stage in the moral progress of the soul._ It is only thus we walk with God, as Enoch did of old.

V. A HEARTY READINESS TO DO WHAT THE SUPREME WILL COMMANDS. "Here am I; send me." I am ready to do whatever Thou commandest. Send me anywhere, at any time, to do any work; I am ready to catch the slightest whisper of duty; my soul stands with plumed pinions.--_David Thomas, D.D.: The Homilist,_ vol. v. pp. 411-418.

SANCTUARY IN GOD.

viii. 14. _And He shall be for a sanctuary._

Not a few mourn, in the midst of a busy, bustling age, the loss of sacredness in life. Not the false "sacred"--that which is merely ascetic separation from life and duty; nor that which is merely solemn "sacred"--the dull heavy monotony of gloominess.

We naturally say that if this is God's world, if civil and civic duties, social responsibilities, are God-ordained, it is likely, at least, that _here_ we may be able to secure a heavenly citizenship amid earthly cares and customs. This is exactly what God reveals in the text. Sanctuary, He says, is _not_ in mere place; _not_ in separation from manly duty; I open up my very _nature_ to you. How often this idea recurs in the Scriptures! God is our refuge and rest, our hiding-place, our dwelling-place.

I. THE SACREDNESS THAT A REVERENT HEART DESIRES. Something within us asserts its dignity when society is frivolous and gay, and when the routine of life brings us into association with lives where the light even of conscience burns low, when the reverent _wonder_ that filled even pagan hearts has given place to scientific explanations of every spiritual function. When we are brought into contact with all this, then it is that we find how the high tides of the world cover the little green knolls of devotion, and sweep away alike the altar of prayer and the harp of praise. In all earnest natures there comes, at times, resentment at all this. We believe the Divinity within us. We believe the high call of seer and prophet to nobler ends; we believe, above all, that Lord of life and light who tells us that the life is more than meat, and who fed His own life by the mountain prayer and the garden solitude. We should seek to secure the sacredness we feel we need, not in morbid methods, but in ways that are human, and ways that are Divine because they are human. Christ lived and worked amongst men. We, too, may secure sacredness for our lives; we may carry in our mien and breathe in our converse the springs of hope and faith and love which flow still from Zion's sacred hill.

II. THE SACREDNESS THAT MAKES SANCTUARY IN GOD HIMSELF. "_He_ shall be for a sanctuary." He whom wicked men dread and flee from; for, as of old, darkness cannot dwell with light, nor irreverence with reverence, nor mammon-worship with devotion to God. We may carry very bad hearts into very beautiful places. Place is easily made unsacred, but into fellowship with God there can enter nothing that is false, or worldly, or vile. "Sanctuary in a person?" Yes; for even here, in this dim sphere of earthly friendship, our best sanctuaries, apart from Christ, have been men and women,--those who bear His likeness, and who do His will. "Sanctuaries?" Yes; for with them we are ashamed of unworthy motive, of impure thought, of unsacred aim. Take Christ with you, and every place is sacred. This is our living sanctuary; we abide in Him who says, "I am He that liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore." And if by His own Divine nature He is a sanctuary, He is also by _experience_ too. How much the human sanctuary of friendship is beautified when there is _oneness of feeling_ about the battle and burden of life! It is nothing, then, that when we speak of sanctuary in Christ we should mean "sympathy," all that belongs to a brother born for adversity--to Him who, as a "Man of Sorrows," was "acquainted with grief" (liii. 9)? We know indeed but little of the realities of religion unless we have found such a living sanctuary in Christ Jesus the Lord (H. E. I. 968-975).

III. THE SACREDNESS OF ALL THE FUTURE DAYS. "He shall be." Names vary in interpreting what God is to suit need and experience. We translate the want, and then God's name is translated to meet it. I am hungry--He is Bread; thirsty--He is Water, &c. The word "sanctuary" meets special wants. Life is not always a seeking for a refuge, but it is so especially at certain times and in strange and desolate experiences. We are alone in a strange city. The child must leave home to teach, to toil, to live; the weakness will come which presaged decline and death; the soul does feel that some lights are lost to faith and that others are going dim. He _shall_ be for a sanctuary. Let the hours come; He will come too. Who can make retreat into his own heart and find perfect sanctuary there? Christ alone could do _that._ We cannot. Nature cannot afford us the sanctuary we need; she has healthy anodynes of atmosphere that afford us deep and quiet retreats, but sanctuary, in the highest sense, she has not. Christ, and He alone, will be now and for ever a sanctuary (H. E. I. 2378-2387).

IV. THE SACREDNESS OF PERSONAL LIFE IN GOD. We can have no safety or rest in Churches as such. They are helpful; they are houses of fellowship and centres of usefulness. But we cannot say, as Mediævalism said, "Enter the Church and be saved." The soul's relation to God is personal and individual. Whether this relation of faith is real, vital, each soul can attest for itself; and that living relationship is all that can ever make life sacred to any man. When the life is hid with Christ in God, all is well, for all is sacred; and nothing that He has created us to do or to enjoy is common or unclean. So may God help us to keep a sacred life which finds sanctuary in the Saviour, until we find it where there is no temple, but where there is sanctuary in God (Rev. xxi. 22, 23).--_W. M. Statham: Christian World Pulpit,_ vol. xvii. pp. 131-133.

WISE LESSONS FROM WICKED LIPS.

ix. 10. _The bricks are fallen down, &c._

Jesus said, "The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light," meaning that they excel them in shrewdness and tact. Men of the world do not readily submit to defeat and failure, but strive to convert defeat into victory, and failure into success. In this respect, therefore, the children of this world are worthy of imitation. Within the spiritual, Christian sphere we might well emulate them in the determined, hopeful, persevering, progressive, patient spirit with which they prosecute their affairs. Of this the text affords illustration. The children of this world, of whom it speaks to us, are worthy of our imitation in the following respects:--

+I. They proceed with a defined purpose.+ The bricks mentioned as having fallen down were not a heap of burned clay, which somehow had got piled up, no one could tell how. They had been built by human hands, and the builders had heads as well as hands. But now that the bricks had fallen, in making up their minds as to what should be done, they proceed with a defined purpose. The architect precedes the builder; the head leads the hand. They build not at random. They first say what they will build, and how. They also resolve once more to beautify their surroundings with trees, and they make their choice. This time they will not have sycamores, but cedars.

The same principle should underlie the building up of all Christian character and work. Knowledge and zeal should ever be in partnership. The hand should be under control of the head. Everything should be done well, because done wisely. One purpose should run through and be supreme in each life. Striving, and toiling, and fighting, we should have it first settled what we are to strive, and toil, and fight for. And as to this we are left in no difficulty. A plan is made for us, and our wisdom is to work it out. A number of young men were one day practising archery, when the arrows of one invariably stuck in the ground. Seeing this, one of his companions cried out, "Do aim higher." That is what we have to do. We substitute our own low, faltering purposes for the high, glorious purpose of God (Rom. viii. 29; 1 Pet. ii. 21). So, also, in connection with our work, a high purpose should be our aim. We should not make up our minds to do as little as possible, neither should our only object be to do as much as possible. Our question should be, What is my Master's will? Obedience is better than sacrifice. They who would work for their Lord with acceptance must wait on Him, and He will give "to each man his work." Further, with our plan fixed, we must set our whole heart upon the working of it out. Here Israel teaches us. When her first effort failed, she tried again. The spirit of enthusiasm must inspire us. This is what makes labour rest, and turns the yoke into a crown.

+II. They were inspired with hopefulness.+ Their bricks fell down, but their spirits fell not into the pit of despair. Their sycamores were cut down, but their ambition was not. They viewed the desolation not without sadness, but in the midst of it all _"Nil Desperandum"_ was the song which they sang. And that is the spirit of the world to-day. So the Christian ought to be hopeful. You have fallen! Say, "I will rise again." Your schemes have failed! Say, "I will try again." You are afraid you have laboured in vain! Say, "In labours I will be more abundant." You went into what you thought the paradise of God, but lo! it turned out to be a dreary wilderness. What then? Still hope in God. Seek on, O seeker, and thou shalt find. Knock on, louder and louder; the door will be opened.

Night must give way to day. Mystery after mystery will unfold itself. Light will appear to every man having eyes and using them. The children of this world hope; greater reason have they to hope who are children of God.

+III. They show a spirit of industrious perseverance.+ Their hands responded to the impulse of their hearts. What they were ready to say they were ready to do. They were prepared by hard, persevering toil to make good their hope. These men of Israel were at this time without God, but they were not without common sense. They dreamed not that by mere wishing their ruined walls would rise again. If they wanted new temples and goodly cedars, they must build and plant them. The moral here is plan (Matt. vii. 21). Hoping will not do everything. It must be backed by earnest effort. The way to heaven is not reached by flying, but by toiling. I am a son of God; let me then subscribe myself "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ." Beautiful city of God! we hope some day to reach thy gates of pearl and enter it, but till then--

"Many a sorrow, many a labour, Many a tear."

To your hope add diligence. Watch and wait, but forget not to work.

+IV. They improve matters.+ These tumble-down buildings were, after all, but brick; but now they would build, not with bricks, but with hewn stones. Around them had flourished sycamores, but now that these were cut down they would plant cedars. Such is the spirit of the world. To-day is to be an improvement upon yesterday. _"Excelsior"_ is added to _"Nil Desperandum."_ Is not this the spirit which ought to animate us? There is no temper but may be improved. You never did a thing for Jesus, let it be ever so trifling, but you may do better next time you try. The text speaks to us of failure and ruin; and it shows us that out of these greater and better efforts arose. So should it be with us. Has your faith given way under the severe strain put upon it? Then for the future you must not only have faith, but stronger faith. In the pride and stoutness of their hearts Israel said, "In the future we will do better than we did before;" and we must say, not in the pride of our hearts, but in humble dependence upon God, strengthened with His might, "We count not ourselves to have attained, neither are we already perfect; but this one thing we do," (Phil. iii. 13, 14).

CONCLUSION.--Looking at what Israel proposed to do, three words are suggested, which would be good motto words for us to adopt. They are _strength, beauty, growth._ 1. "We will build with stones." They would now erect a strong building, one not easily to be overthrown. This should be our first concern. We are building not for time, but for eternity. What is to last must be strong. 2. They said, moreover, "We will build with hewn stones;" we shall go in for beauty as well as for strength. Some of us are strong, but we are lacking in beauty. We are robust characters, but we are also rough. There is a more excellent way. Perfection of character is reached only in so far as strength and beauty are blended together. 3. There must also be growth. Israel resolved to plant cedars, trees which should live and grow on for centuries. So we, rooted and grounded in faith, and love, and hope, should grow up in strength and beauty. So, on and on--changing bricks for hewn stones, and sycamores for cedars.--_Adam Scott: Christian World Pulpit,_ vol. xvii. pp. 230-232.

THE DIFFUSION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

(_For Whit-Sunday._)

xi. 9. _The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea._

It was promised that "the waters should no more become a flood to destroy all flesh;" and yet a flood there was to be, all-compassing, all-absorbing, in God's good time and in His merciful foreknowledge when He spake the former world; but not to destroy all flesh, but to save it; and in the season the rain of grace descended (xlv. 8; Matt. vii. 29; Ps. xcviii. 8).

How different a fulfilment was this from that for which the apostles had been waiting! No doubt they imagined that such as Christ had been would be the Paraclete who was to come--One whose individuality and intelligence they could not doubt, and need not take on faith. When they were waiting for the Angelic Messenger, Prophet, and Lawgiver, One higher than all created strength and wisdom suddenly came down upon them; yet not as a Lord and Governor, but as an agency or power (Acts ii. 2-4).

Such was the coming of the Comforter, He who is infinitely personal, who is the One God, absolutely, fully, perfectly, simply; He it was who vouchsafed to descend upon the apostles, and that as if not a Person, but as an influence or quality, by His attribute of ubiquity diffusing Himself over their hearts, filling all the house, poured over the world, as wholly here as if He were not there, and hence vouchsafing to be compared to the inanimate and natural creation, to water and wind, which are of so subtle a nature, or so penetrating a virtue, and of so extended a range. And most exactly have these figures, which He condescended to apply to Himself, been fulfilled--

I. IN THE COURSE OF THE DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT. His operation has been calm, equable, gradual, far-spreading, overtaking, intimate, irresistible. What is so awfully silent, so mighty, so inevitable, so encompassing as a flood of water? Fire alarms from the first: we see it and we scent it; there is crashing and downfall, smoke and flame; it makes an inroad here and there; it is uncertain and wayward;--but a flood is the reverse of all this. It gives no tokens of its coming; it lets man sleep through the night, and they wake and find themselves hopelessly besieged; prompt, secret, successful, and equable, it preserves one level; it is everywhere; there is no refuge. And it makes its way to the foundations; towers and palaces rear themselves as usual; they have lost nothing of their perfection, and give no sign of danger, till at length suddenly they totter and fall. And here and there it is the same, as if by some secret understanding; for by one and the same agency the mighty movement gone on here and there and everywhere, and all things seem to act in concert with it, and to conspire together for their own ruin. And in the end they are utterly removed, and perish from off the face of the earth. Fire, which threatens more fiercely, leaves behind it relics and monuments of its agency; but water buries as well as destroys; it wipes off the memorial of its victims from the earth.

Such was the power of the Spirit in the beginning, when He vouchsafed to descend as an invisible wind, as an outpoured flood. Thus He changed the whole face of the world. For a while men went on as usual, and dreamed not what was coming: and when they were roused from their fast sleep, the work was done; it was too late for aught else but impotent anger and a hopeless struggle. The kingdom was taken away from them and given to another people. The ark of God moved upon the face of the waters. It was borne aloft by the power, greater than human, which had overspread the earth, and it triumphed, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

II. IN EVERY HUMAN HEART TO WHICH HE COMES. By attending to the figure we shall understand (what concerns us most intimately) whether we are personally under His influence, or are deceiving ourselves. 1. _Any spirit which professes to come to us alone and not to others, which makes no claim of having moved the body of the Church at all times and places, is not of God, but a private spirit of error_ (Ps. lxv. 10-12). 2. _Vehemence, tumult, confusion, are no attributes of that benignant flood with which God has replenished the earth._ That flood of grace is sedate, majestic, gentle in its operations. If at any time it seems to be violent, that violence is occasioned by some accident or imperfection of the earthen vessels into which it vouchsafed to pour itself, and is not token of the coming of Divine Power. Ecstasies and transports often proceed from false spirits, who are but imitating heavenly influences as best they may, and seducing souls to their ruin. 3. _The Divine baptism wherewith God visits us penetrates through the whole soul and body._ It leaves no part of us uncleansed, unsanctified. It claims the whole man for God. It is everywhere, in every faculty, every affection, every design, every work (2 Cor. x. 5). Thus--

III. THE HEART OF EVERY CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO REPRESENT IN MINIATURE THE WHOLE CHURCH. One Spirit makes the whole Church and every member of it to be His temple. As He gives peace to the multitude of nations, who are naturally in discord one with another, so does He give an orderly government to the soul, and set reason and conscience as sovereigns over the inferior parts of our nature. As He leavens each rank and pursuit of the community with the principles of the doctrine of Christ, so does that same Divine leaven spread through every thought of the mind, every member of the body, till the whole is sanctified. And let us be quite sure that these two operations of the Spirit depend upon each other. We cannot hope for peace at home while we are at war abroad. We cannot hope for unity of the faith if we are at our own private will make a faith for ourselves. Break unity in one point, and the fault runs through the whole body. The flood of God's grace keeps its level, and if it is low in one place it is low in another.

CONCLUSION.--As we would forward that blessed time when the knowledge of the Lord will in its fulness cover the earth, as the waters cover their bed, let us look at home, and wait on God for the cleansing and purifying of ourselves. Till we look at home, no good shall we be able to perform for the Church at large; we shall but do mischief when we intend to do good, and to us will apply that proverb, "Physician, heal thyself." And let us not doubt that if we do thus proceed we shall advance the cause of Christ in the world. Let us but raise the level of religion in our hearts, and it will rise in the world. And, meantime, we shall have our true reward, which is personal, consisting in no mere external privileges, however great, but in the "water of life," of which we are allowed to take freely (Ps. xxxvi. 7-9; i. 3; Isa. xxxii. 18; Ps. xxiii. 2).--_John Henry Newman: Subjects of the Day,_ pp. 126-136.

THE PROUD CITY DOOMED.

xiii. 1. _The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see._

In 2 Kings xvii. we find an account of the invasion of Israel by the Assyrians (vers. 1-6). Then follows a long enumeration of the sins which had brought this Divine visitation upon the ten tribes, ending with the words, "So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day" (ver. 23). If the scourge was no longer in the hands of the king of Assyria, it would be transferred to other hands not less terrible.

1. Would this scourge destroy the life of the Jewish nation? This was the awful question which presented itself to the minds of the prophets when they saw one and another limb of this nation lopped off, when they saw that a great numerical majority of the tribes would be carried away. Isaiah's eyes were opened to see whence the permanence of the race was derived, how great critical moments in its life discovered Him who was everlastingly present with it. The child born in hours of trouble and rebuke had borne witness to him of the continuance of the regal family as well as of the people of God's covenant, when the rage of their enemies as well as of their own faithlessness were threatening them with destruction. Nor was this all. In the miserable, heartless reign of Ahaz the vision had been presented to him of a "Rod coming out of the stem of Jesse, which should stand for an ensign of the people. To it should the Gentiles seek, and His rest should be glorious." Consider _the Rod out of Jesse, what it betokened_ (Isa. xi. 10-12). The immediate fruits which Isaiah saw coming out of this root might have appeared in the days of any patriotic and prosperous prince, and did actually appear in the latter days of Hezekiah. No doubt Hezekiah might become, and did actually become, "an ensign to the nations," just as Solomon had been before him, one to whom they brought presents, whose alliance they sought, whose elevation out of a deep calamity was a proof that some mighty God was with him. But--

2. Though we need not seek in any more distant days than those of Hezekiah for a very satisfactory fulfilment of these predictions (and let it never be forgotten that what may seem to us, when we look back over 3000 years, an exaggerated description of deliverance and restoration, must have seemed inadequate and almost cold to those who experienced the blessing),--though Hezekiah was a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and though the Spirit of the Lord did rest upon him (xi. 2),--though the peacefulness and order of his last years might faithfully carry out the symbols of the wolf and the lamb lying down together, yet it was no less impossible for the prophet to think chiefly of Hezekiah when he was uttering these words than it would have been for him to fancy that he was the King whom he saw sitting on the throne, and his train filling the temple in the year that Uzziah died (chap. vi. 1-4). There was, however, this great blessing which came to Isaiah from his being able to connect the Divine King with an actual man--the belief that a man must embody and present the Godhead, that only in a man could its blessedness and glory appear, acquired a force and vividness from his hope of Hezekiah's government and from his actual experience of it, which we may say, without rashness or profaneness, would have been otherwise wanting in him. In using that language, we are only affirming that any method but the one which we know the Divine Wisdom has adopted for conveying a truth to a man's spirit must be an imperfect method. Hezekiah's existence was necessary to the instruction of Isaiah, and through him of all generations to come. Perhaps Shalmaneser and Sennacherib were, in another way, scarcely less necessary.

Apparently the prophet passes in this chapter to an entirely new subject. The Assyrian seems to be forgotten. He opens with the burden of Babylon; he goes on to the burden of Damascus, &c. But Babel or Babylon represented to the prophets the attempt to establish a universal society, not upon the acknowledgment of the Divine care and protection, but upon the acknowledgment of a mere power in nature against which men must try to measure their own. The order and history of the Jewish nation were made, from age to age, silently to testify against it. "Babylon is the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency" (ver. 19); her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged (ver. 22). But these and similar words must refer to more than the destruction of a certain Chaldean city then or afterwards. How can we limit them to it when we find such words as those in vers. 11-13? Instead of being, as some suppose, an interpolated fragment, the burden of Babylon comes in to make all the visitations upon the other tribes of the earth intelligible. They are diverse but harmonious portions of the same Divine message to man--a message of terror, but also of deliverance and hope. In chap. xiv. we find how wonderfully these are combined.

But though most feel something of the grandeur of this poetry, and a few the truth of this prophecy, we do not enough consider upon what both are founded. The God-Man was the ground upon which the Jewish nation stood; here you have the contrast--the man-god; he would ascend up to heaven and exalt his throne above the stars of God. This is the natural ruler of a society which counts the gold of Ophir more precious than human beings. We have here the Babylonian power and the Jerusalem power, that parody of human and Divine greatness which is seen in an earthly tyrant, that perfect reconciliation of Divinity and humanity which is seen in the Redeemer. Consider both images well. Both are presented to us; we must admire and copy one of them; and whichever we take, we must resolutely discard the other. If we have ever mixed them together in our minds, a time is at hand that will separate them for ever. The Babylonian mark and image, your own evil nature, a corrupt society, the evil spirit, have been striving to stamp you ever since your childhood. Each hour you are tempted to think a man less precious than the gold of Ophir; the current maxima of the world take for granted that he is; you in a thousand ways are acting on those maxims. Oh, remember that in them, and in the habits which they beget, lies the certain presage of slavery for men and nations, the foretaste of decay and ruin, which no human contrivances can avert, which the gifts and blessings of God's providence only accelerate. May God grant us power to cast Babylonian principles out of our hearts, that when they come before us we may despise them and laugh them to scorn, knowing that not against us but against the Holy One the enemy is exalting himself. In that day may we be able to sing the song which the prophet said should be sung in the land of Judah (xxvi. 1-4).--_F. D. Maurice, M.A.: Prophets and Kings,_ pp. 272-290.

TRUE NATIONAL GREATNESS.

xix. 1-3, 14. _The burden of Egypt, &c._

The prophecies of Isaiah take a wide range, embrace the fortunes of almost every nation, however remote, with whom the Israelites were brought into common relation, whether of policy or commerce--Moab, Damascus, Tyre, Babylon, Ethiopia, Egypt. The prophet records the political and social phenomena of his day, not with the eye of a mere statesman or diplomatist, but as reviewing the moral as well as the political aspects of things, the eternal governing laws as well as the fitful moods and changes of a nation's life, the spiritual as well as the material forces of the world.

Israel, in their dread of the great Assyrian monarchy, often cast wistful eyes towards Egypt, where they hoped to find a sure and powerful ally. The Egyptians accepted their subsidies, but thought they consulted their own interests best by observing what has been called amongst ourselves a "masterly inactivity." Their strength was to sit still. They had a large standing army; but as Rabshakeh showed, on a memorable occasion, that he knew (chap. xxxvi. 6) the nation, with all its outward semblance of prosperity, was being eaten up with a thousand moral and social cankers, which corrupted the very source of all national life. This chapter lays bare those wounds and bruises and putrefying sores.

1. _There was a day when Egypt had been famous for its wisdom._ This wisdom had become a thing of the past (vers. 11, 12).

2. _There was no unity of purpose, no coherence of action in the body politic._ The true ideas of the family, of the municipality, of the nation, were lost. Every man was fighting against his brother (ver. 2). It is history eternally repeating itself; it is the lament of Thucydides over Greece; of Horace, Livy, and Tacitus over the corruption of guilty imperialism, and over the absence of the masculine, simple, republican virtues of ancient Rome.

3. _With the decay of public virtue comes the decay of public spirit, and then soon follows the decay of national strength._ Then comes what these old Hebrew seers called the "judgment;" God coming out of His place to visit the earth; anarchy, internal dissolution, collapse, conquest by the foreigner; the giving over of the nation into the hand of a cruel lord; the establishment of a military despotism.

It were easy to point these remarks elsewhere, but let us look at home. Many feel that during the last decade of years or more England has been parting with many of her old traditions. Some of those principles which were merely corrupt remnants of a social and political system which has passed away--feudalism--we have undoubtedly gained by losing. _But there are others which we have lost, or are fast losing, to the great detriment of the commonwealth._ The high sense of duty to the State overruling the sense of interest in the individual citizen; the true measure of a nation's wealth and greatness, not by its revenue in pounds sterling, but by its revenue in the heavenly bodies, and honest hearts, and pure, healthy homes of the people; the noble, self-sacrificing spirit of devotion to the call of duty; the principle of right recognised as a higher principle than that of expediency; a temper of loyalty in the strict sense of the word, of willing obedience to the law and those who represent the law; strict commercial integrity, and not the tricks of trade which have been generated by an unwholesome competition--these are maxims of ancient wisdom which made England great, and the loss of which will make England small. Our greatness, whatever it has been, has not rested so much upon material forces, but, like Israel's of old, upon moral. We can only hope that our position among the peoples will be maintained as long as we hold fast the principles by which it was won. These privileges are not things of chance, but the direct result of moral laws as immutable and irreversible as the laws which govern the physical world. God send us statesmen who will turn the nation's mind away from delusive and partisan aims, and direct them seriously to efforts which may unite us all in one great crusade against evil; in which every soldier might certainly feel that he was fighting under the banner of Christ, in a righteous war, for objects which surely have a place in the redemption which Christ accomplished for the world.--_Bishop Fraser: Christian World Pulpit,_ vol. xvii. pp. 177, 178.

A MOMENTOUS INQUIRY.

xxi. 11. _Watchman, what of the night?_

Some calamity or sad moral condition is foreseen by the prophet. Moral evil is fitly compared to darkness. The term "night" is used to express error and sin. This was a time of darkness. The burden of Dumah was: "Watchman, what of the night?" What is the prospect? Are there any signs of coming day?

The world in its moral history had been for the most part in darkness. It commenced with a bright and sinless morning; but this was succeeded by a time of dark clouds and desolating storms. After the Deluge the world started anew from another head. The new world, however, differed but little from the old. Then God called Abraham, and made his seed His chosen people, through whom He might accomplish His beneficent designs. Outside of Judea there was not much to dispel the darkness. Greece furnished a Socrates and a Plato; but because of her vices and crimes Greece soon went down to ruin. The once magnificent empires Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome were alike involved in the moral night of error and sin. We may inquire, as the voice out of Seir did, "Watchman, what of the night?" What prospect is there for this sin-darkened world? And we may respond in the words of the prophet: "The morning cometh." The morning cometh; but also the night--a night whose duration we may not be able to tell.

+I. How will this inquiry apply to Isaiah's time?+ It was indeed for the chosen people a time of darkness. But the day is about to break! The breathings of better things come like the morning air. "The morning cometh," but also the night--the morning to the sad-hearted Jews, but the night to others--to the Idumeans, who had long cherished unfriendly feelings to the Jews, and appear to have rejoiced in their sorrow. The voice from Dumah was probably a sneering taunt, "Where is now your God in whom ye trusted?"

Isaiah had a grander vision and saw another morning. The long night of the olden dispensation still lingered, but the prophet saw the breaking day, and told of the advent of One who was to be the light and glory of the world (ix. 6, 7, lx. 2, 3, 20). The vision which Isaiah saw we also are permitted to see. To him it was the Saviour to come, to teach, to suffer, to scatter the darkness; to us it is the Saviour who _has_ come, and taught, and suffered, and died, and rose again, and whose glorious light has not only gilded the mountain-tops, but is spreading over all the whole land. And there are signs which will not fail that his grandest visions will be realised.

+II. How will this inquiry apply to our own times?+ 1. What mysteries has science unveiled! How great the historical and geographical research of our day! How successful our time has been in bringing unity out of the variety of the universe and harmony out of its apparent discord! 2. Ours has been a time of moral progress. Slavery has been abolished from our realm. A great work has been done for the arrest of intemperance. The cause of missions has grown into large proportions. 3. The religious progress of the world is remarkable. Religious liberty is rapidly spreading. There is encouraging advance in the social or loving element. In the Church the working element is growing. Never has the giving element assumed such proportions. Amid this varied growth there is a strong tendency towards Christian unity. The enemy is vigilant; it is yet the night of battle, of temptation, and of peril, but the morning surely cometh.

+III. How will this inquiry apply to ourselves personally?+ 1. _There is a night of scepticism,_ or partial scepticism, in which some are involved. There are two classes of sceptics: some are sceptics because they want to be so; some are honest doubters, as Thomas the disciple was--constitutionally a doubter, but honest withal. And therefore he did not turn away from the light, and "My Lord and my God!" exclaimed the enlightened, convinced, and believing Thomas. To the earnest and sincere inquirer the response must be, "The morning cometh;" if thou art willing to be convinced, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. If thou shouldst reject Jesus, whither wilt thou go for a refuge and for a guide? 2. _There is a night of worldliness._ Many are living for selfish gratification and for this life only. For the worldly the morning waiteth. Behold, Christ stands at the door and knocks! His is the light and the life of men; with His entrance into the heart the morning cometh. 3. _There is the night of penitential sorrow._ When the morning cometh to the awakened sinner, the light is sometimes, as with Saul of Tarsus, a blinding, as well as revealing light. To him--the sorrowing, praying, believing penitent--the morning came. And so it ever is. 4. _There is the night of suffering._ There never comes an hour in this world when suffering is unknown. Count it all joy, if it must needs be that ye shall suffer. 5. _There is the night of weariness and disappointment._ The Christian worker, toil-worn, may sometimes inquire, "Watchman, what of the night?" He has wrongly hoped, it may be, at the same time to carry the seed-basket, to put in the sickle, and to bring his sheaves with him. Learn to labour faithfully and to wait. The Son of God is come!

CONCLUSION.--Fail not to remember that while the morning cometh for all who willingly hear and obey the Gospel, the night also cometh for the disobedient and unbelieving. Come, ye who wander in the darkness, while yet there is room, to Him who is the bright and morning star, the sun of righteousness, the light and life of the world, and for you there will come a morning which will be the beginning of a blissful, glorious, and never-ending day.--_D. D. Currie: Christian World Pulpit,_ vol. vi. pp. 213-215.

THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL.

(_Missionary Sermon._)

xxv. 6-8. _And in this mountain, &c._

What the spirit of prophecy has here recorded is the testimony of Jesus and of His salvation, the subject presented to our view being _the blessings of the Gospel of the Son of God._ They are described in their general nature, in their unrivalled excellence, and in their universal extent.

+I. The blessings of the Gospel are here described in their general nature,+ as including instruction for the ignorant, consolation for the sorrowful, and life for the dead. They thus correspond to the state of man without the Gospel, which is a state of darkness, misery, and death.

1. _The natural state of fallen man is a state of moral darkness._ A veil is upon him, by which those things which make for his peace and essentially affect his well-being are hidden from his eyes. It is a triple veil. (1.) There is the fold of _native ignorance._ The merely natural man is totally ignorant of God and eternity. He knows not whence he came or whither he is going. He is altogether "sensual, having not the Spirit," and cannot know those things of the Spirit of God which are only spiritually discerned. Hence, ever since the Fall, darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. (2.) There is the yet thicker fold of _moral corruption._ Sin has exactly the same tendency in each particular case as in the case of Adam. It darkens the understanding by its deceitfulness, as well as hardens the heart by its malignity. It tends to extinguish that candle of the Lord which shines in the conscience, and to render useless and unavailing those other means which God has provided for delivering us from the night of Nature. Those in whom it reigns choose the darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil (cf. Eph. vi. 17, 18). (3.) There is the fold of _Satanic infatuation._ "The whole world lieth in the wicked one." He rules in the hearts of all the children of disobedience; and his kingdom is the kingdom of delusion and darkness. He beguiled Eve through his subtilty; and he still labours to corrupt and darken the minds of men (2 Cor. iv. 4).

All this is true of all the unregenerate, however diversified may be their external condition and local circumstances. Hence multitudes even of nominal Christians are fit objects of our compassionate care and exertion. But the description of the text is still more applicable to the case of heathen nations not yet visited by the Gospel. They have not the light which nominal Christians do not allow to shine into them; in general, they have _no_ effectual light. Over them is cast the veil not merely of ignorance and sin, but of _superstition_ and _false religion,_ than which nothing can be more fatally opposed to the entrance of light and the operation of Divine grace. Their very systems of religion are the means of perpetuating folly and vice, instead of reclaiming them to wisdom and righteousness. In many cases that "religion" sanctions and prescribes the most cruel of sacrifices and the most licentious of rites. In Christendom men may be superstitious and wicked, licentious and cruel, but it is _because they neglect their religion._ In heathen and Mohammedan countries, they are so _because_ they attend to their religion. They breathe its genuine spirit and exemplify its proper tendency. All that is deemed sacred and authoritative in the name of religion unites with all the ignorance and depravity of fallen man, and with all the subtilty and power of the Prince of Darkness to produce and perpetuate a system of error and iniquity. False religion may pretend to be a sun which enlightens, but it is really a veil which darkens all who come under its power--a veil much more effectual to favour the ravages of sin, misery, and death than even any of the coverings previously mentioned.

2. _Man is described in the text as the child not only of darkness and error, but also of misery and death._ For ignorance is the mother, not of devotion, but of sin, in all its multiplied forms. And sin is invariably linked to misery! The wretchedness of men bears an exact correspondence to their ignorance and wickedness (Rom. iii. 16, 17).

If this statement be true of natural men in general, it is still more awfully verified in the condition of the heathen world in particular. Infidel travellers who have cheated the public from time to time by highly-coloured pictures of the happiness of pagans, ought not on such a point to be believed. It cannot be that in the dark places of the earth, the habitations of cruelty, no groans should be heard, no tears be seen. The fact is, that while heathenism leaves its votaries to the unmitigated operation of all these natural and moral causes of distress which are common to man in general, it opens many new sources of misery, inflicts many additional desolations, causes many forms of terror, suffering, and destruction, which are peculiar to itself. All men are born to tears, because born in sin; but the tears of pagans are often tears of blood. Every groan they heave is big with double wretchedness.

The Gospel, in its provision of blessings for the human race, adapts itself to that state of darkness, wretchedness, and mortality which I have faintly described.

1. _It removes darkness._ It reveals to us the existence, character, and will of God, our own origin, immortality, and accountableness, the way of salvation and the path of duty; and, used by the Holy Spirit as His great instrument, it changes the heart of those who receive it, and delivers them from the delusions and dominion of Satan. In these several ways does the Gospel become the instrument of illumination. By it, and in connection with it, God destroys the covering which is naturally on man's faces, and the veil that is spread over their understandings and hearts. The consequence is, in instances innumerable, that "beholding as in a glass," with unveiled face, "the glory of the Lord, that are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

The glorious diffusion of light and purity which results from Christianity is still more striking when it obtains access to heathen nations. In proportion to the deeper gloom of their former ignorance is the splendour of the new illumination, when the Sun of righteousness arises upon them with healing in His beams. On such occasions, it may be said with peculiar emphasis, "The entrance of Thy Word giveth light,"--a light which is able to penetrate and destroy even the thickest veil of false religion.

2. _It wipes away tears._ This is here declared to be a part of its design, and experience proves it to be one of its actual operations (Ps. lxxxix. 15, 16). It leads to repentance, and so to pardon, purity, and genuine peace. It comforts in sorrow. It cheers in death.

To the heathen it is peculiarly valuable and welcome. It opens to them, in common with others, the sources of spiritual enjoyment and the hopes of eternal bliss. And besides, it abolishes pagan cruelties and diffuses principles of humanity and kindness. Hence result the amelioration of their civil institutions, the increase of domestic happiness, and the improvement of social life (H. E. I. 1122-1133).

3. _It swallows up death in victory._ It delivers every believer from the fear of death (Heb. ii. 14, 15; H. E. I. 1109-1111, 1589, 1594). God will most gloriously swallow up death in victory when He shall actually recover from the territories of the grave, by His almighty power, those spoils which death has won.

In proportion to its progress in heathen countries, the Gospel will not merely extract the sting of death, but arrest and diminish its most awful ravages. The waste of human life in many pagan lands is incalculable. As true religion increases, even in Christian countries, wars, which it has already rendered less sanguinary, will be less frequent too (chap. ii. 4).

+II. The unrivalled excellence of the blessings of the Gospel.+ "A feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." Variety! richness! abundance! (See outline THE GOSPEL FEAST, pp. 253-256.) Who does not recognise, in the unrivalled excellence of the blessings the Gospel conveys, the most powerful arguments for missionary exertion? Who can think of the Gospel feast, in contrast with the famine of the heathen, without wishing that they also might be bidden to the heavenly entertainment?

+III. The universal extent of the blessings of Christianity.+ "The Lord of hosts shall make unto _all_ people a feast of fat things." 1. They are adapted to all people. 2. They are sufficient for all people. 3. They were designed for all people. 4. The wide world shall, sooner or later, partake of them.

One result of this universal spread and triumph of Christianity is stated in the text: "The rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth." 1. By the successful exertions of God's people to evangelise the world, the reproach, which is at present too well-founded, of neglecting to care for those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, shall become no longer just and applicable. 2. In consequence of the general spread and influence of Christianity, the reproach of Christ, the scandal of the Cross, shall cease; and the Church, formerly despised and laughed to scorn, shall be held in great honour and reputation (chap. lx. 13-16). 3. The particular reproach of spiritual barrenness--the reproach founded on the paucity of her converts, and the small number of her children--shall for ever cease. At present "Jacob is small," and the flock of Jesus is, comparatively, a little flock. This fact has been converted by infidels into matter of attack upon Christianity itself. They have tauntingly urged the narrow extent of our religion as an argument against its Divinity. That argument admits, even now, of solid refutation. But in due season the fact itself shall be altered, and no shadow of plausibility shall be left for the reproach (chap. liv. 1-5).

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

1. The text should teach you your personal obligations and privileges in reference to the Gospel. The feast is spread out before _you;_ to _you_ are the blessings of it freely offered (chap. lv. 1-3).

2. The text teaches you the ground of missionary exertions. To partake of the feast ourselves is our first duty: but, while we "eat the fat and drink the sweet," shall we not "send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared?" Can any duty be more obviously founded in reason and justice, humanity and piety, than that of sending the bread of life to our perishing fellow-creatures? The most hateful and inexcusable of all monopolies is the monopoly of Christian truths and consolations.

3. There are great encouragements to such labour. (1.) The certainty of Divine approbation. (2.) The certainty of consequent success (H. E. I. 1166-1168). But remember, if you would share in the triumphs of the Gospel, you must share in the labour and expense of their achievement.--_Jabez Bunting, D.D.: Sermons,_ vol. i. pp. 453-483.

PEACEFUL KEEPING.

xxvi. 3, 4. _Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, &c._

The delightfulness and value of peace to the nation, the Church, the family, the individual (P. D. 2664). Consider--

I. THE PROMISE. 1. +It is universal in its range.+ It is made to any and every man who will trust in God. 2. +It is sure.+ Men fail for various reasons to keep their promises, but every Divine promise is certain to be fulfilled (H. E. I. 4052, 4053). 3. +The peace which is pledged and secured to all who will fulfil the condition of the text is perfect+--so perfect that it can only be described by a repetition of the word, _"peace, peace."_ God never gives in driblets. His gifts are like Himself, perfect for their fulness, for their suitability, for their enduring qualities. God can keep His people in perfect peace when the devil accuses, when the world allures or threatens, when sickness tries, when adversity oppresses, even when the heart is sore tired, and when grim death would affright (H. E. I. 1253, 1893, 1894, 1911-1926; P. D. 2669, 2673).

II. THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED. _"Whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusted in Thee."_ Trust unites. The mind will not be stayed upon God unless there be perfect confidence in His wisdom, power, and love. Trust and love go together. Love begets confidence, and confidence strengthens love. The whole nature must be stayed on God, and on God only. There must be no division in the heart's affections: we cannot serve God and Mammon and be kept in perfect peace. There must be trust before there can be peace; God Himself cannot give perfect peace to the untrustful.

III. THE EXHORTATION. _"Trust ye in the Lord for ever."_ We trust in the Lord when, encouraged by His promises, we hold fast to Him. It is nothing deeper, nothing more difficult than that. Its very simplicity is its difficulty. As the limpet binds itself to the rock, and is not disturbed by the dashing billows, so let the soul by an ardent affection bind itself to the Rock of Ages. The word "ever" gives a wonderful expansiveness to our text. It points at once to God's eternity and man's immortality. He is a being capable of being trusted for ever, and for ever we shall be capable of trusting Him. Our trust is to be unlimited and unintermitted; it is to be exercised at all times, under all circumstances, through all ages.

IV. THE STABLE FOUNDATION OF THE BELIEVER'S CONFIDENCE. _"For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."_ The peace must be perfect that rests upon, and rises out of, such a solid foundation. The mountains are "everlasting" only in figure, but the foundation on which we rest is everlasting in fact (Ps. xci. 1, 2).--_W. Burrows, B.A._

The world needs the message contained in our text. Most faces that we see are careworn. They are so because behind them there are anxious hearts distressed by fears of various kinds--by fears concerning the body, by fears concerning the soul. The vast majority of men are destitute of true peace; for while in the world there are many ways--of pleasure, of sin, of disappointment, of misery, of death--there is no way of peace. The multitudes who throng past us are miserable because the way of peace they have not known.

I. LOOK AT THE PERSON WHO IS KEPT IN PEACE. He is a person whose mind is stayed on God. A man's self, sin, pleasure, false religion, vain hopes, are every one of them troubled waves in an ocean of disquietude, and no soul can stay itself on them, though many souls have sought to do so. Who, lying down in the very midst of the sea, can find there repose? As he lieth down upon the waves, they yield beneath him--the billows roll over him; he is sinking in the mighty deep. So with the sinner lying down in the midst of the sea and of the storm of this world apart from God. But he who lieth down upon God is as a man upon a rock, or as one in a mighty fortress; he is at peace--secure in fact and in feeling. But it is only as God is revealed to us in Christ that we may rest upon Him. Apart from Christ, He is to sinners "a consuming fire." Only through Christ may we find the blessedness we so much need, but through Christ we may find it.

II. LOOK AT THE POWER WHICH KEEPS THE BELIEVER IN PEACE. It is not the power of his own faith (H. E. I. 1970, 1975). It is not the power of his own effort, struggling to obtain confidence. It is the power of God: "_Thou_ wilt keep him," &c. The sinner obtains peace by yielding himself to God (Rom. vi. 13). The believer has peace while he leaves himself in God's hands, quietly submissive, cheerfully willing that God should lead him and do with him whatever is pleasing in His sight (P. D. 2966-2968, 2970-2972). Then all God's attributes--His omniscience, His omnipotence, His faithfulness, His tender mercy--minister to his peace (P. D. 3379).

III. LOOK AT THE PEACE IN WHICH SUCH A PERSON IS KEPT. It is _"perfect peace."_ Peace in spite of all that conscience may say, of the temptations that assail us, of the troubles of life, of the certainty and mystery of death. With the peace of pardon, all this peace flows into the soul, increasing more and more. It is the peace of Christ, the same peace which filled and sustained Him (John xiv. 27). You remember that we are shown Him with His head on a pillow, His eyes closed, His mind in unconscious repose, asleep in the midst of the wild storm at night upon the Lake of Galilee, when the waves beat upon the trembling vessel, and the wind strove to raise the waves still higher, and engulph them all. He slept, secure and peaceful, amid the storm. So does the soul of the believer that stayeth itself upon God. Upon what lay that peaceful head of Jesus but upon the unseen arm and heart of God. Men said of Christ mockingly, "He trusted in God." He did trust in God, as the most exalted believer, and far more than the most exalted believer; and in that simplicity of faith He was kept in peace, sleeping amidst the storm. So is it with the believer. O believer! is it so with you?--_Henry Grattan Guinness: Sermon in The Christian World,_ 1860.

Here is the secret of life--peace, perfect peace--and the sure way of attaining it. Consider--

I. THE CHARACTER CONTEMPLATED. _"Whose mind is stayed on Thee."_ His mind is fixed with such intensity that it cannot be diverted from the object on which it is set. This object is not himself (Prov. xxviii. 26), nor his riches (Prov. xxiii. 5), nor his fellow-men (Ch. ii. 22; Jer. xvii. 4, 5), but GOD, in whom he trusts unhesitatingly, exclusively, universally. He accepts all that the Scriptures reveal concerning God, and makes these revelations the foundation of his confidence and his prayers.

II. THE PROMISED BLESSING. _"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace."_ See also Jer. xvii. 7. The idea suggested is that of habitual and continued blessedness. The elements of peace are begun in the soul, and they are brought to maturity in the whole course of the future life. The peace given is like a river (chap. lxvi. 12), both for abundance and permanence. That is, while, and only while, the mind is stayed upon God (chap. xlviii. 18). Then he is _kept_ in peace, for God is its finisher as well as its author; and it is "perfect peace," because it is peace of all kinds, in its highest degree, at all times, under all circumstances.

III. THE REASON FOR THE BESTOWMENT OF THE BLESSING. _"Because he trusteth in Thee."_ Faith honours God (Rom. iv. 21), and therefore those who exercise it are honoured by Him (1 Sam. ii. 30; H. E. I. 4057, 4058).

IV. THE DUTY ENJOINED. _"Trust ye,"_ &c. While we are listening to expositions of this text, this duty seems to be easy; but in actual life our faith is tried and often fails, because we lose sight of the promises and perfections of God. Here there come to us disappointments, difficulties, temptations to distrust. But it is our duty to struggle with them all; and if we do so, it will be our blessedness to overcome them all (chap. xl. 27-31). "Trust ye in the _Lord;_ trust ye in the Lord _for ever;_ for in the Lord Jehovah is _everlasting strength._"--_James Morgan, D.D.: The Home Pulpit,_ pp. 512-516.

There is sometimes a world of meaning in a single word: Country, home, _peace!_ How it sometimes tells of booming cannon hushed into silence, of glittering swords sent back into their sheaths, of hundreds of homes relieved from distressing anxieties and fears, of thousands of lives respited at least for a time! How it sometimes tells of surging passions hushed into a calm, of vengeful purposes superseded, of the fires of enmity quenched, of despair giving place to hope and joy! Peace has its histories, many and pleasant; its triumphs, various and substantial; its heralds, Divine, angelic, human. Ministers have messages of peace to deliver to their congregations, and in our text we have one of them.

I. THE CONDITION EXPRESSED IN THE TEXT. _"Whose mind is stayed on Thee."_ It is a mind resting on God as the God of grace reconciling sinners to Himself through the mediation of Christ, dispensing pardon, sanctity, salvation--a mind resting, after reconciliation, on His truthfulness, wisdom, almightiness, holiness--a mind resting on His rule and government over all the forces of nature and all the events of daily life, both national and individual.

II. THE CONFIDENCE EXPRESSED IN THE TEXT. _"Thou wilt keep,"_ &c. _Thou_ wilt do it; not merely delegate and intrust this to any agency whatever. Thou _wilt_ do it; there is no uncertainty or peradventure about it. "In perfect peace:" peace of all kinds, and in a superlative degree; peace flowing from reconciliation; peace in the midst of unexplained mysteries; peace in the midst of adverse providences; peace amid the uncertainties of the future.--_John Corbin._

THE SONG TO THE VINEYARD.

xxvii. 2, 3. _In that day sing ye unto her, &c._

There are different opinions as to what is meant by "leviathan, that crooked serpent," and "the dragon that is in the sea" (ver. 1), whether the same power is signified by different names, &c. (1.) On a point concerning which learned and able men cannot see eye to eye, it would be presumptuous for me to give an opinion. (2.) If we cannot feel certain as to the literal meaning, the spiritual is plain. (3.) Neither of the expositions affects the substance of the prophecy. A great deliverance is spoken of, to be accomplished by the destruction of the enemies of the Church, and the Lord gives a command to comfort His people. There is in our text a _command_ and a _promise._

I. THE COMMAND.

1. _"Sing ye unto her."_ It is taken for granted that the spiritual condition of the Church is pleasing to God, but that the feeling of His people is in a low state. Sometimes the Lord directs His servant to reprimand them: "Show unto my people their transgressions." A Church may need comfort while some of its members deserve correction. Possibly the faulty members are the cause of the discomfort to the Church, and render it desirable that she should be comforted. It is so in the family. We comfort the family when a member of it has transgressed. The fact that one member needs correction causes the others to need consolation. In some cases, it requires much wisdom to decide whether an encouragement or a reproof should be given. We have seen the rod used when a kind word would have been more suitable; and some are singing songs while it would be more appropriate to sound an alarm. There is need for rightly dividing the Word of truth. "A word in its season," &c.

Possibly the accurate expositor will ask who is commanded to sing. Is it the prophets, or the priests, or the choir of the Temple? This is a poetical book, and sometimes it calls on the heavens, the mountains, and the trees of the field to sing. In this respect I would rather let the command of the text remain undecided, and say to everybody and everything, "Sing unto her!"

2. _What should be sung to this vineyard?_ Remind her in this song that she is "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts." The Old Testament is full of references to a vineyard, to vines, and to wine. The reason for this is, that the Bible is an Eastern book. A vineyard supposes--

_Separation._ Not the superiority of its soil to that of the surrounding country makes the vineyard, but its separation. It is not because the saints are by nature better than others that they are God's vineyard, but because they are set apart by Him. The idea of separation as regards the Church is made conspicuous in every age. The saints, the disciples, constitute the flock and the vineyard of the Old Testament, the Church of the New. When I speak of a separated Church, of course I do not allude to any sect, but to the Church in general. There are hypocrites in the Churches, but none in _the_ Church. It is in the world, but not of the world. The soul is in the body, but not of the body "Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord" (2 Cor. vi. 17). Ceremonials cannot plant the vine; there are necessarily ordinances, but circumcision could not make the Jews a godly people, and there were thousands of ungodly people partaking every year of the Passover. A change of heart, a change in the condition of the soul, constitutes the planting in the vineyard; not a ceremonial separation, but a change of mind; not the affixing of the stamp of a sect, but the impartation of the image of God (H. E. I. 1171-1183).

II. THE PROMISE.

A large and comprehensive one. It includes--

1. _Care._ "I the Lord do keep it." With regard to a vineyard, there is a special meaning in the word "keep." The vine requires great care. There is much work for the knife. From the pruning of the vine by the vine-dresser, there is much valuable instruction to be gained. We learn that what appear to be grievous losses may secure great gains (H. E. I. 63, 104, 126). Oh, this pruning how painful it often is! But it is not done because the Owner of the vineyard delights in it; it proves His love. See Jochebed taking an ark of bulrushes, putting the child Moses in it, and then laying it amidst the perils of the Nile: not because she hated him! No; love was at the bottom of it all, though it appeared otherwise. It behoves the pulpit still to assure God's people of His care for them.

2. _Provision._ "I will water it." There was necessity for watering the vineyard constantly. This was done by means of trenches conveying the water to the roots of the plants. For this purpose rain-water was carefully stored in cisterns; dew was also of great service. The means of grace are somewhat like watercourses. We are dry enough and withered in appearance, but what would we be without the means of grace? What is the dew? The noiseless influences of the Holy Spirit. We will compare revivals to showers; they are not with us, like the watercourses, always. I do not know whether the natural vineyards must have water without intermission; but the vineyard of the Lord of hosts requires it "every moment," and here is His promise to supply the need.

3. _Safety._ "Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." It shall be protected from the blighting frost, from thieves and spoilers, from "the boar out of the wood," from "the little foxes that spoil the vines." "I the Lord do keep it." He will not only give His angels charge concerning it, though He will do that. "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him." That shall be done and more! "For _I,_ saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about her, and will be the glory in the midst of her." All things are in the hand of God, and under His control they shall co-operate for her safety. It is not surprising that Moses, as he surveyed Israel from the top of Mount Nebo, should say, "Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help? The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." In dwelling near God there is safety. Israel was always flourishing when with God. The safety of God's people means more than being kept together and saved from destruction: "Lest any _hurt_ it!" How excellent are the promises of God!--_Gweithiau Rhyddieithol,_ pp. 48-51, _by the late William Ambrose of Portmadoc, translated from the Welsh by the Rev. T. Johns, of Llanelly._

THE STORMS OF LIFE.

xxvii. 8. _In measure when it shooteth forth, &c._

+I. There is a special appropriateness in comparing the trials of life to storms.+ 1. _Storms are the exceptions and not the normal or common condition of the atmosphere._ "In the world ye shall have tribulation." True; but Christ in saying so does not assert that we shall have tribulation only. "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." Yes; but it is not said that there is nothing but trouble. "Through much tribulation," &c. Yea, through many storms the mariner has to go through life; but there is fine weather also. 2. _Storms come from God._ See what is said about trouble (Job v. 6), "_All_ my springs are in THEE," the sweet and the bitter. 3. _Storms come from different directions:_ the family, the Church, business, &c. 4. _Storms are unpleasant to bear._ The anxiety of the sailor's wife. The traveller on the moor. 5. _Storms leave their traces behind._ The ravages of the sea. The effects of gales on edifices. So in life. The bereaved family. The capitalist reduced to want, &c. 6. But _storms are beneficial_ (Heb. xii. 10, 11).

+II. The storms of life are regulated and controlled by God.+ It is of Him that our text speaks. Who "debates in measure?" Who "stayeth His rough wind in the day of His east wind?" He who is almighty, all-wise, and good. His greatness, as shown in the firmament, hints that He is too great to observe human beings. But notice our Saviour's teaching: while instructing us concerning His Father, He speaks not of His omnipotence, &c., but of His observation of small things (Matt. x. 29, 30). Put a green leaf or a drop of water under a microscope, and you will see myriads of living animalcules. God observes every one. "Casting all your care on Him, for _He_ careth for _you._" "He" and "you!"

+III. The storms of life are proportioned to His people's strength.+ "In measure." (See outlines THE AFFLICTIONS OF GOD'S PEOPLE and THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN, pp. 290, 291.) A Jew never exercised greater care and exactitude in weighing out his gold and diamonds than does God while meting out trials to His people. "Grace to help in time of need;" yea, and storms equal to our strength. We do not know how much our strength is. One man over-estimates his strength, another under-estimates it. "But He knoweth our frame." "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able" (H. E. I. 179-188, 3675-3695).

In various ways He maintains the merciful proportion of the storm to the strength. 1. He does so sometimes _by sending the lesser storms before the greater._ Jacob at Bethel was unable to undergo the trials of Jacob at Mahanaim. By the time he reached the latter place, he had become a prince, an Israel. Carrying the least burden prepares a man for carrying the greatest (Hercules and the ox). 2. _Sometimes by sending the heaviest first._ The man may then be in the fulness of his vigour, or in spirit he may be so contumacious that some rough handling may be necessary to bring his pride into subjection. 3. _By removing one trial before another comes._ Poverty is taken away before ill-health sets in. "He stayeth His rough wind." 4. _By sending each one in its time._ "It could not have come at a worse time." Who says so? "If it had happened at another time, it would have been easier to bear." That may be so, but would it have been as profitable? It was necessary for you to _feel._ Less suffering would not have sufficed for that end.

+IV. The storms of life promote purposes of wisdom and love.+ 1. _The Lord sometimes orders trials as chastisements._ It is not always so; we are too apt to explain everything as chastisement. But God has promised to correct (Jer. xxx. 11), and it is the promise of a father, not the threatening of a judge. (1.) Sometimes one correction prevents many more. (2.) When the Lord sends trials in the way of correction, He graciously gives His children the reasons for thus dealing with them. "The iniquity which he _knoweth_" (1 Sam. iii. 13). What father would correct a child without explaining to him what it was for? And what correction would benefit the saints while ignorant of the object in view? Possibly the neighbours may not know, but he has himself a private account with God. Hence arises a consequent duty (H. E. I. 144). (3.) When God thus sends trials, they are _corrections,_ and not merely punishments; manifestations not of vengeance, but of His love. A gardener uses the pruning-knife only for the good of the fruit-bearing trees in his garden. God's corrections are designed only to take away the sin of His people (see ver. 9, and Zech. xiii. 9; H. E. I. 56-74).

2. _The Lord sometimes orders trials as exhibitions of the graces of His people._ The tempest which beat upon Job was not corrective, though he thought so while it lasted (Job x. 2, xiii. 24). The trial brought out into view his trust in God: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." The Lord's purpose was to prove that Job was "a perfect and an upright man" (H. E. I. 91-98).

3. _Storms are sometimes preventive._ A fiery trial is approaching; the man is in danger, for he is too weak to withstand it; by a lesser trial he is withdrawn from it. Two ships are drawing near in a fog; they are making towards each other at a perfect angle. The top-mast of one is blown down; the men on deck bemoan the misfortune; but it was the means of slackening the pace of the vessel, and so prevented a collision. A man is sometimes laid on a bed of sickness to save his life--to save his soul!

4. _Storms sometimes prepare men for nobler work._ Moses, after being brought up in the lap of luxury, is watching the flock forty years in Midian. All the learning of Egypt is lost in a shepherd. Nay! Moses requires a double education, for he has a duplicate work to perform--appearing before Pharaoh in the palace, and leading Israel through the wilderness. _E.g.,_ what good can a preacher do, if he has no _experience_ of his own? (Ps. li. 12, 13; 2 Cor. i. 3-6; H. E. I. 101-108, 2464, 2465).

Some one may say that he has no knowledge of storms from experience. Wait! Peradventure thou shalt know. Should they come, _bow._ Nothing breaks, if it bends.--_Gweithiau Rhyddieithol,_ pp. 78-81, _by the late William Ambrose of Portmadoc. Translated from the Welsh by the Rev. T. Johns of Llanelly._

THE GREAT TRUMPET.

xxvii. 13. _And it shall come to pass in that day, &c._

This prophecy was literally fulfilled (Ezra i.); but it has a wider meaning, and this also it shall be fulfilled.

I. THE GREATNESS OF THE GOSPEL. "The great trumpet." 1. _It is designed for the world._ When liberty was proclaimed for the slaves of the West Indies, the slaves of America remained in bondage. When the slaves of America were liberated, the bondmen in Cuba, Peru, &c., were not set free. But here is a blessing for the whole world. "Which shall be to all people, . . . a light to lighten the Gentiles" (Luke ii. 10, 32). One side of the earth can only enjoy the rays of the sun at the same time; but this "light" shall shed its rays on the whole world. 2. _It is designed for the world in its most important interests._ There are inventions and scientific discoveries--such as the steam-engine, &c.--which are valuable to the whole world. But they are valuable only in regard to the present life. But the Gospel meets the wants of the soul, and concerns the endless life beyond. 3. _It is so great that all other things in the world are small in comparison with it;_ trade, learning, &c. 4. _It is so great that it bestows greatness upon everything it touches._ Upon oratory, although it is independent of excellency of speech. Upon any country in which it is proclaimed and accepted; _e.g.,_ Great Britain, America. Under its shelter liberty, learning, &c., flourish (H. E. I. 1124-1132).

II. THE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. "The great trumpet shall be blown." What is the good of a trumpet without some one to blow it? (Rom. x. 14).

+1. Who is to blow it?+ Not angels (Heb. ii. 5). The law was given by the ministry of angels; by them the trumpet was blown on Mount Sinai (Acts vii. 53). But they recognise that the trumpet of the Gospel is to be blown by _men_ (Acts v. 20, x. 31, 32). This treasure is in earthen vessels. Gideon's Lamps. Men are better than angels for this purpose. This is proved by the fact that God ordered it so. But there are other minor satisfactory arguments, such as: (1.) _The danger of glorifying the missionary above the mission._ (2.) _The angels' disadvantages._ They lack the necessary experience. Blessed lack, in all other respects! They have never been contaminated by sin, and hence know not how to speak to the heart of the sinner. By men the trumpet is now being blown, and will be blown to the end of time. The trumpeters are falling, ministers are dying, but the ministry is alive!

+2. How is it to be blown?+ (1.) _Clearly_ (1 Cor. xiv. 8). If the promises are proclaimed, care must be taken to show to whom they belong. So with the threatenings, &c. (2.) _Vigorously._ It must be done thoroughly, or not at all. (3.) _Bravely_ (Eph. vi. 19). The question is not what will "take," what is popular, what would please the masses, but "What saith the Lord?"

III. THE OBJECTS OF THE MINISTRY. "They which were ready to perish." 1. _Pagans are such_ (Rom. i.) "Them which sat in the region and shadow of death" (Matt. iv. 16). 2. _Every unconverted sinner._ They are all to be addressed as those who are "ready to perish." The matter cannot be compromised because there are seat-holders, contributors, &c. Your kindness shall not prevent our blowing from the trumpet the tones you need to hear.

IV. THE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL. "And they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem." 1. _Whence shall they come?_ From the Pharisaical hiding-places, the quicksands of excuses, &c. They are bound in the chains of slavery; but "they shall come!" This is as certain as the deliverance from Babylon. Take us your harps and strike them! 2. _How will they come?_ Weeping. Without delay. Confidently. 3. _Whither and to whom will they come?_ (1.) To Christ; they cannot live without Him. (2.) To His house.

APPLICATIONS.--1. Thousands have come; will you? 2. God has another trumpet.--_Gweithiau Rhyddiethol_ (pp. 174-176), _by the late Rev. W. Ambrose, Portmadoc. Translated from the Welsh by the Rev. T. Johns, Llanelly._

REJECTERS OF THE GOSPEL ADMONISHED.

xxviii. 12. _To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear._

Isaiah was one of the most eloquent of preachers, yet he could not win the ears and hearts of those to whom he spoke. He spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest of the prophets, yet the message of love was treated as though it were an idle tale. His doctrine was clear as the daylight, yet men would not see it (chap. liii. 1). It was not the fault of the preacher that Israel rejected his warnings: all the fault lay with the disobedient and gainsaying nation. The people to whom he spoke so earnestly were drunken in a double sense:--

1. They were overcome with wine (vers. 7, 8). How is it likely that the truth shall enter an ear which has been rendered deaf by this degrading vice? How is the Word of God likely to operate upon a conscience that has been drenched and drowned by strong drink? Flee from this destroyer before your hands are made strong and you are hopelessly fettered by the habit.

2. They were also intoxicated with pride. Their country was fruitful, and its chief city, Samaria, stood on the hill-top, like a diadem of beauty crowning the land, and they delighted in it. Among them were many champions whose strength sufficed to turn the battle to the gate, therefore they hoped to resist every invader, and so their hearts were lifted up. Moreover, they said, "We are an intelligent people; we are men of cultured intellect, instructed scribes, and we do not need persons like Isaiah to weary us with the ding-dong of 'precept upon precept, line upon line,' as if we were mere children at school. Besides, we are good enough. Do we not worship our God under the form of the golden calves in Dan and Bethel? Do we not respect the sacrifice and the holy days?" So spoke the more religious of them, while the rest gloried in their shame. Being intoxicated with pride, it was not likely that they would hear the message of the prophet who made them turn from their evil ways. Pride is the devil's drag-net, in which he taketh more fishes than in any other, except procrastination.

The two forms of drunkenness are equally destructive. Whether body or soul be intoxicated, mischief will surely come of it. Let us not get drunk with pride because we are not drunkards; for if we are so vain and foolish, we shall as certainly perish by pride as we should have done by drink.

I. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE GOSPEL as it is set forth in the passage before us. This Scripture does not allude to the Gospel primarily, but to the message which Isaiah had to deliver, which was in part the command of the law and in part the promise of grace: but the same rule holds good of all the words of the Lord; and indeed any excellence which was found in the prophet's message is found yet more abundantly in the fuller testimony of the Gospel in Christ Jesus.

+1. The excellence of that Gospel lies, first in its object.+ For

(1.) _It is a revelation of rest._ Christ's ambassadors are sent to proclaim to you that which shall give you ease, peace, quiet, rest. It is true that we have to begin with certain truths that disturb and distress; but our object is to dig out the foundation into which may be laid the stones of restfulness. The object of the Gospel is not to make men anxious, but to calm their anxieties; not to fill them with endless controversy, but to lead them into all truth. The Gospel gives rest of conscience, by the complete forgiveness of sin through the atoning blood of Christ; rest of heart, by supplying an object for the affections worthy of their love; and rest of intellect, by teaching it certainties which can be accepted without question. Our message does not consist of things guessed at by wit, nor evolved out of men's inner consciousness by study, not developed by argument through human reason; but it treats of revealed certainties, absolutely and infallibly true, upon which the understanding may rest itself as thoroughly as a building rests upon a foundation of rock. The Word of the Lord comes to give believing men rest about the present by telling them that God ordereth all things for their good; and as for the future, it brightens all coming time and eternity with promises. The man who will hear the Gospel message, and receive it into his soul, shall know the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and shall keep his heart and mind by Jesus Christ.

(2.) _It is the cause of rest._ "This is the rest wherewith ye may _cause_ the weary to rest." The Gospel of our salvation is not only a command to rest, but it brings the gift of rest within itself. Let the Gospel be admitted into the heart, and it will create a profound calm, hushing all the tumult and strife of conscience, removing all apprehensions of Divine wrath, stilling all rebellion against the supreme Will, and so working in the spirit by the energy of the Holy Ghost a deep and blessed peace.

(3.) _This rest is especially meant for the weary._ "This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest." Oh, ye that are weary with the round of worldly pleasure, worn with ambition, fretted with disappointment, embittered by the faithlessness of those you trusted in, come and confide in Jesus and be at rest. Here is the rest, here is the refreshing. Jesus expressly puts it: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Despondent and despairing, condemned, and in your conscience cast out to the gates of hell, yet look to Jesus and rest shall be yours.

(4.) In addition to bringing us rest, _the message of mercy points to a refreshing._ "This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing." If the rested one should grow weary again, the Good Shepherd will give him refreshing; if he wanders, the Lord will restore him; yea, He has begun His gracious work of renewing, and He will continue it by renewing the heart from day to day, blending the will with His own, and making the whole man more and more to rejoice in Him.

Now, note with peculiar joy that Isaiah did not come to these people to talk about rest in dubious terms, and say, "There is no doubt a rest to be found somewhere in that goodness of God of which it is reasonable to conjecture." No; he puts his finger right down on the truth, and he says, "_This is_ the rest, and _this is_ the refreshing." Even so we at this day, when we come to you with a message from God, come _with definite teaching;_ we proclaim in the name of God that whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus hath everlasting life: this is the rest, and this is the refreshing.

_Nor did he preach a rest of a selfish character._ They say we teach men to get peace and rest for themselves, and make themselves comfortable, whatever becomes of others. They know better, and they forge these falsehoods because their heart is false. Are we not always bidding men look out from themselves, and love others even as Christ has loved them? We abhor the idea that personal safety is the consummation of a religious man's desires, for we believe that the life of grace is the death of selfishness. This is one of the glories of the Gospel, that "this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest." Get rest yourself, and you will soon cause other weary minds to rest. That secret something which your own heart possesses shall enable you to communicate good cheer to many a weary heart, and hope to many a desponding mind.

+2. The other excellence of the Gospel of which I shall speak at this time lies in its manner.+

(1.) _It comes with authority._ The Gospel does not pretend to be a speculative scheme or a theory of philosophy which will suit the nineteenth century, but will be exploded in the twentieth. No; it comes to men as a message from God, and he that speaks it aright does not speak it as a thinker uttering his own thoughts; but he utters what he has learned, and acts as God's tongue, repeating what he finds in God's Word by the power of God's Spirit.

(2.) _It was delivered with great simplicity._ Isaiah came with it "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little." It is the glory of the Gospel that is so plain. If it were so profound that we must take a degree at a university before we could comprehend it, what a miserable Gospel it would be for mocking the world with! But it is Divinely sublime in its simplicity, and hence the common people hear it gladly. As the verse seems to imply, it is fitted for those who are weaned from the breast; those who are little more than babes may yet drink in this unadulterated milk of the Word. Many a little child has comprehended the salvation of Jesus Christ sufficiently to rejoice in it. I bless God for a simple Gospel, for it suits me, and thousands of others whose minds cannot boast of greatness or genius. It equally suits men of intellect, and it is only quarrelled with by pretenders. A man who really has a capacious mind is usually childlike, and, like Sir Isaac Newton, is glad to sit at Jesus' feet. Great minds love the simple Gospel of God, for they find rest in it from all the worry and the weariness of questions and of doubts.

(3.) _It is taught us by degrees._ It is not forced home upon men's minds all at once, but it comes "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little." God does not flash the everlasting daylight on weak eyes in one blaze of glory, but there is at first a dim dawn, and the soft incoming of a tender light for tender eyes, and so by degrees we see.

(4.) _The Gospel is repeated._ If we do see it at once, it comes again to us, for it is "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little." From morning to morning, from Sunday to Sunday, book after book, by text after text, by spiritual impression after spiritual impression, the Divine gentleness makes us wise unto salvation.

(5.) _It is brought home to us in ways suitable to our capacity._ It is told to us, as it were, with stammering lips (see ver. 11), just as mothers teach their little children in a language all their own. In much of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, God condescends to lay aside His own speech and talk the language of men. He bows to us and tells us His mind in types and ordinances, which are a sort of child-language fitted to our capacity. If you do not understand the Word of God, it is not because He does not put it plainly, but because of the blindness of your heart and the besotted condition of your spirit. Take heed that you are not drunken with the wine of pride, but be willing to learn; for God Himself hath not darkened counsel by mysterious words, but He has put His mind before you as plainly as the sun in the heavens. "Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little."

II. THE OBJECTIONS WHICH ARE TAKEN TO THE GOSPEL.

1. They are most _wanton._ Men object to that which promises them rest! Above all the things in the world this is what our troubled spirits need. Oh, the intense folly of men, that when the Gospel sets rest before them they will not hear it, but turn upon their heel. There is no system of doctrine under heaven that can give quiet to the conscience of men, quiet that is worth having, except the Gospel; and there are thousands of us who bear witness that we live in the daily enjoyment of peace through believing in Jesus, and yet our honest report is not believed; nay, they will not hear the truth.

2. Objections against the Gospel are _wilful,_ even as it is here said, "This is the refreshing, yet they would not hear." When man say they cannot believe the Gospel, ask them whether they will patiently hear it in all its simplicity. No, they say, they do not want to hear it. The Gospel is so difficult to believe; so they say. Will they come and hear it preached in its fulness? Will they read the Gospels for themselves carefully? Oh, no; they cannot take the trouble. Just so. But a man who does not want to be convinced must not blame anybody if he remains in error, nor wonder that objections swarm in his mind.

3. Such objections are _wicked,_ because they are rebellion against God and an insult to His truth and mercy. If this Gospel be of God, I am bound to receive it: I have no right to cavil at it, nor raise questions, philosophical or otherwise. It is mine just to say, "Does God say this and that? Then it is true, and I yield to it. Does the Lord thus set before me a way of salvation? I will run in it with delight."

4. These people raised objections that were _the outgrowth of their pride._ They objected to the simplicity of Isaiah's preaching. They said, "Who is he? You should not go to hear him; he talks to us as if we were children. Besides, it is the same thing over and over again. You may go when you like, he is always harping on the same string." Have you not heard folks say in these days concerning a true Gospel preacher, that he is always preaching about sovereign grace, or the blood of Christ, or crying out, "Believe, believe, and you shall be saved"? They sneer and say, "It is the old ditty over and over again." The passage translated "precept upon precept, line upon line," was uttered in ridicule, and sounded like a ding-dong rhyme with which they mocked Isaiah. The words were intended to caricature the preacher; though they do not suggest the idea when translated, they do suggest it readily enough in the Hebrew. There are people now living who, when the Gospel is plainly and simply preached, exclaim, "We want progressive thought; we want"--they do not quite know what they do want. Too many wish for a map to heaven so mysteriously drawn that they may be excused from following it. Multitudes prefer the Gospel shrouded in a mist; they love to see the wisdom of man shut out the wisdom of God. This was the style of objection current in Israel's day, and it is fashionable still.

III. THE DIVINE REQUITAL OF THESE OBJECTORS.

1. The Lord threatens them _with the loss of that which they despised._ He has sent them a message of rest and they will not have it, and therefore in the 20th verse He warns them that they shall have no rest henceforth: "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it." All those who wilfully reject the Gospel and take up with philosophies and speculations will be rewarded with inward discontent. Ask the preachers of that kind of doctrine whether they themselves have found an anchorage, and as a rule they will answer, "No, no; we are in pursuit of truth; we are hunting after it, but we have not reached it yet." They are never likely to reach it, for they are on the wrong track. The Gospel was made to rest conscience, soul, heart will, memory, hope, fear, yes, the entire man; but when men laugh at all fixity of belief, how can they be rested? This is the condemnation of the unbeliever, that he shall never find a settlement, but, like the wandering Jew, shall roam for ever. Leave the Cross, and you have left the hinge of all things, and neglected the one sure corner-stone and fixed foundation, and henceforth you shall be as a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

2. _They shall be punished by a gradual hardening of heart._ They said that Isaiah's message was "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little," and justice answers them, "Even so it shall be to you a thing despised and ridiculed, so that you will go farther away from it; you will fall backward and be broken, and snared and taken" (ver. 13). A fall backward is the worst kind of fall. If a man falls forward, he may somewhat save himself and rise again; but if he falls backward, he falls with all his weight and is helpless. Those who stumble at Christ, the sure foundation-stone, shall be broken. When oppressors hope to retrieve their position, they find themselves snared by their habits, entangled in the net of the great fowler, and taken by the destroyer. This downward course is followed full often by those who begin cavilling at the simple Gospel; they cavil more and more, and become its open enemies to their eternal ruin.

3. This is to be followed by _a growing inability to understand._ "For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people." Since they would not hear plain speech, God will make simplicity itself to seem like stammering to them. Men that cannot endure simple language shall at last become unable to understand it. If men will not understand, they shall not understand. A man may shut his eyes so long that he cannot open them. In India many devotees have held up their arms so long that they can never take them down again. Beware lest an utter imbecility of heart come upon those of you who refuse the Gospel.

Lastly, this warning is given to those who object to the Gospel, that _whatever refuge they choose for themselves shall utterly fail them._ Thus saith the Lord, "Judgment will I also lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place." Down come the great hailstones dashing everything to shivers, the threatenings of God's Word breaking to pieces all the false and flattering hopes of the ungodly. Then comes the active wrath of God like an overwhelming flood to sweep away everything on which the sinner stood, and he, in his obstinate unbelief, is carried away as with a flood into that utter destruction, that everlasting misery, which God has declared shall be the lot of all those who refuse the living Christ.--_C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,_ No. 1593.

FALSE REFUGES.

xxviii. 18. _Your covenant with death shall be disannulled._

Like the sinners spoken of in this chapter, most sinful men say in effect, "We have made a covenant with death," &c. (ver. 15).

+I. That he may escape the dreaded consequences of sin, the troubled sinner seeks a refuge.+ He flees--1. _From the voice of reason._ The presence of a reasoning power in man is incompatible with the practice of sin. This is seen in the fact that when sinners can be brought to think, they at once admit themselves to be wrong. The moment a man commences to think about sin, that moment he becomes aware that it will not bear thinking about. It is because a sinful life is an unthinking life that God's invitations to sinners are invitations to reason (chap. i. 18; Ps. l. 22-23). 2. _From an accusing conscience._ The authority of conscience is supreme, and no man can sin without feeling its sting. To escape remorse, which is conscience at work, men seek a refuge. 3. _From an offended God._ Sin is offensive to God's holiness; for being pure, He must hate impurity. Because sinners are conscious that they have rendered themselves obnoxious to God, they seek a refuge. 4. _From a broken law._ In obedience to law there is safety, right, and happiness; while in disregarding law there is nothing but disaster. And from the consequences of the broken law--the broken law of God written on the heart, proclaimed in Nature, revealed in the Bible--the sinner tries to hide. 5. _From an endless future._ This more than anything else terrifies sinners and drives them to seek shelter.

+II. Sinners, blindly infatuated, seek a refuge in the wrong objects.+ They make a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. The terms "death" and "hell" stand for the whole class of false securities in which men seek shelter by making a covenant and agreement with them. 1. _Unbelief_ is one of the most modern refuges of sin. When men can blot out of the universe the idea of God, quench the sense of moral responsibility, remove the belief in immortality, persuade themselves that there is no other world, that death is an eternal sleep, that heaven is only an air-castle, and hell a mere chimera, they may then indulge in evil to their hearts' content. 2. _Superstition_ is another. Not in open unbelief, but under the cover of a false religion others seek to shelter. Unable to shake off belief in God and in a spiritual world, they search for some system which will at once allow a profession of religion and a practice of wickedness. Nor are such systems wanting, nor are they without disciples. Romanism offers indulgences for gold and pardons for peace, and thus provides a refuge for the stronger in pocket than in brain. 3. _Annihilation_ is another. According to some, such is the awfulness of the thought of extinction of being, that men revolt from it. Establish it that when sinners die they cease to live, and what better refuge for sin is possible, and what other is needed? Sinful men will soon say, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." 4. _Excess_ is another. When the previous ones have failed to give comfort, the sinner rushes madly into excess. The drunkard seeks in increased intemperance to drown the sorrow his indulgence has occasioned. 5. _Indifference_ is the last. This is the only comfort some men can find in their career of evil. But indifference is impossible without a denial of human responsibility. Sad indeed must the condition of human nature be when brought to this.

+III. The refuges so confidently trusted in are utterly insecure.+ 1. _Because they are incompatible with the real need of man._ Only that can be conducive to man's safety which meets man's need. No human need is met by infidelity, or by superstition, or by annihilation, or by indulgence, or by indifference. Any one of these, tested by this argument drawn from human necessities, will be found a refuge of lies. 2. _Because they are at variance with human instincts._ Instinctively men believe in a Divine existence, in moral accountability, and in immortality. 3. _Because they contradict human experience._ They have all been tried, and as often as they have been tried they have been found false. 4. _Because they are opposed to the teaching of revelation, both natural and Biblical._ Nature proclaims loudly against all sin-sought refuges. The teaching of Nature and the Bible is that man is incompetent to provide for his own security, and that God only, in the exercise of His Divine prerogative, can provide for sinners the security they need.

+IV. By Divine appointment the refuges so madly sought shall be totally destroyed.+ "Your covenant with death shall be disannulled." 1. _By consequence of their inherent character._ They are "refuges of lies," and necessarily all refuges built on lies must perish. 2. _By necessity of strict justice._ "Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet" (ver. 17). 3. _By the exertion of Almighty power._ "And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place."

CONCLUSION.--God has mercifully provided a true refuge. He only cuts off the false that He may exhibit the true. "Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone," &c. (ver. 16).--_William Brooks: Study and the Pulpit,_ New Series, vol. i. pp. 413-416.

SOME ASPECTS OF MINISTERIAL DUTY.

xxx. 7. _Therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still._

Jerusalem and Judah were threatened by Sennacherib with dangers and desolations. This people's sin, for which they were reproved by Isaiah, was their trusting to the Egyptians; they were all in a hurry to obtain help from them, without seeking counsel of God and resting upon Him. Isaiah saw that the help of the Egyptians would be worthless to them, and therefore he counselled them to "sit still," trusting in the power, providence, and promise of God, from whom too much cannot be expected.

+I. Notice the prophet's intermeddling in this important matter.+ He publishes God's mind concerning it. It is the duty of ministers to meddle sometimes in public matters, whether in Church or State; they are to show Jacob their sins, and Israel their transgressions. This is a part of ministers' work, to testify against sin in all. Christ was the light of the _world;_ and they should be like their Master, testifying against all works of darkness. True, the world quarrels with the servants of God because they bear testimony against its sins; and on this account many ministers who have some light, put their light in prison: "They hold the truth in unrighteousness." They do this by not bearing witness against public wrongs, and the sin and defection of statesmen. But it was a gracious expression of a graceless Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?" "What am I concerned with the souls or the sins of others? What am I concerned with the public evils of the day I live in?" True religion begins at home, but it does not end there; it will come without doors with us (H. E. I. 1184-1186).

+II. Observe the manner of the prophet's address to this people.+ "Therefore have I _cried_ concerning this." It is the duty of ministers to be earnest and zealous in reproving sin and reclaiming sinners. They are to be both seers and criers; and when they see any danger, they should CRY, that the people may hear and flee out of harm's way.

1. This is true in regard to public wrongs and national projects which are contrary to the Will of God (P. D. 2855).

2. They need to _cry_ about matters of eternity, that people may secure something that death may not be able to take from them--such as these: saving knowledge, saving faith, pardon of sin, evangelical love of God in Christ, faithful labours for the honour and glory of God.--_Ralph Erskine, A. M.: Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 252, 253.

GROWING LIGHT.

xxx. 26. _Moreover, the light of the moon, &c._

These words, doubtless, look forward to the restoration of Israel. But there are spiritual truths implied in them, which are of present and immediate application. We have here different _kinds_ of light; different _degrees_ of the same light; and also the _seasons_ which such increase of light is vouchsafed.

I. THE LIGHT OF THE MOON. It is a real light, but it is reflected light. It does not come to us direct from the sun, but is thrown first upon the moon, and from her it comes to us. Hence its peculiarities. It is a dim light; it does not warm and quicken; it does not make things grow and vegetate. It is a waning light; sometimes it is full, but it soon begins to decline, and for a season it is wholly withdrawn. It is a light which never makes day; even at its fullest, it is still night; men occasionally walk and work in it, but usually they rest and sleep.

Why do I notice these things, which are obvious to all on a moment's reflection? Because I believe there is important Divine truth hidden under them. All Nature is a prefiguring or shadowing forth of grace and truth (H. E. I. 5, 6).

We have been describing the religious knowledge of not a few. It is moonlight; it does not come to them direct from Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the Source of all true light; it is hearsay; they have learned it from their fellow-men. It is not experimental, and hence its deficiencies. It is a vague, dim knowledge; they see nothing clearly, neither sin nor salvation, neither Christ nor themselves, neither law nor gospel, neither grace nor glory. It is a cold, heartless knowledge; it does not warm, quicken, stir their affections, influence their wills. It is a waning knowledge; sometimes they seem full of it--after a stirring sermon, or when they are in the company of frank, lively Christians--but a short time passes and it is all gone, as if it had never been. It never makes them children of the day, it never arouses them from the sleep of sin and worldliness, nor sends them forth to work for God and for eternity.

Such is this moonlight knowledge. Still it would be something if it led those who have it to Christ, the true Light. The people of Sychar had the moonlight when the woman on whom the Sun had just arisen came and cast a portion of her light upon them. But they did not rest on this; they went out of the city and saw and heard for themselves, and so many believed and were saved. But this is what many fail to do in revival times. The Lord has visited His people, and refreshed and saved them; and others speak freely of the good they have received, sing gladly their new songs, and are for the time stirred and affected. But it is only moonlight; they have never come to Him who changes not; and so when the warmth and stir of the revival passes they fall back, and perhaps become worse than before. Not a few are still in the moonlight, and are satisfied with it. You hear about Christ, perhaps can talk about Him, but this is not salvation (H. E. I. 3148).

II. THE LIGHT OF THE SUN. This comes immediately from the sun, and hence its excellence. It is a clear, bright light, and so things afar off and near at hand are distinctly seen. It is a warm light; there is heat in it; it thaws and chases away the winter; it makes spring and summer; it causes all things to grow and vegetate. It is an awakening light; it makes day, and men arise and go to their work, and wild creatures and evil-doers retire. It is a constant light. The sun never waxes or wanes; he is ever the same. True, there are wintry days, dark, dreary days, but still the sun is there, shining through the clouds, and shining them away, and soon breaking forth again in his glory. Is this the character of your religious knowledge? [Work out the details of the comparison.]

III. DIFFERENT DEGREES OF LIGHT. "The light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Here there is only a change of degree. There is no new luminary; it is still the sun, but it is far more intense and continuous. We can conceive what would be the effect of this in the natural world. Things now invisible from their minuteness or indistinctly seen from their distance would then be clearly revealed, and fruits and flowers which cannot at present be reared in our climate would then be common and indigenous among us. There can be a sevenfold Divine light and Divine warmth. Christ has it to give. He will one day give it to all His people, and the weak shall be as David, and David as the angel of the Lord. Even now He grants it to those who seek Him with the whole heart. The patriarchs, prophets, apostles had it. Nor are these peculiar, exceptional cases. I believe there is more of it than we are aware of and probably there would be more if we did not straighten and hinder the Lord by our want of desire and expectation.

IV. THE TIMES WHEN THIS BLESSING IS VOUCHSAFED. "In the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." This evidently looks forward to the time when the long alienation between Israel and their God will be healed. But is He the God of the Jews only? Nay, of the Gentiles also. There are two opposite errors into which men fall on the reading of these promises. Some see only the Jew in them; others do not see the Jew in them at all. But there is room for both in these green pastures. Even now there are fulfilments of this promise in its truest, highest sense. Even now the light of the moon becomes as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun as that of seven days. It is so, for instance, often at conversion; it is a passing from darkness into marvellous light. It is often so when the backslider returns. Look at David in the 51st Psalm, what light he has got! It is so often in times of sore affliction. Then the exceeding great and precious promises come out into view, as darkness shows us worlds of light we never saw by day (Ps. xciv. 12). It is so at death, when the soul leaves its cage and soars away into heavenly light and liberty. It will be so when the Lord comes on the resurrection morn. And once more, oh! the light there will be when the Lamb opens the books and makes every mystery plain! (H. E. I. 3127, 3128).--_John Milne: Gatherings from a Ministry,_ pp. 114-122.

NOBILITY AND SECURITY.

xxxiii. 15, 16. _He that walketh righteously, &c._

These were terrible times in Jerusalem. The Assyrian power was exceedingly formidable; it was as ferocious as it was strong. The Assyrian had come up into the land, yet God had given a promise to His people that they should be preserved (chap. xxxvii. 33, 34). Some in the city rested content with the promise of God, and went about their daily business feeling perfectly safe. But there were a few such. A great number were afraid they would be destroyed--they were sure of it. Who was to save them, or what power could stand in the way of Sennacherib? These were the sinners and hypocrites, and the time of trial developed them. They could not live, they said; the land was smoking, for the Assyrian had set everything on fire. Some who dwell among God's people are sinners and not saints, hypocrites and not believers. When all goes well with the Church of God you cannot detect the difference. But when the time of trial comes, the hypocrites and sinners will be discovered by their own fear. Let us not be satisfied with being in Zion--in the Church; let us not rest till we are quite sure we are not sinners or hypocrites in it. If our religion is worth anything, it is worth most in the hour of trial; and if it does not stand us in good stead in the time of temptation and sorrow, what is the use of it?

I. THE CHARACTER OF GOD'S PEOPLE. They are partly described in the words of our text, but I am obliged to go a little farther afield for one part of their character. Those who in the time of danger will be kept and comforted are a people who have a humble, patient, present faith in God. I am sure there are such, for they are described--they describe themselves--in the second verse of the chapter before us. They are a humble people, who dare not trust themselves, but trust in God. They are a praying people, who make their appeal to God under a sense of need. Their appeal is to His free grace. They are a waiting people. If at once they have not comfort and joy, they tarry and are perfectly content to abide His time, for it is sure to be best. That have a present faith in God, for "Be Thou their arm every morning" is their prayer. They did not trust in God years ago and get saved, and think they can live without faith, but they believe "the just shall _live_ by faith." They look for everything to their God: "_Thou_ art our salvation in the time of trouble."

Our text gives a description of these people by their various features. It describes how they walk: "He that walketh righteously." Faith has an elevating, ennobling effect upon our entire manhood. The promise belongs only to the people who come under the description; see to it that you do not take the comfort, if you do not come under the character! Study the description of the daily walk and conversation of this blessed man who is to dwell on high.

The first feature which is described is his _tongue._ "He speaketh uprightly." If you drew a portrait of a man, you could not paint his tongue; but if you give a description of a man's character, you cannot omit his speech. A man that lies, talks obscenely, &c., is no child of God. The grace of God very speedily sweetens a man's tongue. A doctor says, "Put out your tongue," and he judges the symptoms of health or disease thereby; and surely there is no better test of character than the condition of the tongue.

Next, the _heart._ "He that despiseth the gain of oppression." Not only does he not oppress any man, nor wish to gain anything by extortion, or by any act of unrighteousness, but he looks upon it as contemptible and despises it. He likes gain if it comes cleanly to him, and it is as welcome to him as to another, but he will not have a thing he cannot pray over.

Next comes the _ear._ "That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood." Men of war and those who delight in war will tell to one another what they did in battle and whom they slew; and in those old times there were tales of bloodshed that would have made our ears to tingle, but the good men in Jerusalem would not hear them; they could not endure it. It is not the hearing of blood alone we must avoid, but the hearing of anything tainted. The genuine Christian feels he has mischief enough in his own heart without adding to it.

Again, "He shutteth his _eyes_ from seeing evil." He cannot help seeing it as he goes his pilgrimage through life, but as far as possible he tries to avoid it. He does not go and find an evening's amusement gazing upon it. It were better to be blind, deaf, and dumb than to see, and hear, and speak in some places. The true believer is a man who has himself well in hand. He has a bit in the mouths of all the horses that draw the chariot of life, and he holds them in, and will not let his eye, ear, tongue, foot, or hand carry him away. He will have nothing to do with evil: "He shaketh his hand from holding of bribes."

II. THE SECURITY OF SUCH A MAN. Notice it first, as it is pictorially described: "He shall dwell on high." The Assyrians were attacking the country, and in times of invasion men always went to the highest parts of the country to escape from the enemy. Well, this man shall have a quiet resting-place on the heights, so high up that his enemies cannot get at him. They may plunder all round, but cannot plunder him. The sentinel on the crags of inaccessible rock shall, standing out in the sunlight gleaming calmly and brightly, bid defiance to every foe. He shall dwell on the heights, out of reach of the arrows. "His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks;" not one rock, but rocks; mass upon mass of mountain shall stand between him and the foe, and there shall he dwell in perfect security. "Oh," but says one, "they will starve him out. There will be nothing for the people to eat, and they will open the doors and say, 'Come in! only give us bread.'" "Bread shall be given him," and as he could not be driven out, so he shall not be starved out, for the bread of Heaven shall be given him, if it come from nowhere else. "But even," says one, "if there may be bread brought into the city, they will run short of water, and must eventually capitulate through thirst." No, says the promise, "his water shall be sure." There shall be springs that never can be dried up within the castle itself, and they shall drink and drink as much as they will, and yet the supplies shall never be exhausted. "Now," says one, "this is poetry." Just so: it is a poetical description, but it is all founded on facts.

Look at the positive facts in the actual experience of the child of God. First, it is a matter of fact that the man who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and lives as a Christian should live, lives on high. His mind is elevated above the common cares, trials, and sorrows of life (H. E. I. 1080-1084, 4162, 4163). Many of you know how secure and immutable your defence is, for you have God's promise, "I will never leave nor forsake thee." "No good thing will I withhold from him that walketh uprightly." What munitions of rocks can be compared with these things in which it is impossible for God to lie? You are dwelling where you must be safe; for, first, you were chosen before the foundation of the world, and God will not lose His chosen, nor shall His decree be frustrated. Next, you have been bought with the precious blood of the Son of God Himself, and He will never lose what He has so dearly bought. You have also been quickened by the Holy Ghost and made to live unto God, and that life cannot die. You have been taken into the family of God and made His child, and your name shall never be taken out of the family register. You are joined unto Christ in one spirit; you are a member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones; and shall Christ be dismembered, the Son of God be rent in twain? I feel I stand where all the devils of hell cannot reach me, where the angels of God might envy me, and where I can say, "Who shall separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord?" and challenge earth and hell and heaven alike--if so it please them--to assail me, for who can harm me, if my confidence be in the living God?

The poetic utterance, "Thy bread shall be given thee," is also literally true. You have sometimes had very little, but have always had _enough._ When God multiplied the meal and the oil of the widow of Zarephath, I do believe that every day Elijah lived with her she had to scrape the bottom of the barrel. We are not told it filled up at once. Just so, you may often have to reach the bottom of the barrel, and the oil may seem to come a drop at a time: this is about as much as you want, and if you get as much as you can eat at one meal, it is all the fresher, and does not breed worms like the manna in the wilderness. It is the heavenly bread we have sometimes to be anxious about; but if ministers do not feed you, God will Himself.

As for the living waters, they shall always flow both in summer and winter. They shall be within thee a well of living water springing up into eternal life. But words cannot tell the privileges of the man who dwells with God. He need not wish to change places with the Archangels.

Friend, if you are not a Christian, do not profess to be one; do not hope by mere empty profession to win the blessedness of God's people. Confess your sins, and seek the righteousness of God. Fain would I drop into your mouths that prayer, "O Lord, be gracious unto us."

As for you that are really striving to do that which is right and true, at the same time trusting alone in Jesus for your salvation, I would say to you, What a happy people we ought to be! We ought every one of us to have a shining face (H. E. I. 756-762, 3037-3039). I do not know where the Queen is just now, but if I were a dove and could fly in the air, I would soon find her, for I should see the royal flag flying on the flag-staff. Wherever the monarch is, there will the streamer be found flying. Is the King with you to-day? If so, keep the flag flying. Let the banner fly to the breeze, and let the world know that there are no people so happy, none so much to be envied, as believers in Jesus Christ.--_C. H. Spurgeon._

SPREADING THE LETTER BEFORE THE LORD.

xxxvii. 14. _And Hezekiah received the letter, &c._

The letter was an insolent cartel of defiance from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, full as much of blasphemous defiance against God as of insolence to God's servant. It represents the conflict between Assyria and Judah as being a struggle between the gods of one nation and the God of the other. The point of it is: "Don't let the God in whom thou trusteth deceive thee, saying Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of Assyria. Thou hast seen what Assyria has done to all lands, and is thy God any better than theirs?" So the king of Judah, very simple and child-like, picks up the piece of blasphemy and goes up to the temple and spreads it out before God. A very _naïve_ piece of unconscious symbolism! The meaning of it comes out in the prayer that follows: "Open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see," &c. It is for _Thee_ to act. That is the essential meaning of Hezekiah's action.

I. It was an appeal to God's knowledge. For _his_ comfort it was necessary to make this appeal. That which influences and agitates us, we need in some way to spread before the Lord. When some great anxiety strikes its talons deep into our hearts, we need to have the truth made clear to ourselves. The Eyes up yonder see all about it. A plain old piece of commonplace, but, oh! there is a deep, unutterable consolation when a man realises this. "Thy Father which is in secret, _seeth_ in secret."

II. It was an appeal to God's honour. His prayer was this in effect: "Hear all the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to reproach the living God. I say nothing about myself, but it is Thine honour that is threatened. If this insolent braggart does the thing which he threatens, then it will be said, 'Forasmuch as this Jehovah was not able to save His people, therefore He let them perish;' those who worship other gods will say, 'Jehovah is a name without meaning'--_Thy_ name, which is above every name!" If a man has not got something like that in his prayers, they are poor prayers. With all humility, yet with all self-confidence, ask Him, not so much to deliver you, as to be true to His character and His promises, to be self-consistent with all that He has been; and let us feel, as we have a right to feel, that if any human soul, that ever in the faintest, poorest, humblest manner put out a trembling hand of confidence towards His great hand to grasp it, was suffered to go down and perish, there is a blight and blot on the fair fame of God before the whole creation which nothing can obliterate. But the feeblest cry shall be answered, the feeblest faith rewarded! Let us grasp the thought that not only for our own poor selves--though, blessed be God, He does take our happiness for a worthy object--but because His honour and fair fame are so inextricably wound with our well-being, He must answer the cries of His people (Ezek. xxxvi. 22-24).

III. Let us take out of the account, not only what we ought to do when we go to God in prayer, but the kind of things we ought to take to Him. Every difficulty, danger, trial, temptation, or blasphemy by which His name is polluted, should be at once spread out before the Lord. But most of all the common things of everyday life! The small boy, whom one of our writers tells of, who used to pray that he might have strength given to him to learn his Latin declension, had a better understanding of prayer than the men of the world can understand (H. E. I. 3756, 3757).

IV. Another lesson: If you have not been in the habit of going to the House of God at other times, it will be a hard job to find your way there when your eyes are blinded with tears, and your hearts heavy with anxiety. Hezekiah had cultivated a habit of trusting God and referring everything to Him; so he went straight into the Temple as by instinct, where he could have found his way in the dark, and spread this letter before the Lord as a matter of course. It is a poor thing when a man's religion is like a waterproof coat, that is only good to wear when it rains, and has to be taken off when the weather improves a little! If you want to get the blessedness of fellowship with God and help from Him in the dark days, learn the road to the Temple in sunshine and gladness, and do not wait for the bellow of the pitiless storm and darkness upon the path, before you go up to the Temple of God (H. E. I. 3877-3879).

V. What do we get by this habit of spreading out everything before God?

1. Valuable counsel. I do not know anything that has such a power of clearing a man's way, scattering mists, removing misconceptions, letting us see the true nature of some dazzling specious temptations, as the habit of turning to prayer. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the thing that perplexes us is that the steadiness of the hand that holds the microscope is affected by the beating of the heart and the passionate desires and wishes, and so there is nothing defined and clear; it is all a haze. Firmness of hand, clearness of vision, come in prayer to the man who is accustomed to take the harassing "letter," and spread it out before the Lord (H. E. I. 3741-3743).

2. A very accurate and easily applied test. I do not wonder that as many of us do not like to pray about our plans and about our anxieties; it is either because the plans have no God in them, or the anxieties have no faith. Anything we cannot pray about, we had better not touch. And anxiety that is not substantial enough to bear lifting and laying before God, ought never to trouble us. Test your lives, your thoughts, your affairs, your purposes by this. Will they stand carriage to the Temple? If not, the sooner you get rid of them the better. And then, "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests by made known unto God; and," in spite of all the blatant Sennacheribs who have poured out their insolent blasphemies, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."--_Alexander Maclaren, in Outlines of Sermons on the Old Testament,_ pp. 81-85.

APPENDIX.

* * * * * * *

_TRANSLATIONS OF THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH._

Translations, at once accurate and varied, are among the most valuable of all helps in the study of Scripture. It was, therefore, the intention of the supplier of this volume to give in four parallel columns the translations of Isaiah which occur in the Commentaries of Alexander, Delitzsch, and Henderson, and in the _Revised English Bible._ Considerations of space, have, however, compelled him to confine himself to the two first named; and it is believed that these will be acceptable even to those who possess the Commentaries whence they are taken. They are interwoven with the comments, and a continuous study of them is thus rendered difficult. The divisions and subdivisions in the second column are those given in Delitzsch's Commentary. For a very prompt and general permission to make this use of that great work, hearty thanks are here accorded to Messrs. T. & T. Clark of Edinburgh.

* * * * * * *

TRANSLATION

OF THE

PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH,

By Joseph Addison Alexander, D.D.[1]

GENERAL TITLE.--CHAP. I. 1.

The Vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

SIN AND SUFFERING.--CHAP. I. 2-31.

2. Hear, O heavens; and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah speaks. Sons I have reared and brought up, and they, even they, have rebelled against Me. 3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.

4. A sinful nation, people heavy with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, sons corrupting themselves! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have treated with contempt the Holy One of Israel; they are alienated back again.

5. Whereupon can ye be stricken any more, (that) ye add revolt? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is not in it a sound place; (it is) wound and bruise and fresh stroke. They have not been pressed, and they have not been bound, and it has not been mollified with ointment. 7. Your land . . . a waste! Your towns . . . burnt with fire! Your ground . . . before you strangers (are) devouring it, and a waste like the overthrow of strangers. 8. And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a melon field, like a watched city. 9. Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been like Sodom, we should have resembled Gomorrah.

10. Here the word of Jehovah, ye judges of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah! 11. For what (end) is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? saith Jehovah. I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, and the blood of bullocks and lambs and he-goats I desire not. 12. When you come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hands to tread My courts? 13. Ye shall not add to bring a vain offering. Incense is an abomination to Me; (so are) new-moon and Sabbath, the calling of the convocation: I cannot bear iniquity and holy day. 14. Your new-moons and your convocations My soul hateth; they have become a burden to Me, I am weary of bearing (them). 15. And when you spread your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; also when ye multiply prayer, I am not hearing; your hands are full of blood.

16. Wash you, purify yourselves; remove the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17. learn to do good, seek judgment, redress wrong, judge the fatherless, befriend the widow.

18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool. 19. If ye consent and hear, the good of the land ye shall eat; 20. and if ye refuse and rebel, by the sword shall ye be eaten: the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.

21. How has she become an harlot, the faithful city! full of justice, righteousness lodged in it, and now murderers. 22. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine weakened with water. 23. Thy rulers are rebels and fellows of thieves, every one of them loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards. The fatherless they judge not, and the cause of the widow cometh not unto them.

24. Therefore, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will comfort Myself of My adversaries, and I will avenge Myself of Mine enemies; 25. and I will turn My hand upon them, and will purge out thy dross like purity (itself), and I will take away all thine alloy. 26. And I will restore thy judges as at first, and thy counsellors as in the beginning, after which thou shalt be called City of Righteousness, a faithful State.

27. Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and her converts in righteousness; 28. and the breaking of apostates and sinners (shall be) together, and the forsaken of Jehovah shall cease. 29. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens ye have chosen; 30. for ye shall be like an oak fading (in) its leaf, and like a garden which has no water; 31. and the strong shall become tow, and his work a spark, and they shall burn both of them together, (there) shall be no one quenching (them).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Reprinted from the _Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah,_ by Joseph Addison Alexander, D.D., Princeton. New and Revised Edition, edited by John Eadie, D.D., LL.D. 2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot.

THE REIGN OF THE MESSIAH, AND INTERVENING JUDGMENTS ON THE JEWS.--CHAPS. II.-IV.

II.--1. The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2. And it shall be in the end of the days, the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and exalted from the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. 3. And many nations shall go and shall say, Come, and let us ascend to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach of us of His ways, and we will go in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. 4. And He shall judge between the nations, and decide for many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

6. Because Thou hast forsaken Thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are replenished from the east and (full of) soothsayers like the Philistines, and with the children of strangers they abound. 7. And their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; and their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their treasures. 8. And their land is filled with idols, to the work of their hands they bow down, to that which their fingers have made.

9. And so the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is brought low, and do not Thou forgive them. 10. Go into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, from before the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of His majesty. 11. The eyes of the loftiness of men are cast down, and the height of man is brought low, and Jehovah alone is exalted in that day.

12. For there is a day to Jehovah of hosts upon everything high and lofty, and upon everything exalted, and it shall come down; 13. and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lofty, and on all the oaks of Bashan; 14. and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the elevated hills; 15. and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall; 16. and upon all ships of Tarshish, and upon all images of desire. 17. And (thus) shall the loftiness of man be cast down, and the pride of man be brought low, and Jehovah alone exalted in that day [or, so sinks the loftiness of man and bows the pride of man, and Jehovah alone is exalted in that day].

18. And as for the idols the whole shall pass away. 19. And they shall enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Jehovah and the glory of His majesty when He arises to terrify the earth. 20. And that day shall man cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they have made for him to worship, to the moles and the bats; 21. to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the fissures of the cliffs, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of His majesty, in His arising to terrify the earth.

22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? III.--1. For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water; 2. hero and warrior, judge and prophet, and diviner and elder; 3. the chief of fifty, and the favourite, and the counsellor, and the skilful artificer, and the expert enchanter. 4. And I will give children to be their rulers, and childish things shall govern them. 5. And the people shall act tyrannically, man against man, and man against his fellow. They shall be insolent, the youth to the old man, and the mean man to the noble. 6. When a man shall take hold of his brother in his father's house (saying), Thou hast raiment, a ruler shalt thou be to us, and this ruin under thy hand; 7. in that day he shall lift up his voice saying, I will not be a healer, and in my house is no bread, and there is no clothing: ye shall not make me a ruler of the people.

8. For Jerusalem totters and Judah falls, (because) their tongues and their doings are against Jehovah, to resist His glorious eyes. 9. The expression of their countenance testifies against them, and their sin, like Sodom, they disclose, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have done evil to themselves. 10. Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well, for the fruits of their doings they shall eat. 11. Woe unto the wicked, ill, for the thing done by his hands shall be done to him. 12. My people! their oppressors are childish, and women rule over them. My people! thy leaders are seducers, and the way of thy paths they swallow up.

13. Jehovah standeth up to plead, and is standing to judge the nations. 14. Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and the chiefs thereof. And ye (even ye) have consumed the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15. What mean ye that ye crush My people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

16. And Jehovah said, Because the daughters of Zion are lofty, and walk with outstretched neck, and gazing with their eyes, and with a tripping walk they walk, and with their feet they make a tinkling, 17. therefore the Lord will make bald the crown of the daughters of Zion, and their nakedness Jehovah will uncover. 18. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of the ankle-bands, and the cauls, and the crescents, 19. the pendants, and the bracelets, and the veils, 20. the caps, the ankle-chains, and the girdles, and the houses of breath, and the amulets, 21. the rings, and the nose-jewels, 22. the holiday dresses, and the mantles, and the robes, and the purses, 23. the mirrors, and the tunics, and the turbans, and the veils. 24. And it shall be (that) instead of perfume there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle a rope, and instead of braided work baldness, and instead of a full robe a girding of sackcloth, burning instead of beauty. 25. Thy men by the sword shall fall, and thy strength in war. 26. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and being emptied she shall sit upon the ground. IV.--1. And in that day seven women shall lay hold on one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let thy name be called upon us, take thou away our reproach.

2. In that day shall the Branch of Jehovah be for honour and for glory, and the fruit of the earth for sublimity and beauty, to the escaped of Israel. 3. And it shall be that the left in Zion and the spared in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one written to life in Jerusalem, 4. when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and the bloodguiltiness of Jerusalem shall purge from its midst by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. 5. And Jehovah will create over the whole extent of mount Zion, and over her assembles, a cloud by day, and smoke and the brightness of a burning fire by night; for over all the glory _there shall be_ a covering; 6. and there shall be a shelter for a shadow by day from heat, and a covert and for a hiding place from storm and from rain.

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD.--CHAP. V.

1. I will sing, if you please, of my friend, my friend's song of his vineyard.

My friend had a vineyard in a hill of great fertility; 2. and he digged it up, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with Sorek, and built a tower in the midst of it; and he waited for it to produce grapes, and it produced wild grapes.

3. And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. 4. What more is there to be done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why did I wait for it to bear grapes, and it bore wild grapes?

5. And now I will let you know if you please what I am about to do to my vineyard: Remove its hedge, and it shall become a pasture; break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling-place; 6. and I render it a desolation. It shall not be pruned and it shall not be dressed, and there shall come up thorns and briars. And I will lay my commands upon the clouds from raining rain upon it. 7. For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is the plant of His pleasures. And He waited for judgment, and behold bloodshed, for righteousness, and behold a cry!

8. Woe to the joiners of house with house, field to field they bring together, even to a failure of place, and ye are made to dwell by yourselves in the midst of the land. 9. In my ears Jehovah of hosts (is saying), Of a truth many houses shall become a desolation, great and good for want of an inhabitant. 10. For ten acres shall make one bath, and a bower of seed shall produce an ephah.

11. Woe to those rising early in the morning to pursue strong drink, delaying in the twilight (until) wine inflames them. 12. And the harp and viol, the tabret, and the pipe, and wine (compose) their feasts; and the work of Jehovah they will not look at, and the operation of His hands they have not seen.

13. Therefore my people have gone into exile for want of knowledge, and their glory are men of hunger, and their multitude dry with thirst. 14. Therefore the grave has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure, and down goes her pomp and her noise and her crowd and he that rejoices in her; 15. and man is brought low, and man is cast down, and the eyes of the lofty are cast down; 16. and Jehovah of hosts is exalted in judgment, and the Mighty, the Holy One, is sanctified in righteousness; 17. and lambs shall feed as (in) their pasture, and the wastes of the fat ones shall sojourners devour.

18. Woe to the drawers of iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as with a cart-rope; 19. those who say, Let Him speed, let Him hasten His work that we may see; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw night and come, that we may know (it).

20. Woe unto those saying to evil good, and to good evil, putting darkness for light and light for darkness, putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

21. Woe unto the wise in their (own) eyes, and the prudent in their own estimation.

22. Woe to the mighty men that drink wine, and men of strength that mingle strong drink; 23. justifying the guilty as the result of a bribe, and the righteousness of the righteous they will take from him.

24. Therefore as a tongue of fire devours chaff, and as ignited grass falls away, their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom as fine dust shall go up. For they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and the word of the Holy One of Israel they have treated with contempt. 25. Therefore the anger of Jehovah has burned against His people, and He stretched forth His hand against them, and smote them, and the mountains trembled, and their carcass was like sweeping in the midst of the streets.

In all this His anger was not turned back, and still His hand is stretched out; 26. and He raises a signal to the nations from afar, and whistle for him from the ends of the earth; and behold in haste, swift he shall come. 27. There is no one faint, and there is no one stumbling among them. He sleeps not, and he slumbers not, and the girdle of his loins is not opened and the latchet of his sandals is not broken; 28. whose arrows are sharpened and all his bows bent; the hoofs of his horses like flint are reckoned, and his wheels like a whirlwind. 29. He has a roar like the lioness, and he shall roar like the young lions, and shall growl, and seize the prey, and secure it, none delivering (it). 30. And he shall roar against him in that day like the roaring of a sea. And he shall look to the land, and behold darkness! Anguish and light! It is dark in the clouds thereof!

THE VISION OF THE MOST HIGH.--CHAP. VI.

1. In the year that king Uzziah died (B.C. 758), I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and His skirts filling the palace. 2. Seraphim standing above it. Six wings to each. With two he covers his face, and with two he covers his feet, and with two he flies. 3. And one cried to another, and said,

Holy, Holy, Holy! _is_ Jehovah of hosts! The fulness of the whole earth is His glory!

4. Then stirred the bases of the thresholds at the voice that cried, and the house is filled with smoke.

5. And I said, Woe is me, for I am undone! for a man of impure lips am I, and in the midst of a people of impure lips I am dwelling: for the King, Jehovah of hosts, my eyes have seen.

6. Then there flew to me one of the seraphim, and in his hand a live coal; with tongs he took it from off the altar; 7. and he caused it to touch my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquity is gone, and thy sin shall be atoned for.

8. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; behold me; send me.

9. And He said, Go and say to this people, Hear indeed, but understand not; and see indeed, but know not. 10. Make fat the heart of this people, and its ears make heavy, and its eyes smear; lest it see with its eyes, and with its ears hear, and its heart understand, and it turn to me, and be healed.

11 And I said, How long, Lord?

And He said, Until that cities are desolate for want of an inhabitant, and houses for want of men, and the land shall be desolate, a waste; 12. and Jehovah shall have put far off the men, and great shall be that which is left in the midst of the land. 13. And yet in it a tenth shall return and be for a consuming; like the terebinth and like the oak which in falling have substance in them, a holy seed (is) the substance of it.

PROPHESIES RELATING TO THE REIGN OF AHAZ.--CHAPS. VII.-XII.

1. And it was in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin, king of Aram [or Syria], and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to war against it; and he was not able to war against it. 2. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria resteth upon Ephraim: and his heart and the heart of the people shook, like the shaking of the trees of a wood before a wind.

3. And Jehovah said to Isaiah son of Amoz, Go out to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear-jashub thy son, to the end of the conduit of the upper pool, to the highway of the fuller's field. 4. And thou shalt say to him, Be cautious and be quiet; fear not, nor let thy heart be soft before these two smoking tails of firebrands, in the heat of the anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5. Because Syria has devised evil against thee, also Ephraim and Remaliah's son, saying, 6. We will go up into Judah and vex it, and make a breach in it (thereby subduing it) to ourselves, and let us make a king in the midst of it, to wit, the son of Tabeal: 7. thus saith the Lord Jehovah, It shall not stand, and it shall not be; 8. because the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, for in yet sixty-and-five years shall Ephraim be broken from (being) a people; 9. for the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe (it is) because you are not to be established.

10. And Jehovah added to speak unto Ahaz, saying, 11. Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God, ask deep or high above. 12. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt Jehovah. 13. And he said, Hear, I pray you, O house of David! is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God? 14. Therefore the Lord Himself will give you sign. Behold! the virgin pregnant and bringing forth a son, and she calls his name Immanuel. 15. Curds and honey shall he eat until he shall know (how) to reject the evil and choose the good; 16. for before the child shall know (how) to reject the evil to choose the good, the land, of whose two kings thou art afraid, shall be forsaken.

17. Jehovah will bring upon thee, and on thy people, and on thy father's house, days which have not come since the departure of Ephraim from Jacob, to wit, the king of Assyria. 18. And it shall be in that day that Jehovah will whistle for the fly which is in the edge of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee which is in Assyria; 19. and they come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of rocks, and in all thorn-hedges, and in all pastures. 20. In that day will the Lord shave, with a razor hired in the parts beyond the river, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, and also the beard will it take away. 21. And it shall be in that day (that) a man shall save alive a young cow and two sheep; 22. and it shall be (that) from the abundance of the yielding of milk, he shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the midst of the land. 23. And it shall be in that day (that) every place where there shall be a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, shall be for thorns and briers. 24. With arrows and with bows shall one go thither, because thorns and briers shall the whole land be; 25. and all the hills which are digged with the hoe, thou shalt not go (even) there for fear of briers and thorns, and they shall be for a sending-place of cattle and a trampling-place of sheep.

VIII.--1. And Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with a man's pen, to Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2. And I (Jehovah) will take to witness for me credible witnesses, to wit, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, son of Jeberechiah.

3. And I approached unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son, and Jehovah said to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz: 4. for before the child shall know (how) to cry, My father, and my mother, they shall take away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the king of Assyria.

5. And Jehovah added to speak to me again, saying--

6. Because this people hath forsaken the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and joy with respect to Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7. therefore, behold! the Lord (is) bringing up upon them the waters of the river, its strong and many waters, to wit, the king of Assyria and all his glory, and it shall come up over all the channels and go over all its banks, 8. and it shall pass over into Judah, overflow and pass through, to the neck shall it reach, and the spreading of its wings shall be the filling of the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!

9. Be wicked and be broken, and give ear all the remote parts of the earth! Gird yourselves and be broken; gird yourselves and be broken! 10. Devise a plan, and it shall be defeated; speak a word, and it shall not stand: for God (is) with us.

11. For thus said Jehovah unto me in strength of hand, and instructed me away from walking in the way of this people, saying, 12. Ye shall not call conspiracy everything which this people calleth conspiracy, and its fear ye shall not fear nor be afraid. 13. Jehovah of hosts, Him shall ye sanctify; and He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. 14. And He shall be for a holy thing, and for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15. And many shall stumble over them, and fall and be broken and be snared, and be taken.

16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law, in my disciples. 17. And I will wait for Jehovah, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and will expect Him. 18. Behold, I and the children which Jehovah hath given me are (for) signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, the (One) dwelling in mount Zion. 19. And when they shall say to you, Seek unto the spirits and to the wizards, the chirpers and the mutterers: should not a people seek to its God, for the living to the dead? 20. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, (they are they) to whom there is no dawn. 21. And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall be that when they are hungry they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and shall look upward. 22. And to the earth he shall look; and behold distress and darkness, dimness of anguish, and (into) darkness (he shall be) driven. [-- Or, The dimness of anguish and of darkness is dispelled.]

IX.--1. For (there shall) not (be) darkness (for ever) to her who is now distressed. As the former time degraded the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, so the latter glorifies the way of the sea, the bank of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

2. The people, those walking in the dark, have seen a great light: the dwellers in the shadow of death, light has beamed upon them. 3. Thou hast enlarged the nation, Thou hast increased its joy: (they) rejoice before Thee like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil; 4. that the yoke of his burden, and the rod of his shoulder, and the staff of the one driving him, Thou hast broken as in the day of Midian. 5. For all the armour of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, food of fire. 6. For a son is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7. To the increase of the government and to the peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to confirm it, in justice and in righteousness from henceforth and for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall do this.

8. The Lord sent a word unto Jacob, and it came down into Israel. 9. And they know, the people, all of them, Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, in pride and in greatness of heart saying, 10. "Bricks are fallen, and hewn stone will we build; sycamores are felled, and cedars will we substitute." 11. And (now) Jehovah raises up above him the enemies of Rezin, and he will instigate his own enemies: 12. Aram before, and Philistia behind, and they devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His wrath does not turn back, and still His hand is stretched out.

13. And the people has not turned to Him that smote them, and Jehovah of hosts they have not sought. 14. And Jehovah has cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and root, in one day. 15. The elder and the favourite, be (is) the head, and the prophet teaching falsehood, he (is) the tail. 16. The leaders of this people have been seducers, and the led of them (are) swallowed up. 17. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, and on their orphans and their widows He will not have mercy, for every one of them is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth (is) speaking folly. For all this His wrath is not turned back, and still is His hand outstretched.

18. For wickedness burneth as the fire, thorns and briers it consumes, then kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll themselves upward, a column of smoke. 19. In the wrath of Jehovah of hosts the land is darkened, and the people is like food of fire: one another they do not spare. 20. And he tears on the right hand, and is hungry (still), and devours on the left, and (still) they are not satisfied; each the flesh of his (own) arm they devour: 21. Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, (and) together they (are) against Judah. For all this His wrath is not turned back, and still His hand (is) stretched out.

X.--1. Woe unto them that decree decrees of injustice, and that write oppression which they have prescribed; 2. to turn aside from judgment the weak, the right of the poor of my people, that widows may be their spoil, and the fatherless they plunder. 3. And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the ruin (which) shall come from far? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your glory? 4. It does not bow beneath the prisoners, and (yet) they shall fall beneath the slain. For all this His wrath is not turned back, and still His hand is stretched out.

THE SIN AND THE DOOM OF ASSYRIA.--CHAP. X. 5-34.

5. Woe unto Asshur, the rod of My anger, and the staff in their hand is My indignation. 6. Against an impious nation will I send him and against the people of My wrath I will commission him, to take spoil and to seize pray, and to render it a trampling, like the mire of streets. 7. And he not so will think, and his heart so will think; for to destroy (is) in his heart, and to cut off nations not a few. 8. For he says, Are not my princes altogether kings? 9. Is not Calno like Carchemish? or (is) not Hamath like Arpad? or (is) not Samaria like Damascus? 10. As my hand hath found the idol-kingdoms, and their images (more) than (those of) Jerusalem and Samaria, 11. shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her gods?

12. And it shall be that the Lord will cut all His work short of mount Zion and at Jerusalem. (Yes, even there) will I visit on the fruit of the greatness of heart of the king of Assyria, and on the ostentation of his loftiness of eyes. 13. For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done (all this), and by my wisdom, for I am wise, and I remove the bounds of the nations, and rob their hoards, and bring down, like a mighty man (as I am), the inhabitants. 14. My hand has found the strength of the nations, and like the gathering of eggs forsaken, so have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped.

15. Shall the axe glorify itself above the (person) hewing with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself above the (person) handling it? (This is indeed) like a rod's wielding those who wield it, like a staff's lifting (that which is) no wood. 16. Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send upon his fat ones leanness, and under his glory shall burn like the burning of fire. 17. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. 18. And the glory of his forest and his fruitful field, from soul to body, will He consume, and it shall be like the wasting away of a sick man. 19. And the rest of the trees of the forest shall be few, and a child shall write them.

20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and the escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no longer continue to lean upon their smiter, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21. A remnant shall return, a remnant of Jacob to God Almighty. 22. For though thy people, O Israel, shall be like the sand of the sea, (only) a remnant of them shall return. A consumption is decreed, overflowing (with) righteousness. 23. For a consumption even (the one) determined, (is) the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, making in the midst of all the earth.

24. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Be not afraid, O my people inhabiting Zion, of Asshur. He shall smite thee with the rod, and shall lift up his staff upon thee in the way of Egypt. 25. For yet a very little, and wrath is at an end, and my anger (shall go forth) to their destruction; 26. and Jehovah of hosts shall raise up against him a scourge like the smiting of Midian at the rock Oreb, and His rod (shall again) be over the sea, and He shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. 27. And it shall be in that day, (that) his burden shall depart from thy shoulder, and his yoke from thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of oil.

28. He is come to Aiath--he is passed to Migron--to Michmash he entrusts his baggage. 29. They have passed the pass--in Geba they have taken up their lodging--Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. 30. Cry aloud, daughter Gallim; hearken Laishah, (ah) poor Anathoth! 31. Madmenah, wanders; the inhabitants of Gebim flee. 32. Yet to-day in Nob (he is) to stand; (and there) will he shake his hand against the mountain of the house of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33. Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, (is) lopping the branch with terror, and the trees (shall be) felled, and the lofty ones brought low. 34. And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and this Lebanon by a Mighty One shall fall.

THE RESTORATION AND DELIVERANCE, ETERNAL SAFETY AND INTERNAL PEACE OF GOD'S OWN PEOPLE.--CHAPS. XI., XII.

XI.--1. And there shall come forth a twig from the stock of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall grow. 2. And upon Him shall rest the Spirit of Jehovah, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah. 3. And His sense of smelling (shall be exercised) in the fear of Jehovah, and not by the sight of His eyes shall He judge, and not by the hearing of His ears shall He decide; 4. and He shall judge in righteousness the weak, and do justice with equity to the meek of the earth; and shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.

6. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and young lion and fatling together, and a little child shall lead them; 7. and the cow and the bear shall feed, together shall their young lie down, and the lion like the ox shall eat straw; 8. and the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and on the den of the basilisk shall the weaned child stretch its hand. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, because the land is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, like the waters covering the sea.

10. And in that day shall the root of Jesse which is set up be for a signal to the nations: unto Him shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious.

11. And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall add His hand a second time to redeem the remnants of His people from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12. And He shall set up a signal to the nations, and shall gather the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah shall He bring together from the four wings of the earth. 13. And the army of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14. And they shall fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines towards the sea; together they shall spoil the sons of the East; Edom and Moab the stretching out of their hand, and the children of Ammon their obedience. 15. And Jehovah will destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and He will wave His hand over the river, in the violence of His wind, and smite it into seven streams, and make (His people) tread (it) in shoes. 16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people which shall be left, from Assyria, as there was for Israel in the day of his coming up from the land of Egypt.

XII.--1, 2. And thou shalt say in that day, O Lord, I will praise Thee! For Thou wast angry with me, but Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid; for my strength and song is Jah Jehovah, and He is become my salvation. 3. And ye shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation. 4-6. And ye shall say in that day, Praise Jehovah! Call upon His name! Make known among the nations His exploits; remind them that His name is exalted. Praise Jehovah, because He has done a sublime deed. Known is this in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel.

PROPHECIES AGAINST CERTAIN FOREIGN POWERS.--CHAPS. XIII.-XXIII.

_The fall of the Babylonian empire, and the destruction of Babylon._--CHAPS. XIII., XIV.

XIII.--1. The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

2. Upon a bare hill, set up a signal, raise the voice to them, wave the hand, and let them enter the gates of the nobles. 3. I (Myself) have given command to My consecrated. Yes, I have called (forth) My mighty ones for (the execution of) My wrath, My proud exulters. 4. The voices of a multitude in the mountains! the likeness of much people! the sound of a tumult of kingdoms of nations gathered! Jehovah of hosts mustering a host of battle! 5. Coming from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, Jehovah and the instruments of His wrath, to lay waste the whole land. 6. Howl, for the day of Jehovah is near! like might from the Almighty it shall come. 7. Therefore all hands shall sink and every heart of man shall melt. 8. And they shall be confounded, pangs and throes shall seize (them), like the travailing (woman) they shall writhe, each at his neighbour, they shall wander, faces of flames their faces. 9. Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, terrible, and wrath and heat of anger, to make the land a waste, and its survivors He will destroy from it.

10. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not shed their light, the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. 11. And I will visit upon the world (its) iniquity, and upon the wicked their iniquity, and I will cause to cease the arrogance of presumptuous sinners, and the pride of tyrants I will humble. 12. And I will make man more scarce than pure gold, and a human being than the ore of Ophir. 13. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth shall shake out of its place in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts and in the day of the heat of His anger. 14. And it shall be that like a roe chased, and like sheep, with none to gather them--each to his people, they shall turn--and each to his country they shall flee. 15. Every one found shall be stabbed, and every one joined shall fall by the sword. 16. And their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished. 17. Behold, I (am) stirring up the Madai who will not regard silver, and (as for) gold they will not take pleasure in it. 18. And bows shall dash boys in pieces, and the fruit of the womb they shall not pity; on children their eye shall not have mercy.

19. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the ornament, the pride of the Chaldees, shall be like God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah. 20. It shall not be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be dwelt in from generation to generation, neither shall the Arab pitch tent there, neither shall shepherds cause their flocks to lie there. 21. But there shall lie down desert creatures, and their houses shall be filled with howls (or yells), and there shall dwell the daughters of the ostrich, and shaggy beasts shall gambol there. 22. And wolves shall howl in his palaces, and jackals in the temples of pleasure. And near to come is her time, and her days shall not be prolonged.

XIV.--1. For Jehovah will pity Jacob, and will still choose Israel and cause them to rest on their (own) land, and the stranger shall be joined to them, and they shall be attached to the house of Jacob. 2. And nations shall take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall take possession of them on Jehovah's land for male and female servants--and (thus) they shall be captors of their captors, and rule over their oppressors. 3. And it shall be in the day of Jehovah's causing thee to rest from thy toil, and from thy commotion, and from the hard service which was wrought by thee, 4. that thou shalt raise this song over the king of Babylon, and say--

How hath the oppressor ceased, and the golden (city) ceased! 5. Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, 6. smiting nations in anger by a stroke without cessation, ruling nations in wrath by a rule without restraint. 7. At rest, quiet, is the whole earth. They burst forth into singing. 8. And the cypresses rejoice with respect to thee, the cedars of Lebanon (saying), Now that thou art fallen, the feller shall not come up against us.

9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it rouses for thee the giants, all the chief ones of the earth; it raises from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10. All of them shall answer and say to thee, Thou also art made weak as we, to us are likened! 11. Down to the grave is brought thy pride, the music of thy harps: under thee is spread the worm, thy covering is vermin. 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! felled to the ground, thou that didst lord it over the nations! 13. And (yet) thou hadst said in thy heart, The heavens will I mount; above the stars of God will I raise my throne; and I will sit in the mount of meeting, in the sides of the north; 14. I will mount above the cloud-heights; I will make myself like the Most High. 15. But thou shalt only be brought down to hell, to the depths of the pit. 16. Those seeing thee shall gaze at thee, they shall look at thee attentively, (and say), Is this the man that made the earth shake, that made kingdoms tremble, 17. made a world like a desert, destroyed its cities, and its captives did not set free homewards? 18. All kings of nations, all of them, lie in state, each in his house; 19. and thou art cast out from thy grave--like a despised branch, the raiment of the slain, pierced with the sword, going down to the stones of the pit, like a trampled carcass. 20. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thy land thou hast destroyed, thy people thou hast slain. Let the seed of evil-doers be named no more for ever.

21. Prepare for his sons a slaughter, for the iniquity of their fathers. Let them not arise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. 22. And I (Myself) will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name, and remnant, and progeny, and offspring, saith Jehovah. 23. And I will render it a possession of the porcupine, and pools of water, and will sweep it with the broom of destruction.

24. Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have planned, it shall come to pass, and as I have devised it shall stand; 25. to break Assyria in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him; and his yoke shall depart from off them, and his burden from off his back shall depart. 26. This is the purpose that is purposed upon all the earth, and this the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 27. For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall annul? And His hand the one stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

28. In the year of the death of King Ahaz, was this burden.

29. Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken, for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and its fruit a fiery flying serpent. 30. And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy in security lie down, and I will kill thy root with famine, and thy remnant it shall slay.

31. Howl, O gate! cry, O city! dissolved, O Philistia, is the whole of thee; for out of the north a smoke comes, and there is no straggler in his forces. 32. And what shall one answer to the ambassadors of a nation? That Jehovah has founded Zion, and in it the afflicted of His people shall seek refuge.

THE DOWNFALL OF MOAB.--CHAPS. XV., XVI.

1. (This is) the burden of Moab, That in a night Ar-Moab is laid waste, is destroyed; that in a night Kir-Moab is laid waste, is destroyed. 2. They go up to the house, and Dibon (to) the high places for weeping. On Nebo and on Medeba Moab howls, and all heads baldness, every beard cut off. 3. In its streets, they are girded with sackcloth; on its roofs and in its squares all of it howls, coming down with weeping. 4. And Heshbon cries and Eleaich--even to Jahaz is their voice heard; therefore the warriors of Moab cry, his soul is distress in him. 5. My heart for Moab cries out; her fugitives (are fled) as far as Zoar--an heifer of three years old; for he that goes up Luhith with weeping goes up by it, for in the way of Horonaim a cry of destruction they lift up. 6. For the waters of Nimrim (are and) shall be desolations: for withered is the grass, gone is the herbage, verdure there is none. 7. Therefore the remainder of what each one has made, (and their) hoard, over the brook of the willows they carry them away. 8. For the cry goes round the border of Moab; even to Eglaim (is) its howling (heard), and to Beer-Elim its howling. 9. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; and I will bring upon Dimon additions, on the escaped of Moab a lion; and on the remnant of it.

XVI.--1. Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. 2. And it shall come to pass like a bird wandering, (like) a nest cast out, shall be the daughters of Moab, the fords of Arnon. 3. [Alexander omits the _translation_ of this verse, but comments on it. . . .] 4. Let my outcasts, Moab, sojourn with thee; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, oppression has ceased, consumed are the tramplers out of the land. 5. And a throne shall be established in mercy; and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice, and prompt in equity.

6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, the very proud, his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath, the falsehood of his pretensions. 7. Therefore Moab shall howl for Moab; all of it shall howl; for the grapes of Kir-hareseth shall ye sigh, altogether smitten. 8. For the fields of Heshbon are withered--the vine of Sibmah--the lords of the nations broke down its choice plants--unto Jazer they reached--they strayed into the desert--its branches--they were stretched out--they reached to the sea. 9. Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer (for) the vine of Sibmah. I will wet thee (with) my tears, Heshbon and (thee) Elealeh! for upon thy fruit and thy harvest a cry has fallen. 10. And taken away is joy and gladness from the fruitful field: and in the vineyards shall no (more) be sung, no (more) be shouted; wine in the presses shall the treader not tread; the cry have I stilled. 11. Therefore my bowels for Moab like the harp shall sound, and my inwards for Kirhares. 12. And it shall come to pass, when Moab has appeared (before his gods), when he has wearied himself (with vain oblations) on the high place, then he shall enter into his sanctuary to pray, and shall not be able (to obtain an answer).

13. This is the word which Jehovah spake concerning Moab of old. 14. And now Jehovah speaks, saying, In three years, like the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab, shall be disgraced, with all the great throng, and the remnant shall be small, and few, not much.

THE DOOM OF THE ENEMIES OF JUDAH.--CHAPS. XVII., XVIII.

XVII.--1. The burden of Damascus.

Behold, Damascus is removed from (being) a city, and is a heap, a ruin. 2. Forsaken are the cities of Aroer; for flocks shall they be, and they shall lie down, and there shall be no one making (them) afraid. 3. Then shall cease defence for Ephraim and royalty from Damascus and the rest of Syria. Like the glory of the children of Israel shall they be, with Jehovah of hosts.

4. And it shall come to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob shall be brought low, and the fatness of his flesh shall be made lean. 5. And it shall be as one gathers the harvest, the standing corn, and his arm reaps the ears. And it shall be like one collecting ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6. And gleanings shall be left therein like the shaking of an olive-tree, two (or) three berries in the top of a high bough, four (or) five in the branches of the fruit-tree, saith Jehovah, God of Israel.

7. In that day man shall turn to his Maker, and his eyes to the Holy One of Israel shall look. 8. And he shall not turn to the altars, the work of his own hands, and that which his own fingers have made shall he not regard, and the groves of Ashtoreth and the pillars of the sun.

9. In that day shall his fortified cities by like what is left in the thickets and the lofty branch, which they leave (as they retire) from before the children of Israel, and (the land) shall be a waste. 10. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, therefore thou wilt plant plants of pleasantness, and with a strange slip set it. 11. In the day of thy planting thou wilt hedge it in, and in the morning thou wilt make thy seed to blossom, (but) away flies the crop in a day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12. Hark! the noise of many nations! Like the noise of the sea they make a noise. And the rush of peoples! Like the rush of many waters they are rushing. 13. Nations, like the rush of many waters, rush; and he rebukes it, and it flees from afar, and is chased like the chaff of hills before a wind, and like a rolling thing before a whirlwind. 14. At evening-tide, and behold terror; before morning he is not. This be the portion of our plunderers, and the lot of our spoilers.

XVIII.--1. Ho! land of rustling wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush, 2. sending by sea ambassadors, and in vessels of papyrus on the face of the waters. Go, ye light messengers, to a nation drawn and shorn, to a people terrible since it existed and onwards, a nation of double strength and tramplings, whose land the streams divide. 3. All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, shall see as it were the raising of a standard on the mountains, and shall hear as it were the blowing of a trumpet.

4. For thus said Jehovah to me, I will rest and look on in My dwelling-place, like a serene heat upon herbs, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5. For before the harvest or the bloom is finished, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts down the branches with the pruning-knives, and the tendrils he removes, he cuts away. 6. They shall be left together to the wild birds of the mountains, and to the wild beasts of the earth, and the wild birds shall summer thereon, and every wild beast of the earth thereon shall winter.

7. At that time shall be brought a gift to Jehovah of hosts, a people drawn out and shorn, and from a people terrible since it hath been and onward, a nation of double power and trampling, whose land streams divide, to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, mount Zion.

THE BURDEN OF EGYPT.--CHAP. XIX.

1. Behold! Jehovah riding on a light cloud, and He comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt move at His presence, and the heart of Egypt melts within him. 2. And I will excite Egypt against Egypt, and they shall fight, a man with his brother, and a man with his fellow, city with city, kingdom with kingdom. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied out in the midst thereof, and the counsel thereof I will swallow up, and they will seek to the idols, and to the mutterers, and to the familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4. And I will shut up Egypt in the hands of a hard master, and a strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

5. And the waters shall be dried up from the sea, and the river shall fail and be dried up. 6. And the rivers shall stink, the streams of Egypt are emptied and dried up, reed and rush sicken. 7. And meadows by the river, by the mouth of the river, and all the sown ground of the river, shall wither being driven away, and it is not. 8. And the fisherman shall mourn, and they shall lament, all the throwers of a hook into the river, and the spreaders of a net upon the surface of the water, languish. 9. And ashamed are the workers of combed flax, and the weavers of white (stuffs). 10. And her pillars are broken down, all labourers for hire are grieved at heart.

11. Entirely foolish are the princes of Zoan, the sages of the counsellors of Pharaoh, (their) counsel is become brutish. How can ye say to Pharaoh, I am the son of wise (fathers), I am the son of kings of old? 12. Where (are) they? Where (are) thy wise men? Pray let them tell thee, and (if that is too much) let them (at least) know, what Jehovah of hosts hath purposed concerning Egypt. 13. Infatuated are the chiefs of Zoan, deceived are the chiefs of Noph, and they have misled Egypt, the corner-stone of her tribes. 14. Jehovah hath mingled in the midst of her a spirit of confusion, and they have misled Egypt in all its work, like the misleading of a drunkard in his vomit. 15. And there shall not be in Egypt a work which head and tail, branch and rush, may do.

16. In that day shall Egypt be like women, and shall fear and tremble from before the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which He is shaking over it. 17. And the land of Judah shall be for a terror unto Egypt, every person to whom one mentions it shall fear before the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, which He is purposing against it.

18. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of hosts. The city of destruction shall one be called. 19. In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land, and a pillar near the border to Jehovah. 20. And it shall be for a sign and a testimony to Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt, that they shall cry to Jehovah from the presence of oppressors, and He will send them a deliverer and a mighty one, and save them. 21. And Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and Egypt shall know Jehovah in that day, and shall serve with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to Jehovah, and perform it.

22. And Jehovah shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they shall return unto Jehovah, and He shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. 23. In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt shall serve with Assyria. 24. In that day shall Israel be a third with respect to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25. which Jehovah has blessed, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and the work of My hands Assyria, and My heritage Israel.

THE DEFEAT AND CAPTIVITY OF THE EGYPTIANS AND ETHIOPIANS.--CHAP. XX.

1. In the year of Tartan's coming to Ashdod, in Sargon king of Assyria's sending him, and he fought with Ashdod and took it; 2. at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and thou shalt loose the sackcloth from upon thy loins, and thy shoe thou shalt pull off from thy foot. And he did so, going naked and barefoot.

3. And Jehovah said, As my servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years a sign and symbol concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia, 4. so shall the king of Assyria lead the captivity of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, the disgrace of Egypt.

5. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their boast. 6. And the inhabitant of this coast shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we fled for help, to be delivered from the presence of the king of Assyria! and how shall we (ourselves) escape?

THE BURDEN OF THE DESERT OF THE SEA.--CHAP. XXI. 1-10.

XXI.--1. Like whirlwinds in the south, as to rushing from the wilderness it comes, from a terrible land. 2. A hard vision it is revealed to me; the deceiver deceiving and the spoiler spoiling. Go, up, O Elam! besiege, O Media! All sighing have I made to cease. 3. Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have seized me like the pangs of a travailing woman; I writhe from hearing; I am shocked from seeing. 4. My heart wonders; horror appals me; the twilight of my pleasure He has put for fear for me.

5. Set the table, spread the cloth, eat, drink; arise, ye chiefs, anoint the shield! 6. For thus saith the Lord to me, Go, set the watchman: that which he sees let him tell. 7. And should he see cavalry--pairs of horsemen--ass-riders--camel-riders--then shall he hearken with a harkening a great harkening. 8. And he cries--a lion--on the watch-tower, Lord, I am standing always by day, and on my ward I am stationed all the night. 9. And behold, this comes, mounted men, pairs of horsemen. And he speaks again, and says, Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods He has broken to the earth.

10. O my threshing, and the son of my threshing-floor! What I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I have told you.

THE BURDEN OF DUMAH.--CHAP. XXI. 11-18.

11. To me (one is) calling from Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 12. The watchman says, Morning comes and also night; if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come.

THE BURDEN OF ARABIA.--CHAP. XXI. 13-17.

13. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, oh ye caravans of Dedanim. 14. To meet the thirsty they bring water; with his bread they anticipate the fugitive. 15. Because from the presence of swords they fled, from the presence of a drawn sword and from the presence of a bended bow, and from the presence of a weight of war. 16. For thus saith the Lord to me, In yet a year, like the years of a hireling shall fall all the glory of Kedar. 17. And the remnant of the number of bows, the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be few, for Jehovah God of Israel hath spoken it.

THE BURDEN OF THE VALLEY OF VISION.--CHAP. XXII. 1-14.

1. What (is) to thee, that thou art wholly gone up on the house-tops? 2. Full of stirs, a noisy town, a joyous city, thy slain are not slain with the sword nor dead in battle. 3. All thy shields fled together--from the bow--they were found--all that were found of thee were bound together--from afar they fled.

4. Therefore I said, Look away from me; let me weep bitterly; try not to comfort me for the desolation of the daughter of my people. 5. For there is a day of confusion and trampling and perplexity to the Lord Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision--breaking the wall and crying to the mountain. 6. And Elam bare a quiver, with chariots, infantry, horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7. And it came to pass (that) the choice of thy valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen drew up towards the gate. 8. And the covering of Judah was removed, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest. 9. And the breaches of the city of David ye saw, that they were many, and ye gathered the waters of the lower pool. 10. And the house of Jerusalem ye numbered, and ye pulled down the house to repair the wall. 11. And a reservoir ye made between the two walls for the waters of the old pool, and ye did not look to the Maker of it, and the Former of it ye did not see. 12. And the Lord Jehovah of hosts called in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding sackcloth; 13. and behold mirth and jollity, slaying of oxen and killing of sheep, eating of flesh and drinking of wine; eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 14. And Jehovah of hosts made a revelation to me, saying, This iniquity shall certainly not be forgiven you until you die.

THE MESSAGE TO SHEBNA.--CHAP. XXII. 15-25.

15. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Go, go into this treasurer, to Shebna who (is) over the house. 16. What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee here a sepulchre? Hewing on high his sepulchre, graving in the rook a habitation for himself! 17. Behold, Jehovah is casting thee a cast, O man! and covering thee a covering. 18. Rolling He will roll thee in a roll, like a ball (thrown) into a spacious ground--there thou shalt die--and there the chariots of thy glory--shame of thy master's house. 19. And I will thrust thee from thy post, and from thy station thou shalt be pulled down.

20. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call for thy servant, for Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah; 21. and I will clothe him with thy dress, and with thy girdle will I strengthen him, and thy power will I give into his hand, and he shall be for a father to the dweller in Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22. And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder; he shall open, and there shall be no one shutting; he shall shut, and there shall be no one opening. 23. And I will fasten him a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house. 24. And they shall hang upon him all the honour of his father's house--the offspring and the issue--all vessels of small quantity--from vessels of cups even to all vessels of flagons. 25. In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall, and the burden which was upon it shall be cut off, for Jehovah speaks.

THE BURDEN OF TYRE.--CHAP. XXIII.

1. Howl, ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, no house, no entrance; from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2. Be silent, O inhabitants of the isle, the merchants of Sidon crossing the sea filled thee. 3. And in great waters (was) the seed of the Nile; the harvest of the river (was) her revenue; and she was a mart of nations. 5. When the report comes to Egypt, they are pained at the report of Tyre. 6. Pass over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. 7. Is this your joyous city? From the days of old is her antiquity; her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

8. Who hath purposed this against Tyre the crowning (city), whose merchants (are) princes, her traffickers the honoured of the earth? 9. Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to profane the elevation of all beauty, to degrade all the honoured of the earth. 10. Pass through thy land like the river; daughter of Tarshish, there is no girdle (any) longer. 11. His hand He stretched out over the sea; He made kingdoms tremble; Jehovah commanded respecting Canaan to destroy her strongholds. 12. And He said, Thou shalt not continue to triumph, violated virgin daughter of Zidon; to Chittim arise, pass over; there also there shall be no rest to thee. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldees; this people was not; Assyria founded it for dwellers in the wilderness; they have set up his towers; they have roused up her palaces; he has rendered it a ruin. 14. Howl, ships of Tarshish, for destroyed is your stronghold.

15. And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, as the days of one king; from the end of seventy years shall be to Tyre like the harlot's song.

16. Take a harp, go about the city, O forgotten harlot! play well, sing much, that thou mayest be remembered. 17. And it shall be at the end of seventy years, Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the ground.

18. And her gain and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah; it shall not be stored and it shall not be hoarded; for her gain shall be for those who sit before Jehovah, to eat to satiety, and for substantial clothing.

PROPHECIES HAVING REFERENCE CHIEFLY TO JUDAH.--CHAPS. XXIV.-XXXV.

COMING JUDGMENTS.--CHAPS. XXIV.-XXVII.

I.--_Some of the Consequences of National Iniquity._--CHAP. XXIV. 1-12.

XXIV.--1. Behold Jehovah (is) pouring out the land and emptying it, and He will turn down its face, and He will scatter its inhabitants. 2. And it shall be, as the people so the priest, as the servant so his master, as the maid so her mistress, as the buyer so the seller, as the lender so the borrower, as the creditor so the debtor. 3. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled, for Jehovah speaks this word. 4. The earth mourneth, fadeth; the world languisheth, fadeth; the highest of the people of the earth languish. 5. And the land has been profaned under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statute, broken the everlasting covenant. 6. Therefore a curse devoured the earth, and those dwelling in it were reckoned guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burned, and there are few men left. 7. The new wine mourneth; the vine languisheth; all the merry-hearted do sigh. 8. Still is the mirth of drums; ceased is the noise of revellers; still is the mirth of the harp. 9. With the song they shall not drink wine; bitter shall strong drink be to them that drink it. 10. Broken down is the city of confusion, shut up is every house so that it cannot be entered. 11. A cry for wine in the streets--darkened is all joy--departed is the gladness of the earth. 12. What is left in the city is desolation, and into ruins is the gate beaten down.

II.--_The Songs of the Scattered Remnant._--VERS. 13-16.

13. For so shall it be in the midst of the earth among the nations, like the beating of an olive-tree, like gleanings when the gathering is done. 14. They shall raise their voice, they shall sing, for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea. 15. Therefore in the fires glorify Jehovah, in the islands of the sea the name of Jehovah God of Israel. 16. From the wing of the earth we have heard songs, praise to the righteous; and I said, Woe to me, woe to me, alas for me! The deceivers deceive, with deceit the deceivers deceive.

III.--_Jehovah's Exaltation in Jerusalem._--VERS. 17-23.

17. Fear and pit and snare upon thee, O inhabitant of the land! 18. And it shall be that the (one) flying from the voice of the fear shall fall into the pit, and the (one) coming up from the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for windows from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. 19. Behold, broken is the earth; shattered, shattered is the earth; shaken, shaken is the earth. 20. The earth reels, reels like a drunken man, and is shaken like a hammock. And heavy upon her is her guilt, and she shall fall and rise no more. 21. And it shall be in that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the host of the high place, and upon the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22. And they shall be gathered with a gathering as prisoners in a pit, and shall be shut up in a dungeon, and after many days they shall be visited. 23. And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, for Jehovah of hosts is King in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem and before His elders there is glory.

IV.--_The destruction of Babylon and the Deliverance of the Jews._--CHAP. XXV. 1-5.

XXV.--1. Jehovah my God (art) Thou; I will exalt Thee; I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done a wonder, counsels from afar off, truth, certainty. 2. For Thou hast turned (it) from a city to a heap, a fortified town to a ruin, a palace of strangers from (being) a city; for ever it shall not be built. 3. Therefore a powerful people shall honour Thee, a city of terrible nations shall fear Thee. 4. For Thou hast been a stronghold to the weak, a stronghold to the poor, in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible was like a storm against a wall. 5. As heat in a drought, the noise of strangers wilt Thou bring down; (as) hast by the shadow of a cloud, (so) shall the song of the tyrants be brought low.

V.--_A promise of Favour to the Gentiles and the People of God when united on Mount Zion._--VERS. 6-9.

6. And Jehovah of hosts will make, for all nations, in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things, full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7. And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the veil, the veil upon all people, and the web, the (one) woven over all the nations. 8. He has swallowed up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovah wipes away tears from off all faces, and the reproach of His people he will take away from off all the earth, for Jehovah hath spoken (it). 9. And they shall say in that day, Lo, this is our God! we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.

VI.--_The Ruin of Moab._--VERS. 10-12.

10. For the hand of Jehovah shall rest upon this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden in the water of the dunghill. 11. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of it, as the swimmer spreadeth forth his hands to swim; and He shall humble his pride, together with the devices of his hands. 12. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls He hath cast down, humbled, brought to the ground, to the very dust.

VII.--_A Song of Praise and Deliverance._--CHAP. XXVI. 1-19.

XXVI.--1. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will He place (as) walls and breastwork. 2. Open ye the gates, and let the righteous nation enter, keeping truth. 3. The mind stayed (on Thee) Thou wilt preserve in peace, (in) peace, because in Thee (it is) confident. 4. Trust ye in Jehovah for ever, for in Jah Jehovah is a rock of ages.

5. For He hath brought down the inhabitants of the high place, the exalted city; He will lay it low. He will lay it low, to the very ground; He will bring it to the very dust. 6. The foot shall trample on it, the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the weak. 7. The way for the righteous is straight; Thou most upright wilt level the path of the righteous. 8. Also in the way of Thy judgments, O Jehovah, we have waited for Thee; to Thy name and Thy remembrance (was our) soul's desire. 9. (With) my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yes (with) my spirit within me will I seek Thee early; for when Thy judgments (come) to the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10. Let the wicked be favoured, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of the right, he will do wrong, and will not see the exaltation of Jehovah. 11. Jehovah, Thy hand is high, they will not see; (yes) they will see (and be ashamed) Thy zeal for Thy people; yea, the fire of Thine enemies shall devour them.

12. Jehovah, Thou will give us peace, for even all our works Thou hast wrought for us. 13. Jehovah, our God, (other) lords beside Thee have ruled us; (but henceforth) Thee, Thy name, only will we celebrate. 14. Dead, they shall not live: ghosts, they shall not rise: therefore Thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all memory to perish with respect to them. 15. Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah, Thou hast added to the nation; Thou hast glorified Thyself; Thou hast put far off all the ends of the land. 16. Jehovah, in distress they visited Thee; they uttered a whisper: Thy chastisement was on them.

17. As when a pregnant (woman) draws near to the birth, she writhes, she cries out in her pangs, so have we been from Thy presence, O Jehovah! 18. We were in travail, we were in pain, as it were we brought forth wind. Deliverance we could not make the land, nor would the inhabitants of the world fall. 19. Thy dead shall live, my corpses shall arise: (awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust!) for the dew of herbs is Thy dew, and (on) the earth (on) the dead, Thou wilt cause it to fall.

VIII.--_The Time is not Yet._--VERS. 20, 21.

20. Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors after thee, hide thyself for a little moment, till the wrath be past. 21. For behold, Jehovah (is) coming out of His place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth upon him, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

IX.--_Israel's Chastisements and Jehovah's Judgments on His enemies, with the glorious results thereof._--CHAP. XXVII.

1. In that day shall Jehovah visit with His sword, the hard, the great, the strong (sword), upon leviathan the flying serpent, and upon leviathan the coiled serpent, and shall slay the dragon which (is) in the sea. 2. In that day, as a vineyard of wine, afflict her. 3. I Jehovah (am) keeping her; every moment I will water her; lest any hurt her, night and day will I keep her. 4. It is not because I am cruel or revengeful that I thus afflict My people, but because she is a vineyard overrun with thorns or briers, on account of which I must pass through her and burn them out of her [Or, I am (no longer) angry with My people; O that their enemies, as thorns and briers, would array themselves against Me, that I might rush upon them and consume them.] 5. Or let him lay hold of My strength and make peace with Me; peace let him make with Me.

6. (In) coming (days) shall Jacob take root, Israel shall bud and blossom, and they shall fill the face of the earth with fruit. 7. Like the smiting of the smiter did He smite him, or like the slaying of his slain was he slain?

8. In measure, by sending her away, Thou dost contend with her. He removes (her) by His hard wind in the day of the east wind. 9. Therefore by this (affliction) shall Jacob's iniquity be purged away, and this is all (its) fruit to take away his sin, (as will appear) in his placing all the stones of the (idolatrous) altar like limestones dashed in pieces (so that) groves and solar images shall arise no more.

10. For a fenced city shall be desolate, a dwelling-place broken up and forsaken like the wilderness. There shall the calf feed, and there shall it lie and consume her branches. 11. When its boughs are withered they shall be broken off, women coming and burning them; because it is not a people of understanding, therefore its Creator shall not pity it, and its Maker shall not have mercy on it.

12. And it shall be in that day, that Jehovah shall gather in His fruit from the channel of the river to the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one to another, O ye children of Israel! 13. And it shall come to pass in that day, (that) a great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come that were wandering in the land of Assyria, and those exiled in the land of Egypt, and shall bow down to Jehovah, in the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.

THE DOWNFALL OF SAMARIA.--CHAP. XXVIII.

1. Woe to the high crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower, his ornament of beauty, which (is) on the head of the fat valley of the wine-smitten. 2. Behold the Lord has a strong and mighty one, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty rushing waters. He has brought it to the ground with the hand. 3. With the feet shall be trodden the lofty crown of the drunkards of Ephraim. 4. And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be like a first-ripe fig before summer, which he that sees it sees, and while it is yet in his hand swallows it.

5. In that day shall Jehovah of hosts become a crown of beauty and a diadem of glory to the remnant of His people; 6. and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

7. And (yet) these through wine have erred, and through strong drink have gone astray. Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, have been swallowed up of wine, have been led astray by strong drink, have erred in vision, have wavered in judgment. 8. For all tables are full of vomit, of filth, without a (clean) place. 9. Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand doctrine? Those weaned from the milk and removed from the breasts. 10. For (it is) rule upon rule, rule upon rule, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there. 11. For with stammering lips and with another tongue will He speak unto this people. 12. Who said to them, This is rest, give rest to the weary, and this is quiet, but they would not hear. 13. And the word of Jehovah was to them rule upon rule, rule upon rule; line upon line, line upon line; a little here, a little there; that they might go, and fall backwards, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

14. Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful men, the rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem. 15. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell have formed a league; the overflowing scourge, when it passes through, shall not come upon us, for we have made falsehood our refuge, and in fraud we have hid ourselves; 16. therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold I lay in Zion a stone, a stone of proof, a corner-stone of value, of a firm foundation; the builder will not be in haste. 17. And I will place judgment for a line and justice for a plummet, and hail shall sweep away the refuge of falsehood, and the hiding-place waters shall overflow. 18. And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your league with hell shall not stand, and the overflowing scourge--for it shall pass through, and ye shall be for it to trample on. 19. And as soon as it passes through, it shall carry you away; for every morning it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and only vexation shall be the understanding of the thing heard. 20. For the bed is too short to stretch one's self, and the covering too narrow to wrap one's self. 21. For like mount Perazim shall Jehovah rise up, like the valley in Gibeon, shall He rage, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His strange task. 22. And now scoff not, lest your bands be strong; for even a decreed consumption I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth.

23. Give ear and hear my voice; hearken and hear my speech. 24. Does the husbandman plough every day to sow? Does he open and level his ground? 25. Does he not, when he has levelled the surface of it, cast abroad dill, and scatter cummin, and set wheat in rows, and barley (in the place) marked out, and spelt in his border? 26. So teaches him aright, his God instructs him. 27. For not with sledge must dill be threshed, or the cart wheel turned upon cummin; for with the stick must dill be beaten, and cummin with the rod. 28. Bread-corn must be crushed, for he will not be always threshing it; so he drives the wheel of his cart (upon it), but with his horses he does not crush it. 29. Even this from Jehovah of hosts comes forth; He is wonderful in counsel; great in wisdom.

PROPHECY CONCERNING JERUSALEM.--CHAP. XXIX.

1. Alas for Ariel, Ariel, the city David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts revolve; 2. And I will distress Ariel, and there shall be sadness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel. 3. And I will camp against thee round about, and push against thee a post, and raise against thee ramparts. 4. And thou shalt be brought down, out of the ground shalt thou speak, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be like (the voice of) a spirit, out of the ground, and out of the dust shall thy speech mutter.

5. And shall be like fine dust the multitude of thy strangers, and like passing chaff be in a moment suddenly. 6. From the presence of Jehovah shall it be raised with thunder, and earthquake, and great noise, tempest and storm, and flame of devouring fire. 7. Then shall be as a dream, a vision of the night, the multitude of all the nations fighting against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and distress her. 8. And it shall be as when the hungry dreams, and lo he eats, and he awakes, and his soul is empty; and as when the thirsty dreams, and lo he drinks, and he awakes, and lo he is faint and his soul craving: so shall be the multitude of all the nations that fight against mount Zion.

9. Waver and wonder! be merry and blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they reel, but not with strong drink. 10. For Jehovah hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and hath shut your eyes, the prophets, even your heads the seers, hath He covered. 11. And the vision of the whole is to you like the words of the sealed writing, which they give to one knowing writing, saying, Pray read this, and he says, I cannot, for it is sealed. 12. And the writing is given to one who knows not writing, saying, Pray read this, and he says, I know not writing. 13. And the Lord said, Because this people draws near with its mouth, and with its lips they honour Me, and its heart it puts far from Me, and their fearing Me is a precept of men, (a thing) taught, 14. therefore, behold, I will continue to treat this people strangely, very strangely, and with strangeness, and the wisdom of its wise ones shall be lost, and the prudence of its prudent ones shall hide itself. 15. Alas for those going deep from Jehovah to hide counsel, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who sees us, and who knows us? 16. Your perversion! Is the potter to be reckoned as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, He made me not, and the thing formed say of its former, He does not understand!

17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned to a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be reckoned to the forest? 18. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and out of obscurity and darkness shall the eyes of the blind see. 19. And the humble shall rejoice more and more in Jehovah, and the poor among men in the Holy One of Israel shall rejoice. 20. For the violent is at an end, and the scoffer ceaseth, and all the watchers for injustice are cut off: 21. making a man a sinner for a word, and for him disputing in the gate they laid a snare, and turned aside the righteous through deceit. 22. Therefore thus saith Jehovah to the house of Jacob, He who redeemed Abraham, Not now shall Jacob be ashamed, and not now shall his face turn pale. 23. For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name, yes, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and the God of Israel they shall fear. 24. Then shall the erring in spirit know wisdom, and the rebels shall receive instruction.

THE SIN AND THE FOLLY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL IN SEEKING FOREIGN AID AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES.--CHAPS. XXX., XXXI.

XXX.--1. Woe to the disobedient children, saith Jehovah, (so disobedient as) to form (or execute) a plan and not from Me, and to weave a web, but not (of) My Spirit, for the sake of adding sin to sin; 2. those walking to go down to Egypt, and My mouth they have not consulted, to take refuge in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. 3. And the strength of Egypt shall be to you for shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt for confusion. 4. For his chiefs are in Zoan, and his ambassadors arrive at Hanes. 5. All are ashamed of a people who cannot profit them, a people not for help and not for profit, but for shame, and also for disgrace. 6. The burden of the beasts of the south, in a land of suffering and distress, whence (are) the adder and the fiery flying serpent; they are carrying on the shoulders of young asses their wealth, and on the hump of camels their treasures, to a people who cannot profit; 7. and the Egyptians are in vain and to no purpose shall they help. Therefore I cry concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.

8. And now go, write it with them on a table, and inscribe it in a book, and let it be for a future day, for ever, to eternity. 9. For a rebellious people is it, lying children, children who are not willing to learn the law of Jehovah; 10. who say to the seers, Ye shall not see, and to the viewers, Ye shall not view for us right things: speak unto us smooth things, view deceits, 11. depart from the way, sever from the path, cause to cease from before us the Holy One of Israel. 12. Therefore, thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because of your rejecting this word, and (because) ye have trusted in oppression and perverseness and have relied thereon, 13. therefore shall their iniquity be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking may come suddenly, at (any) instant. 14. And it is broken like the breaking of a potter's vessel, broken unsparingly, so that there is not found among its fragments a sherd to take up fire from a hearth, and to dip up water from a pool. 15. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in remaining quiet and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not. 16. And ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee; and upon swift will we ride; therefore shall your pursuers be swift. 17. One thousand shall flee from before the menace of one, from before the rebuke of five shall ye flee, until ye are left like a pole on the top of the mountain, and like the signal on the hill. 18. And therefore will Jehovah wait to have mercy upon you, and therefore will He rise up to pity you, for a God of judgment is Jehovah; blessed are all that wait for Him. 19. For the people in Zion shall dwell in Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; as He hears it He will answer thee. 20. And the Lord will give you bread of affliction and water of oppression, and no more shall thy teachers hide themselves, and thine eyes shall see thy teachers. 21. And thine ears shall hear a voice from behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right and when ye turn to the left. 22. And ye shall defile the covering of thy idols of silver and the case of thy image of gold; thou shalt scatter them as an abominable thing. Away! shalt thou say to it. 23. And He shall give the rain of thy seed, with which thou shalt sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, and it shall be fat and rich; thy cattle shall feed that day in an enlarged pasture. 24. And the oxen and the asses working the ground shall eat salted provender which has been winnowed with the sieve and fan. 25. And there shall be, on every high mountain, and on every elevated hill, channels, streams of waters, in the day of great slaughter, when towers fall. 26. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day of Jehovah's binding up the breach of His people, and the stroke of His wound He will heal.

27. Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from afar, burning His anger, and heavy the ascent (of smoke); His lips are full of wrath, and His tongue as a devouring fire. 28. And His breath, like an overflowing stream, shall divide as far as the neck, to sift the nations in the sieve of falsehood, and a misleading bridle on the jaws of the people. 29. Your song shall be like the night of the consecration of a feast, and your joy shall be like (that of) one marching with the pipe to go into the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. 30. And Jehovah shall cause to be heard the majesty of His voice, and the descent of His arm shall He cause to be seen, with indignation of anger and a flame of devouring fire, scattering, and rain, and hailstones. 31. For at the voice of Jehovah shall Assyria be broken, with the rod shall He smite. 32. And every passage of the rod of doom, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with tabrets and harps, and with fights of shaking it is fought therein. 33. Not arranged since yesterday is Tophet: even for the king it is prepared; He has deepened, He has widened (it); its pile fire and wood in plenty; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.

XXXI.--1. Woe to those going down to Egypt for help, and on horses they rely and trust in cavalry, because it is numerous, and on horsemen, because they are very strong, and they look not to the Holy One of Israel, and Jehovah they seek not. 2. And (yet) He too is wise, and brings evil, and His words He removes not, and He rises up against the house of evil-doers, and against the help of the workers of iniquity. 3. And Egypt (is) man, and their horses flesh and not spirit: and Jehovah shall stretch out His hand, and the helper shall stumble, and the helped fall, and together all of them shall cease.

4. For thus saith Jehovah unto me, As a lion growls, and a young lion over his prey, against whom a multitude of shepherds is called forth, at their voice he is not frightened, and at their noise he is not humbled, so will Jehovah of hosts come down, to fight upon mount Zion and upon her hill. 5. As birds flying (over or around their nests), so will Jehovah cover over Jerusalem, cover and rescue, pass over and save.

6. Return unto Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7. For in that day they shall reject, a man his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your sinful hands have made for you [or, which your own hands have made for you as sin]. 8. And Assyria shall fall by no man's sword, and no mortal's work shall devour him, and he shall flee from before the sword, and his young men shall become tributary. 9. And his rock from fear shall pass away, and his chiefs shall be afraid of a standard, saith Jehovah, to whom there is a fire in Zion and a furnace in Jerusalem.

CONTINUATION OF PROMISES.--CHAP. XXXII. 1-8.

1. Behold, for righteousness shall reign a king, and rulers for justice shall rule. 2. And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the rain (or storm), as channels of water in a dry place (or in drought), as the shadow of a heavy rock in a weary land.

3. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. 4. And the heart (or, mind) of the rash (heedless or reckless) shall understand to know (or, understand knowledge), and the tongue of stammerers shall hasten to speak clear things.

5. The fool will no longer be called noble, and the churl will no longer be spoken of (or, to) as liberal. 6. The fool (is one who) will speak folly, and his heart will do iniquity, to do wickedness and to speak error unto (or, against) Jehovah, to starve (or, leave empty) the soul of the hungry, and the drink of the thirsty he will suffer to fail. 7. And as for the churl, his arms (or, instruments) are evil. He deviseth plots to destroy the oppressed (or afflicted) with words of falsehood, even in the poor (man's) speaking right. 8. The noble (or, generous) man devises noble (or, generous) things, and in noble (or, generous) things he perseveres.

THREATENINGS ADDRESSED TO THE WOMEN OF JUDAH.--CHAP. XXXII. 9-20.

9. Careless women, arise, hear my voice; confiding daughters, give ear unto my speech.

10. In a year and more ye shall tremble, ye confiding ones, for the vintage fails, the gathering shall not come. 11. Tremble, ye careless (women); quake, ye confiding (ones); strip you and make you bare, and gird (sackcloth) on your loins. 12. Mourning for the breasts (or, beating on the breasts), for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13. Upon the land of my people, thorn (and) thistle shall come up, for (they shall even come up) upon all (thy) houses of pleasure, O joyous city (or, upon all houses of pleasure _in_ the joyous city). 14. For the palace is forsaken, the crowd of the city (or, the crowded city) left, hill and watch-tower (are) for caves (or, dens) for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks.

15. Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is reckoned to the forest. 16. And justice shall abide in the wilderness, and righteousness in the fruitful field shall dwell. 17. And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness rest and assurance (or, security) for ever. 18. And my people shall abide in a house of peace, in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.

19. And it shall hail in the downfall of the forest, and the city shall be low in a low place (or, humbled with humiliation). 20. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth the foot of the ox and the ass.

THREATENINGS OF RETRIBUTION TO THE ENEMIES OF GOD'S PEOPLE.--CHAP. XXXIII.

1. Woe to thee spoiling and thou wast not spoiled, deceiving and they did not spoil thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil thou shalt be spoiled, and when thou art done deceiving they shall deceive thee. 2. Jehovah, favour us, for on Thee we wait; be their arm in the mornings, also our salvation in times of trouble. 3. At the noise of tumult (or, tumultuous noise) the people flee; at Thy rising the nations are scattered. 4. And your spoil shall be gathered (like) the gathering of the devourer; like the running of locusts running on it. 5. Exalted is Jehovah because dwelling on high; He fills (or, has filled) Zion with judgment and righteousness. 6. And He shall be the security of thy times, strength of salvations, wisdom and knowledge, the fear of Jehovah, that is his treasure.

7. Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. 8. The highways are wasted, the wayfarer ceaseth; he breaks the covenant, despises cities, values no man. 9. The land mourneth, languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, it pines away; Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel cast (their leaves). 10. Now will I arise, saith Jehovah, now will I be lifted up, now will I exalt Myself. 11. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; your breath as stubble shall devour you. 12. And nations shall be like lime-kilns (or, like burnings of lime); thorns cut up, in the fire they shall burn. 13. Hear, ye far, what I have done, and know, ye near, my might.

14. Afraid in Zion are the sinners; trembling has seized the impious. Who of us can dwell with the devouring fire, who of us can dwell with everlasting burnings? 15. Walking righteousnesses, and speaking right things, rejecting with contempt the gain of oppressions (or, extortions), shaking his hands from taking hold of the bribe, stopping his ears from hearing bloods, shutting his eyes from looking at evil, 16. he high places shall inhabit; fastnesses of rocks (shall be) his lofty place; his bread is given, his water sure. 17. A king in his beauty shall thine eyes behold, they behold a land of distances. 18. Thy heart shall meditate terror. Where is he that counted? Where is he that weighted? Where is he that counted the towers? 19. The fierce (or, determined) people thou shalt not see; a people deep of lip from hearing, of barbarous tongue without meaning.

20. Behold Zion, the city of our festivals! Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet home, a tent that shall not be removed. Its stakes shall not be pulled up for ever, and all its cords shall not be broken. 21. But there shall Jehovah be mighty for us; a place of rivers, streams broad (on) both sides; there shall not go in it an oared vessel, and a gallant ship shall not pass through it. 22. For Jehovah our Judge, Jehovah our Lawgiver, Jehovah our King, He will save us.

23. Thy ropes are cast loose; they do not hold upright their mast; they do not spread the sail; then is shared plunder of booty in plenty; the lame spoil the spoil.

24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. The people dwelling in it (is) forgiven (its) iniquity.

THREATENINGS AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH, WITH PROMISES TO THE CHURCH ITSELF.--CHAPS. XXXIV., XXXV.

1. Come near, ye nations, to hear; and ye peoples hearken. Let the earth hear, and its fulness, the world and all its issues. 2. For Jehovah is angry against all the nations, and has wrath against all their host; He has doomed them, He has given them to the slaughter. 3. And their slain shall be cast out, and their carcasses, their stench shall go up; and mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4. And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all their host shall fade like the fading of a leaf from off a vine, and like a fading (leaf) or a withered (fig) from a fig-tree.

5. For My sword is steeped in heaven; behold, upon Edom shall it come down, and upon the people of My curse. 6. Jehovah has a sword; it is full of blood, it is smeared with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7. And unicorns shall come down with them, and bullocks with blood, and their dust with fat shall be fattened. 8. For there is a day of vengeance to Jehovah, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9. And her streams shall be turned to pitch, and her dust to brimstone, and her land shall become burning pitch. 10. Day and night it shall not be quenched; for ever shall its smoke go up; from generation to generation shall it lie waste; for ever and ever there shall be no one passing through it. 11. Then shall possess it the pelican and the porcupine, the crane and the crow shall dwell in it. And One shall stretch upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. 12. Her caves--and there is no one there they will (still) call a kingdom, and all her chiefs will cease to be. 13. And in her palaces shall come up thorns, nettles, and brambles in her fortresses; and she shall be a home of wolves, a grass-plot for ostriches. 14. And wild creatures shall (there) meet with howling creatures, and the shaggy monster shall call to his fellow; only there reposes the night-monster, and finds for herself a resting place. 15. [As to the particular species of animals referred to in this whole passage, there is no need, as Calvin well observes, of troubling ourselves much about them. The general sense evidently is, that a human population should be succeeded by wild and lonely animals, who should not only live but breed there, implying total and continued desolation.] 16. Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah and read; by number will Jehovah call them. For My mouth, it has commanded; and His Spirit it has gathered them. 17. He too has cast the lot for them and His hand has divided it to them by line. For ever shall they hold it as a heritage, to all generations they shall dwell therein.

XXXV.--1. Desert and waste shall rejoice (for) them; and the wilderness shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. 2. (It shall) blossom, it shall blossom and rejoice; yea (with) joy and shouting. The glory of Lebanon is given unto it, the beauty of Carmel and of Sharon. They shall see the glory of Jehovah, the beauty of our God.

3. Strengthen hands (now) sinking, and knees (now) tottering make firm. 4. Say ye to the hasty of heart, Be firm, fear not; behold your God; He (Himself) is coming, and will save you.

5. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6. Then shall the lame bound as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall shout (for joy), because waters have burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

7. And the mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, (even) in the haunt of wolves, their lair, a court for reeds and rushes. 8. And there shall be there a highway and a way; it shall be called the Way of Holiness; and there shall not pass through it an unclean (thing or person); it shall be for them; the travellers, yea, those who are ignorant (or foolish) shall not be able to go astray. 9. There shall not be there a lion, and a ravenous beast shall not ascend it, nor be found there; and (there) shall walk redeemed (ones).

10. And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and come to Zion with shouting, and everlasting joy upon their head; gladness and joy shall overtake (them), and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

HISTORICAL APPENDIX TO THE FIRST PART OF ISAIAH'S PROPHECIES.--CHAPS. XXXVI.-XXXIX.

XXXVI.--1. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a strong force, and he stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field. 3. Then there came forth Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.

4. And Rabshakeh said to them: say now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What is this confidence which thou confidest in? 5. I say, mere word of lips (is your) counsel and strength for the war; now on whom hast thou confided, that thou hast rebelled against me? 6. Behold, thou hast trusted in the support of this broken reed, in Egypt, which, (if) a man lean upon it, will go into his hand and pierce it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting in him. 7. And if thou say to me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye worship? 8. And now, engage, I pray thee, with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9. And how wilt thou turn away the face of one governor of the least of my master's servants? So hast thou reposed thyself on Egypt, with respect to chariots and horses. 10. And now (is it) without Jehovah I have come up against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

11. Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Pray speak unto thy servants in Aramean, for we understand (it), and speak not unto us in Jewish, in the ears of the people who (are) on the wall.

12. And Rabshakeh said: Is it to thy master and to thee that my master sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water with you?

13. Then Rabshakeh stood and called with a loud voice in Jewish, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14. Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15. And let not Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will certainly save us, this city shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria, 16. Hearken not to Hezekiah, for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye (every) man his own vine and (every) man his own fig-tree, and drink ye (every) man the waters of his own cistern; 17. until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18. Let not Hezekiah seduce you, saying Jehovah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered every one his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19. Where (are) the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where the gods of Sepharvaim? and (when or where was it) that they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20. Who (are they) among all the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

21. And they held their peace, and did not answer him a word, for such was the commandment of the king, Ye shall not answer him.

22. Then came Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who (was) over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder, unto Hezekiah, with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

XXXVII.--1. And it came to pass when king Hezekiah heard, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. 2. And he sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the people covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet. 3. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, A day of anguish and rebuke and contempt (is) this day, for the children are come to the places of birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4. If peradventure Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard, then shalt thou lift up a prayer for the remnant (that is still) found (here).

5. And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6. And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, (with) which the servants of the king of Assyria hath blasphemed me. 7. Behold, I am putting a spirit in him, and he shall hear a noise, and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

8. And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had decamped from Lachish. 9. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee; and he heard (it), and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10. Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah, king of Judah, Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given unto the hand of the king of Assyria. 11. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, by utterly destroying them, and thou shalt be delivered! 12. Did the gods of the nations deliver them, which my fathers destroyed, (to wit) Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which is in Telassar? 13. Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city Sepharvaim, Henah, and Ivrah?

14. And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up (to) the house of Jehovah, and Hezekiah spread it before Jehovah. 15. And Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah, saying, 16. Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, dwelling between the cherubim, Thou art He, the God, Thou alone, to all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made the heavens and the earth. 17. Bow down Thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God. 18. It is true, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have wasted all the lands and their land, 19. and given their gods into the fire--for they (were) no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men's hands--and destroyed them. 20. And now, O Jehovah, our God, save us from his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that Thou alone art Jehovah.

21. And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, (as to) what thou has prayed to the (with respect to) Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22. this is the word which Jehovah hath spoken against him, The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee, she hath laughed thee to scorn, the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head after thee. 23. Who hast thou reproached and reviled, and against whom hast thou raised (thy) voice, and lifted thine eyes (on) high towards the Holy One of Israel? 24. By the hand of thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord and said, With the multitude of my chariots I have ascended the height of mountains, the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the loftiness of its cedars and the choice of its fire, and I will reach its extreme height, its garden-forest. 25. I have digged and drunk water, and I will dry up with the sole of my feet all the streams of Egypt. 26. Hast thou not heard? From afar I have done it, from the days of old, and formed it, now I have caused it to come, and it shall be, to lay waste, (as) desolate heaps, fortified cities. 27. And their inhabitants are short of hand; they are broken and confounded; they are grass of the field and green herbage, grass of the house-tops and a field before the stalk. 28. And thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, I have known, and thy raging against Me. 29. Because of thy raging against Me, and (because) thy arrogance has come up into My ears, I will put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will cause thee to return by the way by which thou camest.

30. And this to thee, the sign: eat, the (present) year, that which groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth of the same, and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. 31. And the escaped of the house of Jacob, that is left, shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward; 32. for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and an escape from Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall do this.

33. Therefore thus saith Jehovah (with respect) to the king of Assyria, He shall not come to this city, and shall not shoot an arrow there, and shall not come before it with a shield, and shall not cast up a mound against it. 34. By the way that he came shall he return, and to this city shall he not come, saith Jehovah. 35. And I will cover over this city, (so as) to save it, for My sake, and for the sake of David My servant.

36. And the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of Assyria an hundred and eighty and five thousand, and they rose up early in the morning and behold all of them were dead corpses. 37. Then decamped, and departed, and returned, Sennacherib king of Assyria, and dwelt in Nineveh. 38. And he was worshipping (in) the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

XXXVIII.--1. In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Order thy house, for thou (art) dying, and art not to live. 2. And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah. 3. And he said, Ah, Jehovah, remember, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart, and that which is good in Thine eyes have I done; and Hezekiah wept a great weeping.

4. And the word of Jehovah came to Isaiah, saying, 5. Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I am adding unto thy days fifteen years. 6. And out of the hand of the king of Assyria I will save thee and this city, and I will cover over this city.

7. And this shall be to thee the sign from Jehovah, that Jehovah will perform this word which He hath spoken: 8. Behold, I am causing the shadow to go back, the degree which it has gone down on the degrees of Ahaz with the sun, ten degrees backward; and the sun returned ten degrees on the degrees which it had gone down.

9. A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he was sick, and recovered from his sickness:--

10. I said in the pause of my days, I shall go into the gate of the grave, I am deprived of the residue of my years. 11. I said I shall not see Jah, Jah in the land of the living; I shall not behold man again with the inhabitants of the world. 12. My dwelling is plucked up and uncovered by me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up, like the weaver, my life; from the thrum He will cut me off; from day to night Thou wilt finish me.

13. I set (Him before me) till the morning as a lion (saying), So will He break all my bones; from day to night Thou wilt make an end of me. 14. Like a swallow (or) like a twittering sparrow, so I chirp; I moan like a dove; my eyes are weak (with looking) upward; O Jehovah; I am oppressed, undertake for me.

15. What shall I say? He hath both spoken to me, and Himself hath done (it); I shall go softly all my days in the bitterness of my soul. 16. Lord, upon them they live, and as to everything in them is the life of my spirit, and Thou wilt recover me and make me to live. 17. Behold to peace (is turned) my bitter bitterness, and Thou hast loosed my soul from the pit of destruction, because Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins.

18. For the grave shall not confess Thee (nor) death praise Thee; they that go down to the pit shall not hope for Thy truth. 19. The living, the living, he shall thank Thee, as I do to-day; fathers to sons shall make known with respect to Thy truth. 20. Jehovah (listened) to save me! And my songs we will play, all the days of our life, at the house of Jehovah.

21. And Isaiah said, Let him take a lump of figs, and lay them softened on the boil, and he shall live. 22. And Hezekiah said, What sign (is there) that I shall go up (to) the house of Jehovah?

XXXIX.--1. In that time, Merodach Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, and he heard that he was sick and was recovered.

2. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them his house of rarities, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the ointment, and all his house of arms, and all that was found in his treasures; there was not a thing which Hezekiah did not show them, in his house, and in all his dominion.

3. Then came Isaiah the prophet to the king Hezekiah, and said to him, What said these men, and whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, From a far country came they unto me, from Babylon. 4. And he said, What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah said, All that is in my house have they seen; there is not a thing that I have not showed them in my treasures.

5. And Isaiah said, Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts, 6. Behold days are coming when all that (is) in thy house, and that which thy fathers have hoarded until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; there shall not be left a thing, saith Jehovah. 7. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt begat, shall they take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

8. And Hezekiah said, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. And he said, for there shall be peace and truth in my days.

XL.--[A glorious change awaits the Church, consisting in a new and gracious manifestation of Jehovah's presence, for which His people are exhorted to prepare, vers. 1-5. Though one generation perish after another, this promise shall eventually be fulfilled, because it rests not upon human but Divine authority, vers. 6-8. Zion may even now see Him approaching as the conqueror of His enemies, and at the same time as the shepherd of His people, vers. 9-11. The fulfilment of these pledges is insured by His infinite wisdom, His Almighty power, and His independence both of individuals and nations, vers. 12-17. How much more is He superior to material images, by which men represent Him or supply His place, vers. 18-25. The same power which supports the heavens is pledged for the support of Israel, vers. 26-31.]

1. Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. 2. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received from the hand of Jehovah double for all her sins. 3. A voice crying--in the wilderness--Clear the way of Jehovah--make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4. Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill brought low, and the uneven shall become level, and the ridges a plain. 5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see (it) together, for the mouth of Jehovah speaks.

6. A voice saying, Cry! And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its favour like the flower of the field! 7. Dried is the grass, faded is the flower; for the breath of Jehovah has blown upon it. Surely the people is grass. 8. Dried is the grass, faded the flower, and the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9. Upon a high mountain, get thee up, bringer of good news, O Zion! Raise with strength thy voice, bringer of good news, Jerusalem! Raise (it), fear not; say to the towns of Judah, Lo, your God! 10. Lo, the Lord Jehovah is coming in (the person of) a strong one, and His arm (is) ruling for Him. Lo, His hire is with Him, and His wages before Him. 11. Like a shepherd His flock will He feed, with His arm will He gather the lambs, and in His bosom carry (them): the nursing (ewes) He will (gently) lead.

12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended in a measure the dust of the earth, and weighed in a balance the mountains, and the hills in scales? 13. Who hath measured the Spirit of Jehovah, and (who, as) the man of His counsel, will teach Him? 14. Whom did He consult, and he made Him understand, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and the way of understanding (who) will make Him know? 15. Lo, nations are as a drop from a bucket, and as dust on scales are reckoned; lo, islands as an atom He will take up. 16. And Lebanon is not enough for burning, and its beasts are not enough for a sacrifice. 17. All the nations (are) as nothing before Him, less than nothing and vanity are counted to Him.

18. And (now) to whom will ye liken God, and what likeness will ye compare to Him? 19. The image a carver has wrought, and a gilder with gold shall overlay it, and chains of silver (he is) casting. 20. (As for) the man impoverished (by) offering, a tree (that) will not rot he chooses, a wise carver he seeks for it, to set up an image (that) shall not be moved. 21. Will you not know? Will you not hear? has it not been told you from the first? have you not understood (from) the foundations of the earth? 22. The (One) sitting over the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants (are) as locusts; the One spreading like an awning the heavens, and He stretches them out like a tent to dwell in; 23. the One bringing princes to nothing, the judges of the earth like emptiness He has made. 24. Not even planted were they, not even sown, not even rooted in the ground their stock, and He just breathed upon them, and they withered, and a whirlwind like the chaff shall take them up. 25. And now to (whom) will ye liken Me, and to (whom) shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26. Lift up on high your eyes and see--who hath created these?--and who is the (One) bringing out by number their host?--to all of them by name will He call--from abundance of might and because strong in power--not one faileth. 27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and why (thus) speak, O Israel? Hidden is my way from Jehovah, and from my God my cause will pass away. 28. Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The God of eternity, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, will not faint, and will not tire; there is no search (with respect) to His understanding. 29. Giving to the weary strength, and to the powerless might will He increase. 30. And (yet) weary shall youths be and faint, and chosen (youths) shall be weakened, be weakened. 31. And (on the other hand) those waiting for Jehovah shall gain new strength; they shall raise the pinion like the eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

XLI.--[Until the ends of Israel's national existence are accomplished, that existence must continue in spite of hostile nations and their gods, who shall all perish sooner than the chosen people, vers. 1-16. However, feeble Israel may be in herself, Jehovah will protect him, and raise up the necessary instruments for his deliverance and triumph.]

1. Be silent to Me, O islands, and the nations shall gain new strength; they shall approach, then shall they speak, together to the judgment-seat will we draw near. 2. Who hath raised up from the east? Righteousness shall call Him to its foot; it shall give nations before Him, and cause Him to tread upon kings; it shall give (them) as dust to His sword, and as driven stubble to His bow. 3. He shall pursue them; He shall pass (in) safety; a path with His feet He shall not go. 4. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I Jehovah, the First and with the Last, I (am) He.

5. The isles have seen it and are afraid, the ends of the earth tremble: they have approached and come. 6. A man his neighbour they will help, and to his brother (one) will say, Be strong! 7. And the carver has strengthened the gilder, the smoother with the hammer, the smiter on the anvil; he says of the solder, It is good; and he sharpeneth it with nails; it shall not be moved. 8. And thou Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend; 9. thou whom I have grasped from the ends of the earth, and from its sides have I called thee, My servant (art) thou; I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.

10. Fear thou not, for I (am) with thee; look not around, for I (am) thy God; I have strengthened thee, yea, I have helped thee, yea, I have upheld thee with the right hand of My righteousness. 11. Lo, ashamed and confounded shall be all those inflamed against thee; they shall be as though they were not, and destroyed shall be they that strive with thee. 12. Thou shalt seek them and not find them, the men of quarrel; they shall be as nothing and as nought, thy men of war. 13. For I, Jehovah thy God, (am) holding fast thy right hand; the (one) saying to thee, Fear not, I have helped thee. 14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I have helped thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15. Behold I have placed thee for a threshing-sledge, sharp, new, possessed of teeth; thou shalt thresh mountains and beat (them) small, and hills like the chaff shalt thou make. 16. Thou shalt fan them, and a wind shall take them up, and a whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt joy in Jehovah, and in the Holy One of Israel shalt thou boast.

17. The suffering and the poor (are) seeking water, and it is not; their tongue with thirst is parched. I Jehovah will answer them. 18. I will open upon bare hills streams, and in the midst of valleys fountains; I will convert the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water. 19. I will give in the wilderness cedar, acacia, and myrtle, and oil tree; I will place in the desert fir, pine, and box together. 20. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

21. Present your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forward your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. 22. Let them bring forward and show forth to us the (things) which are to happen; the former things, when they were, show forth, and we will set our heart, and know the issue; or (else) the coming events make us to hear. 23. Show forth the (things) to come hereafter, and we will know that ye are gods; yes, ye shall do good or evil, and we will look about and see together. 24. Lo, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. 25. I have raised up (one) from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun shall he call upon My name; and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as a potter treadeth clay. 26. Who hath declared from the beginning? (Say) and we will know; and beforehand, and we will say, True! Nay, there was none that told; nay, there was none that uttered; nay, there was none that heard your words. 27. (I am the) first (to say) to Zion, Behold, behold them! and (to give) to Jerusalem a bringer of good news. 28. And I will look, but there is no man; and of these, but there is no one advising; and I will ask them, and (perhaps) they will return an answer. 29. Lo, they (are) all nought, nothing their words, wind and emptiness their molten images.

XLII.--[This chapter exhibits to our view the servant of Jehovah, _i.e.,_ the Messiah and His people, as a complex person, and as the messenger or representative of God among the nations. His mode of operation is described, vers. 1-4. The effects of His influence are represented, as not natural but spiritual, vers. 5-9. The power of God is pledged for His success, notwithstanding all appearances of inaction or indifference on His part, vers 10-17. In the latter portion of the chapter, the Church or Body of Christ, as distinguished from its Head, and representing Him until He came, is charged with unfaithfulness to its great trust, and this unfaithfulness declared to be the cause of what it suffered, vers. 18-25.]

1. Behold My servant! I will hold Him fast; My chosen One, (in whom) My soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon Him; judgment to the nations shall He cause to go forth. 2. He shall not cry, and He shall not raise (His voice), and He shall not let His voice be heard in the street. 3. A broken reed shall He not break, and a dim wick will He not quench; by the truth He will bring forth judgment. 4. He shall not be dim, and He shall not be crushed, until He shall set judgment in the earth, and for His law the isles shall wait.

5. Thus saith the mighty (God), Jehovah, creating the heavens and stretching them out, spreading the earth and its issues, giving breath to the people on it, and spirit to those walking in it. 6. I, Jehovah, have called Thee in righteousness, and will lay hold of Thy hand, and will keep Thee, and will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. 7. to open blind eyes, to bring out from prison the bondman, from the house of confinement the dwellers in darkness. 8. I am Jehovah, that is My name, and My glory to another will I not give, and My praise to graven images. 9. The former things--lo, they have come, and new things I (am) telling; before they spring forth I will let you hear (them).

10. Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, (ye) going down to the sea and its fulness, isles and their inhabitants! 11. The desert and its towns shall raise (the voice), the enclosures (in which) Kedar dwells; the dwellers in the rock shall shout, from the top of the mountains shall they cry aloud. 12. They shall give to Jehovah honour, and His praise in the islands they shall show forth. 13. Jehovah, like a strong one, will go forth; like a warrior He will cry; against His foes will show Himself strong. 14. I have long been still, (saying) I will hold my peace, I will restrain myself. (But now), like the travailing (woman) I will shriek, I will pant and gasp at once. 15. I will lay waste mountains and hills, and all their herbage will I dry up; I will turn streams to islands, and pools will I dry up. 16. And I will make the blind walk in a way they know not, in paths they know not I will make them tread; I will turn darkness before them to light, and obliquities to straightness. These are the words; I have made them, and have not left them. 17. They shall be turned back, they shall be utterly ashamed, those trusting in the graven image, those saying to the molten images, Ye are our gods!

18. Ye deaf, hear! and, ye blind, look to see! 19. Who (is) blind but My servant, and deaf like My messenger (whom) I will send? Who (is) blind like the devoted are, and blind like the servant of Jehovah? 20. Thou hast seen many things and wilt not observe. (Sent) to open ears! and he will not hear! 21. Jehovah (is) willing for His righteousness' sake; He will magnify the law and make it honourable.

22. And (yet) it (is) a people spoiled and robbed, ensnared in holes all of them, and in houses of confinement they are hidden. They have become a spoil, and there is none delivering; a prey, and there is none saying, Restore! 23. Who among you will give ear to this, and hearken and hear for the time to come? 24. Who has given Jacob for a prey, and Israel to spoilers? Hast not Jehovah, against whom we have sinned? and they were not willing in His ways to walk, and did not hearken to His law. 25. And He poured upon him fury, (even) His wrath and the violence of war: and it set him on fire round about, and he knew it not; and it burned him, and he will not lay it to heart.

XLIII.--[Israel is the peculiar people of Jehovah, cherished and favoured at the expense of other nations, vers. 1-4. But these are one day to become partakers of the same advantages, vers. 5-9. The proofs of the Divine protection are afforded by the history of Israel, vers. 10-13. One of the most remarkable, yet future, is the downfall of Babylon and the liberation of the exiles, vers. 14, 15. An analogous example was the deliverance from Egypt, vers. 16, 17. But both these instances shall be forgotten in comparison with the great change which awaits the Church hereafter, vers. 18-21. Of all these distinguishing favours none was owing to the merit of the people, but all to the sovereign grace of God, vers. 22-25. The people were not only destitute of merit, but deserving of punishment, which they had experienced and must experience again, vers. 26-28.]

1. And now, thus saith Jehovah, thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Former, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called by thy name, thou art Mine. 2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be scorched, and the flame shall not burn thee. 3. For I, Jehovah, thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, have given (as) thy ransom Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, instead of thee. 4. Since thou wast precious in My eyes; thou hast been honoured, and I have loved thee, and will give men instead of thee, and nations instead of thy life.

5. Fear not, for I (am) with thee; from the east I will make thy seed come, and from the west I will gather thee; 6. I will say to the north, Give, and to the south, Withhold not, let My sons come from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; 7. Every one called by My name, and for My glory I have created him; I have formed him yea, I have made him. 8. He hath brought out the blind people, and there are eyes (to them), and the deaf, and (there are) ears to them. 9. All the nations are gathered together, and the people are to be assembled. Who among them will declare this, and let us hear the first things? Let them produce their witnesses and be justified; and (if they cannot do this) let them hear (My witnesses), and say, (it is) the truth.

10. Ye are My witnesses saith Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe Me, and may understand that I am He; before Me was not formed a god, and after Me there shall not be; 11. I, I, Jehovah, and beside Me there is no Saviour. 12. I have told and have saved and have declared, and there is not among you (any) stranger; and ye are My witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I (am) God. 13. Even from the day I am He, and there is no one freeing from My hand; I will do, and who will undo it?

14. Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down fugitives all of them; and the Chaldeans, in the ships their shout; 15. I, Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

16. Thus saith Jehovah, the (One) giving in the sea a way, and in mighty waters a path; 17. the (One) bringing out chariot and horse, force and strong; together shall they lie, they shall not rise; they are extinct, like tow they are quenched.

18. Remember not former things, and old things consider not. 19. Behold I (am) doing (something) new, it is yet to sprout; do you not know it? Yes, I will place in the wilderness a way, in the desert streams. 20. The living creature of the field shall honour Me, jackass and ostriches; because I have given in the wilderness waters, and streams in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. 21. This people I have formed for Myself; My praise shall they recount.

22. And not Me hast thou called, O Jacob; for thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel. 23. Thou hast not brought to Me the sheep of thy burnt-offering, and (with) thy sacrifices thou hast not honoured Me. I have not made thee serve with oblations, and I have not wearied thee with incense. 24. Thou hast not brought for Me sweet cane with honey, and with the fat of thy sacrifices thou hast not drenched Me; thou hast only made Me serve with thy sins, and wearied Me with thine iniquities. 25. I, I am He blotting out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and thy sins I will not remember.

26. Remind Me; let us plead together: state (thy case) that thou mayest be justified. 27. Thy first father sinned, and thy interpreters rebelled against Me. 28. And I will profane the holy chiefs, and will give up Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

XLIV.--[The chapter opens, like the fortieth and forty-third, with cheering promises to Israel, followed by reasons for confiding in them, drawn from the wisdom, power, and goodness of Jehovah. The specific promise, which constitutes the theme or basis of the prophecy, is that of abundant spiritual influences and their fruits; not only internal prosperity, but large accessions from without, vers. 1-5. The pledge for the fulfilment of this promise is afforded by the proofs of God's omniscience, as contrasted with all other gods, vers. 6-9. The folly of image-worship is then established by two arguments. The first is, that idols are themselves the creatures of mere men, vers. 10-14. The other is, that they are not only made, and made by man, but made of the very same materials applied to the most trivial domestic uses, vers. 15-20. From this demonstration of the power of Jehovah to perform His promise we are now brought back to the promise itself, vers. 21-24. This is again confirmed by an appeal to God's creative power, and illustrated by the raising up of Cyrus as a deliverer to Israel, vers. 25-28.]

1. And now hear, Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 2. Thus saith Jehovah, Thy Maker and thy Former from the womb will help thee; fear not, My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3. For I will pour waters upon the thirsty, and flowing (waters) on the dry (land); I will pour My Spirit on thy seed, and My blessing on thine offspring. 4. And they shall spring up in the midst of the grass, like willows by the water-courses. 5. They shall say, To Jehovah I (belong); and this shall call on the name of Jacob; and this shall inscribe with his hand, To Jehovah, and with the name of Israel shall entitle.

6. Thus saith Jehovah, King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah of hosts; I (am) first, and I (am) last, and without Me there is no God. 7. And who, like Me, will call, and tell it, and state it to Me, since I placed the ancient people; and coming things and things which are to come will tell to them? 8. Quake not and fear not; have I not let thee hear and told thee, and are ye not My witnesses? Is there a God without Me? I know not (any). 9. The image-carvers all of them are vanity, and their desired ones are worthless; and their witnesses themselves will not see and will not know, that they may be ashamed.

10. Who formed the god and cast the image to no use? 11. Lo, all his fellows shall be ashamed, and the workmen themselves are of men; they shall assemble all of them, they shall stand, they shall tremble, they shall be ashamed together. 12. He has carved (iron) with a graver, and has wrought (it) in the coals, and with his hammer he will shape it. Besides, he is hungry and has no strength, he has not drunk water and is faint. 13. He has carved wood, he has stretched a line, he will mark it with the awl, he will form it with the chisel, and with the compass he will mark it, and then he will make it after the model of a man, like the beauty of mankind, to dwell in a house. 14. To hew him down cedars, and (now) he has taken a cypress and an oak--and has raised it for himself among the trees of the forest--he has planted a pine, and the rain shall increase (it). 15. And it shall be to man for fuel, and he has taken of them and warmed himself; yea, he will kindle and bake bread; yea, he will form a god and fall prostrate; he has made it a graven image and bowed down to them. 16. Half of it he hath burned in the fire; on half of it he will eat flesh, he will roast and be filled; yea, he will warm himself and say, Aha, I am warm, I have seen fire. 17. And the rest of it he has made into a god, into his graven image; he will bow down to it, and will worship, and will pray to it, and say, Deliver me, for thou (art) my god. 18. They have not known, and they will not understand, for He hath smeared their eyes from seeing, their hearts from doing wisely. 19. And he will not bring it home to himself, and there (is) not knowledge, and (there is) not understanding to say, Half of it I have burned in the fire, and have also baked bread on its coals; I will roast flesh and eat, and the rest of it I will make to (be) an abomination; to a log of wood I will cast myself down. 20. Feeding on ashes, (his) heart is deceived; it has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself; and he will not say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

21. Remember these (things), Jacob and Israel, for thou art My servant; I have formed thee, a servant unto Me art thou; Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten by Me. 22. I have blotted out, like a cloud, thy transgressions, and like a vapour, thy sins; return to Me, for I have redeemed thee. 23. Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah hath done (it); shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth, ye mountains, Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and in Israel He will glorify Himself. 24. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and thy Former from the womb, I, Jehovah, making all, stretching the heavens alone, spreading the earth by Myself.

25. Breaking the signs of babblers, and diviners He will madden; turning sages back, and their knowledge He will stultify; 26. confirming the word of His servant, and the counsel of His messengers He will fulfil; the (One) saying as to Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and as the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and the ruins will I raise; 27. the (One) saying to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy floods; 28. the (One) saying as to Cyrus, My shepherd, and all My pleasure he will fulfil, and saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and (to) the temple, Thou shalt be founded.

XLV.--[The chapter opens, in direct continuation of the forty-fourth, with a further prophecy of Cyrus and of his successors, vers. 1-3. These are then referred to the power of God and His design of mercy towards His people, so that all misgivings or distrust must be irrational and impious, vers. 4-13. Then leaving Cyrus out of view, the prophet turns his eyes to the nations, and declares that they must be subdued, but only in order to be blessed and saved, which is declared to have been the Divine purpose, and revealed as such from the beginning, vers 14-25.]

1. Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held fast, to tread down before him nations, and the loins of kings I will loose; to open before him double doors, and gates shall not be shut. 2. I will go before thee, and uneven places will I level; doors of brass I will break, and bars of iron I will cut. 3. And I will give thee treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, in order that thou mayest know that I Jehovah, the (One) calling thee by name, am the God of Israel.

4. For the sake of My servant Jacob and Israel My chosen, therefore will I call thee by thy name: I will give thee a title, and thou hast not known Me. 5. I am Jehovah, and there is no other; except Me there is no God; I will gird thee, and thou hast not known Me; 6. that they may know, from the rising of the sun to the west, that there is none without Me; I am Jehovah, and there is no other. 7. Forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil, I (am) Jehovah doing all these things. 8. Distil, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour out righteousness; let the earth open, and let salvation and righteousness grow, let him bring (them) forth together. I Jehovah have created it. 9. Woe to him striving with his Maker--a potsherd with potsherds of the earth. Shall clay say to its former, What art thou doing? and thy work, He has no hands? 10. Woe to him saying to a father, What wilt thou beget? and to a mother, What wilt thou bring forth? 11. Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel and his Maker, Ask Me (of) the things to come; concerning My sins and concerning the work of My hands, ye may command Me. 12. I make the earth, and man upon it I created; I, My hands, spread the heavens, and all their host commanded. 13. I, and no other, raised him up in righteousness, and all his ways will I make straight; (it is) he (that) shall build My city, and My captivity he will send (home), not for reward, and not for hire, saith Jehovah of hosts.

14. Thus saith Jehovah, The toil of Egypt, and the gain of Cush, and the Sebaim men of measure unto thee shall pass, and to thee shall they belong, after thee shall they go, in chains shall they pass over; and unto thee shall they bow themselves, to thee shall they pray, saying, Only in thee (is) God, and there is none besides, no (other) God. 15. Verily Thou art a God hiding Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour! 16. They are ashamed and also confounded all of them together, they are gone away in confusion--the carvers of images. 17. Israel is saved in Jehovah (with) an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed, and ye shall not be confounded for ever. 18. For thus saith Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens--He is God--the Former of the earth and its Maker--He established it--not to be empty did He create it--to be inhabited He formed it--I am Jehovah, and there is none besides. 19. Not in secret have I spoken, in a dark place of the earth; I have not said to the seed of Jacob, In vain seek ye Me. I (am) Jehovah, speaking truth, declaring right things. 20. Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, ye escaped of the nations. They know not, those carrying the wood, their graven image, and praying to a god (who) cannot save. 21. Bring forward and bring near! Yea, let them consult together. Who hath caused this to be heard of old, since thou declared it! Have not I Jehovah? and there is no other God besides Me; a righteous and a saving God, there is none besides Me. 22. Turn unto Me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none besides. 23. By Myself I have sworn; the word is gone out of a mouth of righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Me shall bow every knee, shall swear every tongue. 24. Only in Jehovah have I, says he, righteousness and strength; unto Him shall he come, and all that were incensed at Him shall be ashamed. 25. In Jehovah shall be justified and boast themselves all the seed of Israel.

XLVI.--[In conformation of the general threats and promises with which chap. xlv. is wound up, the prophet now exhibits the particular case of the Babylonian idols, as a single instance chosen from the whole range of past and future history. They are described as fallen and gone away into captivity, wholly unable to protect their worshippers or save themselves, vers. 1, 2. With these he then contrasts Jehovah's constant care of Israel in times past and in time to come, vers. 3, 4. The contrast is carried out by another description of the origin and impotence of idols, vers. 5-7, and another assertion of Jehovah's sole Divinity, as proved by His knowledge and control of the future, and by the raising up of Cyrus in particular, vers. 8-11. This brings him back to the same solemn warning of approaching judgments, and the same alternative of life and death, with which the foregoing chapter closes, vers. 12, 13.]

1. Bel is bowed down, Nebo stooping; their images are (consigned) to the beasts and to the cattle. Your burdens are packed up (as) a load to the weary (beast). 2. They stoop, they bow together; they cannot save the load; themselves are gone into captivity.

3. Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, those borne from the belly, those carried from the womb. 4. And to old age I am He, and to grey hair I will bear (you); I have done it, and I will carry and I will bear and save (you).

5. To whom will ye liken Me, and equal and compare Me, that we may be like? 6. The prodigals will weigh gold from the bag, and silver with the rod; they will hire a gilder, and he will make it a god: they will bow down, yea, they will fall prostrate. 7. They will lift him on the shoulder, they will carry him, they will set him in his place, and he will stand (there); from his place he will not move; yea, one will cry to him, and he will not answer, from his distress he will not save him.

8. Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it home, ye apostates, (to) your mind. 9. Remember former things of old, for I am the Mighty, and there is no other God, and there is none like Me, 10. declaring from the first the last, and from ancient time the things which are not (yet) done, saying, My counsel shall stand and all My pleasure I will do. 11. Calling from the east a bird of prey, from a land of distance the man of His counsel; I have both said and will also bring it to pass, I have formed (the plan) and will also do it.

12. Hearken to Me, ye stout of heart, those far from righteousness. 13. I have brought near My righteousness, it shall not be far off; and My salvation, it shall not tarry; and I will place in Zion My salvation, to Israel My glory.

XLVII.--[Having exemplified his general doctrine, as to God's ability and purpose to do justice both to friends and foes, by exhibiting the downfall of the Babylonian idols, Isaiah now attains the same end by predicting the downfall of Babylon itself, and of the state to which it gave its name. Under the figure of a royal virgin, she is threatened with extreme degradation and exposure, vers 1-3. Connecting this event with Israel and Israel's God, as the great themes which it was intended to illustrate, he predicts the fall of the empire more distinctly, ver. 5, and assigns as a reason the oppression of God's people, ver. 6, pride and self-confidence, ver. 7-9, especially reliance upon human wisdom and upon superstitious arts, all which would prove entirely insufficient to prevent the great catastrophe, vers. 10-15.]

1. Come down! Sit on the dust, virgin daughter of Babel! There is no throne, daughter of Chasdim! For thou shalt not continue to be called tender and delicate. 2. Take millstones and grind meal! Remove thy veil, lift up thy skirt, uncover the leg, cross streams! 3. Let thy nakedness be uncovered, likewise let thy shame be seen. I will take vengeance; I shall encounter no man.

4. Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts (is) His name, the Holy One of Israel.

5. Sit in silence and go into darkness, daughter of Chasdim! For thou shalt not continue to be called mistress of kingdoms. 6. I was wroth against My people; I profaned My heritage; and I gave them into thy hand. Thou didst not show them mercy; on the ancient thou didst aggravate thy yoke exceedingly; 7. and thou saidst, For ever I shall be a mistress (of kingdoms); until (at last) thou didst not lay these things to heart, thou didst not remember the end of it. 8. And now, hear this, thou voluptuous one, the (one) sitting in security, the (one) saying in her heart, I (am) and none besides; I shall not sit (as) a widow, and I shall not know the loss of children; 9. and they shall come to thee,--these two suddenly, loss of children and widowhood in the midst of the multitude of thy enchantments, in the midst of the multitude of thy spells. 10. And (yet) thou art secure in thy wickedness; thou hast said, there is no one seeing me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it has seduced thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and there is no other. 11. And so there cometh upon thee evil,--thou shalt not know how to charm it away; and there shall fall upon thee ruin,--thou shalt not be able to avert it; and there shall come upon thee suddenly a crash,--thou shalt not know (it). 12. Persist now in thy spells and in the abundance of thy charms, in which thou hast wearied thyself; perhaps thou wilt be able to succeed, perhaps thou wilt grow strong. 13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsel. Now let them stand and save thee, the dividers of the heavens, the star-gazers, making known at the new-moon what shall come upon thee. 14. Behold, they are like stubble, fire has burned them; they cannot deliver themselves from the hand of the flame; (this fire) is not a coal (at which) to warm one's self; a fire to sit before. 15. Thus are they to thee; and so are (even) thy traders: each to his own quarter, straight before him, they wander; there is no one saving thee.

XLVIII.--[Although Israel is God's chosen and peculiar people, he is in himself unworthy of the honour and unfaithful to the trust, vers. 1, 2. Former predictions had been uttered expressly to prevent his ascribing the event to other gods, vers. 3-5. For the same reason new predictions will be uttered now, of events which have never been distinctly foretold, vers. 6-8. God's continued favour to His people has no reference to merit upon their part, but is the fruit of His own sovereign mercy, and intended to promote His own designs, vers. 9-11. He again asserts His own exclusive deity, as proved by the creation of the world, by the prediction of events still future, and especially by the raising up of Cyrus, as a promised instrument to execute His purpose, vers 12-16. The sufferings of Israel are a fruit of his own sin, but his prosperity and glory, of God's sovereign grace, vers. 17-19. The book closes as it opened, with a promise of deliverance from exile, accompanied in this case by a solemn limitation of the promise to its proper objects, vers. 20-22.]

1. Here this, O house of Jacob, the man called by the name of Israel, and from the waters of Judah they have come out; those swearing by the name of Jehovah, and (who) of the God of Israel makes mention, not in truth and not in righteousness. 2. Nor from the Holy City they are called, and upon the God of Israel rely; Jehovah of hosts is His name.

3. The former things since then I declared, and out of My mouth they went forth, and I cause them to be heard; suddenly do I do (them), and they come to pass. 4. Because I know that thou art hard, and an iron sinew (is) thy neck, and thy forehead brass, 5. therefore I told thee long ago; before it comes I have let thee hear (it), lest thou say, My idol did them, my graven image and my molten image ordered them.

6. Thou has heard the (prediction), see all of it accomplished. And ye, will ye not predict (something)? I have made thee to hear new things from now, and (things) kept (in reserve), which thou hast not known. 7. Now they are created, and not of old; before this day thou hast never heard them, lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them. 8. Nay, thou didst not hear; nay, thou didst not know; likewise of old thine ear was not opened; I knew thou wouldst act very treacherously, and Apostate from the womb wast thou called.

9. For My name's sake I will defer My anger, and (for) My praise I will restrain (it) towards thee, so as not to cut thee off. 10. Behold, I have melted thee, and not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do (it)--for how is it profaned!--and My honour to another will I not give.

12. Hearken unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel My called; I am He, I am the First, also I the Last. 13. Also My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread the heavens; I call to them, and they will stand up together. 14. Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among them hath predicted these things? Jehovah loves him; He will do His pleasure in Babylon, and His arm (shall be upon) the Chaldees. 15. I, I have spoken; I have also called him; I have brought him (forth), and he prospers in his way. 16. Draw near unto me! Hear this; not from the beginning in secret have I spoken; from the time of its being, I was there; and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and His Spirit.

17. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God, teaching thee to profit, making thee to tread in the way thou shalt go. 18. Oh that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea; 19. then should have been like the sand thy seed, and the offspring of thy bowels like (the offspring of) its bowels; his name should not be cut off from before Me.

20. Go forth from Babel! Flee ye from the Chaldeans! With the voice of joy tell this, cause it to be heard, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed His servant Jacob. 21. And they thirsted not in the desert (through which) He made them go; water from a rock He made to flow for them; and He clave the rock, and waters gushed out. 22. There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.

XLIX.--[This chapter, like the whole division which it introduces, has for its great theme the relation of the Church to the world, and of Israel to the Gentiles. It opens with an exhibition of the Messiah and His people, under one ideal person, as the great appointed Teacher, Apostle, and Restorer of the apostate nations, vers. 1-9. This is followed by a promise of Divine protection and of glorious enlargement, attended by a joyous revelation in the state of the whole world, vers. 10-16. The doubts and apprehensions of the Church herself are twice recited under different forms, vers. 14, 24, and as often met and silenced, first by repeated and still stronger promises of God's unchanging love to His people and of their glorious enlargement and success, vers. 15-23; then by an awful threatening of destruction to their enemies and His, vers 25, 26.]

1. Hearken, ye Islands, unto Me, and attend, ye nations from afar. Jehovah from the womb hath called Me, from the bowels of My mother He hath mentioned My name. 2. And He hath rendered My mouth like a sharp sword, and He rendered Me as a polished arrow, in His quiver He has hid Me. 3. And He said to Me, Thou art My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4. And I said, In vain have I toiled, for emptiness and vanity My strength have I consumed; but My right is with Jehovah and My work with My God. 5. And now, saith Jehovah, who formed Me from the womb for a servant to Himself, to restore Jacob to Him, and (yet) Israel will not be gathered--and yet I shall be honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, and My God has (already) been My strength. 6. And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldst be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and the preserved of Israel to restore; and I have given Thee for a light to the Gentiles, to be My salvation even to the end of the earth. 7. Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the heartily despised, to the nation exciting abhorrence, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see it, and rise up, princes (shall see) and bow themselves, for the sake of Jehovah who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen Thee. 8. Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of favour I have heard Thee, and to a day of salvation have I helped Thee; and I will keep Thee, and I will give Thee for a covenant to the people, to raise up the earth, and to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; 9. to say to those bound, Come forth, and to (those) who are in darkness, Show yourselves.

On the ways they shall feed, and in all bare hills shall be their pasture. 10. They shall not hunger and they shall not thirst, and there shall not smite them mirage and sun; for He that hath mercy on them shall guide them, and by springs of water shall He lead them. 11. And I will place all mountains for the way, and My roads shall be high. 12. Behold, these from afar shall come, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the land of Sinim. 13. Shout, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, let the mountains burst forth into a shout; because Jehovah has comforted His people, and on His sufferers He will have mercy.

14. And (yet) Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. 15. Will a woman forget her suckling, so as not to have mercy on the son of her womb? Even these will forget, and (yet) I will not forget thee. 16. Behold, on My palms have I graven thee; thy walls (are) before Me continually. 17. Thy sons hasten (to thee); thy destroyers and thy wasters shall go out from thee. 18. Lift up thine eyes round about and see; all of them are gathered together, they are come to thee. (As) I live, saith Jehovah, (I swear) that all of them as an ornament thou shalt put on, and bind them like the bride. 19. For thy ruins, and thy wastes, and thy land of desolation, for now shalt thou be too narrow for the inhabitant, and far off shall be thy devourers. 20. Again shall they say in thine ears, The sons of thy childlessness. (Too) narrow for me is the place; come near for me, that I may dwell. 21. And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who hath produced these for me? and I was bereaved and barren, an exile and a banished one? And these who brought up? Behold, I was left alone; these where were they? 22. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold I will lift up to the nations My hand, and I will set up to the peoples My standard; and they will bring thy sons in the bosom, and thy daughters on the shoulders shall be carried. 23. And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their queens thy nursing-mothers; face to the ground shall they bow to thee, and the dust of thy feet shall they lick; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, whose waiters shall not be ashamed.

24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, and shall the captivity of the righteous be delivered? 25. For thus saith Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered, and with thy strivers will I strive, and thy sons will I save. 26. And I will make thy oppressors eat their (own) flesh, and as with new wine with their blood shall they be drunken; and all flesh shall know that I am Jehovah thy Saviour, and (that) thy Redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.

L.--[This chapter contains no entirely new element, but a fresh view of several which have already been repeatedly exhibited. The first of these is the great truth, that the sufferings of God's people are the necessary fruit of their own sins, ver. 1. The second is the power of Jehovah to accomplish their deliverance, vers. 2, 3. The third is the Servant of Jehovah, His mission, His qualifications for it, His endurance of reproach, and opposition on account of it, vers. 4-9. The fourth is the way of salvation and the certain doom of those who neglect it, vers. 10, 11.]

1. Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of divorcement of your mother, whom I have sent away? Or which of My creditors (is it) to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities ye have been sold, and for your transgressions has your mother been sent away.

2. Why did I come, and there was no man? (why) did I call, and there was no one answering? Is My hand shortened, shortened, from redemption? and is there with Me no power to deliver? Behold, by My rebuke I will dry up the sea, I will make streams a wilderness; let their fish stink for want of water and die of thirst. 3. I will clothe the heavens in blackness, and sackcloth will I make their covering.

4. The Lord God hath given to Me a ready tongue, that I might know how to help the weary (with) a word. He will waken, every morning He will waken for Me the ear, that I may hear like the disciples. 5. The Lord Jehovah opened for Me the ear, and I resisted not, I did not draw back. 6. My back I gave to those smiting, and My cheeks to those plucking (the hair); My face I did not hide from shame and spitting. 7. And the Lord God will help Me, therefore I am not confounded; therefore I have set My face as a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8. Near is My justifier; who will contend with Me? We will stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him draw near to Me. 9. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help Me; who (is) he (that) will condemn Me? All they like the garment shall grow old; the moth shall devour them.

10. Who among you is a fearer of Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of His servant, who walketh in darkness, and there is no light to him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean upon his God. 11. Lo, all of you kindling fire, girding sparks (or, fiery darts), go in the light of your fire, and in the sparks ye have kindled. From My hand is this to you; in pain shall ye lie down.

LI.--[This chapter is a direct continuation of the preceding declarations with respect to the vocation of the Church, and the Divine administration towards her. The possibility of her increase, as previously promised, is evinced by the example of Abraham, from whom all Israel descended, vers. 1-3. In like manner many shall be added from the Gentiles, vers. 4-6. Their enemies shall not only fail to destroy them, but shall be themselves destroyed, vers. 7, 8. This is confirmed by another historical example, that of Egypt, vers. 9, 10. The same assurances are then repeated, with a clearer promise of the new dispensation, vers. 11-16. The chapter closes with a direct address to Zion, who, though helpless in herself and destitute of human aid, is sure of God's protection and of the destruction of her enemies and His, vers. 17-23.]

1. Hearken unto Me, ye who are following after righteousness, ye who are seeking Jehovah; look unto the rock (from which) ye have been hewn, and the hole of the pit from which ye have been digged. 2. Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah (that) bare you: for I have called him one, and I will bless him and increase him (still). 3. For Jehovah hath comforted Zion; He hath comforted all our wastes, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. 4. Attend unto Me, My people: and My nation, unto Me give ear: that law from Me shall go forth, and My judgment for a light of the nations. 5. Near (is) My righteousness, gone forth is My salvation, and My arm shall judge the nations. For Me shall the islands wait, and in My arm they shall hope. 6. Raise to the heavens your eyes, and look unto the earth beneath; and the earth like the garment (which grows old) shall grow old, and its inhabitants likewise shall die; and My salvation to eternity shall be, and My righteousness shall not be broken.

7. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, people (with) My law in their heart: hear not the reproach of men, and by their scoffs be not broken (in spirit). 8. For like the (moth-eaten) garment shall the moth devour them, and like the (worm-eaten) wool shall the worm devour them; and My righteousness to eternity shall be, and My salvation to an age of ages.

9. Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Jehovah; awake, as (in the) days of old, the ages of eternities; art Thou not the same that hewed Rahab in pieces, that wounded the dragon? 10. Art not Thou the same that dried the sea, the waters of the great deep, that placed the depths of the sea (as) a way for the passage of redeemed ones?

11. And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and come to Zion with shouting, and everlasting joy upon their head; gladness and joy shall overtake (them), sorrow and sighing have fled away. 12. I, I am He that comforteth you; who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of man (who) is to die, and of the son of man who (as) grass is to be given? 13. And hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, spreading the heavens and founding the earth, and hast trembled continually all the day, from before the wrath of the oppressor as he made ready to destroy? And where is (now) the wrath of the oppressor? 14. He hastens bowing to be loosed, and he shall not die in the pit, and his bread shall not fail. 15. And I am Jehovah thy God, rousing the sea, and then its waves roar; Jehovah of hosts (is) His name. 16. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and in the shadow of My hand I have the earth, and to say to Zion, Thou art My people. 17. Rouse thyself! rouse thyself! Arise, Jerusalem! (thou) who hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of His wrath; the bowl of the cup of reeling thou hast drunk, thou hast wrung out.

18. There is no guide to hear of all the sons she has brought forth, and no one grasping her hand of all the sons she has brought up.

19. Both these things are befalling thee: who will mourn for thee? Wasting and ruin, famine and sword: who (but) I will comfort thee? 20. Thy sons were faint; they lie at the head of all the streets like a wild bull in a net, filled with the wrath of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God. 21. Therefore pray hear this, thou suffering one, and drunken, but not with wine; 22. thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, and thy God--He will defend His people--Behold, I have taken from thy hand the cup of reeling, the bowl of the cup of My fury; thou shalt not continue to drink it any more. 23. And I put it into the hand of those that afflicted thee, that said to thy soul, Bow down and we will pass over; and thou didst lay thy back as the ground, and as the street for the passengers.

LII.--[However low the natural Israel may sink, the true Church shall become more glorious than ever, being freed from the impurities connected with her former state, ver. 1. This is described as a captivity from which she is exhorted to escape, ver. 2. Her emancipation is the fruit of God's gratuitous compassion, ver. 3. As a nation she has suffered long enough, vers. 4, 5. The day is coming when the Israel of God shall know in whom they have believed, ver. 6. The herald of the new dispensation is described as already visible upon the mountains, ver. 7. The very ruins of Jerusalem are summoned to rejoice, ver. 9. The glorious change is witnessed by the whole world. 10. The true church or Israel of God is exhorted to come out of Jewry, ver. 11. This exodus is likened to the one from Egypt, but described as even more auspicious, ver. 12. Its great leader, the Messiah, as the Servant of Jehovah, must be and is to be exalted, ver. 13. And this exaltation shall bear due proportion to the humiliation which preceded it, vers. 14, 15.]

1. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion! Put on thy garments of beauty, O Jerusalem, the Holy City! For no more shall there continue to come into thee an uncircumcised and unclean (person). 2. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit, O Jerusalem! loose the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion!

3. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Ye were sold for nought, and not for money shall ye be redeemed. 4. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Into Egypt went down My people at the first to sojourn there, and Assyria oppressed them for nothing. 5. And now what have I here, saith Jehovah, that My people is taken away for nothing, its rulers howl, saith Jehovah, and continually, all the day, My name is blasphemed? 6. Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day (shall they know) that I am He that said, Behold Me!

7. How timely on the mountains are the feet of one bringing glad tidings, publishing peace, bringing tidings of good, publishing salvation, saying to Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8. The voice of thy watchmen! They raise the voice, together will they shout; for eye to eye will they see in Jehovah's returning to Zion. 9. Burst forth, shout together, ruins of Jerusalem! For Jehovah hath comforted His people, hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10. Jehovah hath bared His holy arm to the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

11. Away! away! go out from thence! the unclean touch not! come out from the midst of her! Be clean, ye armour-bearers of Jehovah. 12. For not in haste shall ye go out, and in flight ye shall not depart; for going before you (is) Jehovah, and bringing up your rear the God of Israel.

LII. 13.--[The great leader of this exodus, the Messiah, as the Servant of Jehovah, must be and is to be exalted, ver. 13. And this exaltation shall bear due proportion to the humiliation which preceded it, vers. 14, 15.

LIII.--Notwithstanding these and other prophecies of the Messiah, He is not recognised when He appears, ver. 1. He is not the object of desire and trust, for whom the great mass of the people have been waiting, ver. 2. Nay, His low condition, and especially His sufferings are vicarious, not accidental or incurred by His own fault, vers. 4-6. Hence, though personally innocent, He is perfectly unresisting, ver. 7. Even they for whom He suffers may mistake His person and His office, ver. 8. His case presents the two extremes of righteous punishment and perfect innocence, ver. 9. But the glorious fruit of these very sufferings will correct all errors, ver. 10. He becomes a Saviour only by becoming a substitute, ver. 11. Even after the work of expiation is completed, and His glorious reward secured, the work of intercession will be still continued, ver. 12.]

13. Behold, my Servant shall do wisely, shall rise and be exalted and high exceedingly. 14. As many were shocked at Thee--so marred from man His look, and His form from the sons of men--15. so shall He sprinkle many nations; concerning Him shall kings stop their mouth, because what was not recounted to them they have seen, and what they had not heard they have perceived.

LIII.--1. Who hath believed our report? and the arm of Jehovah, to whom (or, upon whom) has it been revealed?

2. And He came up like the tender plant before Him, and like a root from a dry ground; He had no form nor comeliness, and we shall see Him, and no sight that we should desire it. 3. Despised and forsaken of men (or ceasing from among men), a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness, and like one hiding the face from Him (or, us), despised, and we esteemed Him not.

4. Surely our sicknesses He bore, and our griefs He carried; and we thought Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. 5. And He was pierced (or, wounded) for our transgression, bruised (or, crushed) for our iniquities; the chastisement (or, punishment) for our peace (was) upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. 6. And we like sheep had gone astray, each to his own way we had turned, and Jehovah laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7. He was oppressed and He humbled Himself, and He will not open His mouth--as a lamb to the slaughter is brought, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb--and He will not open His mouth. 8. From distress and from judgment He was taken; and in His generation who will think, that He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people (as) a curse for them? 9. And He gave with wicked (men) His grave, and with a rich (man) in His death; because (or, although) He had done no violence, and no deceit (was) in His mouth.

10. And Jehovah was pleased to crush (or, bruise Him), He put Him to grief (or, made Him sick); if (or, when) His soul shall make an offering for sin, He shall see (His) seed, He shall prolong (His) days, and the pleasure of Jehovah in His hand shall prosper. 11. From the labour of His soul (or, life) He shall see, He shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall my servant (as) a righteous one, give righteousness to many, and their iniquities He will bear. 12. Therefore will I divide to Him among the many, and with the strong shall He divide the spoil, in lieu of this that He bared unto death His soul, and with the transgressors was numbered, and He (Himself) bare the sin of many, and for the transgressors He shall make intercession.

LIV.--[Instead of suffering from the loss of her national prerogatives, the Church shall be more glorious and productive than before, ver. 1. Instead of being limited to a single nation, she shall be so extended as to take in all the nations of the earth, vers. 2, 3. What seemed at first to be her forlorn and desolate condition shall be followed by a glorious change, ver. 4. He who seemed to be the God of the Jews only shall now be seen to be the God of the Gentiles also, ver. 5. The abrogation of the old economy was like the repudiation of a wife, but its effects will show it to be rather a renewal of the conjugal relation, ver. 6. The momentary rejection shall be followed by an everlasting reconciliation, vers. 7, 8. The old economy, like Noah's flood, can never be repeated, ver. 9. That was a temporary institution; this shall outlast the earth itself, ver. 10. The old Jerusalem shall be forgotten in the splendour of the new, vers. 11, 12. But this shall be a spiritual splendour, springing from a constant Divine influence, ver. 13. Hence it shall be also a holy and a safe state, ver. 14. All the enemies of the Church shall either be destroyed or received into her bosom, ver. 15. The warrior and his weapons are alike God's creatures and at His disposal, ver. 16. In every conflict, both of hand and tongue, the Church shall be triumphant, not in her own right or her own strength, but in that of Him who justifies, pardons, and saves her, ver. 17.]

1. Shout, O barren, that didst not bear; break forth into a shout and cry aloud, thou that didst not writhe (in childbirth): for more (are) the children of the desolate than the children of the married (woman), saith Jehovah. 2. Widen the place of thy tent, and the curtains of thy dwelling let them stretch out; spare not (or, hinder it not); lengthen thy cords and strengthen (or, make fast) thy stakes. 3. For right and left shalt thou break forth (or, spread), and thy seed shall possess (or, dispossess or inherit) nations, and repeople ruined (or, forsaken) cities.

4. Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; and be not abashed, for thou shalt not blush; for the shame of thy youth thou shalt forget, and the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt not remember any more. 5. For thy husband (is) thy Maker, Jehovah of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer (is) the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth shall He be called. 6. For as a wife forsaken and grieved of spirit has Jehovah called thee, and (as) a wife of youth, for she shall be rejected, said thy God. 7. In a little moment I forsook thee, and in great mercies I will gather thee. 8. In a gush of wrath I hid My face for a moment from thee, and in everlasting kindness I have had mercy on thee, saith thy Redeemer, Jehovah. 9. For the waters of Noah is this to Me; what I sware from the waters of Noah passing again over the earth [_i.e.,_ that they should not pass], so have I sworn from being angry [that I will not be angry] against thee, and from rebuking [that I will not] rebuke thee. 10. For the mountains shall move and the hills shall shake; but My favour from thee shall not move, and My covenant of peace shall not shake, saith thy pitier, Jehovah. 11. Wretched, storm-tossed, comfortless! Behold, I am laying (or, about to lay) thy stones in antimony, and I will found thee upon sapphires; 12. and I will make thy battlements (or, pinnacles) ruby, and thy gates to (be) sparkling gems, and all thy borders to (be) stones of pleasure (or delight). 13. And all thy children disciples of Jehovah, and great (or, plentiful) the peace of thy children. 14. In righteousness shalt thou be established: be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear, and from destruction, for it shall not come near to thee. 15. Lo, they shall gather, they shall gather, not at My sign (or, signal). Who has gathered against thee? He shall fall away to thee. 16. Lo, I have created the smith, blowing into the fire of coal, and bringing out a weapon for his work; and I have created the wasters to destroy. 17. Every weapon (that) shall be formed against thee shall not prosper, and every tongue that shall rise with thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness from Me, saith Jehovah.

LV.--[By the removal of the old restrictions, the Church is, for the first time, open to the whole world, as the source or medium of the richest blessings, ver. 1. It is only here that real nourishment can be obtained, ver. 2. Life is made ours by an oath and covenant, ver. 3. The Messiah is a witness of the truth and a commander of the nations, ver. 4. As such He will be recognised by many nations who before knew nothing of the true religion, ver. 5. These are now addressed directly, and exhorted to embrace the offered opportunity, ver. 6. To this there is every encouragement afforded in the Divine mercy, ver. 7. The infinite disparity between God and man should have the same effect, instead of hindering it, vers. 8, 9. The commands and promises of God must be fulfilled, vers. 10, 11. Nothing, therefore, can prevent a glorious change in the condition of the world under the dispensation of the Spirit, ver. 12. This blessed renovation, being directly promotive of God's glory, shall endure for ever, ver. 13.]

1. Ho, every thirsty one, come ye to the waters; and he to whom there is no money, come ye, buy (food) and eat; and come, buy, without money and without price, wine and milk. 2. Why will ye weigh money for (that which is) not bread, and your labour for (that which is) not to satiety? Hearken, hearken unto me, and eat (that which is) good, and your soul shall enjoy itself in fatness. 3. Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and your soul shall live (or, let it live), and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David. 4. Lo, (as) a witness of nations I have given him, a chief and commander of nations. 5. Lo, a nation (that) thou knowest not shalt thou call, and a nation (that) have not known thee shall run unto thee, for the sake of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for He hath glorified thee.

6. Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return unto Jehovah, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God for He will abundantly pardon (literally, multiply to pardon). 8. For My thoughts (are) not as your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, saith Jehovah. 9. For (as) the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and thither returneth not, but when it has watered the earth and made it bear and put forth, and has given seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11. so shall My word be, which goeth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void (or, without effect), but when it has done that which I desired, and successfully done that for which I sent it. 12. For with joy shall ye go forth, and in peace shall ye be led; the mountains and the hills shall break out before you into a shout, and all the trees of the field shall clap the hand. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle, and it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

LVI.--[The day is coming when the righteousness of God is to be fully revealed, without the veils and shackles which had hitherto confined it, ver. 1. For this great change, the best preparation is fidelity to the spirit of the old economy, ver. 2. No personal or national distinctions will be any longer recognised, ver. 3. Connection with the Church will no longer be a matter of hereditary right, vers. 4, 5. The Church shall be henceforth coextensive with the world, vers. 6-8. But first the carnal Israel must be abandoned to its enemies, ver. 9. Its rulers are neither able nor worthy to deliver the people or themselves, ver. 10-12.]

1. Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye judgment (or justice) and do righteousness; for near (is) My salvation to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. 2. Happy the man (that) shall do this, and the son of man that shall hold it fast, keeping the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeping the hand from doing evil.

3. And let not the foreigner say, who has joined himself unto Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will separate me wholly from His people; and let not the eunuch say, Lo, I am a dry tree. 4. For thus saith Jehovah to (or, as to) the eunuchs, who shall keep My Sabbaths, and shall choose what I delight in, and take fast hold of My covenant, 5. I will give to them in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and than daughters; an everlasting name will I give to him, which shall not be cut off. 6. And (as to) the foreigners joining themselves to Jehovah to serve Him and to love the name of Jehovah, to be to him for servants, every one keeping the Sabbath from profaning it, and holding fast my covenant; 7. I will bring them to My mount of holiness, and make them joyful in My house of prayer, their offerings and their sacrifices (shall be) acceptance on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. 8. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the gatherer of the outcasts of Israel, Still (more) will I gather upon him (in addition) to his gathered.

9. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, all ye beasts in the forest! 10. His watchmen (are) blind all of them, they have not known (or, do not know); all of them (are) dumb dogs, they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. 11. And the dogs are greedy, they know not satiety, and they, the shepherds (or, the shepherds themselves), know not how to distinguish (or, act wisely): all of them to their own way are turned, (every) man to his own gain from his own quarter (or, without exception). 12. Come ye, I will fetch wine, and we will intoxicate ourselves with strong drink, and like to-day (shall be) to-morrow, great, abundantly, exceedingly.

LVII.--[The righteous who died under the old economy were taken away from the evil to come, vers. 1, 2. The wicked who despised them were themselves proper objects of contempt, vers. 3, 4. Their idolatry is first described in literal terms, vers. 5, 6. It is then represented as a spiritual idolatry, vers. 7-9. Their obstinate persistence in sin is represented as the cause of their hopeless and remediless destruction, vers. 10-13. A way is prepared for spiritual Israel to come out from among them, vers. 14. The hopes of true believers shall not be deferred for ever, vers. 15, 16. Even these must be chastened for their sins, ver. 17. But there is favour in reserve for all true penitents, without regard to national distinctions, vers. 18. 19. To the incorrigible sinner, on the other hand, peace is impossible, vers. 20, 21.]

1. The righteous perisheth, and there is no man laying (it) to heart, and men of mercy are taken away, with none considering (or perceiving) that from the presence of evil the righteous is taken away. 2. He shall go in peace (or, enter into peace); they shall rest upon their beds--walking straight before him.

3. And ye (or, as for you), draw near hither, ye sons of the witch, seed of the adulterer and the harlot. 4. At whom do ye amuse yourselves? At whom do ye enlarge the mouth, prolong the tongue? Are ye not children of rebellion (or, apostasy), a seed of falsehood? 5. Inflamed (or, inflaming yourselves) among the oaks (or, terebinths), under every green tree, slaughtering the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks. 6. Among the smooth (stones) of the valley (or, the brook) is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; also to them hast thou poured out a drink-offering, thou hast brought up a meat-offering. Shall I for these things be consoled (_i.e.,_ satisfied without revenge)?

7. On a high and elevated mountain thou hast placed thy bed; also there (or, even thither) hast thou gone up to offer sacrifice. 8. And behind the door and the door-post thou hast placed thy memorial, far away from me thou hast uncovered (thyself or thy bed), and hast gone up, thou hast enlarged thy bed and hast covenanted from them, thou hast loved their bed, thou hast provided room. 9. And thou hast gone to the king in oil, and hast multiplied thine unguents, and hast sent thine ambassadors even to a far-off (land), and hast gone (or, sent) down even to hell.

10. In the greatness of thy way (or, the abundance of thy travel) thou hast labour; (but) thou hast not said, There is no hope. Thou hast found the life of thy hand; therefore thou art not weak. 11. And whom hast thou feared and been afraid of, that thou shouldst lie? And Me thou hast not remembered, thou hast not called to mind (or, laid to heart). Is it not (because) I hold My peace, and that of old, that thou wilt not fear Me? 12. I will declare thy righteousness and thy works, and they shall not profit (or, avail) thee. 13. In thy crying (_i.e.,_ when thou criest for help), let thy gatherings save thee! And (yet) all of them the wind shall take up, and a breath shall take away, and the (one) trusting in Me shall inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.

14. And he shall say, Cast up, cast up, clear the way, take up the stumbling-block from the way of the people! 15. For thus saith the High and Exalted One, inhabiting eternity, and Holy is His name: On high and holy will I dwell, and with the broken and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to retrieve the heart of the broken (or, contrite ones). 16. For not to eternity will I contend, and not to perpetuity will I be wroth; for the spirit from before Me will faint, and the souls (which) I have made.

17. For his covetous iniquity I am wroth and will smite him, (I will) hide Me and will be wroth; for he has gone on turning away (_i.e.,_ persevering in apostasy) in the way of his heart (or, of his own inclination). 18. His ways I have seen, and I will heal him, and will guide him, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. 19. Creating the fruit of the lips, Peace, peace to the far off and to the near, saith Jehovah, and I will heal him.

20. And the wicked (are) like the troubled sea, for rest it cannot, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. 21. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

LVIII.--[The rejection of Israel as a nation is the just reward of their unfaithfulness, ver. 1. Their religious services are hypocritical, ver. 2. Their mortifications and austerities are nullified by accompanying wickedness, vers. 3-5. They should have been connected with the opposite virtues, vers. 6, 7. In that case they would have continued to enjoy the divine favour, vers. 8, 9. They are still invited to make trial of this course, with an ample promise of prosperity and blessing to encourage them, vers. 10-14.]

1. Cry with the throat, spare not, like the trumpet raise thy voice, and tell to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2. And Me day (by) day they will seek, and the knowledge of My ways they will delight in (or, desire), like a nation which has done right, and the judgment of its God has not forsaken; they will ask of Me righteous judgments, the approach to God (or, of God) they will delight in (or, desire).

3. Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen (it)? afflicted our soul (or, themselves) and Thou wilt not know (it)? Behold in the day of your fast ye will find pleasure, and all your labours ye will exact. 4. Behold, for strife and contention ye will fast, and to smite with the flat of wickedness; ye shall not (or, ye will not) fast to-day (so as) to make your voice heard on high. 5. Shall it be like this, the fast that I will choose, the day of man's humbling himself? Is it to hang his head like a bulrush, and make sackcloth and ashes his bed? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day of acceptance (an acceptable day) to Jehovah?

6. Is not this the fast that I will choose, to loosen bands of wickedness, to undo the fastenings of the yoke, and to send away the crushed (or broken) free, and every yoke ye shall break? 7. Is it not to break unto the hungry thy bread? and the afflicted, the homeless, thou shalt bring home; for thou shalt see one naked and shalt clothe him, and from thine own flesh thou shalt not hide thyself.

8. Then shall break forth as the dawn thy light, and thy healing speedily shall spring up; then shall go before thee thy righteousness, and the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rereward (or, bring up thy rear). 9. Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and He will say, Behold Me (here I am), if thou wilt put away from the midst of thee the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of vanity.

10. And (if) thou wilt let out thy soul to the hungry, and the afflicted soul will satisfy, then shall thy sight arise in the darkness, and thy gloom as the (double light or) noon. 11. And Jehovah will guide thee over, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and thy bones shall He invigorate, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters shall not fail. 12. And they shall build from thee the ruins of antiquity (or, perpetuity), foundations of age and age (_i.e.,_ of ages) shalt thou raise up: and it shall be called to thee (or, thou shalt be called) Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths for dwelling.

13. If thou wilt turn away thy foot from the Sabbath to do thy pleasure on My holy day, and wilt call the Sabbath a delight (and) the holy (day) of Jehovah honourable, and wilt honour it by not doing thy own ways, by not finding thy pleasure and talking talk; 14. then shalt thou be happy in Jehovah, and I will make thee rule upon the heights of the earth, and I will make thee eat the heritage of Jacob thy father, for Jehovah's mouth hath spoken it.

LIX.--[The fault of Israel's rejection is not in the Lord, but in themselves, vers. 1, 2. They are charged with sins of violence and injustice, vers. 3, 4. The ruinous effects of these corruptions are described, vers. 5, 6. Their violence and injustice are fatal to themselves and to others, vers. 7, 8. The moral condition of the people is described as one of darkness and hopeless degradation, vers. 9-15. In this extremity, Jehovah interposes to deliver the true Israel, vers. 16, 17. This can only be effected by the destruction of the carnal Israel, vers. 18. The Divine presence shall no longer be subjected to local restrictions, vers. 19. A Redeemer shall appear in Zion to save the true Israel, vers. 20. The old dispensation shall give place to the dispensation of the Word and Spirit, which shall last for ever, ver. 21.]

1. Behold, not shortened is Jehovah's hand from saving, and not benumbed is His ear from hearing. 2. But your iniquities have been separating between you and your God, and your sins have hid (His) face from you, so as not to hear.

3. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue will utter wickedness. 4. There is none calling with justice, and there is none contending with truth; they trust in vanity and speak falsehood, conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. 5. Eggs of the basilisk they have hatched, and webs of the spider they will spin (or, weave); the one eating their eggs shall die, and the crushed (egg) shall hatch out a viper. 6. The webs shall not become (or, be for) clothing, and they shall not cover themselves with their works: their works are works of mischief (or, iniquity), and the doing of violence is in their hands. 7. Their feet to evil will run, and they will hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of mischief (or, iniquity); wasting and ruin are in their paths. 8. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their paths; their courses they have rendered crooked for them; every one walking in them knows not peace.

9. Therefore is judgment far from us, and righteousness will not overtake us; we wait for light, and behold darkness; for splendours, (and) in obscurities we walk. 10. We grope like the blind for the wall, like the eyeless we grope; we stumble at noon-day as in twilight, in thick darkness like the dead. 11. We growl like the bears, all of us, and like the doves we moan; we wait for justice and there is none, for salvation (and) it is far from us. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities--we know them; 13. to transgress and lie against Jehovah, and to turn back from behind our God, to speak oppression and departure, to conceive and utter from the heart words of falsehood. 14. And judgment is thrust (or, driven) back, and righteousness afar off stands; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. 15. Then truth was missed (_i.e.,_ found wanting), and whoso departed from evil made himself a prey (or, was plundered).

Then Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgment (or, practical justice). 16. And He saw that there was no man, and He stood aghast that there was no one interposing; and His own arm saved for Him, and His own righteousness, it upheld Him. 17. And He clothed Himself with righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation on His head, and He clothed Himself with garments of vengeance (for) clothing. 18. According to (their) deeds, according will He repay, wrath to His enemies, (their) desert to His foes, to the isles (their) desert will He repay. 19. And they shall fear from the west the name of Jehovah, and from the rising of the sun His glory; for it shall come like a straitened stream, the spirit of Jehovah raising a banner in it.

20. Then shall come for Zion a Redeemer, and for the converts from apostasy in Jacob, saith Jehovah. 21. And I (or, as for me)--this (is) My covenant with them, saith Jehovah. My Spirit which is on thee, and My words which I have placed in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever (or, from now and to eternity).

LX.--[The prophet describes the approaching change as a new and Divine light rising upon Zion, ver. 1. He contrasts it with the darkness of surrounding nations, ver. 2. Yet these are not excluded from participation in the light, ver. 3. The elect in every nation are the children of the Church, and shall be gathered to her, vers. 4, 5. On one side he sees the Oriental caravans and flocks approaching, vers. 6, 7. On the other, the commercial fleets of western nations, vers. 8, 9. What seemed rejection is in fact the highest favour, ver. 10. The glory of the true Church is her freedom from local and national restrictions, ver. 11. None are excluded from her pale but those who exclude themselves and thereby perish, ver. 12. External nature shall contribute to her splendour, ver. 13. Her very enemies shall do her homage, ver. 14. Instead of being cast off, she is glorified for ever, ver. 15. Instead of being identified with one nation, she shall derive support from all, ver. 16. All that is changed in her condition shall be changed for the better, ver. 17. The evils of her former state are done away, ver. 18. Even some of its advantages are now superfluous, ver. 19. What remains shall be no longer precarious, ver. 20. The splendour of this new dispensation is a moral and spiritual splendour, but attended by external safety and protection, ver. 21, 22. All this shall certainly and promptly come to pass at the appointed time, ver. 22.]

1. Arise, be light; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon thee. 2. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and a gloom the nations, and upon thee shall Jehovah rise, and His glory upon thee shall be seen. 3. And nations shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising.

4. Lift up thine eyes round about (_i.e.,_ in all directions) and see; all of them are gathered, they come to thee, thy sons from afar shall come, and thy daughters at the side shall be borne. 5. Then shalt thou see (or, fear), and brighten up (or, overflow), and thy heart shall throb and swell; because (or, when) the abundance of the sea shall be turned upon thee, the strength of nations shall come unto thee.

6. A stream of camels shall cover thee, young camels (or, dromedaries) of Midian and Ephah, all of them from Sheba shall come, gold and incense shall they bear, and the praises of Jehovah as good news. 7. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered for thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to thee, they shall ascend with good-will (or, acceptably) My altar, and My house of beauty I will beautify.

8. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their windows? 9. Because for Me the isles are waiting (or, must wait) and the ships of Tarshish in the first place, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified thee.

10. And strangers shall build thy walls, and their kings shall serve thee; for in My wrath I smote thee, and in My favour I have had mercy on thee. 11. And thy gates shall be open continually, day and night they shall not be shut, to bring into thee the strength of nations and their kings led (captive, or, in triumph). 12. For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve thee shall perish, and the nations shall be desolated, desolated.

13. The glory of Lebanon to thee shall come, cypress, plane, and box together, to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and the place of My feet I will honour.

14. Then shall come to thee bending the sons of thy oppressors, then shall bow down to the soles of thy feet all thy despisers, and shall call thee the City of Jehovah, Zion the holy place of Israel (or, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel).

15. Instead of thy being forsaken and hated, and with none passing (through thee), and I will place thee for a boast of perpetuity, a joy of age and age. 16. And they shalt suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings shalt thou suck, and thou shalt know that I, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and (that) thy Redeemer (is) the Mighty One of Jacob. 17. Instead of brass (or, copper) I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood brass, and instead of stones iron, and I will place (or, make) thy government peace, and thy rulers righteousness.

18. There shall be no more heard violence in thy land, desolation and ruin in thy borders (or, within thy bounds); and thou shalt call salvation thy walls, and thy gates praise. 19. No more shall be to thee the sun for a light by day, and for brightness the moon shall not shine to thee, and Jehovah shall become thy everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20. The sun shall set no more, and thy moon shall not be withdrawn; for Jehovah shall be unto thee an eternal light, and completed the days of thy mourning. 21. And thy people, all of them righteous, for ever shall inherit the earth, the branch (or, shoot) of My planting, the work of My hands, to glorify Myself (or, to be glorified). 22. The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation; I, Jehovah, in its time will hasten it.

LXI.--[After describing the new condition of the Church, he again introduces the great Personage by whom the change is to be brought about. His mission and its object are described by Himself in vers. 1-3. Its grand result shall be the restoration of a ruined world, ver. 4. The Church, as a mediator between God and the revolted nations, shall enjoy their solace and support, vers. 5, 6. The shame of God's people shall be changed to honour, ver. 7. The Church once restricted as a single nation, shall be recognised and honoured among all, ver. 9. He triumphs in the prospect of the universal spread of truth and righteousness, vers. 10, 11.]

1. The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah (is) upon me, because Jehovah hath anointed me to bring good news to the humble, He hath sent me to bind up the broken in heart, to proclaim to captives freedom, and to the bound open opening (of the eyes or of the prison doors); 2. to proclaim a year of favour for Jehovah, and a day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all mourners, 3. to put upon Zion's mourners--to give them a crown instead of ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for a faint spirit; and it shall be called to them (or, they shall be called) the oaks of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah (_i.e.,_ planted by Jehovah) to glorify Himself.

4. And they shall bind up the ruins of antiquity, the desolations of the ancients they shall raise, and shall renew the cities of ruin (_i.e.,_ ruined cities), the desolations of age and age. 5. Then shall stand strangers and feed your flocks, and the children of outland (shall be) your ploughmen and your vine-dressers. 6. And ye (or more emphatically, as for you), the priests of Jehovah shall ye be called, the ministers of our God shall be said to you (or, of you), the strength of nations shall ye eat, and in their glory shall ye substitute yourselves. 7. Instead of your shame (ye shall have) double, and (instead of their) confusion they shall celebrate their portion; therefore in their land shall they inherit double, everlasting joy shall be to them. 8. For I am Jehovah, loving justice, hating (that which is) taken away unjustly, and I will give their hire truly, and an everlasting covenant I strike for them. 9. Then shall be known among the nations their seed, and their issue in the midst of the peoples. All seeing them shall acknowledge them that they are a seed Jehovah has blessed.

10. (I will) joy, I will joy in Jehovah, let my soul exult in my God; for He hath clothed me with garments of salvation, a mantle of righteousness has He put on me, as a bridegroom adjusts his priestly crown, and as the bride arrays her jewels. 11. For as the earth puts forth its growth, and as the garden makes its plants to grow, so shall the Lord Jehovah make to grow righteousness and praise before all the nations.

LXII.--[The words of the great Deliverer are continued from the foregoing chapter. He will not rest until the glorious change in the condition of His people is accomplished, ver. 1. They shall be recognised by kings and nations as the people of Jehovah, vers. 2, 3. She who seemed to be forsaken is still His spouse, vers. 4, 5. The Church is required to watch and pray for the fulfilment of the promise, vers. 6, 7. God has sworn to protect her and supply her wants, ver. 8, 9. Instead of a single nation, all the nations of the earth shall flow unto her, ver 10. The good news of salvation shall no longer be confined, but universally diffused, ver 11. The glory of the Church is the redemption of the world, ver. 12.]

1. For Zion's sake I will not be still, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp (that) burneth. 2. And nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and there shall be called in thee a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall utter. 3. And thou shalt be a crown of beauty in Jehovah's hand, and a diadem of royalty in the palm of thy God. 4. No more shall it be called to thee (shalt thou be called) Azubah (Forsaken), and thy land shall no more be called Shemamah (Desolate), but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (my delight is in her), and thy land Beulah (married), for Jehovah delights in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5. For (as) a young man marrieth a virgin, (so) shall thy sons marry thee, and (with) the joy of a bridegroom over a bride shall thy God rejoice over thee.

6. On thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night long they shall not be silent. Ye that remind Jehovah, let there be no rest to you, 7. and give no rest to Him, until He establish and, until He place Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

8. Sworn hath Jehovah by His right hand, and by His arm of strength, If I give (_i.e.,_ I will not give) thy corn any more as food to thine enemies, and if the sons of the outland shall drink thy new wine which thou hast laboured in (I am not God). 9. For those gathering it shall eat it, and shall praise Jehovah, and those collecting it shall drink it in My holy courts (or, in the courts of My sanctuary). 10. Pass, pass through the gates, clear the way of the people, raise high, raise high the highway, free (it) from stones, raise a banner (or, a signal) over the nations. 11. Behold, Jehovah has caused it to be heard to the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him and His hire before Him. 12. And they shall call them the Holy People, the redeemed of Jehovah, and thou shalt be called Derushah (sought for), Ir-lo-neczabah (city not forsaken).

LXIII.--[The influx of the Gentiles into Zion having been described in the preceding verses, the destruction of her enemies is now sublimely represented as a sanguinary triumph of Jehovah or the Messiah, vers. 1-6. The prophet then supposes the catastrophe already past, and takes a retrospective view of God's compassion towards His people, and of their unfaithfulness during the old economy, vers. 7-14. He assumes the tone of earnest supplication, such as might have been offered by the believing Jews when all seemed lost in the destruction of the commonwealth and temple, vers. 15-19.]

LXIV.--[This chapter is inseparable from the one before it. The strongest confidence is expressed in the Divine power, founded upon former experience, vers. 1-3. The two great facts of Israel's rejection as a nation, and the continued existence of the Church, are brought together in ver. 4. The unworthiness of Israel is acknowledged still more fully, ver. 5, 6. The sovereign authority of God is humbly recognised, ver. 7. His favour is earnestly implored, ver. 8. The external prerogatives of Israel are lost, ver. 9. But will God for that cause cast off the true Israel, His own people? ver. 10.]

1. Who (is) this coming from Edom, bright (as to His) garments from Bozrah, this one adorned in His apparel, bending in the abundance of His strength?

I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.

2. Why (is there) redness to Thy raiment, and (why are) Thy garments like (those of) one treading in a wine-press?

3. The press I have trodden by Myself, and of the nations there was not a man with Me; and I will tread them in My anger, and trample them in My fury, and in their juice shall spirt upon My garments, and all My vesture I have stained. 4. For the day of vengeance (is) in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come. 5. And I look, and there is none helping; and I stand aghast, and there is none sustaining; and My own arm saves for Me, and My fury it sustains Me. 6. And I tread the nations in My anger, and I make them drunk in My wrath, and I bring down to the earth their juice.

7. The mercies of Jehovah I will cause to be remembered, the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah hath done for us, which He hath done for them, according to His compassions, and according to the multitude of His mercies.

8. And He said, Only they are My people, (My) children shall not lie (or, deceive), and He became a Saviour for them. 9. In all their enmity He was not an enemy, and the angel of His face (or, presence) saved them; in His love and in His sparing mercy He redeemed them, and He took them up and carried them all the days of old. 10. And they rebelled, and grieved His Holy Spirit (or, Spirit of holiness), and He was turned from them into an enemy, He himself fought against them.

11. And he remembered the days of old, Moses (and) his people. Where is He that brought them up from the sea, the shepherd of His flock? Where is He that put within him His Holy Spirit? 12. Leading them by the right hand of Moses (and) His glorious arm, cleaving the waters from before them, to make for Him an everlasting name? 13. Making them walk in the depths, like the horse in the desert they shall not stumble. 14. As the herd into the valley will go down, the Spirit of Jehovah will make him rest. So didst Thou lead Thy people, to make for Thyself a name of glory.

15. Look (down) from heaven and see from Thy dwelling-place of holiness and beauty! Where is Thy zeal and Thy might (or, mighty deeds)? The sounding of Thy bowels and Thy mercies towards me have withdrawn themselves. 16. For Thou (art) our Father; for Abraham hath not known us, and Israel will not recognise us; Thou Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer of old (or, from everlasting) is Thy name. 17. Why wilt Thou make us wander, O Jehovah, from Thy ways? (why) wilt Thou harden our heart from Thy fear? Return, for the sake of Thy servants, the tribes of Thy inheritance. 18. For a little Thy holy people possessed, our enemies trod down Thy sanctuary. 19. We are of old, Thou has not ruled over them, Thy name has not been called upon them. LXIV.--1. Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens (and) come down, (that) from before Thee the mountains might quake (or flow down), 2. as fire kindles brush, fire boils water--to make known Thy name to Thine enemies, from before Thee nations shall tremble. 3. In Thy doing fearful things (which) we expect not, (oh that) Thou wouldst come down, (that) the mountains before Thee might flow down. 4. And from eternity they have not heard, they have not perceived by the ear, the eye hath not seen, a God beside Thee (who) will do for (one) waiting for Him.

5. Thou hast met with one rejoicing and executing righteousness; in Thy ways shall they remember Thee; behold, Thou hast been wroth, and we have sinned; in them is perpetuity, and we shall be saved. 6. And we were like the unclean all of us, and like a filthy garment all our righteousness (virtues or good works), and we faded like the (fading) leaf all of us, and our iniquities like the wind will take us up (or, carry us away). 7. And there is no one calling on Thy name, rousing himself to lay hold on Thee; for Thou hast hid Thy face from us, and hast melted us because of (or, by means of) our iniquities.

8. And now Jehovah, our Father (art) Thou, we the clay and Thou our potter, and the work of Thy hands (are) we all. 9. Be not angry, O Jehovah, to extremity, and do not to eternity remember guilt; lo, look, we pray thee, Thy people (are) we all. 10. The holy cities are a desert, Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a waste. 11. Our house of holiness and beauty (in) which our fathers praised Thee has been burned up with fire, and all our delights (or, desirable places) have become a desolation. 12. Wilt Thou for these (things) restrain Thyself, O Jehovah, wilt Thou keep silence and afflict us to extremity?

LXV.--[The grand enigma of Israel's simultaneous loss and gain is solved by a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles, ver. 1. This is connected with the obstinate unfaithfulness of the chosen people, ver. 2. They are represented under the two main aspects of their character at different periods, as gross idolaters and as pharisaical bigots, vers. 3-5. Their casting off was not occasioned by the sins of one generation, but of many, vers. 6, 7. But even in this rejected race there was a chosen remnant, in whom the promises shall be fulfilled, vers. 8-10. He then reverts to the idolatrous Jews, and threatens them with condign punishment, vers. 11, 12. The fate of the unbelieving carnal Israel is compared with that of the true spiritual Israel, vers. 13-16. The gospel economy is described as a new creation, ver. 17. Its blessings are represented under glowing figures borrowed from the old dispensation, vers. 18-19. Premature death shall be no longer known, ver. 20. Possession and enjoyment shall no longer be precarious, vers. 21-23. Their very desires shall be anticipated, ver. 24. All animosities and noxious influences shall cease for ever, ver. 25.]

1. I have been inquired of by those that asked not, I have been found by those that sought Me not; I have said, Behold Me, behold Me, to a nation (that) was not called by My name. 2. I have spread (or, stretched) out My hands all the day (or, every day) to a rebellious people, those going the way not good, after their own thoughts (or, designs)--3. the people angering Me to My face continually, sacrificing in the gardens, and censing on the bricks; 4. sitting in the graves, and in the holes they will lodge, eating the flesh of swine, and broth of filthy things (is in) their vessels; 5. the (men) saying, Keep to thyself, come not near to me, for I am holy to thee,--these (are) a smoke in My wrath, a fire burning all the day (or, every day). 6 and 7. Lo, it is written before Me, I will not rest except I repay, and I will repay into their bosom your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith Jehovah, who burned incense on the mountains, and on the hills blasphemed Me, and I will measure their first work into their bosom.

8. Thus saith Jehovah, as (when) juice is found in the cluster, and one says, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so will I do for the sake of My servants, not to destroy the whole. 9. And I will bring forth from Jacob a seed, and from Judah an heir of My mountains, and My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. 10. And Sharon shall be for (or, become) a home of flocks, and the valley of Achor a lair of herds, for My people who have sought Me.

11. And (as for) you, forsakers of Jehovah, the (men) forgetting My holy mountain, the (men) setting for Fortune a table, and the (men) filling for Fate a mingled draught; 12. and I have numbered you to the sword, and all of you to the slaughter shall bow; because I called and ye did not answer, I spake and ye did not hear, and ye did the (thing that was) evil in my eyes, and that which I desired not ye chose.

13 and 14. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Lo! My servants shall eat and ye shall hunger; lo, My servants shall drink and ye shall thirst; lo, My servants shall rejoice and ye shall be ashamed; lo, My servants shall shout from gladness of heart, and ye shall cry from grief of heart, and from brokenness of spirit ye shall howl. 15. And ye shall leave your name for an oath to My chosen ones, and the Lord Jehovah shall slay thee, and shall call His servants by another name (lit. call another name to them), 16. (by) which the (man) blessing himself in the land (or, earth) shall bless himself by the God of truth, and (by which) the (man) swearing in the land (or, earth) shall swear by the God of truth, because forgotten are the former enmities (or, troubles), and because they are hidden from My eyes.

17. For lo I (am) creating (or, about to create) new heavens and a new earth, and the former (things) shall not be remembered, and shall not come up into the mind (lit. on the heart). 18. But rejoice and be glad unto eternity (in) that which I (am) creating, for lo, I (am) creating Jerusalem a joy, and her people a rejoicing. 19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and there shall not be heard in her again the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. 20. There shall be no more from there an infant of days, and an old man who shall not fulfil his days, for the child a hundred years old shall die, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 and 22. And they shall build houses and inhabit (them), and shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, they shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree (shall be) the days of My people, and the work of their hands My chosen ones shall wear out (or, survive). 23. They shall not labour in vain, and they shall not bring forth for terror; for the seed of the blessed of Jehovah are they, and their offspring with them. 24. And it shall be (or, come to pass), that they shall not yet have called and I will answer, yet (shall) they (be) speaking and I will hear. 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one, and the lion like the ox shall eat straw, and the serpent dust (for) his food. They shall not hurt and they shall not corrupt (or, destroy) in all My holy mountain, saith Jehovah.

LXVI.--[This chapter winds up the prophetic discourse with an express prediction of the change of dispensation, and a description of the difference between them. Jehovah will no longer dwell in temples made with hands, ver. 1. Every sincere and humble heart shall be His residence, ver. 2. The ancient sacrifices, though Divinely instituted, will henceforth be as hateful as the rites of idolatry, ver. 3. They who still cling to the abrogated ritual will be fearfully but righteously requited, ver. 4. The true Israel cast out by these deluded sinners shall ere long be glorified, and the carnal Israel fearfully rewarded, vers. 5, 6. The ancient Zion may already be seen travailing with a new and glorious dispensation, vers. 7-9. They who mourned for her seeming desolation, now rejoice in her abundance and her honour, vers. 10-14. At the same time the carnal Israel shall be destroyed, as apostates and idolaters, vers. 15-17. The place where they once occupied shall now be filled by the elect from all nations, ver. 18. To gather these, a remnant of the ancient Israel shall go forth among the Gentiles, ver. 19. They shall come from every quarter, and by every mode of conveyance, ver. 20. They shall be admitted to the sacerdotal honours by the chosen people, ver. 21. This new dispensation shall not be temporary, like the one before it, but shall last for ever, ver. 22. While the spiritual Israel is thus replenished from all nations, the apostate Israel shall perish by a lingering decay in the sight of an astonished world, ver. 23, 24.]

1. Thus saith Jehovah, the heavens (are) My throne, and the earth My footstool; where is (or, what is) the house which ye will build for Me, and where is (or, what is) the place of My rest? 2. And all these My own hand made, and all these were (or, are), saith Jehovah; and to this one will I look, to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and trembling at My word.

3. Slaying the ox, smiting a man--sacrificing the sheep, breaking a dog's neck--offering an oblation, blood of swine--making a memorial of incense, blessing vanity--also they have chosen their ways, and in their abominations has their soul delighted. 4. I also will choose their vexations, and their fear I will bring unto them; because I called and there was no answering, I spake and they did not hear, and they did evil in My eyes, and that which I delight not in they chose.

5. Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at His word. Your brethren say, (these) hating you and casting you out for My name's sake, Jehovah will be glorified, and we shall gaze upon our joy--and they shall be ashamed. 6. A voice of tumult from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of Jehovah, rendering requital to His enemies!

7. Before she travailed she brought forth, before her pain came she was delivered of a male. 8. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall a land be brought forth in one day, or shall a nation be born at once? For Zion hath travailed, she hath also brought forth her children. 9. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah. Or am I the one causing to bring forth, and shall I shut up? saith thy God.

10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and exult in her, all that love her; and be glad with her with gladness, all those mourning for her. 11. that ye may suck and be satisfied from the breast of her consolations, that ye may milk out and enjoy yourselves, from the fulness (or, the full breast) of her glory. 12. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I am extending to her peace like a river, and like an overflowing stream the glory of nations; and ye shall suck; on the side shall ye be borne, and on the knees shall ye be dandled. 13. As a man who his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and in Jerusalem shall ye be comforted. 14. And ye shall see, and your heart shall leap (with joy), and your bones like grass shall sprout, and the hand of Jehovah shall be known to His servants, and He shall be indignant at His enemies.

15. For lo, Jehovah in fire will come, and like the whirlwind His chariots, to appease in fury His anger, and His rebuke in flames of fire. 16. For by fire is Jehovah striving and by His sword with all flesh, and multiplied (or, many) are the slain of Jehovah. 17. The (men) hallowing themselves and the (men) cleansing themselves to (or, towards) the gardens after one in the midst, eaters of swine's flesh and vermin and mouse, together shall cease (or, come to an end), saith Jehovah.

18. And I--their works and their thoughts--it is come--to gather all the nations and the tongues--and they shall come and see My glory. 19. And I will place in them (or, among them) a sign, and I will send of them survivors (or, escaped ones) to the nations, Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, drawers of the bow, Tubal and Javan, distant isles, which have not heard my fame, and have not seen My glory, and they shall declare My glory among nations. 20. And they shall bring all your brethren from all nations, an oblation to Jehovah, with horses, and with chariot, and with litters, and with mules, and with dromedaries, on My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring the oblation in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. 21. And also of them, will I take for the priests, for the Levites, saith Jehovah. 22. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I am making (or, about to make), are standing (or, about to stand) before Me, saith Jehovah, so shall stand your name and your seed.

23. And it shall be (or, come to pass) that from new-moon to new-moon (or, on every new-moon), and from Sabbath to Sabbath (or, on every Sabbath), shall come all flesh to bow themselves (or, worship) before Me, saith Jehovah. 24. And they shall go forth and gaze upon the carcasses of the men who revolted (or, apostatised) from Me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a horror to all flesh.

TRANSLATION

OF THE

PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH,

BY DELITZSCH AND MARTIN.[1]

GENERAL TITLE.--CHAP. I. 1.

Seeing of Yesha'-yahu, son of Amoz, which he saw over Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziyahu, Jotham, Ahaz, _and_ Yehizkiyahu, the kings of Judah.

_PART I._

PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE ONWARD COURSE OF THE GREAT MASS OF THE PEOPLE TOWARDS HARDENING OF HEART.--CHAPS. I.-VI.

_Opening Address Concerning the Ways of Jehovah with His Ungrateful and Rebellious Nation._--CHAP. I. 2., _sqq._

2. Hear, O heavens; and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah speaketh! I have brought up children, and raised them high, and they have fallen away from Me. 3. An ox knoweth its owner, and an ass its master's crib: Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

4. Woe upon the sinful nation, the guilt-laden people, the miscreant race, the children acting corruptly! They have forsaken Jehovah, blasphemed Israel's Holy One, turned away backwards.

5. Why would ye be perpetually smitten, multiplying rebellion? Every head is diseased, and every heart is sick. 6. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: cuts, and stripes, and festering wounds; they have not been pressed out, nor bound up, nor has there been any soothing with oil. 7. Your land . . . a desert; your cities . . . burned with fire; your field . . . foreigners consuming it before your eyes, and a desert like overthrowing by strangers. 8. And the daughter of Zion remains like a hut in a vineyard; like a hammock in a cucumber field, as a besieged city. 9. Unless Jehovah of hosts had left us a little of what had escaped, we had become like Sodom, we were like Gomorrah.

10. Hear the word of Jehovah, ye Sodom judges; give ear to the law of our God, O Gomorrah nation! 11. What is the multitude of your slain offerings to Me? saith Jehovah. I am satiated with the whole offerings of rams, and the fat of stalled calves; and blood of bullocks and sheep and he-goats I do not like. 12. When ye come to appear before My face, who hath required this at your hands, to tread My courts? 13. Continue not to bring lying meat offering; abomination incense is it to Me. New-moon and Sabbath, calling of festal meetings . . . I cannot bear ungodliness and a festal crowd. 14. Your new-moons and your festive seasons My soul hateth; they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15. And if ye stretch out your hands, I hide Mine eyes from you; if ye make ever so much praying, I do not hear: your hands are full of blood.

16. Wash, clean yourselves; put away the badness of your doings from the range of My eyes; cease to do evil; 17. learn to do good, attend to judgment, set the oppressor right, do justice to the orphan, conduct the cause of the widow.

18. O come, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah. If your sins come forth like scarlet cloth, they shall become white as snow; if they are red as crimson, they shall come forth like wool! 19. If ye then shall willingly hear, ye shall eat the good of the land; 20. if ye shall obstinately rebel, ye shall be eaten by the sword! for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.

21. How is she become an harlot, the faithful citadel! she, full of right, lodged in righteousness, and now----murderers. 22. Thy silver has become dross, thy drink mutilated with water. 23. Thy rulers are rebellious and companions of thieves; every one loveth presents, and hunteth after payment; the orphan they right not, and the cause of the widow has no access to them.

24. Therefore, saying of the Lord, of Jehovah of hosts, of the Strong One of Israel; Ah! I will relieve Myself on Mine adversaries, and will avenge Myself upon Mine enemies; 25. and I will bring My hand over thee, and will smelt out thy dross as with alkali, and will clear away all thy lead. 26. And I will bring back thy judges as in the olden time, and thy counsellors as in the beginning; afterwards thou wilt be called City of Righteousness, Faithful Citadel.

27. Zion will be redeemed through judgment, and her returning ones through righteousness; 28. and breaking up of the rebellious and sinners together; and those who forsake Jehovah will perish. 29. For they become ashamed of the terebinths, in which ye had your delight; and ye must blush for the gardens, in which ye took pleasure. 30. For ye shall become like a terebinth with withered leaves, and like a garden that hath no water. 31. And the rich man becomes tow, and his work the spark; and they will both burn together, and no one extinguishes them.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Reprinted from the _Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah,_ by Franz Delitzsch, D.D. Translated from the German by the Rev. James Martin, B.A. 2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

THE WAY OF GENERAL JUDGMENT; OR THE COURSE OF ISRAEL FROM FALSE GLORY TO THE TRUE--CHAPS. II.-IV.

II.--1. The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw of Judah and Jerusalem.

2. And it cometh to pass at the end of the days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah will be set at the top of the mountains, and exalted over hills; all nations pour unto it. 3. And peoples in multitude go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; let Him instruct us out of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for instruction will go out from Zion, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. 4. And He will judge between the nations, and deliver justice to many peoples; and they forge their swords into coulters, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation lifts not up sword against nation, neither do they exercise themselves in war any more.

5. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

6. For Thou hast rejected Thy people, the house of Jacob; for they are filled with things from the east and are conjurors like the Philistines; and with the children of foreigners they go hand in hand. 7. And their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end in their treasures; and their land is filled with horses, and there is no end of their chariots. 8. And their land is filled with ---- idols; the work of their own hands they worship, that which their own fingers have made.

9. Thus, then, men are bowed down, and lords are brought low; and forgive them--no, that Thou wilt not. 10. Creep into the rock, and bury thyself in the dust, before the terrible look of Jehovah, and before the glory of His majesty. 11. The people's eyes of haughtiness are humbled, and the pride of their lords is bowed down; and Jehovah, He only, stands exalted in that day.

12. For Jehovah of hosts hath a day over everything towering and lofty, and over everything exalted; and it becomes low. 13. As upon all the cedars of Lebanon, the lofty and exalted, so upon all the oaks of Bashan; 14. as upon all mountains, the lofty ones, so upon all hills the exalted ones; 15. as upon every high tower, so upon every fortified wall; 16. as upon all ships of Tarshish, so upon all works of curiosity. 17. And the haughtiness of the people is bowed down, and the pride of the lords brought low; and Jehovah, He alone, stands exalted in that day.

18. And the idols pass utterly away. 19. And they will creep into caves in the rocks, and cellars in the earth, before the terrible look of Jehovah, and before the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to put the earth in terror. 20. In that day will a man cast away his idols of gold; and his idols of silver, which they made for him to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21. to creep into the cavities of the stone-blocks, and into the clefts of the rocks, before the terrible look of Jehovah and before the glory of His majesty, when He arises to put the earth in terror.

22. Oh then, let man go, in whose nose is a breath, for what is he to be estimated at? III.--1. For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supporter and means of support, every support of bread and every support of water; 2. hero and man of war, judge and prophet, and soothsayer and elder; 3. captains of fifty, and the highly distinguished, and counsellors, and masters in art, and those skilled in muttering. 4. And I will give the boys for princes, and caprices shall rule over them. 5. And the people oppress one another, one this and another that; the boy breaks out violently upon the old man, and the despised upon the honoured. 6. When a man shall take hold of his brother in his father's house, Thou hast a coat, thou shalt be our ruler, and take this ruin under thy hand; 7. he will cry out in that day, I do not want to be a surgeon; there is neither bread nor coat in my house: ye cannot make me the ruler of the people.

8. For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to defy the eyes of His glory. 9. The look of their faces testifies against them, and their sin they make known like Sodom, without concealing it: woe to their soul! for they do themselves harm. 10. Say of the righteous, that it is well with him; for they will enjoy the fruit of their doings. 11. Woe to the wicked! it is ill; for what his hands have wrought will be done to him. 12. My people, its oppressors are boys, and women rule over it; my people, thy leaders are misleaders, who swallow up the way of thy paths.

13. Jehovah has appeared to plead, and stands up to judge the nations. 14. Jehovah will proceed to judgment with the elders of His people, and its princes. And ye, ye have eaten of the vineyard; prey of the suffering is in your houses. 15. What mean ye that ye crush My people, and grind the face of the suffering? thus saith the Lord of hosts.

16. Jehovah hath spoken: because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk about with extended throat, and blinking with the eyes, walk about with tripping gait, and tinkle with their foot-ornaments: 17. the Lord of all makes the crown of the daughters of Zion scabbed, and Jehovah will uncover their shame. 18. On that day the Lord will put away the show of the ankle-clasps, and of the head-bands, and of the crescents; 19. the ear-rings, and the arm-chains, and the light veils; 20. the diadems, and the stepping-chains, and the girdles, and the smelling-bottles, and the amulets; 21. the finger-rings and the nose-rings; 22. the gala dresses, and the sleeve-frocks, and the wrappers, and the pockets; 23. the hand-mirrors, and the Sindu-cloths, and the turbans, and the gauze mantles. 24. And instead of balmy scent there will be mouldiness, and instead of artistic ringlets a baldness, and instead of the dress-cloak a frock of sack-cloth, branding instead of beauty. 25. Thy men fall by the sword, and thy might in war. 26. Then will her gates lament and mourn, and desolate is she and sits down upon the ground. IV.--1. And seven women lay hold of one man in that day, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothes; only let thy name be named upon us, take away our reproach.

2. In that day will the Sprout of Jehovah become an ornament and glory, and the fruit of the land pride and splendour for the redeemed of Israel. 3. And it will come to pass, whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem, holy will he be called, all who are written down for life in Jerusalem: 4. when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged away the blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of sifting. 5. And Jehovah creates over every spot of mount Zion, and over its festal assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke, and the shining and flaming fire by night; for over all the glory comes a canopy; 6. and it will be a booth for shade by day and covert from storm and from rain.

JUDGMENT OF DEVASTATION UPON THE VINEYARD OF JEHOVAH.--CHAP. V.

_Closing Words of the First Cycle of Prophecies._

1. Arise, I will sing of my beloved, a song of my dearest touching His vineyard.

My beloved had a vineyard on a flatly-nourished mountain-horn, 2. and dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with noble vines, and built a tower in it, and also hewed out a winepress therein; and hoped that it would bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

3. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard! 4. What could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it! Wherefore did I hope that it would bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes?[1]

5. Now then, I will tell you what I will do at once to My vineyard: Take away its hedges, and it shall be for grazing; pull down its wall, and it shall be for treading down; 6. and I will put an end to it: it shall not be pruned nor dragged, and it shall break out in thorns and thistles, and I will command the clouds to rain no rain over it. 7. For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of His delight: He waited for justice, and behold, grasping; for righteousness, and behold, a shriek!

8. Woe unto them that join house to house, who lay field to field, till there is no more room, and ye alone are dwelling in the midst of the land. 9. Into mine ears, Jehovah of hosts: Of a truth many houses shall become a wilderness, great and beautiful ones deserted. 10. For ten yokes of vineyard will yield one pailful, and a quarter of seed-corn will produce a bushel.

11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to run after strong drink: who continue till late at night with wine inflaming them! 12. And guitar and harp, kettle-drum, and flute, and wine is in their feast; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, and see not the purpose of His hands.

13. Therefore My people go into banishment without knowing; and their glory will become starving men, and their tumult men dried up with thirst. 14. Therefore the under-world opens its jaws wide, and stretches open its mouth immeasurably wide; and the glory of Jerusalem descends, and its tumult, and noise, and those who rejoice within it. 15. Then are mean men bowed down, and lords humbled, and the eyes of lofty men are humbled. 16. And Jehovah of hosts shows Himself exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One sanctifies Himself in righteousness; 17. and lambs feed as upon their pasture, and nomad shepherds eat the waste places of the fat ones.[2]

18. Woe unto them that draw crime with cords of lying, and sin as with the rope of the waggon; 19. who say, Let Him hasten, accelerate His work, that we may see; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may experience it.

20. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who give out darkness for light, and light for darkness; who give out bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

21. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.

22. Woe unto those who are heroes to drink wine, and brave men to mingle strong drink; 23. who acquit criminals for a bribe, and take away from every one the righteousness of the righteous.

24. Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours stubble, and hay sinks together in the flame, their root will become like mould, and their blossom fly up like dust; for they have despised the law of Jehovah of hosts, and scornfully rejected the proclamation of the Holy One of Israel. 25. Therefore is the wrath of Jehovah kindled against His people, and He stretches His hand over them, and sites them; then the hills tremble, and their carcass become like sweepings in the midst of the streets.

For all this His anger is not appeased, and His hand is stretched out still, 26. and lifts up a banner to the distant nations, and hisses to it from the end of the earth; and, behold, it comes with haste swiftly. 27. There is none exhausted, and none stumbling among them: it gives itself no slumber, and no sleep; and to none is the girdle of his hips loosed; and to none is the lace of his shoes broken; 28. he whose arrows are sharpened, and all his bows strung; the hoofs of his horses are counted like flint, and his wheels like the whirlwind. 29. Roaring issues from it as from the lioness: it roars like lions, and utters a low murmur; seizes the prey, carries it off, and no one rescues. 30. And it utters a deep roar over it in that day like the roaring of the sea: and it looks to the earth, and behold darkness, tribulation, and light; it becomes night over it in the clouds of heaven.[3]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Barnes, Birks, Henderson, Kay, Strahey, and the _Revised English Bible,_ translate this clause substantially as it is in the A. V.:--_e.g., Henderson,_ "Why, when I expected it to produce grapes did it produce bad grapes?"

[2] Henderson's translation of this paragraph is especially vigorous and beautiful:--

13. Therefore My people are led captive at unaware Their nobility are starvelings, And their multitude are parched with thirst.

14. Therefore Sheol enlarges her appetite, And gapes immeasurably with her mouth; And down go her nobility and her multitude. Her noisy throng, and whoever in her that exultest.

15. The man of mean condition is bowed down, And the man of rank is brought low; And the eyes of the haughty are humbled. 16. But Jehovah of hosts is exalted through justice, And the Holy God is sanctified through righteousness.

17. The lambs shall feed wherever they are driven, And the waste fields of the rich, strange flocks shall consume.

[3] And one shall look to the earth, And lo! darkness! trouble! And the light is obscured by the gloomy clouds.--_Barnes._

And one shall look unto the earth, _and, behold, darkness;_ even the light is an adversary (or, is anguish); dark is it amidst the clouds thereof.--_Kay._

THE PROPHET'S ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN DIVINE MISSION.--CHAP. VI.

1. The year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord of all sitting upon a high and exalted throne, and His borders filling the temple. 2. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. 3. And one cried to the other, and said,

Holy, holy, holy! is Jehovah of hosts! Filling the whole earth is His glory.

4. And the foundation of the threshold shook with the voice of them that cried; and the house became full of smoke.

5. Then said I, Woe unto me! for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I am dwelling among a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.

6. And one of the seraphim flew to me with a red-hot coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7. And he touched my mouth with it, and said, Behold, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away; and so thy sin is expiated.

8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Behold me here; send me!

9. He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear on, and understand not; and look on, but perceive not. 10. Make ye the heart of this people greasy, and their ears heavy, and their eyes sticky; that they may not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they be converted, and one heal them.

11. Then said I, Lord, how long?

And He answered, Until towns are wasted without inhabitant, and houses are without men, and the ground shall be laid waste, a wilderness, 12. and Jehovah shall put men far away, and there shall be many forsaken places within the land. 13. And is there still a tenth therein, this also is given up to destruction, like the terebinth and like the oak, of which, when they are felled, only a root stump remains: such a root stump is the holy seed.[1]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] And though there be only a tenth part in it, even that shall be again consumed; yet as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose stocks [stumps] remain to them, when they are felled, so the holy seed shall be the stock [stump] thereof.--_Strachey._

_PART II._

CONSOLATION OF IMMANUEL IN THE MIDST OF THE ASSYRIAN OPPRESSIONS.--CHAPS. VII.-XII.

_Divine Sign of the Virgin's Wondrous Son._--CHAP. VII.

1. It came to pass, in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aramæa, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, and (he) could not make war upon it. 2. And it was told the house of David, Aram has settled down upon Ephraim: then his heart shook, and the heart of the people, as trees of the wood shake before the wind.

3. Then said Jehovah to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear-jashub thy son, to the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, to the road of the fuller's field; 4. and say unto him, Take heed, and keep quiet; and let not thy heart become soft from these two smoking firebrand stumps! at the fierce anger of Rezin, and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5. Because Aram hath determined evil over thee, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, 6. We will march against Judah, and terrify it, and conquer it for ourselves, and make the son of Tabeal king in the midst of it: 7. thus saith the Lord Jehovah, It will not be brought about, and will not take place. 8. For head of Aram is Damascus, and head of Damascus Rezin, and in five-and-sixty years will Ephraim as a people be broken to pieces. 9. And head of Ephraim is Samaria, and head of Samaria the son of Remaliah; if ye believe not, surely ye will not remain.

10. And Jehovah continued speaking to Ahaz as follows: 11. Ask thee a sign of Jehovah thy God, going deep down into Hades, or high up to the height above. 12. But Ahaz replied, I dare not ask, and dare not tempt Jehovah. 13. And he spake, Hear ye now, O house of David! Is it too little to you to weary men, that ye weary my God also? 14. Therefore the Lord, He will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin conceives, and bears a son, and calls his name Immanuel. 15. Butter and honey will he eat, at the time that he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16. For before the boy shall understand to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land will be desolate, of whose two kings thou art afraid.

17. Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days such as have not come since the day when Ephraim broke away from Judah--the king of Asshur. 18. And it comes to pass in that day, Jehovah will hiss for the fly which is at the end of the Nile-arms of Egypt, and the bees that are in the land of Asshur; 19. and they come and settle all of them in the valleys of the slopes, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in all the thorn-hedges, and upon all grass-plats. 20. In that day will the Lord shave with a razor, the thing for hire on the shore of the river, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet: and even the beard it will take away. 21. And it will come to pass in that day, that a man will keep a small cow and a couple of sheep; 22. and it comes to pass, for the abundance of the milk they will give he will eat cream: for butter and honey will every one eat that is left within the land. 23. And it will come to pass in that day, every place where a thousand vines stood at a thousand silverlings will have become thorns and thistles. 24. With arrows and with bows will men go, for the whole land will have become thorns and thistles. 25. And all the hills that were accustomed to be hoed with the hoe, thou wilt not go to them for fear of thorns and thistles; and it has become a gathering-place for oxen, and a treading-place for sheep.

TWO OMENS OF THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE.--CHAP. VIII. 1-4.

1. Then Jehovah said to me, Take a large slab, and write upon it with common strokes, "In speed spoil, booty hastens:" 2. and I will take to me trustworthy witnesses, Uriyah the priest, and Zehcaryahu the son of Yeberechyahu.

3. And I drew near to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son: and Jehovah said to me, Call his name In-speed-spoil-booty-hastens (Maher-shalal-hash-baz): 4. for before the boy shall know how to cry, My father, and my mother, they will carry away the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur.

ESOTERIC ADDRESSES--CHAP. VIII. 5-XII.

_A.--Consolation of Immanuel in the Coming Darkness._--CHAP. VIII. 5-IX. 6.

5. And Jehovah proceeded still further to speak to me, as follows:--

6. Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Siloah that go softly, and regardeth as a delight the alliance with Rezin and the son of Remalyahu, 7. therefore, behold! the Lord of all bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, the mighty and the great, the king of Assyria, and all his military power: and he riseth over all his channels, and goeth over all his banks, 8. and presses forward into Judah, overflows and pours onward, till it reaches the neck, and the spreadings out of its wings fill the breadth of thy land, Immanuel.

9. Exasperate yourselves, O nations, and go to pieces; and see it, all who are far off in the earth! Gird yourselves, and go to pieces; gird yourselves, and go to pieces! 10. Consult counsel, and it comes to nought; speak the word, and it is not realised: for with us is God.

11. For Jehovah hath spoken thus to me, overpowering me with God's hand, and instructing me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, 12. Call ye not conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy; and what is feared by it, fear ye not, neither think ye dreadful. 13. Jehovah of hosts, sanctify Him; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your terror. 14. So will He become a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (vexation) to both the houses of Israel, a snare and a trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15. And many among them shall stumble, and shall fall; and be dashed to pieces, and be snared and taken.

16. Bind up the testimony, seal the lesson in my disciples. 17. And I will wait upon Jehovah, who hides His face before the house of Jacob, and hope for Him. 18. Behold, I and the children which God hath given me for signs and types in Israel, from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth upon mount Zion. 19. And when they shall say to you, Inquire of the necromancers, and of the soothsayers that chirp and whisper:--should not a people inquire of its God? for the living to the dead? 20. To the teaching of God, and to the testimony! If they do not accord with this word, they are a people for whom no morning dawns. 21. And it goes about therein hardly pressed and hungry: and it comes to pass, when hunger befalls it, it frets itself, and curses by its king and by its God, and turns its face upward, 22. and looks to the earth, and behold distress and darkness, benighting with anguish, and thrust out into darkness.

IX.--1. For it does not remain dark where there is now distress: in the first time He brought into disgrace the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and in the last He brings to honour the road by the sea, the other side of Jordan, the circle of the Gentiles.

2. The people that walk about in darkness see a great light; they who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light shines. 3. Thou multipliest the nation, preparest it great joy; they rejoice before Thee like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they share the spoil. 4. For the yoke of its burden and the stick of its neck, the splinters, as in the day of Midian. 5. For every boot of those who tramp with boots in the tumult of battle, and cloak rolled in blood, shall be for burning, a food of fire. 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government rests upon His shoulder: and they call His name Wonder, Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7. To the increase of government and to peace without end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to strengthen it, and to support it through judgment and righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The jealousy of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

_B.--Jehovah's Outstretched Hand._--CHAP. IX. 8-X. 4.

8. The Lord sends out a word against Jacob, and it descends into Israel. 9. And all the people must make atonement, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, saying in pride and haughtiness of heart, 10. "Bricks are fallen down, and we build with square stones; sycamores are hewn down, and we put cedars in their place." 11. Jehovah raises Rezin's oppressors high above him; and pricks up his enemies: 12. Aram from the east, and Philistines from the west; they devour Israel with full mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still.

13. But the people turneth not into Him that smiteth it, and they seek not Jehovah of hosts. 14. Therefore Jehovah rooteth out of Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day. 15. Elders and highly distinguished men, this is the head; and prophets, lying teachers, this is the tail. 16. The leaders of this people have become leaders astray, and their followers swallowed up. 17. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice in their young men, and will have no compassion on their orphans and widows: for all together are profligate and evil-doers, and every mouth speaketh blasphemy. With all this His anger is not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still.

18. For the wickedness burneth up like fire: it devours thorns and thistles, and burns in the thickets of the wood; and they smoke upwards in a lofty volume of smoke. 19. Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts the land is turned into coal, and the nation has become like the food of fire: not one spares his brother. 20. They hew on the right, and are hungry; and devour on the left, and are not satisfied: they devour the flesh of their own arm: 21. Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: these together over Judah. With all this His anger is not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still.

X.--1. Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who prepare trouble; 2. to force away the needy from demanding justice, and to rob the suffering of my people of their rightful claims, that widows may become their prey, and they plunder orphans! 3. And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the storm that cometh from afar? To whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye deposit your glory? 4. There is nothing left but to bow down under prisoners, and they fall under the slain. With all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

_C.--Destruction of the Imperial Kingdom of the World, and Rise of the Kingdom of Jehovah in His Anointed._--CHAP. X. 5-XII.

5. Woe to Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, and it is a staff in their hand, Mine indignation. 6. Against a wicked nation will I send them, and against the people of My wrath give them a charge, to spoil spoil, and to make it trodden down like street-mire. 7. Nevertheless he meaneth not so, neither does his heart think so; for it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. 8. For he saith, Are not my generals all kings? 9. Is not Calno as Carchemish, or Hamath as Arpad, or Samaria as Damascus? 10. As my hand hath reached the kingdoms of the idols, and their graven images were more than those of Jerusalem and Samaria; 11. shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, do likewise to Jerusalem and her idols?

12. And it will come to pass, when the Lord shall have brought to an end all His work upon mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will come to punish over the fruit of the pride of heart of the king of Asshur, and over the haughty look of his eyes. 13. For he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom; for I am prudent: and I removed the bounds of the nations, and I plundered their stores, and threw down rulers like a bull. 14. And my hand extracted the wealth of the nations like a nest: and as men sweep up forsaken eggs, have I swept the whole earth; there was none that moved the wing, and opened the mouth, and chirped.

15. Dare the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith, or the saw magnify itself against him that useth it? As if a staff were to swing those that lift it up, as if a stick should lift up not--wood! 16. Therefore will the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send consumption against his fat men; and under Asshur's glory there burns a brand like a firebrand. 17. And the light of Israel becomes a fire, and his Holy One a flame; and it sets on fire and devours its thistles and thorns in one day. 18. And the glory of his forest and his garden-ground will He destroy, even to soul and flesh, so that it is as when a sick man dieth. 19. And the remnant of the trees of his forest can be numbered, and a boy could write them.

20. And it will come to pass in that day, the remnant of Israel, and that which has escaped of the house of Jacob, will not continue to stay itself upon its chastiser, and will stay itself upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21. The remnant will turn, the remnant of Jacob, to God the Mighty. 22. For if thy people were even as the sea-sand, the remnant thereof will turn: destruction is firmly determined, flowing away righteousness. 23. For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, completes the finishing-stroke and that which is firmly determined, within the whole land.

24. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, My people that dwellest on Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, if it shall smite thee with the rod, and lift up its stick against thee, in the manner of Egypt. 25. For yet a very little while the indignation is past, and my wrath turns to destroy them: 26. and Jehovah of hosts moves the whip over it, as He smite Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff stretches out over the sea. 27. And it will come to pass in that day, its burden will remove from thy shoulder, and its yoke from thy neck; and the yoke will be destroyed from the pressure of the fat.

28. He comes upon Ayyath, passes through Migron; in Michmash he leaves his baggage. 29. They go through the pass: let Geba be our quarters for the night! Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. 30. Scream aloud, O daughter of Gallim. Only listen, O Laysha! Poor Anathoth! 31. Madmenah hurries away; the inhabitants of Gebim rescue. 32. He still halts in Nob to-day; swings his hand over the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33. Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, lops down the branches with terrific force; and those of towering growth are hewn down, and the lofty are humbled. 34. And He fells the thickets of the forest with iron; and Lebanon, it falls by a Majestic One.

XI.--1. And there cometh forth a twig out of the stump of Jesse, and a shoot from the roots bringeth forth fruit. 2. And the Spirit of Jehovah descends upon Him, spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel and might, spirit of knowledge and fear of Jehovah; 3. and fear of Jehovah is fragrance to Him; and He judges not according to outward sight, neither does He pass sentence according to outward hearing; 4. and judges the poor with righteousness, and passes sentence with equity for the humble in the land; and smites the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slays the wicked. 5. And righteousness is the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His hips.

6. And the wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard lies down with the kid; and calf and lion and stalled ox together; a little boy drives them. 7. And cow and bear go to the pasture; their young ones lie down together: and the lion eats chopped straw like the ox. 8. And the suckling plays by the hole of the adder, and the weaned child stretching its hand to the pupil of the basilisk-viper. 9. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain: for the land is filled with knowledge of Jehovah, like the waters covering the sea.

10. And it will come to pass in that day: the root-sprout of Jesse, which stands as a banner of the people's, for it will nations ask, and its place of rest is glory.

11. And it will come to pass in that day, the Lord will stretch out His hand a second time to redeem the remnant of His people that shall be left, out of Asshur, and out of Egypt, and out of Pathros, and out of Ethiopia, and out of Elam, and out of Shinar, and out of Hamath, and out of the islands of the sea. 12. And He raises a banner for the nations, and fetches home the outcasts of Israel; and the dispersed of Judah will He assemble from the four borders of the earth. 13. And the jealousy of Ephraim is removed, and the adversaries of Judah are cut off; Ephraim will not show jealousy towards Judah, and Judah will not oppose Ephraim. 14. And they fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines seawards; unitedly they plunder the sons of the East: they seize upon Edom and Moab, and the sons of Amon are subject to them. 15. And Jehovah pronounces the ban upon the sea-tongue of Egypt, and swings His hand over the Euphrates in the glow of His breath, and smites it into seven brooks, and makes it so that men go through in shoes. 16. And there will be a road for the remnant of His people that shall be left, out of Asshur, as it was for Israel in the day of its departure out of the land of Egypt.

XII.--1, 2. And in that day thou wilt say,

I thank thee, O Jehovah, that Thou wast angry with me: Thine anger is turned away, and Thou hast comforted me. Behold, the God of my salvation; I trust, and am not afraid; For Jah Jehovah is my pride and song, And He became my salvation.

3. And with rapture ye will draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4-6. And ye will say in that day,

Praise Jehovah, proclaim His name, Make known His doings among the nations, Boast that His name is exalted. Harp to Jehovah; for He has displayed majesty: Let this be known in all lands. Shout and be jubilant, O inhabitant of Zion: For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

_PART III._

COLLECTION OF ORACLES CONCERNING THE HEATHEN.--CHAPS. XIII.-XXIII.

_Oracle concerning the Chaldeans, the Heirs of the Assyrians._--CHAP. XIII. 1-XIV. 17.

XIII.--1. Oracle concerning Babel, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

2. On woodless mountain lift ye up a banner, call to them with a loud sounding voice, shake the hand, that they may enter into the gates of princes! 3. I, I have summoned My sanctified ones, also called My heroes to My wrath, My proudly rejoicing ones. 4. Hark, a rumbling on the mountains after the manner of a great people! hark, a rumbling of kingdoms met together! Jehovah of hosts musters an army, 5. those that have come out of a distant land, from the end of heaven: Jehovah and His instruments of wrath, to destroy the whole earth. 6. Howl; for the day of Jehovah is near; like a destructive force from the Almighty it comes. 7. Therefore all arms hang loosely down, and every human heart melts away. 8. And they are troubled: they fall into cramps and pangs; like a woman in labour they twist themselves: one stares at the other; their faces are faces of flame. 9. Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, a cruel one, and wrath and fierce anger, to turn the earth into a wilderness: and its sinners He destroys out of it.

10. For the stars of heaven, and its Orions, will not let their light shine: the sun darkens itself at its rising, and the moon does not let its light shine. 11. And I visit the evil upon the world, and upon sinners their guilt, and sink into silence the pomp of the proud; and the boasting of tyrants I throw to the ground. 12. I make men more precious than fine gold, and people than a jewel of Ophir. 13. Therefore I shake the heavens, and the earth trembles away from its place, because of the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and because of the day of His fierce anger. 14. And it comes to pass as a gazelle which is scared, and as a flock without gatherers: they turn every one to his people, and they flee every one to his land. 15. Every one that is found is pierced through, and every one that is caught falls by the sword. 16. And their infants are dashed to pieces before their eyes, their homes plundered, and their wives ravished. 17. Behold, I rouse up the Medes over them, who do not regard silver, and take no pleasure in gold. 18. And bows dash down young men; and they have no compassion on the fruit of the womb: their eye has no pity on children.

19. And Babel, the ornament of kingdoms, the proud boast of the Chaldeans, becomes like Elohim's overthrowing judgments upon Sodom and Gomorrah. 20. She remains uninhabited for ever, and unoccupied into generation of generations; and not an Arab pitches his tent there, and shepherds do not make their folds there. 21. And there lie beasts of the desert, and horn-owls fill their houses; and ostriches dwell there, and field-devils hop about there. 22. And jackals howl in her castles, and wild dogs in palaces of pleasure; and her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.

XIV.--1. For Jehovah will have mercy on Jacob, and will once more choose Israel, and will settle them down in their own land: and the foreigner will associate with them, and they will cleave to the house of Jacob. 2. And nations take them, and accompany them to their place; and the house of Israel takes them to itself in the land of Jehovah for servants and maid-servants: and they hold in captivity those who led them away captive; and become lords over their oppressors. 3. And it cometh to pass, on the day that Jehovah giveth thee the rest from thy plague, and from thy cares, and from the heavy bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, 4. that thou shalt raise such a song of triumph concerning the king of Babel and say--

How hath the oppressor ceased! the place of torture ceased! 5. Jehovah hath broken the rod of the wicked, the ruler's staff, 6. which smote nations in wrath with strokes without ceasing, subjugated nations wrathfully with hunting that never stays. 7. The whole earth rests, is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8. Even the cypresses rejoice at thee, the cedars of Lebanon: "Since thou hast gone to sleep, no one will come up to lay axe upon us."

9. The kingdom of the dead below is all in uproar on account of thee, to meet thy coming; it stirs up the shades for thee, all the he-goats of the earth; it raiseth up from their throne-seats all the kings of the nations. 10. They all rise up and say to thee, Art thou also made weak like us? Art thou become like us? 11. Thy pomp is cast down to the region of the dead, the noise of the harps: maggots are spread under thee, and they that cover thee are worms. 12. How art thou fallen from the sky, thou star of light, son of the dawn, hurled down to the earth, thou that didst throw down nations from above! 13. And thou, thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and sit down on the mount of the assembly of gods in the corner of the earth; 14. I will ascend to the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High. 15. Nevertheless, thou wilt be cast down into the region of the dead, into the corner of the pit. 16. They that see thee look, considering thee, look at thee thoughtfully: "Is this the man that set the earth trembling, and kingdoms shaking, 17. that made the world a wilderness, and destroyed its cities, and did not release its prisoners (to their) home?"

18. All the kings of the nations, they are all interred in honour, every one in his house: 19. but thou art cast away far from thy sepulchre like a shoot hurled away, clothed with slain, with those pierced through with the sword, those that go down to the stones of the pit; like a carcass trodden under feet. 20. Thou art not united with them in burial, for thou hast destroyed thy land, murdered thy people.

The seed of evil-doers will not be named for ever. 21. Prepare a slaughter-house for his sons, because of the iniquity of their fathers! They shall not rise and conquer lands, and fill the face of the earth with cities.

22. And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and root out in Babel name and remnant, sprout and shoot, saith Jehovah. 23. And I will make it the possession of hedgehogs and marshes of water, and sweep it away with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.

24. Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, that takes place; 25. to break Asshur in pieces in My land, and upon My mountain will I tread him under foot; then his yoke departs from them, and his burden will depart from their neck. 26. This is the purpose that is purposed over the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out over all nations. 27. For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who could bring it to nought? and His hand that is stretched out, who can turn it back?

THE ORACLE CONCERNING PHILISTIA.--CHAP. XIV. 28-32.

28. In the year of the death of King Ahaz the following oracle was uttered.

29. Rejoice not so fully, O Philistia, that the rod which smote thee is broken to pieces; for out of the serpent's root comes forth a basilisk, and its fruit is a flying dragon. 30. And the poorest of the poor will feed, and needy ones lie down in peace; and I kill thy root through hunger, and he slays thy remnant.

31 Howl, O gate! cry, O city! O Philistia, thou must melt entirely away; for from the north cometh smoke, and there is no isolated one among his hosts. 32. And what answer do the messengers of the nations bring? that Jehovah hath founded Zion, and that the afflicted of His people are hidden therein.

THE ORACLE CONCERNING MOAB.--CHAPS. XV., XVI.

XV.--1. Oracle concerning Moab! for in a night Ar-Moab is laid waste, destroyed; for in a night Kir-Moab is laid waste, destroyed. 2. They go up to the temple-house and Dibon, up to the heights to weep: upon Nebo and upon Medebah of Moab there is weeping: on all heads baldness, every beard is mutilated. 3. In the markets of Moab they gird themselves with sackcloth; on the roofs of the land, and in the streets, everything wails, melting into tears. 4. Heshbon cries, and 'Elâle; even to Jahaz they hear their howling; even the armed men of Moab break out into mourning thereat; its soul trembles within it. 5. My heart, towards Moab it crieth out; its bolts reach to Zoar, the three-year-old heifer. For the mountain-slope of Luhith they ascend with weeping; for on the road to Horonaijim they lift up a cry of despair. 6. For the waters of Nimrim are waste places from this time forth: for the grass is dried up, the vegetation wasteth away, the green is gone. 7. Therefore what has been spared, what has been gained, and their provision, they carry it over the willow-brook. 8. For the scream has gone round in the territory of Moab; the wailing of Moab resounds to Eglayim, and his wailing to Beēr-Elim. 9. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I suspend over Dimon a new calamity, over the escaped of Moab a lion, and over the remnant of the land.

XVI.--1. Send a land-ruler's tribute of lambs from Sela desert-wards to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. 2. And the daughters of Moab will be like birds fluttering about, a scared nest, at the fords of Arnon. 3. Give counsel, for a decision, make thy shadow like night in the midst of noon: hide the outcasts, do not betray the wanderers. 4. Let mine outcasts tarry in thee, Moab; be a covert to it from before the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, desolation has disappeared, treaders down are away from the land. 5. And a throne is established by grace, and there sits thereon in truth in the tent of David one judging, and zealous for right, and practised in righteousness.

6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, the very haughty (pride), the haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath, the falsehood of his speech. 7. Therefore will Moab wail for Moab, everything will wail: for the grape-cakes of Kir-Haraseth will ye whine, utterly crushed. 8. For the fruit-fields of Heshbon have faded away: the vine of Simmah, lords of the nations its branches smote down: they reached to Ja'zer, trailed through the desert: its branches spread themselves out wide, crossed over the sea. 9. Therefore I bemoan the vine of Sibmah with the weeping of Jazer; I flood thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, that Hêdad hath fallen upon thy fruit-harvest and upon thy vintage. 10. And joy is taken away, and the rejoicing of the garden-land; and there is no exulting, no shouting in the vineyards: the treader treads out no wine in the presses; I put an end to the Hêdad. 11. Therefore my bowels sound for Moab like a harp, and my inside for Kir-Heres. 12. And it will come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary with weeping upon the mountain height, and enters into its sanctuary to pray, it will not gain anything.

13. This is the word which Jehovah spake long ago concerning Moab. And now Jehovah speaketh thus: In three years, like the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab is disgraced, together with all the multitude of the great: a remnant is left, contemptibly small, and not great at all.

THE ORACLE CONCERNING DAMASCUS AND ISRAEL.--CHAP. XVII.

1. The burden of Damascus.

Behold, Damascus must (be taken) away out of the number of the cities, and will be a heap of fallen ruins. 2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken, they are given up to flocks, they lie there without any one scaring them away. 3. And when the fortress of Ephraim is abolished, and the kingdom of Damascus; and it happens to those that are left of Aram as to the glory of the sons of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.

4. And it comes to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob wastes away, and the fat of his flesh grows thin. 5. And it will be as when a reaper grasps the stalks of wheat, and his arm mows off the ears; and it will be as with one who gathers ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6. Yet a gleaning remains from it, as at the olive-beating: two, three berries high up at the top; four, five in its, the fruit-tree's branches, saith Jehovah the God of Israel. 7. At that day will man look up to his Creator, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. 8. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and what his fingers have made he will not regard, neither the Astartes nor the sun-gods.

9. In that day will his fortified cities be like the ruins of the forest and of the mountain top, which they cleared before the sons of Israel: and there arises a waste place. 10. For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not thought of the Rock of thy stronghold, therefore thou plantest charming plantations, and didst set them with strange vines. 11. In the day that thou plantedst, thou didst make a fence; and with the morning dawn thou madest thy sowing to blossom: a harvest heap in the day of deep wounds and deadly sorrow of heart.

12. Woe to the roaring of many nations: like the roaring of seas they roar; and low the rumbling of nations, like the rumbling of mighty waters they rumble! 13. Nations, like the rumbling of mighty waters they rumble; and He threatens it: then it flies far away, and is chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a cloud of dust before the gale. 14. At eventide, behold consternation; and before the morning dawn it is destroyed! this is the portion of our plunderers, and the lot of our robbers.

ETHIOPIA'S SUBMISSION TO JEHOVAH.--CHAP. XVIII.

1. Woe to the land of the whirring of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush; 2. that sends ambassadors into the sea, and in boats of papyrus over the face of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to the people stretched out and polished, to the terrible people far away on the other side, to the nation of command upon command and treading down, whose land rivers cut through. 3. All ye possessors of the globe and inhabitants of the earth, when a banner rises on the mountains, look ye: and when they blow the trumpets, hearken! 4. For thus hath Jehovah spoken to me: I will be still, and I will observe upon My throne during clear weather in sunshine, during a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5. For before the harvest, when the blossom falls off, and the fruit becomes the ripening grape: then will He cut off the branches with pruning-hooks; and the tendrils He removes, breaks off. 6. They are left altogether to the birds of prey on the mountains, and to the cattle of the land; and the birds of prey summer thereon, and all the cattle of the land will winter thereon.

7. At that time will there be offered as a homage to Jehovah of hosts a nation stretched out and polished, and from a terrible people, far away on the other side; a nation of command upon command and treading down, whose land rivers cut through, at the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the mountain of Zion.

THE ORACLE CONCERNING EGYPT.--CHAP. XIX.

1. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a light cloud, and cometh to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shake before Him, and the heart of Egypt melteth within it. 2. And I spur Egypt against Egypt: and they go to war, every one with his brother, and every one with his neighbour; city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3. And the spirit of Egypt is emptied out within it: and I swallow up its ready counsel; and they go to the idols to inquire, and to the mutterers, and to the oracle-spirits, and to the soothsayers. 4. And I shut up Egypt in the head of a hard rule; and a fierce king will rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

5. And the waters will dry up from the sea, and the river is parched and dried. 6. And the arms of the river spread a stench; the channels of Matzor become shallow and parched: reed and rush shrivel up. 7. The meadow by the Nile, on the border of the Nile, and every cornfield of the Nile, dries up, is scattered, and disappears. 8. And the fishermen groan, and all who throw draw-nets into the Nile lament, and they that spread out the net upon the face of the waters languish away. 9. And the workers of fine combed flax are confounded, and the weavers of cotton fabrics. 10. And the pillars of the land are ground to powder; all that work for wages are troubled in mind.

11. The princes of Zoan become mere fools, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh; readiness in counsel is stupefied. How can ye say to Pharaoh, I am a son of wise men, a son of kings of the olden time? 12. Where are they then, thy wise men? Let them announce to thee, and know what Jehovah of hosts hath determined concerning Egypt. 13. The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; and they have led Egypt astray who are the corner-stone of its castes. 14. Jehovah hath poured a spirit of giddiness into the heart of Egypt, so that they have led Egypt astray in all its doing, as a drunken man wandereth about in his vomit. 15. And there does not occur of Egypt any work which worked, of head and tail, palm-branch and rush.

16. In that day will the Egyptians become like women, and tremble and be alarmed at the swinging of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which He sets in motion against it. 17. And the land of Judah becomes a shuddering for Egypt; as often as they mention this against Egypt, it is alarmed, because of the decree of Jehovah of hosts, that He suspendeth over it.

18. In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of hosts: 'Ir ha-Heres will one be called. 19. In that day there stands an altar consecrated to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and an obelisk near the border of the land consecrated to Jehovah. 20. And a sign and a witness for Jehovah of hosts is this in the land of Egypt; when they cry to Jehovah for oppressors, He will send them a helper and champion, and deliver them. 21. And Jehovah makes Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians know Jehovah in that day; and they serve Him with slain-offerings and meat-offerings, and vow vows to Jehovah, and pay them. 22. And Jehovah smites Egypt, smiting and healing; and if they return to Jehovah, He suffers Himself to be entreated, and heals them. 23. In that day a road will run from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur comes into Egypt, and Egypt to Asshur; and Egypt worships (Jehovah) with Asshur. 24. In that day will Israel be a third part to Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25. since Jehovah of hosts blesseth them thus: Blessed be thou, My people Egypt; and thou, Asshur, the work of My hands; and thou Israel, Mine inheritance.

SYMBOL OF THE FALL OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA, AND ITS INTERPRETATION.--CHAP. XX.

1. In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, Sargon the king of Asshur having sent him (and he made war against Ashdod, and captured it): 2. at that time Jehovah spake through Yesha'-yahu, the son of Amoz, as follows, Go and loosen the smock-front from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went stripped and barefooted.

3. And Jehovah said, As my servant Yesha'-yahu goeth naked and barefooted, a sign and a type for three years long over Egypt and over Ethiopia, 4. so will the king of Asshur carry away the prisoners of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, children and old men, naked and barefooted, and with their seat uncovered--a shame to Egypt.

5. And they cry together, and behold themselves deceived by Ethiopia, to which they looked and by Egypt, in which they gloried. 6. And the inhabitant of this coast-land saith in that day, Behold, thus it happens to those to whom we looked, whither we fled for help to deliver us from the king of Asshur: and how should we, we escape?

THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE DESERT OF THE SEA (BABYLON).--CHAP. XXI. 1-10.

1. As storms in the south approach, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. 2. Hard vision is made known to me: the spoiler spoils, and the devastator devastates. Go up, Elam! Surround, Moday! I put an end to all their sighing. 3. Therefore are my loins full of cramp: pangs have taken hold of me, as the pangs of a travailing woman: I twist myself, so that I do not hear; I am brought down with fear, so that I do not see. 4. My heart beats wildly; horror hath troubled me; the darkness of night that I love, He hath turned for me into quaking.

5. They cover the table, watch the watch, eat, drink. Rise up, ye princes! Anoint the shield! 6. For thus saith the Lord to me, Go, set a spy; what he seeth, let him declare. 7. And he saw a procession of cavalry, pairs of horsemen, a procession of asses, a procession of camels; and listened sharply, as sharply as he could listen. 8. Then he cried with a lion's voice, Upon the watch-tower, O Lord, I stand continually by day, and upon my watch I keep my stand all the nights. 9. And, behold, there came a cavalcade of men, pairs of horsemen, and lifted up its voice, and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of its gods He hath dashed to the ground! 10. O thou my threshing, and child of my threshing-floor! What I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.

THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE SILENCE OF DEATH (EDOM).--CHAP. XXI. 11, 12.

11. A cry comes to me out of Seir: Watchman, how far is it in the night? Watchman, how far in the night? 12. Watchman says, Morning cometh, and also night. Will ye inquire, inquire! Turn, come!

THE ORACLE IN THE EVENING (AGAINST ARABIA).--CHAP. XXI. 13-17.

13. In the wilderness in Arabia ye must pass the night, caravans of the Dedanians. 14. Bring water to meet thirsty ones! The inhabitants of the land of Tema are coming with its bread before the fugitive. 15. For they are flying before swords, before drawn swords, and before a bent bow, and before oppressive war.

16. For thus hath the Lord spoken to me, Within a year, as the years of a hired labourer, it is over with all the glory of Kedar. 17. And the remnant of the number of bows of the heroes of the Kedarenes will be small: for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken.

THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE VALLEY OF VISION (JERUSALEM).--CHAP. XXII. 1-14.

1. What aileth thee, then, that thou art wholly ascended upon the house-tops? 2. O full of tumult, thou noisy city, shouting castle, thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor slaughtered in battle. 3. All thy rulers departing together are fettered without bow; all thy captured ones are fettered together, fleeing far away.

4. Therefore I say, Look away from me, that I may weep bitterly; press me not with consolations for the destruction of the daughter of my people! 5. For a day of noise, and of treading down, and of confusion, cometh from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision, breaking down walls; and a cry of woe echoes against the mountains.

6. And Elam has taken the quiver, together with chariots with men, horsemen; and Kir has drawn out the shield. 7. And then it comes to pass, that thy choicest valleys are filled with chariots, and the horsemen plant a firm foot towards the gate.

8. Then he takes away the covering of Judah, and thou lookest in that day to the store of arms of the forest-house; 9. and ye see the breaches of the city of David, that there are many of them; and ye collect together the waters of the lower pool. 10. And ye number the houses of Jerusalem, and pull down the houses, to fortify the wall. 11. And ye make a basin between the two walls for the waters of the old pool; and ye do not look to Him who made it, neither do ye have regard to Him who fashioned it long ago.

12. The Lord, Jehovah of hosts, calls in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to the pulling out of hair, and to girding with sackcloth; 13. and behold joy and gladness, slaughtering of oxen and killing of sheep, eating of flesh and drinking of wine, eating and drinking, for 'to-morrow we die.' 14. And Jehovah of hosts hath revealed in mine ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated for you until ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

AGAINST SHEBNA THE STEWARD.--CHAP. XXII. 15-25.

(_Appendix to the Tetralogy in_ CHAPS XXI., XXII. 14.)

15. Thus spake the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee to that steward there, to Shebna the house-mayor. 16. What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou art hewing thyself out a sepulchre here, hewing out his sepulchre high up, digging himself a dwelling in rocks? 17. Behold, Jehovah hurleth thee, hurling with a man's throw, and graspeth thee grasping. 18. Coiling, He coileth thee a coil, a ball into a land far and wide; there shalt thou die, and thither the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of the house of thy lord! 19. And I thrust thee from thy post, and from thy standing-place He pulleth thee down.

20. And it will come to pass in that day, that I call to my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21. and invest him with thy coat, and I throw thy sash firmly round him, and place thy government in his hand; and he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22. And I place the key of David upon his shoulder: and when he opens, no man shuts; and when he shuts, no man opens. 23. And I fasten him as a plug in a fast place, and he becomes the seat of honour to his father's house. 24. And the whole mass of his father's house hangs upon him, the offshoots and the side-shoots, every small vessel, from the vessel of the basins even to every vessel of the pitchers. 25. In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will the peg that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cast down, and fall; and the burden that it bore falls to the ground: for Jehovah hath spoken.

THE ORACLE CONCERNING TYRE.--CHAP. XXIII.

(_Conclusion of the Cycle of Prophecies Relating to the Heathen._)

1. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entrance any more! Out of the land of the Chittæans it is made known to them. 2. Be alarmed, ye inhabitants of the coast! Sidonian merchants, sailing over the sea, filled thee once. 3. And the sowing of Sichor came upon great waters, the harvest of the Nile, her store; and she became gain for nations. 4. Shudder, O Sidon; for the sea speaketh, the fortress of the sea, thus: I have not travailed, nor given birth, nor trained up young men, brought up maidens. 5. When the report cometh to Egypt, they tremble at the report from Tzor.

6. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast! 7. Is this your fate, thou full of rejoicing, whose origin is from the days of the olden time, whom her feet carried far away to settle? 8. Who hath determined such a thing concerning Tzor, the distributor of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the chief men of the earth! 9. Jehovah of hosts hath determined it, to desecrate the pomp of every kind of ornament, to dishonour the chief men of the earth, all of them.

10. Overflow thy land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish! No girdle restrains thee any longer. 11. His hand hath He stretched over the sea, thrown the kingdoms into trembling; Jehovah hath given commandment concerning Kena'an to destroy her fortresses. 12. And He said, Thou shalt not rejoice any further, thou disgraced one, virgin daughter of Sidon. Go up to Kittim, go over; there also shalt thou not find rest. 13. Behold the Chaldean land: this people that has not been (Asshur--it hath prepared the same for desert beasts)--they set up their siege-towers, destroy the palaces of Kena'an, make it a heap of ruins. 14. Mourn, ye ships of Tarshish: for your fortress is laid waste.

15. And it will come to pass in that day, that Tzor will be forgotten seventy years, equal to the days of one king; after the end of seventy years Tzor will go, according to the song of the harlot. 16. Take the guitar, sweep through the city, O forgotten harlot! Play bravely, sing zealously, that thou mayest be remembered! 17. And it will come to pass at the end of the seventy years: Jehovah will visit Tzor, and she comes again to her hire, and commits prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the broad surface of the globe. 18. And her gain and her reward of prostitution will be holy to Jehovah: it is not stored up nor gathered together; but her gain from commerce will be theirs who dwell before Jehovah, to eat to satiety and for stately clothing.

_PART IV._

FINALE ON THE GREAT CATASTROPHE.--CHAPS. XXIV.-XXVII.

_The Judgment upon the Earth._--CHAP. XXIV.

1. Behold, Jehovah emptieth the earth, and layeth it waste, and marreth its form, and scattereth all its inhabitants. 2. And it happeneth, as to the people, so to the priest; as to the servant, so to his master; as to the maid, so to her mistress; as to the buyer, so to the seller; as to the lender, so to the borrower; as to the creditor, so to the debtor. 3. Emptying the earth is emptied, and plundering is plundered: for Jehovah hath spoken this word.

4. Smitten down, withered up is the earth; pined away, wasted is the world; pined away have they, the foremost of the people of the earth. 5. And the earth has become wicked among its inhabitants; for they transgressed revelations, set at naught the ordinance, broke the everlasting covenant. 6. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they who dwelt in it make expiation: therefore are the inhabitants of the earth withered up, and there are very few mortals left. 7. New wine mourneth, vine is parched, all the merry-hearted groan. 8. The joyous playing of tabrets is silent; the noise of them that rejoice hath ceased; the joyous playing of the guitar is silent. 9. They drink no wine with a song: meth tastes bitter to them that drink it.

10. The city of Tohu is broken to pieces; every house is shut up, so that no man can come in. 11. There is lamentation for wine in the fields; all rejoicing has set; the delight of the earth is banished. 12. What is left of the city is wilderness, and the gate was shattered to ruins. 13. For so will it be within the earth, in the midst of the nations; as at the olive-beating, as at the gleaning, when the vintage is over.

14. They lift up the voice, and exult; for the majesty of Jehovah they shout from the sea! 15. Therefore praise ye Jehovah in the lands of the sun, in the islands of the sea the name of Jehovah the God of Israel. 16. From the border of the earth we hear songs: Praise to the Righteous One.

Then I said, Ruin to me! ruin to me! Robbers rob, and robbing, they rob as robbers! 17. Horror, and pit, and snare are over thee, O inhabitant of the earth! 18. And it cometh to pass, whoever fleeth from the tidings of horror falleth into the pit; and whoever escapeth out of the pit is caught in the snare: for the trap-doors on high are opened, and the firm foundations of the earth shake. 19. The earth rending, is rent asunder; the earth bursting, is burst in pieces; the earth shaking, tottereth. 20. The earth reeling, reeleth like a drunken man, and swingeth like a hammock; and its burden of sin presseth upon it; and it falleth, and riseth not again.

21. And it cometh to pass in that day, Jehovah will visit the army of the high place in the high place, and the kings of the earth on the earth. 22. And they are imprisoned, as one imprisons captives in the pit, and shut up in prison; and in the course of many days they are visited. 23. And the moon blushes, and the sun turns pale; for Jehovah of hosts reigns royally upon mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders in glory.

THE FOURFOLD MELODIOUS ECHO.--CHAPS. XXV., XXVI.

_A.--First echo: Salvation of the Nations after the Fall of the Imperial City._--CHAP. XXV. 1-8.

1. Jehovah, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name, that Thou hast wrought wonders, counsels from afar, sincerity, truth. 2. For Thou hast turned it from a city into a heap of stones, the steep castle into a ruin; the palace of the barbarians from being a city, to be rebuilt no more for ever. 3. Therefore a wild people will honour Thee, cities of violent nations fear Thee. 4. For Thou provest Thyself a stronghold to the lowly, a stronghold to the poor in his distress, as a shelter from the storm of rain, as a shadow from the burning of the sun; for the blast of the terrible once was as a storm against a wall. 5. Like the burning of the sun in a parched land, Thou subduest the noise of the barbarians; (like) the burning of the sun through the shadow of a cloud, the triumphal song of the violent ones was brought low.

6. And Jehovah of hosts prepares for all nations upon this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things rich in marrow, of wines on the lees thoroughly strained. 7. And He casts away upon this mountain the veil that veiled over all peoples, and the covering that covered over all nations. 8. He puts away death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah wipes the tear from every face; and He removes the shame of His people from the whole earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it.

_B.--Second Echo: The Humiliation of Moab._--CHAP. XXV. 9-12

9. And they say in that day, Behold our God, for whom we waited to help us: this is Jehovah, for whom we waited; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. 10. For the hand of Jehovah will sink down upon this mountain, and Moab is trodden down there where it is, as straw is trodden down in the water of the dung-pit. 11. And he spreadeth out his hands in the pool therein, as the swimmer spreadeth them out to swim; but Jehovah forceth down the pride of Moab in spite of the artifices of his hands. 12. Yes, thy steep, towering walls He bows down, forces under, and casts earthwards into dust.

_C.--Third Echo: Israel Brought Back, or Raised from the Dead._--CHAP. XXVI.

1. In that day will this song be sung in the land of Judah: A city of defence is ours; salvation He sets for walls and bulwarks. 2. Open ye the gates, that a righteous people may enter, one keeping truthfulness. 3. Thou keepest the firmly-established mind in peace, peace; for his confidence rests on Thee. 4. Hang confidently on Jehovah for ever: for in Jah, Jehovah, is an everlasting rock. 5. For He hath bent down them that dwell on high; the towering castle, He tore it down, tore it down to the earth, cast it into dust. 6. The foot treads it to pieces, feet of the poor, steps of the lowly. 7. The path that the righteous takes is smoothness; Thou makest the course of the righteous smooth.

8. We also have waited for Thee, that Thou shouldest come in the path of Thy judgments; the desire of the soul went after Thy name, and after Thy remembrance. 9. With my soul I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit deep within me, I longed to have Thee here: for when Thy judgments strike the earth, the inhabitants of the earth learn righteousness.

10. If favour is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness; in the most upright land he acts wickedly; and has no eye for the majesty of Jehovah. 11. Jehovah, Thy hand has been exalted, but they did not see: they will see the zeal for a people, being put to shame; yea, fire will devour Thine adversaries. 12. Jehovah, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou hast accomplished all our work for us. 13. Jehovah our God, lords besides Thee had enslaved us; but through Thee we praise Thy name. 14. Dead men live not again, shades do not rise again; so hast Thou visited and destroyed them, and caused all their memory to perish. 15. Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah, hast added to the nation; glorified Thyself; moved out all the borders of the land.

16. Jehovah, in trouble they missed Thee, poured out light supplication when Thy chastisement came upon them. 17. As a woman with child, who draws near to her delivery, writhes and cries out in her pangs, so were we in Thy sight, O Jehovah. 18. We went with child, we writhed; it was as if we brought forth wind. We brought no deliverance to the land, and the inhabitants of the world did not come to the light.

19. Thy dead will live, my corpses rise again. Awake and rejoice, ye that lie in the dust! For Thy dew is as the dew of the lights, and the earth will bring shades to the day.

20. Go in, my people, into thy chambers, and shut the door behind thee; hide thyself a little moment, till the judgment of wrath passes by. 21. For, behold, Jehovah goeth out of His place to visit the iniquity of the earth upon them; and the earth discloses the blood that it has sucked up, and no more covers her slain.

XXVII.--1. In that day will Jehovah visit with His sword, with the hard, and the great, and the strong; leviathan the fleet serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea.

_D.--The Fourth Echo: The Fruit-bearing Vineyard under the Protection of Jehovah._--CHAP. XXVII. 2-6

2. In that day A merry vineyard--sing it! 3. I, Jehovah, its keeper, Every moment I water it. That nothing may come near it, I watch it night and day. 4. Wrath have I none; Oh, had I thorns, thistles before Me! I would make up to them in battle, Burn them all together. 5. Men would then have to grasp at My protection, Make peace with Me, Make peace with Me.

6. In future will Jacob strike roots, Israel blossom and bud, and fill the surface of the globe with fruits.

JEHOVAH'S CHASTENING AND SAVING COURSE TOWARDS ISRAEL.--CHAP. XXVII. 7-13.

7. Hath He smitten it like the smiting of the smiter, or is it slain like the slaying of those slain by Him? 8. Thou punishedst it with measures, when Thou didst thrust it away, sifting with violent breath in the day of the east wind. 9. Therefore will the guilt of Jacob be purged thus; and this is all the fruit of the removal of his sin: when He maketh all alter-stones like chalk-stones that are broken in pieces, Astarte images and sun-pillars do not rise up again. 10. For the strong city is solitary, a dwelling given up and forsaken like the steppe: there calves feed, and there they lie down, and eat of its branches. 11. When its branches become withered, they are broken; women come, make fires with them; for it is not a people of intelligence: therefore its Creator has no pity upon it, and its Former doth not pardon it.

12. And it will come to pass on that day, Jehovah will appoint a beating of corn from the water-flood of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and ye will be gathered one by one, O sons of Israel. 13. And it will come to pass in that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and the lost ones in the land of Asshur come, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and cast themselves down before Jehovah on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

_PART V._

BOOK OF WOES: OR, HISTORICAL DISCOURSES RELATING TO ASSHUR AND THE EGYPTIAN ALLIANCE.--CHAPS. XXVIII.-XXXIII.

_The First Woe.--Judgment upon Samaria and Jerusalem, and Consolation for Both._--CHAP. XXVIII.

1. Woe to the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of the luxuriant valley of those slain with wine.

2. Behold, the Lord holds a strong and mighty thing like a hailstorm, a pestilent tempest; like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He casts down to the earth with almighty hand. 3. With feet they tread down the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim. 4. And it happens to the fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of the luxuriant valley, as to an early fig before it is harvest, which whosoever sees it looks at, and it is no longer in his hand than he swallows it.

5. In that day will Jehovah of hosts be the adorning crown and the splendid diadem to the remnant of His people; 6. and the spirit of justice to them that sit on the judgment-seat, and heroic strength to them that drive back war at the gate.

7. And they also reel with wine, and are giddy with meth; priest and prophet reel with meth, reel when seeking visions, stagger when pronouncing judgment. 8. For all tables are full of filthy vomit, without any more place.

9. Whom then would He teach knowledge? And to whom make preaching intelligible? To those weaned from the milk. To those removed from the breast. 10. For precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there?

11. For through men stammering in speech, and through a strange tongue will He speak to this people. 12. He who said to them, There is rest, give rest to weary ones, and there is refreshing! But they would not hear. 13. Therefore the word of Jehovah becomes to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there, that they may go and stumble backwards, and be wrecked to pieces, and be snared and taken.

14. Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful lords, rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem! 15. For ye say, We have made a covenant with death, and with Hades we have come to an agreement. The swelling scourge, when it cometh hither, will do us no harm: for we have made a lie our shelter, and in deceit have we hidden ourselves. 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am He who laid in Zion a stone, a stone of trial, a precious corner-stone of well-founded founding; whoever believes will not have to move. 17. And I make justice the line, and righteousness the level; and hail sweeps away the refuge of lies, and the hiding-place is washed away by waters.

18. And your covenant with death is struck out, and your agreement with Hades will not stand; the swelling scourge when it comes, ye will become a thing trodden down to it. 19. And as often as it passes it takes you: for every morning it passes, by day and by night; and it is nothing but shuddering to hear such preaching. 20. For the bed is too short to stretch in, and the covering too tight when a man wraps himself in it.

21. For Jehovah will rise up as in the mountain of Perazim, and be wroth as in the valley at Gibeon to work His work; and to set His act; strange is His act.

22. And now drive ye not mockeries, lest your fetters be strengthened: for I have heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a judgment of destruction, and an irrevocable one, upon the whole earth.

23. Lend me your ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my address! 24. Does the husbandman plough continually to sow? to furrow and to harrow his land? 25. Is it not so: when he levels the surface thereof, he scatters black poppy seed, and strews cummin, and puts in wheat in rows, and barley in the appointed piece, and spelt on its border? 26. And He has instructed him how to act rightly: his God teaches him.

27. For the black poppy is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin; but black poppy is knocked out with a stick, and cummin with a staff. 28. Is bread-corn crushed? No; he does not go on threshing for ever, and drive the wheel of his cart and his horses over it: he does not crush it. 29. This also, it goeth forth from Jehovah of hosts: He gives wonderful intelligence, high understanding.

_The Second Woe.--The Oppression and Deliverance of Ariel._--CHAP. XXIX.

1. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the castle where David pitched his tent! Add year to year, let the feasts revolve: 2. then I distress Ariel, and there is groaning and moaning; and so she proves herself to Me as Ariel. 3. And I encamp in a circle round about thee, and surround thee with watch-posts, and erect tortoises against thee. 4. And when brought down thou wilt speak out of the ground, and thy speaking will sound low out of the dust; and thy voice cometh up like that of a demon from the ground, and thy speaking will whisper out of the dust.

5. And the multitude of thy foes will become like finely powdered dust, and the multitude of tyrants like chaff flying away; and it will take place suddenly, very suddenly. 6. For Jehovah of hosts there comes a visitation with crash of thunder and earthquake and great noise, whirlwind and tempest, and the blazing up of devouring fire. 7. And the multitude of all the nations that gather together against Ariel, and all those who storm and distress Ariel and her stronghold, will be like a vision of the night in a dream. 8. And it is just as a hungry man dreams, and behold he eats; and when he wakes up his soul is empty: and just as a thirsty man dreams, and behold he drinks; and when he wakes up, behold, he is faint, and his soul is parched with thirst: so will it be to the multitude of nations which gather together against the mountain of Zion.

9. Stop and stare; blind yourselves, and grow blind!

They are drunken, and not with wine; they reel, and not with meth. 10. For Jehovah hath poured upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and bound up your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has veiled. 11. And the revelation of all this will be to you like the words of a sealed writing, which they give to him that understands writing, say, Pray, read this; but he says, I cannot, it is sealed. 12. And they give the writing to one who does not understand writing, saying, Pray, read this; but he says, I do not understand writing.

13. The Lord hath spoken: Because this people approaches Me with its mouth, and honours Me with its lips, and keeps its heart far from Me, and its reverence for Me has become as a commandment learned from men; 14. therefore, behold, I will proceed wondrously with this people, wondrously and marvellously strange; and the wisdom of its wise men is lost, and the understanding of its intelligent men becomes invisible.

15. Woe unto them that hide plans deep from Jehovah, and their doing occurs in a dark place, and they say, Who saw us then, and who know about us? 16. Oh for your perversity! It is to be regarded as potter's clay; that a work could say to its maker, He has not made me; and an image to its sculptor, He does not understand it!

17. Is it not yet a very little, and Lebanon is turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field esteemed as a forest? 18. And in that day the deaf hear scripture words, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness. 19. And the joy of the humble increases in Jehovah, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 20. For tyrants are gone, and it is over with scoffers; and all who think evil are rooted out, 21. who condemn a man for a word, and lay snares for him that is free-spoken in the gate, and overthrow the righteous through shameful lies.

22. Therefore thus saith Jehovah of the house of Jacob, He who redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not henceforth be ashamed, nor shall his face turn pale any more. 23. For when he, when his children see the work of My hands in the midst of him, they will sanctify My name and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shudder before the God of Israel. 24. And those who were of an erring spirit discern understanding, and murmurers accept instruction.

_The Third Woe.--The Momentous Result of the Alliance with Egypt._--CHAP. XXX.

1. Woe to the stubborn children, saith Jehovah, to drive plans, and not by My impulse, and to plait alliance, and not according to My spirit, to heap sin upon sin; 2. that go away to travel down to Egypt, without having asked My mouth, to fly to Pharaoh's shelter, and to conceal themselves under the shadow of Egypt. 3. And Pharaoh's shelter becomes a shame to them, and the concealment under the shadow of Egypt is a disgrace. 4. For Judah's princes have appeared in Zoan, and his ambassadors arrive in Haran. 5. They will all have to be ashamed of a people useless to them, that brings no help and no use, but shame, and also reproach.

6. Oracle concerning the water-oxen of the south: Through a land of distress and confinement, whence the lioness and lion, adders and flying dragons; they carry their possessions on the shoulders of asses' foals, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a nation that profits nothing. 7. And Egypt, worthlessly and hollowly will they help; therefore I call this Egypt, Great-mouth sits still.

8. Now go, write it on a table with them, and note it in a book, and let it stand there for future days, for ever, to eternity.

9. For it is a refractory people, lying children, children who do not like to hear the instruction of Jehovah; 10. who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things! Speak flatteries to us! 11. Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, remove from our face the Holy One of Israel.

12. Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye dislike this word, and put your trust in force and shufflings, and rely upon this; 13. therefore will this iniquity be to like a falling breach, bent forwards in a high-towering wall, which falls to ruin suddenly, very suddenly. 14. And He smites it to pieces, as a potter's vessel falls to pieces when they smash it without sparing, and of which, when it lies smashed to pieces there, you cannot find a sherd to fetch fire with from the hearth, or to take water with out of a cistern.

15. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Through turning and rest ye would be helped; your strength would show itself in quietness and confidence; but ye would not. 16. And ye said, No, but we will fly upon horses; therefore ye shall flee: and, We will ride upon race-horses; therefore your pursuers will race. 17. A thousand, ye will flee from the threatening of one, from the threatening of five, until ye are reduced to a remnant, like a pine upon the top of the mountain, and like a banner upon the hill.

18. And therefore will Jehovah wait till He inclines towards you, and therefore will He withdraw Himself on high till He has mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of right, salvation to those who wait for Him.

19. For a people continues dwelling in Zion, in Jerusalem; thou shalt not weep for ever: He will prove Himself gracious to thee at the sound of thy cry for help; as soon as He hears, He answers thee. 20. And the Lord giveth you bread in penury, and water for your need; and thy teachers will not hide themselves any more, and thine eyes come to see thy teachers. 21. And thine ears will hear words behind thee, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it!" whether ye turn to the right hand or the left. 22. And ye defile the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the clothing of thy molten images of gold; thou wilt scatter them like a filthy thing: "Get out!" thou sayest to it.

23. And He gives rain to thy seed, with which thou sowest the land; and bread of the produce of the land, and it is full of sap and fat; in that day your flocks will feed in roomy pastures. 24. And the oxen and the young asses, which work the land, salted mash will they eat, which is winnowed with the winnowing shovel and winnowing fork! 25. And upon every high mountain, and every hill that rises high, there are springs, brooks in the day of the great massacre, when the towers fall.

26. And the light of the moon will be as light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be multiplied sevenfold, like the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth the hurt of His people, and healeth the crushing of His stroke.

27. Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning His wrath, and quantity of smoke: His lips are full of wrathful foam, and His tongue like devouring fire. 28. And His breath is like an overflowing brook, which reaches half-way to the neck, to sift nations in the sieve of nothingness; and a misleading bridle comes to the cheeks of the nations.

29. Your song will then sound as in the night, when the feast is celebrated; and ye will have joy of heart like those who march with the playing of flutes, to go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.

30. And Jehovah causes His majestic voice to be heard, and causes the lowering of His arm to be seen, with the snorting of wrath and the blazing of devouring fire, the bursting of a cloud, and pouring of rain and hailstones. 31. For Asshur will be terrified at the voice of Jehovah, when He smites with the staff. 32. And it will come to pass every stroke of the rod of destiny, which Jehovah causes to fall upon Asshur, is dealt amid the noise of drums and the playing of guitars; and in battles of swinging arm He fights it. 33. For a place for the sacrifice of abominations has long been made ready, even for the king it is prepared: deep, broad has He made it: its funeral-pile has fire and wood in abundance; the breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone sets it on fire.

_The Fourth Woe.--The False Help; the Despised One Pitied; and the New Era._--CHAPS. XXXI.-XXXII. 8.

1. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely upon horses, and put their trust in chariots, that there are many of them, and in horsemen, that there is a powerful multitude of them: and to not look up to the Holy One of Israel, and do not inquire for Jehovah! 2. And yet He also is wise; thus then He brings evil, and sets not His words aside; and rises up against the house of miscreants, and against the help of evil-doers. 3. And Egypt is man, and not God; and its horses flesh, and not spirit. And when Jehovah stretches out His hand, the helper stumbles, and he that is helped falls, and they all perish together.

4. For thus hath Jehovah spoken unto me, As the lion growls and the young lion over its prey, against which a whole crowd of shepherds is called together; he is not alarmed at their cry, and does not surrender at their noise; so will Jehovah of hosts descend to the campaign against the mountain of Zion, and against their hill. 5. Like fluttering birds, so will Jehovah of hosts screen Jerusalem; screening and delivering, sparing and setting free.

6. Then turn, O sons of Israel, to Him from whom men have so deeply departed. 7. For in that day they will abhor every one their silver idols and their gold idols, which your hands have made to you for a sin. 8. And Asshur falls by a sword not of a man, and a sword not of a man will devour him; and he flees before a sword, and his young men become tributary. 9. And his rock, for fear it will pass away, and his princes be frightened away by the flags: the saying of Jehovah, who has His fire in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.

XXXII.--1. Behold the king will reign according to righteousness; and the princes, according to right will they command. 2. And every one will be like a shelter from the wind, and a covert from the storm; like water-brooks in a dry place, like the shadow of a gigantic rock in a languishing land.

3. And the eyes of the seeing no more are closed, and the ears of the hearing attend. 4. And the heart of the hurried understands to know, and the tongue of stammerers speaks clear things with readiness.

5. The fool will no more be called a nobleman, nor the crafty a gentleman. 6. For a fool speaks follies, and his heart does godless things, to practise tricks and to speak error against Jehovah, to leave the soul of hungry men empty, and to withhold the drink of thirsty ones. 7. And the craft of the crafty man is evil, who devises stratagems to destroy suffering ones by lying words, even when the needy exhibits his right. 8. But a noble man deviseth noble things, and to noble things he adheres.

AGAINST THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM.--CHAP. XXXII. 9-20.

_Appendix to the Fourth Woe._

9. Ye contented women, rise up, hear my voice, ye confident daughters, hearken to my speech! 10. Days to the year: then will ye tremble, confident ones! for it is all over with the vintage, the fruit harvest comes to nought. 11. Tremble, contented ones! Quake, ye confident ones! Strip, make yourselves bare, and gird your loins with sackcloth! 12. They smite upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13. On the land of my people there come up weeds, briers; yes, upon all joyous houses of the rejoicing city. 14. For the palace is made solitary: the crowd of the city is left desolate; the ophel and watch-tower serve as caves for ever, for the delight of wild asses, for the tending of flocks.

15. Until the Spirit is poured out over us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as the forest. 16. And justice makes its abode in the desert, and righteousness settles down upon the fruit-field. 17. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the reward of righteousness rest and security for ever. 18. And my people dwells in a place of peace, and in trustworthy, safe dwellings, and in cheerful resting-places. 19. And it hails with the overthrow of the forest, and into lowliness must the city be brought low.

20. Blessed are ye that sow by all waters, and let the foot of the oxen and asses rove in freedom.

_The Fifth Woe.--Woe Concerning Asshur; Deliverance and Glory of Jerusalem._--CHAP. XXXIII.

1. Woe, devastator, and thyself not devastated; and thou spoiler, and still not spoiled! Hast thou not done with devastating? thou shalt be devastated. Hast thou attained to rob? men rob thee.

2. Jehovah, be gracious to us; we wait for Thee: be their arm every morning, yea, our salvation in time of need!

3. At the sound of a noise peoples pass away: at Thy rising nations are scattered. 4. And your booty is swept away as a swarm of locusts sweeps away; as beetles run, they run upon it.

5. Jehovah is exalted; for dwelling on high, He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 6. And there will be security of thy times, riches of salvation, of wisdom, and knowledge. Fear of Jehovah is then the treasure of Judah.

7. Behold, their heroes weep without; the messengers of peace weep bitterly. 8. Desolate are roads, disappeared are travellers; he has broken covenant, insulted cities, despised men. 9. The land mourns, languishes; Lebanon stands ashamed, parched; the meadow of Sharon has become like a steppe, and Bashan and Carmel shake their leaves. 10. Now will I arise, saith Jehovah, now exalt Myself, now lift up Myself.

11. Ye are pregnant with hay, ye bring forth stubble! Your snorting is the fire that will devour you. 12. And nations become as lime burnings, thorns cut off, which are kindled with fire.

13. Hear, ye distant ones, what I have accomplished; and perceive, ye near ones, my omnipotence! 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the hypocrites: who of us can dwell with devouring fire? who of us abide with everlasting burnings?

15. He that walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightness; he that despiseth gain of oppressions, whose hand keepeth from grasping bribes; he that stoppeth his ear from hearing murderous counsel, and shutteth his eyes from looking at evil; 16. he will dwell upon high places; rocky fastnesses are his castle; his bread is abundant, his waters inexhaustible.

17. Thine eyes will see the King in His beauty, will see a land that is very far off.

18. Thy heart meditates upon the shuddering. Where is the valuer? where is the weigher? where he who counted the towers? 19. The rough people thou seest no more, a people of deep inaudible lip, of stammering unintelligible tongue.

20. Look upon Zion, the castle of our festal meeting. Thine eyes will see Jerusalem, a pleasant place, a tent that does not wander about, whose pegs are never drawn, and none of whose cords are ever broken. 21. No, there dwells for us a glorious One, Jehovah; a place of streams, canals of wide extent, into which no fleet of rowing vessels ventures, and which no strong man of war shall cross. 22. For Jehovah is our Judge; Jehovah is our war-Prince; Jehovah is our King; He will bring us salvation.

23. Thy ropes hang loose; they do not hold fast the support of thy mast; they do not hold the flag extended: then is the booty of plunder divided in abundance; even lame men share the prey. 24. And not an inhabitant will say, I am weak: the people settled there have their sins forgiven.

_PART VI._

FINALE OF THE JUDGMENT UPON ALL THE WORLD (MORE ESPECIALLY UPON EDOM) AND REDEMPTION OF THE PEOPLE OF JEHOVAH.--CHAPS. XXXIV., XXXV.

1. Come near, ye peoples, to hear; and ye nations, attend. Let the earth hear, and that which fills it, the world, and everything that springs from it. 2. For the indignation of Jehovah will fall upon all nations, and burning wrath upon all their host; He has laid the ban upon them, delivered them to the slaughter. 3. And their slain are cast away, and their corpses--their stench will arise, and mountains melt with their blood. 4. And all the host of the heavens are rolled up like a scroll, and all their heat withers as a leaf withers away from the vine, and like withered leaves from the fig-tree.

5. For My sword has become intoxicated in the heaven; behold, it comes down upon Edom, and upon the people of My ban to judgment. 6. The sword of Jehovah fills itself with blood, is fattened with fat, with blood of lambs and he-goats, with kidney-fat of rams; for Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7. And buffaloes fall with them, and bullocks together with bulls; and their land becomes intoxicated with blood, and their dust fattened with fat.

8. For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense, to contend for Zion. 9. And the brooks of Edom are turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land becomes burning pitch. 10. Day and night it is not quenched; the smoke of Edom goes up for ever: it lies waste from generation to generation; no one passes through it for ever and ever. 11. And pelican and hedgehog take possession of it, and eared-owl and raven dwell there; and He stretched over it the measure of Tohu and the level of Bohu. 12. Its nobles--there is no longer a monarchy which they elected; nettles and thistles in the castles; and it and all its princes come to nought. 13. And the palaces of Edom break out into thorns, nettles and thistles in the castles; and it becomes the abode of wild dogs, pasture for ostriches. 14. And martens meet with jackals, and a wood-devil runs upon its fellow; yea, Līlīth dwells there, and finds rest for itself. 15. There the arrow-snake makes its nest, and breeds and lays eggs, and broods in the shadow there; yea, there vultures gather one to another. 16. Search in the book of Jehovah, and read! Not one of the creatures falls, not one misses the other: for My mouth--it has commanded it; and His breath--it has brought them together. 17. And He has cast the lots for them, and His hand has assigned it (this land) to them by measure; they will possess it for ever; to generation and generation they will dwell therein.

XXXV.--1. Gladness fills the desert and the heath; and the steppe rejoices, and flowers like the crocus. 2. It flowers abundantly, and rejoices; yea, rejoicing and singing: the glory of Lebanon is given to it, the splendour of Carmel and the plain of Sharon; they will see the glory of Jehovah, the splendour of our God.

3. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and make the trembling knees strong. 4. Say to those of a terrified heart, Be strong, Fear ye not! Behold, your God will come for vengeance, for a Divine retribution: He will come, and bring you salvation. 5. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6. Then will the lame man leap as the stag, and the tongue of the dumb man shout; for waters break out in the desert, and brooks in the steppe. 7. And the mirage becomes a fish-pond, and the thirsty ground gushing water-springs; in the place of jackals, where it lies, there springs up grass with reeds and rushes.

8. And a highway rises there, and a road, and it will be called the Holy Road; no unclean man will pass along it, as it is appointed for them: whoever walks the road, even simple ones do not go astray. 9. There will be no lion there, and the most ravenous beast of prey will not approach it, will not be met with there; and redeemed ones walk. 10. And the ransomed of Jehovah will return, and come to Zion with shouting, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they lay hold of gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing flee away.

_PART VII._

FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY; AND PROPHECIES BELONGING TO THE FOURTEENTH YEAR OF HEZEKIAH'S REIGN, AND THE TIMES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING.--CHAPS. XXXVI.-XXXIX.

_A.--First Assyrian Attempt to Compel the Surrender of Jerusalem._--CHAPS. XXXVI.-XXXVII. 7.

XXXVI.--1. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hizikiyahu, Sancherîb, king of Asshur, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 2. Then the king of Asshur sent Rabshakeh from Lachish towards Jerusalem to king Hizkiyahu with a great army, and he advanced to the conduit of the upper pool by the road of the fuller's field; 3. and there went out to him Eliakim, son of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and Shebna the chancellor, and Joah, son of Asaph the recorder.

4. And Rabshakeh said to them, Say now to Hizkiyahu, Thus saith the great king, the king of Asshur, What sort of confidence is this that thou hast got? 5. I say, Vain talk is counsel and strength for war: now, then, in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? 6. Behold, thou trustest in this broken reed-staff there, in Egypt, on which one leans, and it runs into his hand and pierces it; so does Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7. But if thou sayest to me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is it not He whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before the altar? 8. And not take a wager with my lord the king of Asshur; I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou art able for thy part to give horsemen upon them. 9. And how couldst thou repel the advance of a single satrap among the least of the servants of my lord? Thou puttest thy trust then in Egypt for chariots and riders! 10. And now have I come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up to this land, and destroy it.

11. Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, to Rabshakeh, Pray, speak to thy servants in Aramæan, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Jewish, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

12. Then Rabshakeh said to them, Has my lord sent me to thy lord and to thee, not rather to the men who sit upon the wall, to eat their dung, and to drink their urine together with you?

13. Then Rabshakeh went near, and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Asshur. 14. Thus saith the king, Let not Hizkiyahu practise deception upon you; for he cannot deliver you. 15. And let not Hizkiyahu feed you with hope in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will deliver, yea, deliver us: this city will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Asshur. 16. Hearken not to Hizkiyahu; for thus saith the king of Asshur, Enter into a connection of mutual good wishes with me, and come out to me: and enjoy every one his vine, and every one his fig-tree, and drink every one the water of his cistern: 17. till I come and take you away into a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread-corn and vineyards; 18. that Hizkiyahu do not befool you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered every one his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur? 19. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where the gods of Sepharvayim? and how much less have they delivered that Samaria out of my hand? 20. Who were they among all the gods of these lands who delivered their land out of my hand? how much less will Jehovah deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

21. But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for it was the king's commandment, Ye shall not answer him.

22. Then came Eliakim, son of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and Shebna that chancellor, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, to Hizkiyahu, with torn clothes, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

XXXVII.--1. And it came to pass, when king Hizkiyahu had heard, he rent his clothes, and wrapped himself in mourning linen, and went into the house of Jehovah. 2. And sent Eliakim the house-minister, and Shebna the chancellor, and the eldest of the priests, wrapped in mourning linen, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet. 3. And they say to him, Thus saith Hizkiyahu, A day of affliction, and punishment, and blasphemy is this day; for children are come to the matrix, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4. Perhaps Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, with which the king of Asshur his lord has sent him to revile the living God; and Jehovah thy God will punish for the words He hath heard, and thou wilt make intercession for the remnant that still exists.

5. And the servants of king Hizkiyahu came to Isaiah. 6. And Isaiah said to them, Speak thus to your lord, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have blasphemed Me. 7. Behold, I will bring a spirit upon him, and he will hear a hearsay, and return to his own land; and I will cut him down with the sword in his own land.

_B.--Second Attempt of the Assyrians to Force the Surrender of Jerusalem. Its Miraculous Deliverance._--CHAP. XXXVII. 8-38.

8. Rabshakeh thereupon returned, and found the king of Asshur warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had withdrawn from Lachish. 9. And he had heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, he has come out to make war against thee; and heard, and sent messengers to Hiskiyahu, saying, 10. Thus shall ye say to Hizkiyahu king of Judah, saying, Let not the God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Asshur. 11. Behold, thou hast surely heard what the kings of Asshur have done to all lands, to lay the ban upon them; and thou, thou shouldest be delivered? 12. Have the gods of the nations, which my fathers destroyed, delivered them? Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the B•nē-'Eden, which are in Telassar? 13. Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of 'Ir-Sepharvayim, Hen'a, and 'Ivah?

14. And Hizkiyahu took the letter out of the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of Jehovah; and Hizkiyahu spread it before Jehovah. 15. And Hizkiyahu prayed to Jehovah, saying, 16. Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim, Thou, yea Thou alone, art God of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth. 17. Incline Thine ear, Jehovah, and hear! Open Thine eyes, Jehovah, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to despise the living God! 18. Truly, O Jehovah, the kings of Asshur have laid waste all lands, and their land, 19. and have put their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, only the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 20. And now, Jehovah our God, help us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou Jehovah art it alone.

21. And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hizkiyahu, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib the king of Asshur: 22. This is the utterance which Jehovah utters concerning him:--The virgin daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head after thee. 23. Whom hast thou reviled and blasphemed, and over whom hast thou spoken loftily, that thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. 24. By thy servants hast thou reviled the Lord, in that thou sayest, "With the multitude of my chariots have I climbed the height of the mountains, the inner side of Lebanon; and I shall fell the lofty growth of its cedars, the choice of its cypresses; and I shall penetrate to the height of its uttermost border, the grove of its orchard. 25. I, I have digged and drank waters, and will make dry with the sole of my feet all the Nile-arms." 26. Hast thou not heard? I have done it long ago, from the days of ancient time have I formed it, and now brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities into desolate stone heaps; 27. and their inhabitants, powerless, were terrified, and were put to shame: became herb of the field and green of the turf, herb of the house-tops, and a cornfield before the blades. 28. And thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy entering in, I know; and thy heating thyself against Me. 29. On account of thy heating thyself against Me, and because thy self-confidence has risen up into Mine ears, I put My ring into thy nose, and My muzzle into thy lips, and lead thee back by the way by which thou hast come.

30. And let this be a sign to thee, Men eat this year what is self-sown; and in the second year what springs from the roots; and in the third year they sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31. And that which is escaped of the house of Judah, that which remains will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 32. For from Jerusalem will a remnant go forth, and a fugitive from Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah of hosts will carry this out.

33. Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Asshur, He will not enter into this city, nor shoot off an arrow there; nor do they assault it with a shield, nor cast up earthworks against it. 34. By the way by which he came will he return; and he will not enter into this city, saith Jehovah. 35. And I shield this city, to help, for Mine own sake, and for the sake of David My servant.

36. Then the angel of Jehovah went forth and smote in the camp of Asshur a hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when men rose up in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 37. Then Sennacherib king of Asshur decamped, and went forth and returned, and settled down in Nineveh. 38. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharazer his sons smote him with the sword; and when they escaped to the land of Ararat, Esar-haddon reigned in his stead.

_C.--Hezekiah's Illness. Isaiah Assures Him of His Recovery._--CHAP. XXXVIII.

1. In those days Hizkiyahu became dangerously ill. And Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thine house in order; for thou wilt die, and not recover. 2. Then Hizkiyahu turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah, 3. and said, O Jehovah, remember this, I pray, that I have walked before Thee in truth, and with the whole heart, and have done what was good in Thine eyes. And Hizkiyahu wept with loud weeping.

4. And it came to pass the word of Jehovah came to Isaiah as follows: 5. Go and say to Hizkiyahu, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thine ancestor, I have heard thy prayer, seen thy tears; behold, I add to thy days fifteen years. 6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Asshur, and defend this city.

[21. Then Isaiah said they were to bring a fig-cake; and they plastered the boil, and he recovered. 22. And Hizkiyahu said, What sign is there that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?]

7. And let this be the sign to thee on the part of Jehovah, that Jehovah will perform the word which He has spoken: 8. Behold, I will make the shadow retrace the steps, which it has gone down upon the sun-dial of Ahaz through the sun, ten steps backward. And the sun went back ten steps upon the dial, which it had gone down.

9. Writing of Hizkiyahu king of Judah, when he was sick, and recovered from his sickness.

10, 11, 12:-- I said, in quiet of my days shall I depart into the gates of Hades: I am mulcted of the rest of my years. I said, I shall not see Jah, Jah, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more, with the inhabitants of the regions of the dead. My home is broken up, and is carried off from me like a shepherd's tent: I rolled up my life like a weaver: He would have cut me loose from the roll: From day to night Thou makest an end of me.

13, 14:-- I waited patiently till the morning; like the lion, So will He break in pieces all my bones: From day to night Thou makest it all over with me. Like a swallow, a crane, so I chirped; I cooed like the dove: Mine eyes pined for the height. O Lord, men assault me! Be bail for me.

15-17:-- What shall I say, That He promised me, and He hath carried it out: I should walk quietly all my years, on the trouble of my soul? Oh Lord, by such things men revive, and the life of my spirit is always therein: And so wilt Thou restore me, and make me to live! Behold, bitterness became salvation to me, bitterness; And Thou, Thou hast delivered my soul in love out of the pit of corruption: For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.

18-20:-- For Hades does not praise Thee; death does not sing praises to Thee: They that sink into the grave do not hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he praises Thee, as I do to-day; The father to the children makes known Thy truth, Jehovah is ready to give me salvation; Therefore will we play my stringed instruments all the days of my life In the house of Jehovah.

_D.--Threatening of the Babylonish Captivity Occasioned by Hezekiah._--CHAP. XXXIX.

1. At that time Merodach Bal'adan, son of Bal'adan king of Babel, sent writings and a present to Hizkiyahu, and heard that he had been sick, and was restored again.

2. And Hizkiyahu rejoiced concerning them, and showed them all his storehouses: the silver, and the gold and the spices, and the fine oil, and all his arsenal, and all that was in his treasures: there was nothing that Hizkiyahu had now shown them in all his house or in all his kingdom.

3. Then came Isaiah the prophet to king Hizkiyahu, and said to him, What have these men said, and whence came they to thee? Hizkiyahu said, They came to me from a far country, out of Babel. 4. He said further, What have they seen in thy house? Hizkiyahu said, All that is in my house have they seen; there was nothing in my treasures that I had not shown them. 5. Then Isaiah said to Hizkiyahu, Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts; 6. Behold, days come, that all that is in thy house, and all that thy fathers have laid up unto this day, will be carried away to Babel: nothing will be left behind, saith Jehovah. 7. And of thy children that proceed from thee, whom thou shalt beget, will they take; and they will be courtiers in the palace of the king of Babel. 8. Then said Hizkiyahu to Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. And he said further, Yea, there shall be peace and steadfastness in my days.

SECOND HALF OF THE COLLECTION, CHAPS. XL.-LXVI.

_PART I._

FIRST PROPHECY.--CHAP. XL.

_Words of Comfort, and the God of Comfort._

1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her affliction is ended, that her debt is paid, that she has received from the hand of Jehovah double for all her sins.

3. Hark, a crier! In the wilderness prepare ye a way for Jehovah, make smooth in the desert a road for our God. 4. Let every valley be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low; and let the rugged by made a plain, and the ledges of rock a valley. 5. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh seeth together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.

6. Hark, one speaking, Cry! And he answers, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. 7. Grass is withered, flower faded, for the breath of Jehovah has blown upon it. Surely grass is the people; 8. grass withereth, flower fadeth: yet the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9. Upon a high mountain get thee up, O evangelistess Zion;[1] lift up thy voice with strength, evangelistess Jerusalem! lift up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God.

10. Behold, the Lord Jehovah as a mighty one will He come! His arm ruling for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His retribution before Him. 11. He will feed His flock like a shepherd, take the lambs in His arm, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are giving suck.

12. Who hath measured the waters with the hollow of His hand, and regulated the heavens with a span, and taken up the dust of the earth in a third measure, and weighed the mountains with a steelyard, and hills with balances? 13. Who regulated the Spirit of Jehovah, and (who) instructed Him as His counsellor? 14. With whom took He counsel, and who would have explained to Him and instructed Him concerning the path of right, and taught Him knowledge, and made known to Him a prudent course?

15. Behold, nations like a little drop on a bucket, and like a grain of sand in a balance, are they esteemed; behold, islands like an atom of dust that rises in the air. 16. And Lebanon is not a sufficiency of burning, nor its game a sufficiency of burnt-offerings. 17. All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are regarded by Him as belonging to nullity and emptiness. 18. And to whom can ye liken God, and what king of image can ye place beside Him!

19. The idol, when the smith has cast it, the melter plates it with gold, and melteth silver chains for it. 20. The man who is impoverished in oblations, he chooseth a block of wood that will not rot; he seeketh for himself a skilful smith, to prepare an idol that will not shake.

21. Do ye not know? Do ye not hear? Is it not proclaimed to you from the beginning? Have ye not obtained an insight into the foundations of the earth? 22. He who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants resemble grasshoppers; who has spread out the heavens like gauze, and stretched them out like a tent-roof to dwell in; 23. He who giveth up rulers; maketh judges of the earth like a desolation. 24. They are hardly planted, hardly sown, their stem has hardly taken root in the earth, and He only blows upon them, and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like stubble.

25. And to whom will ye compare Me, to whom can I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26. Lift[2] up your eyes on high and see; who hath created these things? It is He who bringeth out their host by number, calleth them all by names, because of the greatness of (His) might, and as being strong in power: there is not one that is missing.

27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hidden from Jehovah, and my right hand is overlooked by my God? 28. Is it not known to thee, or hast thou not heard, an eternal God is Jehovah, Creator of the ends of the earth? He fainteth not, neither becomes weary; His understanding is unsearchable. 29. Giving power to the faint, and to the incapable He giveth strength in abundance. 30. And youths grow faint and weary, and young men suffer a fall. 31. But they who wait for Jehovah gain fresh strength; lift up their wings like eagles; run, and are not weary; go forward, and do not faint.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] 9. O thou that bringest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain! lift up thy voice with strength, O thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem! lift it up, &c.--_Birks and Kay._

[2] Lift up your eyes into the heavens, and behold! who hath created these things? He bringeth out their host by number, He calleth them all by names; by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power, not one faileth.--_Matthew Arnold._

SECOND PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLI.

_The God of the World's History, and of Prophecy._

1. Be silent to Me, ye islands; and let the nations procure fresh strength: let them come near, then speak; we will enter into contest together.

2. Who hath raised up the man from the rising of the sun, whom justice meets at His foot, He giveth up nations before Him, and kings He subdues, giveth men like dust to His sword, and like driven stubble to His bow? 3. He pursueth them, and marcheth in peace by a course which He never trod with His foot. 4. Who hath wrought and executed it? He who calleth the generations of men from the beginning, I Jehovah am first, and with the last one am I HE. 5. Islands have seen it and shuddered; the ends of the earth trembled; they have approached, and drawn near. 6. One helped his companion, and he said to his brother, Only firm! 7. The caster puts firmness into the melter, the hammer-smoother into the anvil-smelter, saying of the soldering, It is good; and made him firm with nails, that he should not shake.

8. And[1] thou, Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham My friend;[2] 9. thou whom I have laid hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said to Thee, Thou art My servant, I have chosen and not despised thee, 10. fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not afraid, for I am thy God: I have chosen thee, I also help thee, I also hold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. 11. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee must be ashamed and confounded; the men of thy conflict become as nothing, and perish. 12. Thou wilt seek them, and not find them, the men of thy feuds; the men of thy warfare become as nothing, and nonentity. 13. For I, Jehovah thy God, lay hold of thy right hand, He who saith to thee, Fear not, I will help thee.

14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and handful[3] Israel: I will help thee, saith Jehovah; and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15. Behold, I have made thee a threshing roller, a sharp new one, with double edges; thou wilt thresh mountains, and pound them; and hills thou wilt make chaff. 16. Thou wilt winnow them, and wind carries them away, and tempest scatters them; and thou wilt rejoice in Jehovah, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17. The poor and needy, who seek for water and there is none, their tongue faints for thirst. I Jehovah will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18. I open streams upon hills of the field, and springs in the midst of valleys; I make the desert into a pond, and dry land into fountains of water. 19. I give in the desert cedars, acacias, and myrtles, and oleasters; I set on the steppe cypresses, plane-trees, sherbin-trees together, 20. that they may see, and know, and lay to heart, and understand all together, that the hand of Jehovah hath accomplished it, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

21. Bring hither your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forward your proofs, saith the King of Jacob. 22. Let them bring forward, and make known to us what will happen; make known the beginning, what it is, and we will fix our heart upon it, and take knowledge of its issue; or let us hear what is to come. 23. Make known to us what is coming later, and we will acknowledge that ye are gods! yea, do good, and do evil, and we will measure ourselves, and see together.

25. I have raised up from the north, and he came: from the rising of the sun one who invokes my name; and he treads upon satraps as mud, and like a potter kneadeth clay.

26. Who hath made it known from the beginning, we will acknowledge it, and from former time, we will say He is in the right! Yea, there was none that made known; yea, none that caused to hear; yea, none that heard your words. 27. As at the first I said to Zion,[4] Behold, behold, there it is; and I bestow evangelists upon Jerusalem. 28. And I looked, and there was no man; and of these there was no one answering whom I could ask, and who would give me an answer. 29. See them all, vanity; nothingness are their productions, wind and desolation their molten images.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] But, &c.--_Birks._

[2] Abraham that loved me.--_Kay._

[3] And ye mortals of Israel.--_Birks._

[4] Or, beforehand is it said unto Zion, Behold, behold them!--_Kay._

THIRD PROPHECY.--CHAPS. XLII. 1-XLIII. 18.

_The Mediator of Israel and Saviour of the Gentiles._

1. Behold My servant, who I uphold; Mine elect, whom My soul loveth; I have laid My Spirit upon Him; He will bring out right to the Gentiles. 2. He will not cry, nor lift up, nor cause to be heard in the street, His voice. 3. A bruised reed He does not break, and a glimmering wick He does not put out: according to truth He brings out right.[1] 4. He will not become faint or broken till He establish right upon earth, and the islands wait for His instruction.

5. Thus saith God, Jehovah, Who created the heavens and stretched them out; Who spread the earth, and its productions; Who gave the spirit of life to the people upon it, and the breath of life to them that walk upon it: 6. I, Jehovah, I have called Thee in righteousness, and grasped Thy hand; and I keep Thee, and make Thee the covenant of the people, the light of the Gentiles, 7. to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners out of the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.

8. I am Jehovah, that is My name, and My glory I will not give to another, nor My renown to idols. 9. The first, behold, is come to pass, and new things am I proclaiming; before it springs up, I will let you hear it.

10. Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, ye navigators of the sea, and its fulness; ye islands and their inhabitants. 11. Let the desert and the cities thereof strike up, the villages the Kedar doth inhabit; the inhabitants of the rock-city may rejoice, about from the summits of the mountains. 12. Let them give glory to Jehovah, and proclaim His praise in the islands. 13. Jehovah, like a hero will He go forth, kindle jealousy like a man of war; He will break forth into a war-cry, a yelling war-cry, prove Himself a hero upon His enemies.

14. I have been silent eternally long, over still, restrained myself; like[2] a travailing woman, I now breathe again, snort and snuff together. 15. I will make waste mountains and hills, and all their herbage I dry up, and change streams into islands, and lakes I dry up. 16. And I lead the blind by a way that they know not; by steps that they know not, I make them walk; I turn dark space before them into light, and rugged places into a plain. These are the things that I carry out, and do not leave.

17. They fall back, are put deeply to shame, that trust in molten images, that say to the molten image, Thou art our god.

18. Ye deaf, hear; and ye blind, look up that ye may see.

19. Who is blind but My servant? and deaf, as My messenger who I send? who blind as the confident of God, and blind as the servant of Jehovah? 20. Thou hast seen much, and yet keepest not; opening the ears, he yet doth not hear. 21. Jehovah was pleased for His righteousness' sake: He gave a Church [direction, instruction, revelation] great and glorious. 22. And yet it is a people robbed and plundered; fastened in holes all of them, and they are hidden in prison-houses: they have become booty, without deliverers; a spoil, without any one saying, Give it up again!

23. Who among you will give ear to this, attend, and hear afar off? 24. Who has given up Jacob to plundering, and Israel to the spoilers? Is it not Jehovah, against whom we have sinned? and they would not walk in His way, and hearkened not to His law. 25. Then He poured upon it in burning heat His wrath, and the strength of the fury of war: and this set it in flames round about, and it did not come to be recognised; it set on fire, and it did not lay it to heart.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] He shall cause judgment to go forth unto truth.--_Kay._

[2] Now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will desolate and swallow up at once.--_Kay._

XLIII.--1. But now thus saith Jehovah thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Former, O Israel! Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine. 2. When thou goest through the water, I am with thee; and through rivers, they shall not drown thee: when thou goest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; and the flame shall not set thee on fire. 3. For I Jehovah am thy God; (I) the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I give up Egypt as a ransom for thee, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead. 4. Because thou art dear in my eyes, highly esteemed, and I loved thee; I give up men in thy stead, and peoples for thy life.

5. Fear not, for I am with thee: I bring thy seed from the east, and from the west will I gather thee; 6. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth; 7. everything that is called by My name, and I have created for My glory, that I have formed, yea finished!

8. Bring out a blind people, and it has eyes: and deaf people, and yet furnished with ears! 9. All ye hearken, gather yourselves together, and let peoples assemble! Who among you can proclaim such a thing? And let them cause former things to be heard, appoint their witnesses, and be justified. Let these hear, and say, True! 10. Ye are My witnesses, saith Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe Me, and see that it is I: before Me was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.

11. I, I am Jehovah; and beside me there is no Saviour. 12. I,[1] I have proclaimed and brought salvation, and given to perceive, and there was no other God among you: and ye are My witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God. 13. Even from the day onwards I am so; and here is no deliverer out of My hand; I act, and who can turn it back?

FOURTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLIII. 14.-XLIV. 5.

_Avenging and Deliverance; and Outpouring of the Spirit._

14. Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake I have sent to Babel, and will hurl them all down as fugitives, and the Chaldeans into the ships of their rejoicing. 15. I, Jehovah, am your Holy One; (I), Israel's Creator, your King.

16. Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth a road through the sea, and a path through tumultuous waters; 17. who bringeth out chariot and horse, army[2] and hero; they lie down together, they never rise: they have flickered away, extinguished like a wick. 18. Remember not things of olden time, nor meditate upon those of earlier times! 19. Behold, I work out a new thing; will ye not live to see it? Yea, I make a road through the desert, and streams through solitudies. 20. The beast of the field will praise Me, wild dogs and ostriches; for I give water in the desert, streams in solitude, to give drink to My people, My chosen. 21. The people that I formed for Myself, they shall show forth My praise.

22.[3] And thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob, that thou shouldest have wearied thyself for Me, O Israel! 23. Thou hast not brought Me sheep of My burnt-offerings, and thou hast not honoured Me with thy slain-offerings. I have not burdened thee with meat-offerings, and have not troubled thee about incense. 24. Thou hast brought Me no spice-cane for silver, nor hast thou refreshed Me with the fat of thy slain-offerings. No; thou hast wearied Me with thy sins, troubled Me with thine iniquities. 25. I, I alone, blot out thy transgressions for My own sake, and do not remember thy sins.

26. Call to My remembrance; we will strive together; tell Me now, that thou mayest appear just. 27. Thy first forefather sinned, and thy mediators have fallen away from Me. 28. Then I profaned holy princes, and gave up Jacob to the curse, and Israel to blasphemies.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] I myself declared (beforehand), and saved (in accordance with that declaration), and published (the account of that deliverance); I myself have done this, and there was no strange (god) among you.--_Kay._

I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, and it was no strange god that was among you.--_Matthew Arnold._

[2] The valiant and the strong.--_Kay._

[3] 22-24. Yet on Me hast thou not called: but thou hast toiled in respect of Me. Thou broughtest not for _Me_ the lamb of thy burnt-offerings; with thy sacrifices thou didst not glorify Me; I caused thee no labour in meat-offering, neither made thee to toil in respect of incense. Thou broughtest not sweet cane with money for _Me;_ and with the fat of thy sacrifices thou didst not refresh _Me._ Verily, thou hast caused Me to labour by thy sins; thou hast made Me to toil by thine iniquities.--_Kay._

XLIV.--1. And now hear, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 2. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Creator, and thy Former from the womb, who cometh to thy help: Fear not, My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen! 3. For I will pour water on thirsty ones, and brooks upon the dry ground; will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine after-growth; 4. and they shoot up among the grass, as willows by flowing waters. 5. One will say, I belong to Jehovah; and a second will solemnly name the name of Jacob; and a third[1] will inscribe himself to Jehovah, and name the name of Israel with honour.

FIFTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLIV. 6-23.

_The ridiculous Gods of the Nations; and the God of Israel, Who Makes His People to Rejoice._

6. Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel, and its Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts; I am first, and I last; and beside Me there is no God. 7.[2] And who preaches as I do? Let him make it known, and show it to Me; since I founded the people of ancient time! And future things, and what is approaching, let them only make known. 8. Despair ye not, neither tremble: have I not told thee long ago, and made it known, and ye are My witnesses: is there a God beside Me? And nowhere a Rock; I know of none.

9. The makers of idols, they are all desolation, and their bosom children worthless; and those who bear witness for them see nothing and know nothing, that they may be put to shame. 10. Who hath formed the god, and cast the idol to no profit? 11. Behold, all its followers will be put to shame; and the workmen are men; let them all assemble together, draw near, be alarmed, be all put to shame together.

12. The iron-smith[3] has a chisel, and works with red-hot coals, and shapes it with hammers, and works it with his powerful arm. He gets hungry thereby, and his strength fails; if he drink no water he becomes exhausted. 13. The carpenter draws the line, marks it with the pencil, carries it out with planes, and makes a drawing of it with the compass, and carries it out like the figure of a man, like the beauty of a man, which may dwell in the house.

14. One[4] prepares to cut down cedars, and takes holm and oak-tree, and chooses for himself among the trees of the forest. He planteth a fig, and the rain draws it up. 15. And it serves the man for firing; he takes thereof, and warms himself; he also heats, and bakes bread; he also works it into a god, and prostrates himself; makes an idol of it, and falls down before it. 16. The half of it he has burned in the fire! over the half of it he eats flesh, roasts a roast, and is satisfied; he also warms himself, and says, Hurrah! I am getting warm, I feel the heat. 17. And the rest of it he makes into a god, into his idol, and says, Save me, for thou art my god!

18. They perceive not, and do not understand: for their eyes are smeared over, so that they do not see; their hearts that they do not understand. 19. And men take it not to heart, no perception and no understanding, that men should say, The half of it I have burned in the fire, and also baked bread upon the coals thereof; roasted flesh, and eaten: and ought I to make the rest of it into an abomination, to fall down before the produce of a tree? 20. He who striveth after ashes, a befooled heart has led him astray, and he does not deliver his soul, and does not think, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

21. Remember this, Jacob and Israel; for thou art My servant: I have formed thee, thou art servant to Me, O Israel: thou art not forgotten by Me. 22.[5] I have blotted out thy transgressions as a mist, and thy sins as clouds: return to Me; for I have redeemed thee.

23. Exult, O heavens; for Jehovah hath accomplished it: shout, ye depths of the earth; break out, ye mountains, into exulting; thou forest, and all the wood therein: for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and He showeth Himself glorious unto Israel.

SIXTH PROPHECY.--CHAPS. XLIV. 24-XLV.

_Cyrus, the Anointed of Jehovah, and Deliverer of Israel._

24. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I Jehovah am He that accomplisheth all; who stretched out the heavens alone, spread out the earth by Himself; 25. who bringeth to nought the signs of the prophets of lies, and exposeth the soothsayers as raging mad; who turneth back the wise men, and maketh their science folly; 26. who realiseth the word of His servant, and accomplisheth the prediction of His messengers; who saith to Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and their ruins I raise up again! 27. who saith to the whirlpool, Dry up; and I dry its streams; 28. who saith to Koresh, My shepherd, and he will perform all my will; and will say to Jerusalem, She shall be built, and the temple founded!

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Shall write with his hand THE LORD'S.--_Kay._

[2] 7. And who, as I, can ordain, and announce it, and set it in order for me, ever since I appointed the ancient people? and coming things, and those which shall come, can they show unto them?--_Kay._

And who, as I, hath foretold (let him declare it, and set it in order for me!) since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come, let them show!--_Matthew Arnold._

[3] The iron-smith (maketh) an adze, and worketh it in the coal.--_Kay._

[4] 14. He must cut down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, and he encourageth himself in the trees of the forest.--_Kay._

[5] 22. I have swept away as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a dark cloud thy sins.--_Kay._

I blot out, as a dark cloud, thy transgressions, and, as the clouds, thy sins.--_Revised English Bible._

XLV.--1. Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Koresh, whom I have taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him, and the loins of kings I ungird, to open before him doors and gates, that they may not continue shut. 2. I shall go before thee, and level what is heaped up: gates of brass shall I break to pieces, and bolts of iron shall I smite to the ground. 3. And I shall give thee treasures of darkness, and jewels of hidden places, that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am He who called out thy name, (even) the God of Israel.

4. For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen, I called thee hither by name, surnamed thee when thou knewest Me not. 5. I Jehovah, and there is none else, beside Me no God: I equipped thee when thou knewest Me not; 6. that they may know from the rising of the sun, and its going down, that there is none without Me; I Jehovah, and there is none else; 7. Former of the light, and Creator of the darkness; Founder of peace, and Creator of evil: I Jehovah am He Who worketh all this.

8. Cause to trickle down, ye heavens above, and let the blue sky rain down righteousness; let the earth open, and let salvation blossom, and righteousness; let them sprout together, I Jehovah have created it.

9. Woe to him that quarreleth with his Maker--a pot among the pots of earthenware! Can the clay indeed say to him that shapeth it, What makest thou? and thy work, He hath no hands? 10. Woe to him that saith to his father, What begettest thou? and to the woman, What bringest thou forth?

11. Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker, Ask Me what is to come; let My sons and the work of My hands be committed to Me! 12. I, I have made the earth, and created men upon it; I, My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I called forth. 13. I, I have raised him up in righteousness, and all his ways shall I make smooth: he will build My city, and release My banished ones, not for price nor for reward, saith Jehovah of hosts.

14. Thus saith Jehovah, The productions of Egypt, and gain of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of tall stature, will come over to thee, and belong to thee; they will come after thee; in chains they will come over, and cast themselves down to thee; they pray to thee, Surely God is in thee, and there is none else; no Deity at all.

15. Verily Thou art a mysterious God, Thou God of Israel, Thou Saviour.

16. They are put to shame, and also confounded, all of them; they go away into confusion together, the forgers of idols. 17. Israel is redeemed by Jehovah with everlasting redemption; ye are not put to shame nor confounded to everlasting eternities.

18. For thus saith Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens (He is the Deity), the Former of the earth, and its Finisher; He has established it, He has not created it a desert, He has formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah, and there is none else. 19. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Into the desert seek ye me! I Jehovah am speaking righteousness, proclaiming upright things.

20. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye escaped of the heathen! Irrational are they who burden themselves with the wood of their idol, and pray to a god that bringeth no salvation. 21. Make known, and cause to draw near; yes, let them take counsel together: Who has made such things known from the olden time, proclaimed it long ago? have not I, Jehovah? and there is no Deity beside Me; God just, and bringing salvation; there is none without Me!

22. Turn unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and none else. 23. By Myself have I sworn, a word has gone out of My mouth of righteousness, and will not return, That to Me every knee shall bend, every tongue swear. 24.[1] Only in Jehovah, do men say of Me, in fulness of Righteousness and strength; they come to Him, and all that were incensed against Him are put to shame. 25. In Jehovah all the seed of Israel shall become righteous, and shall glory.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] 24. Only in the Lord (saith one unto Me) is righteousness and strength; even to Him shall one come; and all that were incensed against Him shall be ashamed.--_Kay._

SEVENTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLVI.

_Fall of the Gods of Babel._

1. Bel sinketh down. Nebo stoopeth; the images come to the beast of burden and draught cattle: your[1] litters are laden, a burden for the panting. 2. They stooped, sank down all at once, and could not get rid of the burden; and their own self went into captivity.

3. Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel: ye, lifted up from the womb; ye, carried from the mother's lap. 4. And till old age it is I, and to grey heir I shall bear you on My shoulder; I have done it, and I shall carry; and I put upon My shoulder, and deliver. 5. To whom can ye compare Me, and liken, and place side by side, that we should be equal?

6. They who pour gold out of the bag, and weigh silver with the balance, hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, that they may bow down, yes, throw themselves down. 7. They lift it up, carry it away on their shoulder, and set it down in its place! there it is; from its place it does not move; men also cry to it, but it does not answer; it saves no man out of distress.

8. Remember this, and become firm; take it to heart, ye rebellious ones! 9. Remember the beginning from the olden time, that I am God, and none else: Deity, and absolutely none like me, 10. proclaiming the issue from the beginning, and from ancient times what has not yet taken place, saying, My counsel shall stand, and all My good pleasure I carry out, 11. calling[2] a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a distant land: not only have I spoken, I also bring it; I have purposed it, I will also execute it.

12. Hearken to Me, ye strong-hearted, that are far from righteousness. 13. I have brought My righteousness near; it is not far off, and My salvation tarrieth not: and I give salvation in Zion, My glory to Israel.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The things that ye carried are borne heavily.--_Kay._

What were borne by you are made into loads.--_Jones._

[2] Calling from the sunrising a bird of prey.--_Kay._

Calling an eagle from the east.--_Birks and Arnold._

EIGHTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLVII.

_Fall of Babel, the Capital of the Empire of the World._

1. Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin-daughter Babel; sit on the ground without a throne,[1] O Chaldean's daughter! For men no longer call thee delicate and voluptuous. 2. Take the mill, and grind meal; throw back thy train, uncover thy thigh, wade through streams. 3. Let thy nakedness be uncovered, even let thy shame be seen; I shall take vengeance, and[2] not spare men. 4. Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is His name, Holy One of Israel.

5. Sit silent, and creep into the darkness, O Chaldean's daughter! for men no longer call thee lady of kingdoms. 6. I was wroth with My people; I polluted mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou hast shown them no mercy; upon old men thou laidst thy yoke very heavily. 7. And thou saidst, I shall be lady for ever; so that thou didst not take these things to heart; thou didst not consider the latter end thereof.

8. And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, she who sitteth so securely, who sayeth in her heart, I am it, and none else; I shall not sit a widow, nor experience bereavement of children. 9. And these two come upon thee suddenly in one day: bereavement of children and widowhood; they come upon thee in fullest measure, in spite of the multitude of thy sorceries, in spite of the great abundance of thy witchcrafts. 10. Thou trustedst in thy wickedness, and saidst, No one seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, they led thee astray; so that thou saidst in thy heart, I am it, and none else. 11. And misfortune cometh upon thee, which[3] thou understandest not how to charm away: and destruction will fall upon thee, which thou canst not atone for; for there will come suddenly upon thee ruin which thou suspectest not.

12. Come near, then, with thy enchantments, and with the multitude of thy witchcrafts, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth: perhaps thou canst profit, perhaps thou canst inspire terror. 13. Thou art wearied through the multitude of thy consultations;[4] let the dissectors of the heavens come near, then, and save thee, the star-gazers, they who with every new moon bring things to light that will come upon thee. 14. Behold, they have become like stubble: fire has consumed them; there is not a red-hot coal to warm themselves, a hearth-fire to sit before. 15. So[5] it is with thy people, for whom thou hast laboured: thy partners in trade from thy youth, they wander away every one in his own direction; no one who brings salvation to thee.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Sit on the ground throneless.--_Kay._

[2] I will meet thee, not as man.--_Birks._

And I will be entreated of for thee by no man.--_Matthew Arnold._

And I will accept no man.--_Revised English Version._

[3] Thou shalt not know its dawn.--_Birks and Kay._

[4] Let them stand now and save thee,--they that have portioned out the heavens, those star-gazers, prognosticating at each new moon,--from the things that shall come upon thee.--_Kay._

Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the prognosticators by the new moon, stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.--_Matthew Arnold._

[5] Of such worth unto thee are the things wherein thou hast toiled: they that trafficked with thee from thy youth have wandered every one to his own quarter; there is none to save thee.--_Kay._

Thus will they prove to be unto thee, amongst whom thou hast laboured, Those with whom thou hast had dealing from thy youth: They shall become bewildered, every one in his quarter: Not one will be there to save thee.--_Jones._

NINTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLVIII.

_Deliverance from Babylon._

1. Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have flowed out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Jehovah, and extol the God of Israel, not in truth, and not in righteousness! 2. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, Jehovah of hosts His name.

3. The first I long ago proclaimed, and it has gone forth out of My mouth, and I caused it to be heard. I carried it out suddenly, and it came to pass. 4. Because I knew that thou art hard, and thy neck an iron clasp, and thy brow brass; 5. I proclaimed it to thee long ago; before it came to pass I caused thee to hear it, that thou mightest not say, My idol has done it, and my graven image and molten image commanded it. 6. Thou hast heard it, look then at it all; and ye, must ye not confess it? I give thee new things to hear from this time forth, and hidden things, and what thou didst not know. 7. It is created now, and not long ago; and thou hast not heard it before; that thou mightest not say, Behold, I knew it. 8. Thou hast neither heard it, nor known it, nor did thine ear open itself to it long ago; for I knew thou art altogether faithless, and thou art called rebellious from the womb. 9. For My name's sake I lengthen out My wrath, and for My praise I hold back towards thee, that I may not cut thee off. 10. Behold, I have refined thee, and not in the manner of silver; I have proved thee in the furnace of affliction. 11. For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake I accomplish it (for how[1] it is profaned!) and My glory I give not to another.

12. Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called! I am it; I first, also I last. 13. My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: I call to them, and they stand there together. 14. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear: Who among you hath proclaimed this? He who Jehovah loveth will accomplish His will upon Babel, and His arm upon the Chaldeans. 15. I, I have spoken, have also called him, have brought him here, and his way prospers. 16. Come ye near to Me! Hear ye this! I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning from the time that it takes place, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent Me and His Spirit.

17. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I, Jehovah thy God, am He that teacheth thee to do that which profiteth, and leadest thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18. Oh[2] that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then thy peace becomes like the river, and thy righteousness like waves of the sea; 19. and thy seed like the sand, and the children of thy body like the grains thereof; its name will not be cut off nor destroyed away from My countenance.

20. Go out of Babel, flee from Chaldea with voice of shouting: declare ye, preach ye this, carry it out to the end of the earth! Say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob His servant. 21. And they thirsted not: He led them through dry places; He caused water to trickle out of rocks for them; He split rocks, and waters gushed out. 22. There is no peace, saith Jehovah, for the wicked.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For how should my name be profaned?--_Kay and Arnold._

[2] 18. Oh that thou wouldst hearken to my commandments! then should thy peace be as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea; 19. thy seed also should be as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels as the gravel thereof; his name should not be cut off, &c.--_Kay._

_PART II._

FIRST PROPHECY.--CHAP. XLIX.

_Self-Attestation of the Servant of Jehovah. The Despondency of Zion Reproved._

1. Listen, O isles, unto Me; and hearken, ye nations afar off: Jehovah hath called Me from the womb; from My mother's lap hath He remembered My name. 2. And He made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He concealed Me. 3. And He said to Me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, Thou in Whom I glorify Myself.

4. And I, I said, I have wearied Myself in vain, and thrown away My strength for nothing and to no purpose; yet My right[1] is with Jehovah, and My reward with My God.

5. And now, saith Jehovah, that formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring back Jacob to Him, and that Israel[2] may be gathered together to Him; and I am honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, and My God has become My strength. 6. He saith, It is only a small thing that Thou becomest My servant, to set up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel: I have set Thee for the light of the Gentiles, to become My salvation to the end of the earth.

7. Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to him of contemptible soul, to the abhorrence of the people, to the servant of tyrants: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and prostrate themselves for the sake of Jehovah, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, that He hath chosen Thee. 8. Thus saith Jehovah, In[3] a time of favour I have heard Thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped Thee: and I form Thee, and set Thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to apportion again desolate inheritances, 9. saying to prisoners: Go ye out; to those who are in darkness, Come ye to the light.

They shall feed by the ways, and[4] there is pasture for them upon all field-hills. 10. They shall not hunger nor thirst, and the mirage and sun shall not blind them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, and guide them by bubbling water-springs. 11. And I make all My mountains ways, and My roads are exalted. 12. Behold these, they come from afar; and behold these from the north and from the sea; and these from the land of the Sinese. 13. Sing, O heavens, and shout, O earth; and break out into singing, ye mountains! for Jehovah hath comforted His people, and He hath compassion upon His afflicted ones.

14. Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. 15. Does a woman forget her sucking child, so as not to have compassion upon the child of her womb? Even though mothers should forget, I will not forget thee. 16. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls stand continually before Me.

17. Thy children make haste, thy destroyers and masters draw out from thee. 18. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see; all these assemble themselves together, and come to thee. As truly as I live, saith Jehovah, thou wilt put them all on like jewellery, and gird them about thee like a bride. 19. For thy ruins and thy waste places and thy land full of ruin,--yea, now thou wilt be too narrow for the inhabitants, and thy devourers are far away. 20. Thy[5] children, that were formerly taken from thee, shall say in thine ears, The space is too narrow for me; give way for me, that I may have room. 21. And thou wilt say in thy heart, Who hath borne me these, seeing I am robbed of children, and barren, banished, and thrust away; and these, who hath brought them up? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?

22. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lift up My hand to nations, and set up My standard to peoples: and they bring thy sons in their bosom; and thy daughters, upon shoulders are they carried. 23. And kings become thy foster-fathers, and their princesses thy nurses: they bow down their face to thee to the earth, and they lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt learn that I am Jehovah, He whose hoping ones are not put to shame.

24. Can the booty indeed be wrested from a giant, or will the captive[6] host of the righteous escape? 25. Yea, thus saith Jehovah, Even the captive hosts of a giant are wrested from him, and the booty of a tyrant escapes! and I[7] will make war upon him that warreth with thee, and I will bring salvation to thy children. 26. And[8] I feed them that pain thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as if with new wine; all flesh shall see that I Jehovah am thy Saviour, and that thy Redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Yet surely my righteousness is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God. 5. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, and that Israel may be gathered: (for I have honour in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is my strength;) 6. and He said, &c.--_Arnold._

[2] But Israel wil not be gathered; yet shall I be glorious, &c.--_Kay._

[3] In a time of acceptance have I answered thee.--_Kay._

[4] And on all bare hill-tops is there pasturage for _them._--_Kay._

[5] The sons of thy childlessness shall say, &c.--_Kay._

[6] The just one's captives.--_Kay._

[7] For I Myself will contend with him that contendeth with thee.--_Kay._

[8] And I will let them that oppress thee eat their own flesh.--_Kay._

And I will gorge thine opponents with their own flesh; And with their own blood, as with new wine, shall they be drunken.--_Jones._

SECOND PROPHECY.--CHAP. L.

_Israel's Self-rejection; and the Steadfastness of the Servant of Jehovah._

1. Thus saith Jehovah, Where is your mother's bill of divorce, with which I put her away? Or where is one of My creditors, to whom I sold you? Behold,[1] for your iniquities are ye sold, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

2. Why did I come, and there was no one there? Why did I call, and there was no one who answered? Is My hand too short to redeem? Or is there no strength in Me to deliver? Behold, through My threatening I dry up the sea; turn streams into a plain: their fish rot because there is no water, and die for thirst. 3. I clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their covering.

4. The Lord Jehovah hath given Me a disciple's tongue, that I may know how to set up the wearied with words: He wakeneth every morning; wakeneth Mine ear to attend in a disciple's manner. 5. The Lord Jehovah hath opened Mine ear; and I, I was not rebellious, and did not turn back. 6. I offered My back to smiters, and My cheeks to them that pluck off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting. 7. But the Lord Jehovah will help Me; therefore have I not suffered Myself to be overcome by mockery: therefore did I make My face like the flint, and knew that I should not be put to shame. 8. He is near that justifieth Me; who will contend with Me? We will draw near together! Let him draw near to Me! 9. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help Me; who is he that could condemn Me? Behold, they shall all fall to pieces like a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

10. Who among you is fearing Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of His servant? He that walketh in darkness, and without a ray of light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God. 11. Behold,[2] all ye that kindle fire, that equip yourself with burning darts: away into the glow of your own fire, and into the burning darts that ye have kindled! This comes to you from My hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Behold, by your iniquities ye have sold yourselves.--_Birks and Kay._

[2] Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird on firebrands: walk amid the flame of your fire, and amid the brands that ye have kindled.--_Kay._

THIRD PROPHECY.--CHAP. LI.

_The Bursting Forth of Salvation, and Turning Away of the Cup of Wrath._

1. Hearken to me, ye that are in pursuit of righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah. Look up to the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hollow of the pit whence ye are dug. 2. Look who bare you, that he was one when I called him, and blessed him, and multiplied him. 3. For Jehovah hath comforted Zion, comforted all her ruins, and turned her desert like Eden, and her steppe as the garden of God; joy and gladness are found in her, thanksgiving and sounding music.

4. Hearken unto Me, My people, and give ear unto Me, O My congregation! for instruction will go forth from Me, and I make a place for My right, to be a light of the nations. 5. My salvation is near, My salvation is drawn out, and My arms will judge nations: the hoping of the islands looks to Me, and for Mine arm is their waiting. 6. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens will pass away like smoke, and the earth fall to pieces like a garment, and[1] its inhabitants die out like a nonentity; and My salvation will last for ever, and My righteousness does not go to ruin.

7. Hearken unto Me, ye that know about righteousness, thou people with My law in the heart; fear ye not the reproach of mortals, and be ye not alarmed at their revilings. 8. For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm devour them like woollen cloth; and My righteousness shall stand for ever, and My salvation to distant generations.

9. Awake, awake, clothe thyself in might, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of ancient time, the ages of the olden world! Was it not Thou that didst split Rahab in pieces, and pierced the dragon? 10. Was it not Thou that didst dry up the sea, the waters of the great billow; that didst turn the depths of the sea into a way for the redeemed to pass through? 11. And[2] the emancipated of Jehovah will return, and come to Zion with shouting, and everlasting joy upon their head; they grasp at gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing flees away.

12. I, I am your comforter: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man who will die, and of a son of man who is made a blade of grass; 13. that thou shouldest forget Jehovah thy Creator, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; that thou shouldest be afraid continually all the day of the fury of the tormentor, as he aims to destroy? and where is the fury of the tormentor left? 14. He[3] that is bowed down is quickly set loose, and does not die to the grave, and his bread does not fail him; 15. as truly as I Jehovah am thy God, who frighteneth up the sea, so that its waves roar; Jehovah of hosts is His name. 16. And I put My words into thy mouth, and in the shadow of My hand have I covered thee, to plant heavens, and to found on earth, and to say to Zion, Thou art My people.

17. Wake thyself up, stand up, O Jerusalem; thou that hast drunk out of the hand of Jehovah the goblet of His fury; the goblet-cup of reeling hast thou drunk, sipped out. 18. There was none who guided her of all the children she had brought forth; and none who took her by the hand of all the children she had brought up. 19. There were two things that happened to thee; who should console thee?[4] Desolation, and ruin, and famine, and the sword: how should I comfort thee? 20. Thy children were benighted, lay at the corners of all the streets like a snared antelope: as those who were full of the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God. 21. Therefore hearken to this, O wretched and drunken, but not with wine: 22. Thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, and thy God that defendeth His people, Behold, I take out of thy hand the goblet-cup of My fury: thou shalt not continue to drink it any more. 23. And I put it into the hand of thy tormentors; who said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou madest thy back like the ground, and like a public way for those who go over it.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] And her inhabitants, as in like manner, shall die.--_Kay._

[2] So, _Kay, Birks._ Even so, _Arnold._ Thus, _Jones._

[3] He that was bent down hath made haste to be loosed, and he shall not die in the pit, neither shall his bread fail.--_Kay._

[4] Who will mourn with thee?--_Kay._

FOURTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LII. 1-12.

_Jerusalem Exchanges Servitude for Dominion, and Imprisonment for Liberty._

1. Awake, awake; clothe thyself in thy might, O Zion; clothe thyself in thy state dresses, O Jerusalem, thou holy city; for henceforth there shall no more enter into thee one uncircumcised and unclean! 2. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the dust, arise, sit down, O Jerusalem: loose[1] thyself from the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion!

3. For thus saith Jehovah, Ye have been sold for nothing, and ye shall not be redeemed with silver. 4. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, My people went down to Egypt in the beginning to dwell there as guests; and Asshur has oppressed it for nothing. 5. And now, what have I to do here? saith Jehovah; for My people are taken away for nothing; their oppressors shriek, saith Jehovah, and My name is continually blasphemed all the day. 6. Therefore My people shall learn My name; therefore, in that day, that I am He who saith, Here am I.

7. How lovely[2] upon the mountains are the feet of them that bring good tidings, that publish peace, that bring tidings of good, that publish salvation, that say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth royally! 8. Hark, thy watchers! They lift up the voice together; they rejoice: for they see eye to eye, how[3] Jehovah bringeth Zion home. 9. Break out into exultation, sing together, ye ruins of Jerusalem: for Jehovah hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10. Jehovah hath made bare His holy arm before the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God.

11. Go ye forth, go ye forth, go out from thence, lay hold of no unclean thing; go ye out from the midst of her, cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah. 12. For ye shall not go out in confusion, and ye shall not go forth in flight: for Jehovah goeth before you, and the God of Israel is your rear-guard.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The bands of thy neck are unloosed.--_Key._

[2] How comely.--_Cheyne._

[3] When Jehovah restoreth Zion.--_Jones._ When the Lord returneth to Zion.--_Kay._

FIFTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LII. 13-LIII.

_Golgotha and Sheblemini_ (= Sit Thou at my right hand), _or, the Exaltation of the Servant of Jehovah out of Deep Degradation._

13. Behold, My Servant shall act wisely; He will come forth and arise, and be very high. 14. Just as many were astonished at Thee: so disfigured, His appearance was not human, and form not like that of the children of men: 15. so will He make many nations to tremble: kings will shut their mouths at Him! for[4] they see what has not been told them, and discover what they have not heard.

LIII.--1. Who hath believed our preaching; and the arm of Jehovah, over whom has it been revealed?

2. And He sprang up like a layer-shoot before Him, and like a root-sprout out of dry ground: He had no form, and no beauty; and we looked, and there was no look, such that we could have found pleasure in Him. 3. He was despised and forsaken by men; a man of griefs, and well acquainted with disease; and like one from whom men hide their face: despised, and we esteemed Him not.

4. Verily He hath borne our diseases and our pains! He hath laden them upon Himself; but we regarded Him as one stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. Whereas He was pierced for our sins, bruised for our iniquities! the punishment was laid on Him for our peace; and through His stripes we were healed. 6. All we like sheep went astray; we had turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

7. He[1] was ill-treated; whilst He suffered willingly, and opened not His mouth, like the sheep that is led to the slaughter-bench, and like a lamb that is dumb before its shearers, and opened not His mouth. 8. He[2] has been taken away from prison and judgment; and of His generation who considered: "He was snatched away out of the land of the living; for the wickedness of my people punishment fell on Him"? 9. And they assigned Him His grave with sinners, and with a rich man in His martyrdom, because He had done no wrong, and there was no deceit in His mouth.

10. And it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him, to afflict Him with disease; if His soul would pay a trespass-offering, He should see posterity, should live long days, and the purpose of Jehovah should prosper through His hand. 11. Because of the travail of His soul, He will see, and be refreshed; through His knowledge will He procure justice, My Righteous Servant, for the many, and will take their iniquities upon Himself. 12. Therefore I give Him a portion among the great, and with strong ones will He divide the spoil; because He has poured out His soul into death: and He let Himself be reckoned among transgressors; whilst He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] For they to whom it had not been told shall see, and they which had not heard shall consider.--_Birks._

[1] He was oppressed, yet He submitted Himself.--_Kay and Jones._

[2] Through oppression and judgment was He taken away, and His life who will consider!--_Kay._

SIXTH PROPHECY.--CHAP LIV.

_The Glory of Jerusalem, the Church of the Servants of Jehovah._

1. Exult, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into exulting, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for there are more children of the solitary one than children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. 2. Enlarge the space of thy tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of thy habitations; forbid not! lengthen thy cords, and fasten thy plugs. 3. For thou wilt break forth on the right and on the left; and thy seed will take possession of nations, and they will people desolate cities.

4. Fear not, for thou wilt not be put to shame; and bid defiance to reproach, for thou wilt not blush: no, thou wilt not blush: no, thou wilt forget the shame of thy youth, and wilt no more remember the reproach of thy widowhood. 5. For thy husband is thy Creator; Jehovah of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; God of the whole earth is He called. 6. For Jehovah calleth thee as a wife forsaken and burdened with sorrow, and as a wife of youth,[1] when once she is despised, saith thy God.

7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercy will I gather thee. 8. In an effusion of anger I hid my face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting grace I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer. 9. For it is now as at the waters of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should not overflow the earth any more; so have I sworn not to be wroth with thee, and not to threaten thee. 10. For the mountains may depart, and the hills may shake; my grace will not depart from thee, and my covenant of peace will not shake, saith Jehovah who hath compassion on thee. 11. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold I lay the stone in stibium,[2] [_i.e.,_ antimony], and lay thy foundations with sapphires; 12. and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels.

13. And all thy children will be the learned of Jehovah; and great the peace of thy children. 14. Through righteousness wilt thou be fortified: be far from anxiety, for thou hast nothing to fear; and from terror, for it will not come near thee. 15. Behold, men crowd together in crowds; My will is not there. Who crowd together against thee?--he shall fall by thee.

16.[3] Behold, I have created the smith who bloweth the coal-fire, and brings to the light a weapon according to his trade; and I[4] have created the destroyer to destroy. 17. Every weapon formed against thee has no success, and every tongue that cometh before the judgment with thee thou wilt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness from Me, saith Jehovah.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] When she is cast off.--_Kay._ (Grieving) because she is rejected.--_Birks._

[2] I am laying thy stones with fair adornment.--_Birks._

I will lay thy stones in cement of brilliant colour.--_Jones._

"Same word as in 1 Chron. xxxix. 2 (A.V. glistering [stones]): probably, stones used for mosaic work (so Targhere); as black marble, &c. In the two other places where the word occurs (2 Kings ix. 30; Jer. iv. 30), it denotes the paint which was used by females for colouring the edges of the eyelids. Grotius notices (from Jos. 'J. W.' v. 5) that the open court of the temple had a tesselated floor."--_Kay._

[3] Behold, it is _I_ who create the smith. . . . And it is _I_ who create the waster to destroy.--_Revised English Bible_ and _Cheyne._

[4] Second reference to note 3 immediately above.

SEVENTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LV.

_Come and Take the Sure Salvation of Jehovah._

1. Alas, all ye thirsty ones, come ye to the water; and ye that have no silver, come ye, buy and eat! Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without payment! 2. Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread, and the result of your labour for that which satisfieth not? Oh, hearken ye to Me, and eat the good, and let your soul delight itself in fat.

3. Incline your ear, and come to Me! hear, and let your soul revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the true mercies of David. 4. Behold, I have set him as a witness[1] for nations, a prince and commander of nations. 5. Behold, thou wilt call a mass of people that thou knowest not; and a mass of people that knoweth thee not will hasten to thee, for the sake of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel that He hath made thee glorious.

6. Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have compassion upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 8. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith Jehovah: 9. as heaven is high above the earth; so high are My ways above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts. 10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, till it has moistened the earth, and fertilised it, and made it green, and offered seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11. so will My word be which goeth forth out of My mouth: it will not return to Me fruitless, till it has accomplished that which I willed, and prosperously carried out that for which I sent it. 12. For ye will go out with joy, and be led forth[2] in peace: the mountains and the hills will break out before you into shouting, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13. Instead of the thorn will cypresses shoot up, and instead of the fleabane[3] will myrtles spring up: and it will be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting memorial that will not be swept away.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A lawgiver.--_Arnold._

[2] And be led on with peace.--_Jones._

[3] Nettle.--_Cheyne._

EIGHTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LVI. 1-8.

_Sabbatical Admonitions, and Consolations for Proselytes and Eunuchs._

1. Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye right, and do righteousness; for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to reveal itself. 2. Blessed is the mortal that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth fast hold thereon; who keepeth the Sabbath, that he doth not desecrate it, and keepeth his hand from doing any kind of evil.

3. And let not the foreigner, who hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak thus: Assuredly Jehovah will cut me off from His people; and let not the eunuch say, I am only a dry tree. 4. For thus saith Jehovah to the eunuchs, Those who keep My Sabbaths, and decide for that in which I take pleasure, and take fast hold of My covenant, 5. I give to them in My house and within My walls a memorial[1] and a name better than sons and daughters; I give such a man an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6. And the foreigners, who have joined themselves to Jehovah, to serve Him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be His servants, whoever keepeth the Sabbath from desecrating it, and those who hold fast to My covenant; 7. I bring them to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their whole-offerings and their slain-offerings are well-pleasing upon Mine altar; for My house, a house of prayer shall it be called for all nations. 8. Word of the Lord, Jehovah: gathering the outcasts of Israel, I will also gather beyond itself to its gathered ones.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Trophy."--_Cheyne._ "Place."--_Arnold, Birks, Strachey._

NINTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LVI. 9-LVII. 21.

_Neglect of Duty by the Leaders of Israel; and Errors of the People._

9. All ye beasts of the field, come near! To devour, all ye beasts of the forest! 10. His watchmen are blind; they (are) all ignorant,[2] they (are) all dumb dogs that cannot bark; raving, lying down, loving to slumber. 11. And the dogs are mightily greedy, they know no satiety; and such are shepherds! They know no understanding; they have all turned to their own ways, every one for his own gain throughout his border.

12. Come here, I will fetch wine, and let us drink meth; and to-morrow shall be like to-day, great, excessively abundant.

LVII.--1. The righteous perisheth, and no man taketh it to heart; and pious[1] men are swept away,[2] without any one considering that the righteous is swept away from misfortune.[3] 2. He entereth into peace: they rest upon their beds, whoever has walked straight before him.

3. And ye, draw near hither, children of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, and of her that committed whoredom! 4. Over whom do ye make yourselves merry? Over whom do ye open the mouth wide, and put the tongue out long? Are ye not the brood of apostasy, seed of lying? 5. Ye that inflame yourselves by the terabinths, under every green tree, ye slayers of children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks. 6. By the smooth ones of the brook was thy portion; they, they were thy lot: thou also pourest out libations to them, thou laidst meat-offerings upon them. Shall I be contented with this?[4] 7. Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set up thy bed; thou also ascendest thither to offer slain offerings. 8. And behind the door and the post thou didst place thy[5] reminder: for thou uncoveredst away from me, and ascendest; thou madest thy bed broad, and didst stipulate for thyself what they had to do: thou lovedst their lying with thee; thou sawest their manhood.[6]

9. And thou wentest to the king with oil, and didst measure copiously thy spices, and didst send thy messengers to a great distance, and didst deeply abase thyself, even to Hades. 10. Thou didst become wary of the greatness of thy way; yet thou saidst not, It is unattainable:[7] thou obtainedst the reward of thy strength: therefore thou wast not pained.[8]

11. And of whom hast thou been afraid, and (whom) didst thou fear, that thou becamest a liar, and didst not continue mindful of Me, and didst not take it to heart?

Am I not silent, and that for a long time, whereas thou wast not afraid of Me? 12. I, I will proclaim thy righteousness; and thy works, they will not profit thee. 13. When thou criest, let thy heaps of idols[9] save thee: but a wind carries them all away; a breath takes them off; and whoever putteth trust in Me will inherit the land, and take possession of My holy mountain.

14. And He saith, Heap up, heap up, prepare a way, take away every obstruction from the way of My people. 15. For thus saith the High and Lofty One, the eternally dwelling One, He whose name is Holy One; I dwell on high and in the holy place, and with the contrite one and him that is of a humbled spirit, to revive the spirit of humbled ones, and to revive the heart of contrite ones. 16. For I do not contend for ever, and I am not angry for ever: for the spirit would pine away before me, and the souls of men which I have created. 17. And because of the iniquity of its selfishness,[10] I was wroth, and smote it; hiding Myself away in the way of its own heart. 18. I have seen its ways and will heal it; and will lead it, and afford consolations to it, and to its mourning ones.

19. Creating fruit of the lips; Jehovah saith, "Peace, peace to those that are far off, and to those that are near; and I heal it." 20. But the wicked are like the sea that is cast up; for it cannot rest; and its waters cast out slime and mud. 21. There is no peace, saith my God, for the wicked.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] "Without knowledge."--_Kay, Strachey._ "Undiscerning."--_Cheyne._

[1] "Godly men."--_Jones._ "Gracious men."--_Kay._

[2] "Gathered."--_Cheyne._ "Gathered in."--_Kay._

[3] "Out of the way of evil."--_Kay, Jones._

[4] "Shall I for all these things relent?"--_Kay._ "Shall I by these things be appeased?"--_Birks._ "Comforted."--_Jones, Arnold._ "Should I quiet myself in spite of these things?"--_Cheyne._

[5] "Thy own remembrance."--_Kay._

[6] "And thou hast sought occasion."--_Birks._ "Thou hast beheld the phallus."--_Cheyne._

[7] "There is no result."--_Cheyne._

[8] "Thou hast yet found strength in thine hand, therefore thou wast not discouraged."--_Arnold._ "Thou didst get renewal of thy strength, therefore thou feltest not weak."--_Cheyne._

[9] "Thy medley of gods."--_Cheyne._

[10] "For his unjust gain," lit. "for the iniquity of his gain."--_Cheyne._

_PART III._

FIRST PROPHECY.--CHAP. LVIII.

_The False Worship and the True._

1. Cry with full throat, hold not back; lift up thy voice like a bugle, and proclaim to My people their apostasy, and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2. And they seek Me[1] day by day, and desire to learn My ways, like a nation which has done righteousness; they desire the drawing near of Elohim.

3. Wherefore do we fast and Thou seest not, afflict our soul and Thou regardest not? Behold, on the day of your fasting ye carry on your business, and ye oppress all your labourers. 4. Behold, ye fast with strife and quarrelling, and with smiting of the fist maliciously closed: ye do not fast now to make your voice audible on high.[2]

5. Can such things as these pass for a fast that I have pleasure in, as a day for a man to afflict his soul? To bow down his head like a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him--dost thou call this a fast and an acceptable day for Jehovah? 6. Is not this a fast that I have pleasure in: to loose coils of wickedness, to untie the bands[3] of the yoke, and for sending away the oppressed as free, and that ye break every kind of yoke? 7. Is it not this, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to take the poor and houseless to thy home;[4] when thou seest a naked man that thou clothest him, and dost not deny thyself before thine own flesh?

8. Then will thy light break forth as the morning dawn, and thy healing will sprout up speedily, and thy righteousness will go before thee, the glory of Jehovah will follow thee. 9. Then will thou call, and Jehovah will answer; then wilt beseech, and He will say, Here am I.

If thou put away from the midst of thee the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking of evil, 10. and offerest up thy gluttony to the hungry;[5] and satisfiest the soul that is bowed down: thy light will stream out in the darkness, and thy darkness become like the brightness of noon-day. 11. And Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in droughts, and refresh thy bones; and thou wilt become like a well-watered garden, and like a fountain, whose waters never deceive.[6] 12. And thy people[7] will build ruins of the olden time, foundations of earlier generations wilt thou erect; and men will call thee Repairer of breaches, Restorer of habitable streets.

13. If thou hold back thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy business on my holy day, and callest the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, reverend, and honourest it, not doing thine own ways, not pursuing thy business and speaking words:[8] 14. then wilt thou have delight in Jehovah, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the land, and make thee enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy forefather, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Me they consult daily."--_Cheyne._

[2] "Ye shall not fast as ye do now, to make your outcry to be heard on high."--_Birks._ "Ye do not so fast at this time so as to make your voice to be heard in the height."--_Cheyne._

[3] "Thongs."--_Kay, Cheyne._

[4] "And that thou bring miserable outcasts to their home."--_Cheyne._ "To thine house."--_Birks, Arnold._

[5] "And minister thy sustenance to the hungry."--_Cheyne._

[6] "Disappoint not."--_Kay, Cheyne._

[7] "And thy children shall build up the ancient ruins."--_Cheyne._

[8] "So as not to do after thy word, nor pursue thy business, nor speak words."--_Cheyne._ "Nor using idle talk."--_Jones, Birks._

SECOND PROPHECY.--CHAP. LIX.

_The Existing Wall of Partition Broken Down at Last._

1. Behold, Jehovah's hand is not too short to help, nor His ear too heavy to hear; 2. but your iniquities have become a party-wall between you and your God and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. 3. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips speak lies, your tongue murmurs wickedness.

4. No one speaks with justice, and no one pleads with faithfulness; men trust in vanity, and speak with deception;[1] they conceive trouble, and bring forth ruin. 5. They hatch basilisks' eggs, and weave spiders' webs. He that eateth of their eggs must die; and if one is trodden upon, it splits into an adder. 6. Their webs do not suffice for clothing,[2] and men cannot cover themselves with their works: their works are works of ruin, and the practice of injustice is in their hands. 7. Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8. The way of peace they know not, and there is no right in their roads: they make their paths crooked: every one who treads upon them knows no peace.

9. Therefore right remains far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold darkness; for brightness--we walk in thick darkness. 10. We grope along the wall like the blind, and like eyeless men we grope: we stumble in the light of noon-day as in the darkness, and among the living like the dead.[3] 11. We roar all like bears, and moan deeply like doves; we hope for right, and it cometh not; for salvation--it remaineth far from us.

12. For our transgressions are many before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are known to us, and our evil deeds well known: 13. apostasy and denial of Jehovah, and turning back from following our God, oppressive and false speaking,[4] conceiving and giving out from the heart words of falsehood. 14. And right is forced back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the market-place,[5] and honesty finds no admission. 15. And truth became missing, and he who avoids evil is outlawed.

And Jehovah saw it, and it was displeasing in His eyes, that there was no right. 16. And He saw that there was not a man anywhere, and was astonished that there was nowhere an intercessor: then His arm brought Him help and His righteousness became His stay. 17. And He put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and the helmet of salvation upon His head; and put on garments of vengeance as armour, and clothed Himself in zeal as in a cloak. 18. According to the deeds, accordingly He will repay; burning wrath to His adversaries, punishment to His foes; the islands He will repay with chastisement.[6]

19. And they will fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun: for He will come like a stream dammed up, which a tempest of Jehovah drives away.[7] 20. And a Redeemer comes from Zion, and for those who turn from apostasy in Jacob, saith Jehovah.

21. And I, this is My covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My Spirit which is upon thee, and My word which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, and out of the mouth of thy seed, and out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "None preferreth his suit with trustfulness, and none pleadeth with honesty; they trust in chaos, and speak emptiness."--_Cheyne._ "None calleth (on Me) in righteousness."--_Birks, Kay._ "None pronounceth a verdict in justice."--_Jones._

[2] "Their webs will not serve for clothing."--_Cheyne._

[3] "Amidst those full of life (?) as dead men."--_Cheyne._ "Amidst dark places, like the dead."--_Kay._ "Amid rich abundance are like the dead."--_Birks, Jones._ "We are in desolate places as dead men."--_Arnold, Strachey._

[4] "Speaking oppression and untruth."--_Kay._ Speaking "perverseness and transgression."--_Cheyne._

[5] "Truth has stumbled in the broad place."--_Cheyne._

[6] "Recompence to His enemies; to the far lands He will repay recompence."--_Arnold._ "Retribution to His enemies; to the countries He will repay retribution."--_Cheyne._

[7] "When the adversary cometh in like the river, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."--_Kay._ "Shall put him to flight."--_Jones._ "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard in the midst thereof."--_Birks._ "For He shall come like a rushing stream, which the breath of Jehovah driveth."--_Cheyne._

THIRD PROPHECY.--CHAP. LX.

_The Glory of the Jerusalem of the Last Days._

1. Arise, grow light: for thy light cometh, and the glory of Jehovah riseth upon thee. 2. For, behold, the darkness covereth the earth, and deep darkness the nations; and Jehovah riseth over thee, and His glory becomes visible over thee. 3. And nations walk to thy light, and kings to the shining of thy rays.

4. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all crowd together, they come to thee: thy sons come from afar, and thy daughters are carried hither upon arms. 5. Then wilt thou see and shine,[1] and thine heart will tremble and expand; for the abundance of the nations cometh to thee. 6. A swarm of camels will cover thee, the foals of Midian and Ephah; they come all together from Saba; fully make known the praises of Jehovah. 7. All the flocks of Kedar gather together unto thee, the rams of Nabaioth will serve thee; they will come up with acceptance upon Mine altar, and I will adorn the house of My adorning. 8. Who are these who fly hither as a cloud, and like the doves to their windows? 9. Yea, the islands wait for Me; and the ships of Tarshish come first, to bring thy children from far, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He hath ornamented thee.

10. And the sons of strangers build thy walls, and their kings serve thee; for in My wrath I have smitten thee, and in My favour I have had mercy upon thee. 11. And thy gates remain open continually day and night, they shall not be shut, to bring into thee the possessions of the nations, and their kings in triumph.[2] 12. For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve thee will perish, and the nations be certainly laid waste. 13. The glory of Lebanon will come to thee, cypresses, plane-trees, and sherbin-trees, all together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary, and to make the place of My feet glorious. 14. The children also of thy tormentors come bending unto thee, and all thy despisers stretch themselves at the soles of thy feet, and call thee City of Jehovah, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15. Whereas thou wast forsaken and hated, and no one walked through thee, I make thee now into eternal splendour, a rapture from generation to generation. 16. And thou suckest the milk of nations, and the breast of kings thou wilt suck, and learn that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17. For copper I bring gold, and for iron I bring silver, and for wood copper, and for stones iron, and to make peace thy magistracy, and righteousness thy bailiffs.[3] 18. Injustice is no more seen in thy land, wasting and destruction in thy borders; and thou callest salvation thy walls, and renown thy gates.

19. The sun will be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness will the moon shine upon thee: Jehovah will be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20. Thy sun will no more go down and thy moon will not be withdrawn: for Jehovah will be to thee an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning will be finished. 21. And thy people, they are all righteous; they possess the land for a sprout of My plantations, a work of My hands for glorification. 22. The smallest one will become thousands, and the meanest one a powerful nation.

I, Jehovah, will hasten it in His time.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Then shalt thou look and overflow with joy."--_Jones._ "Then shalt thou see and be radiant."--_Cheyne._

[2] "And their kings royally attended."--_Jones_

[3] "I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness."--_Arnold._

FOURTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LXI.

_The Glory of the Office is Committed to the Servant of Jehovah._

1. The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is over me, because Jehovah hath anointed me to bring glad tidings to sufferers;[1] hath sent me to bind up broken-hearted ones, to proclaim liberty to those led captive, and emancipation to the fettered; 2. to proclaim a year of grace from Jehovah, and a day of vengeance from our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3. to put upon the mourners of Zion, to give them a head-dress[2] for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, a wrapper of renown for an expiring spirit, that they may be called terebinths of righteousness, a planting of Jehovah for glorification.

4. And they will build up wastes of the olden time, raise up desolations of the forefathers, and renew desolate cities, desolations of former generations. 5. And strangers stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners become your ploughmen and vinedressers. 6. But ye will be called priests of Jehovah; Servants of our God, will men say to you: ye will eat the riches of the nations, and pride yourselves in their glory.

7. Instead of shame ye shall have double, and (instead) of insult they rejoice at their portion: thus in their land[3] they will possess double; everlasting joy will they have. 8. For I, Jehovah, love right, hate robbery in wickedness;[4] and give them their reward in faithfulness, and conclude an everlasting covenant with them. 9. And their family will be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the nations: all who see them will recognise them, for they are a family that Jehovah hath blessed.

10. Joyfully I rejoice in Jehovah; my soul shall be joyful in my God, that He hath given me garments of salvation to put on, hath wrapped me in the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom who wears the turban like a priest, and as a bride who puts on her jewellery. 11. For like the land which brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden which causes the things sown in it to sprout up; so the Lord Jehovah bringeth righteousness to sprouting and renown before all nations.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "The afflicted."--_Cheney, Jones, Arnold._ "The "poor."--_Birks._

[2] "A coronet."--_Kay, Cheney._ "A diadem."--_Strachey._

"To appoint unto the mourners of Zion, _Yea,_ to give unto them ornament instead of ashes, The oil of praise instead of a desponding spirit."--_Jones._

[3] "In their own land."--_Kay._

[4] "That which is wasted in wickedness."--_Kay._ "Things torn away unjustly."--_Cheyne._ "Robbery in burnt-offering."--_Birks._ "Robbery and wrong."--_Arnold, Strachey._

FIFTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LXII.

_The Gradual Extension of the Glory of Jerusalem._

1. For Zion's sake I shall not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I shall not rest, till her righteousness breaks forth like morning brightness, and her salvation like a blazing torch. 2. And nations will see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and men will call thee by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will determine. 3. And thou wilt be an adorning coronet in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the lap[1] of thy God. 4. Men will no more call thee "Forsaken One;" and thy land they will not more call "Desert;" but men will name thee "My delight in her," and thy home "Married one:" for Jehovah hath delight in thee, and thy land is married. 5. For the young man marrieth the maiden, thy children will marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth in the bride, thy God will rejoice in thee.

6. Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, have I stationed watchmen; all the day and all the night continually they are not silent. O ye who remember Jehovah,[2] leave yourselves not rest! 7. And give Him no rest, till He raise up, and till He set Jerusalem for a praise in the earth.

8. Jehovah hath sworn by His right hand, and by His powerful arm, Surely I no more give thy corn for food to thine enemies; and foreigners will not drink thy must, for which thou hast laboured hard. 9. No, they that gather it in shall eat it, and praise Jehovah; and they that store it, shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.

10. Go forth, go forth through the gates, clear the way of the people. Cast up, Cast up the road, clean it of stones; lift up a banner above the nations![3] 11. Behold, Jehovah hath caused tidings to sound to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompence before Him. 12. And men will call them the holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and men will call thee, Striven after, A city that will not be forsaken.[4]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "In the open palm."--_Kay._

[2] "Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence."--_Arnold, Birks._

[3] "A standard for the peoples."--_Kay._

[4] And thou shalt be called, "Sought out, City not forsaken."--_Cheyne._

SIXTH PROPHECY.--CHAP. LXIII. 1-6.

_Judgment upon Edom, and upon the Whole World That is Hostile to the Church._

1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, in deep red clothes from Bozrah? This, glorious in His apparel, bending to and fro in the fulness of His strength?[1]

I am He that speaketh in righteousness, mighty to aid.

2. Whence the red in Thine apparel, and Thy clothes like those of a wine-presser?

3. I have trodden the wine-trough alone, and of the nations no one was with Me: and I trode them in My wrath, and trampled them down in My fury; and their life-sap spirted upon My clothes, and all My raiment was stained. 4. For a day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption was come. 5. And I looked round, and there was no helper; and I wondered there was no supporter: then Mine own arm helped Me; and My fury, it became My support. 6. And I trode down nations in My wrath, and made them drunk in My fury, and made their life-blood run down to the earth.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Tosseth His head in the fulness of His strength."--_Cheyne._ "Confident in the greatness of His strength."--_R. E. B._

THE THREE CLOSING PROPHECIES.

FIRST CLOSING PROPHECY.--CHAP. LXIII. 7-LXIV.

_Thanksgiving, Confession, and Supplication of the Church of the Captivity._

7. I will celebrate the mercies of Jehovah, the praises of Jehovah,[2] as is seemly for all that Jehovah hath shown us, and the great goodness towards the house of Israel, which He hath shown them according to His pity, and the riches of His mercies. 8. He said, They are my people, children who will not lie;[3] and He became their Saviour. 9. In all their affliction, He was afflicted,[4] and the Angel of His face brought them salvation. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and lifted them up, and bare them all the days of the olden time.

10. But they resisted and vexed His Holy Spirit: then He turned to be their enemy; He made war upon them. 11. Then His people remembered the days of the olden time, of Moses: Where is He who brought them up out of the see with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put the Spirit of His holiness in the midst of them; 12. who caused the arm of His majesty to go at the right of Moses; who split the waters before them, to make Himself an everlasting name; 13. who caused them to pass through abysses of the deep, like the horse upon the plain, without their stumbling? 14. Like the cattle which goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah brought them to rest: thus hast Thou led Thy people, to make Thyself a majestic name.

15. Look from heaven and see, from the habitation of Thy holiness and majesty! Where is Thy zeal and Thy display of might? The pressure of Thy bowels and Thy compassions are restrained towards me. 16. For Thou art our Father; for Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel knoweth us not.[5] Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer is from olden time Thy name. 17. O Jehovah, why leadest Thou us astray from Thy ways, hardenest our heart, so as not to fear Thee? Return for Thy servants' sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance. 18. For a little time Thy holy people was in possession. Our adversaries have trodden down Thy sanctuary. 19. We have become such as He who is from everlasting has not ruled over, upon whom Thy name was not called. LXIV.--1. O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, come down, the mountains would shake before Thy countenance;--2. (wouldst come down) as fire kindles brushwood, fire causes water to boil; to make known Thy name to Thine adversaries, that the heathen may tremble before Thy face! 3. When Thou doest terrible things which we hoped not for; wouldst come down, (and) mountains shake before Thy countenance![1]

4. For from olden times men have not heard, nor perceived, nor hath an eye seen, a God beside Thee, who acted on behalf of him that waiteth for Him. 5. Thou didst meet him that rejoiceth to work righteousness, when they remembered Thee in Thy ways.

Behold, Thou, Thou art enraged, and we stood as sinners there; already have we been long in this state, and shall we be saved?[2] 6. We became like the unclean thing, and all our virtues like a garment soiled with blood; and we all faded away together like the leaves; and our iniquities, like the storm, they carried us away. 7. And there was no one who called upon Thy name, who aroused himself to lay firm hold of Thee: for Thou hadst hidden Thy face from us, and didst melt us into the hand of our transgressions.[3]

8. And now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father: we are the clay, and Thou our Maker;[4] and we are all the work of Thy hand. 9. Be not extremely angry, O Jehovah, and remember not the transgression for ever! Behold, consider, we beseech Thee, we are Thy people.

10. The cities of Thy holiness have become a pasture-ground; Zion has become a pasture-ground, Jerusalem a desert. 11. The house of our holiness and of our adorning, where our fathers praised Thee, is given up to the fire, and everything that was our delight given up to devastation. 12. Wilt Thou restrain Thyself in spite of this, O Jehovah, be silent, and leave us to suffer the utmost?

FOOTNOTES:

[2] "Jehovah's loving-kindness will I celebrate, Jehovah's deeds of renown."--_Cheyne._

[3] "Deal falsely."--_Kay._ "Play the liar."--_Cheyne._

[4] "In all their adversity He was no adversary; but the angel of His presence saved them."--_Kay, Jones._ "In all their affliction, His was the conflict, and," &c.--_Birks._ "In all their distress, He was distressed."--_Cheyne._ "In all their affliction, He was afflicted."--_R. E. B., and others._

[5] "Abraham taketh no notice of us, and Israel does not recognise us."--_Cheyne._

[1] "When Thou didst terrible things, which we looked not for, Thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at Thy presence."--_Birks._ "To make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, so that nations trembled before Thee, while Thou didst terrible things which we hoped not for: [that Thou didst come down, that the mountains shook at Thy presence] yea, from old men have not heard," &c.--_Cheyne,_ who adopts the suggestion that the words in brackets have been repeated by accident from ver. 1. "The passage gains greatly by their removal."

[2] "Behold, Thou wast wroth, and we were guilty: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved."--_Kay._ "Yes, Thou hast been wroth, and we have sinned, and still by these are we preserved from of old."--_Birks._ "Behold, Thou art wroth (for we have sinned) with Thy people continually!--and shall we be saved?"--_Arnold._ "Behold, Thou wast wroth when we sinned; [Thou wast] against them of old, and shall we be saved?"--_Jones._ "Behold Thou wast wroth, and we sinned; * * * and we went astray."--_Cheyne._

[3] "And hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities."--_Cheyne._ "And Thou causest us to perish by our iniquities."--_R. E. B._

[4] "Our fashioner."--_Cheyne._

SECOND CLOSING PROPHECY.--CHAP. LXV.

_Jehovah's Answer to the Church's Prayer._

1. I was discernible to those who did not inquire, discoverable by those who did not seek Me.[1] I said, "Here am I, Here am I," to a nation where My name was not called. 2. I spread out My hands all the day to a refractory people, who walked in the way that was not good, after their own thoughts. 3. The people that continually provoketh Me by defying Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense upon the tiles; 4. who sit in the graves, and spend the night in closed places; to eat the flesh of swine, and broken pieces of abominations is in their dishes; 5. who say, Stop! come not too near Me; for I am holy to thee; they are a smoke in My nose, a fire blazing continually.

6. Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence without having recompensed, and I will recompense into their bosom. 7. Your offences, and the offences of your fathers together, saith Jehovah, that they have burned incense upon the mountains, and insulted Me upon the hills, and I measure their reward first of all into their bosom.

8. Thus saith Jehovah, As when the must is found in the cluster, men say, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing within it, so will I do for the sake of My servants, that I may not destroy the whole. 9. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and an heir of My mountains out of Judah, and My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. 10. And the plain of Sharon becomes a meadow for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting-place for oxen, for My people that asketh for Me.

11. And ye, who are enemies to Jehovah, O ye that are unmindful of My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Gad, and fill up mixed drink for the goddess of destiny,--12. I have destined you to the sword, and ye will bow down to the slaughter, because I have called, and ye have not replied, I have spoken, and ye have not heard; and ye did evil in Mine eyes, and ye chose that which I did not like.

13. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah: Behold My servants will eat, but ye will hunger; behold My servants will drink, but ye will thirst; behold My servants will rejoice, but ye will be put to shame; 14. behold My servants will exult for delight of heart, but ye will cry for anguish of heart, and ye will lament for brokenness of spirit. 15. And ye will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, and the Lord, Jehovah, will slay thee; by His servants He will call by another name, 16. so that whosoever blesseth himself in them and will bless himself by the God of truthfulness,[2] and whosoever sweareth in the land will swear by the God of truthfulness,[3] because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they have vanished from Mine eyes.

17. For behold I create a new heaven and a new earth; and men will not remember the first, nor do they come to any one's mind. 18. No, be ye joyful and exult for ever at that which I create; for behold I turn Jerusalem into exulting, and her people into joy. 19. And I shall exult over Jerusalem, and be joyous over My people, and the voice of weeping and screaming will be heard in her no more. 20. And there shall be no more come thence a suckling of a few days, and an old man who has not lived out all his days; for the youth in it will die as one a hundred years old, and the sinner be smitten with a curse as one a hundred years old.[4]

21. And they will build houses and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and enjoy the fruit thereof. 22. They will not build and another inhabit, nor plant and another enjoy; for like the days of trees are the days of My people, and My chosen ones will consume the work of their hands. 23. They will not weary themselves in vain, nor bring forth for sudden disaster; for they are a family of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring are left to them.

24. And it will come to pass: before they call, I will answer; they are still speaking, and I already hear. 25. Wolf and lamb then feed together, and the lion eats chopped straw like the ox, and the serpent--dust is its bread. They will neither do harm nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith Jehovah.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "I am sought of them who asked not [of Me]; I am found [of them] that sought Me not."--_Jones, R. E. B._ "I gave ear to them that asked not for Me."--_Arnold._ "I have offered answers to those who have not asked; I have been as hard to those who have not sought Me."--_Cheyne._

[2] "By the God of the AMEN."--_Cheyne, Kay._

[3] Duplicate reference to note 2, immediately above.

[4] "For he that dieth a hundred years old shall die a youth; and he that falleth short of a hundred years shall be held accursed."--_Jones._ "There shall no more be any from thence, infant of days or old man, that shall not have fulfilled his days."--_Kay._

THIRD CLOSING PROPHECY.--CHAP. LXVI.

_Exclusion of Scorners from the Coming Salvation._

1. Thus saith Jehovah: The heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool. What kind of house is it that ye would build Me, and what kind of place for My rest? 2. My hand hath made all these things; then all these things arose, saith Jehovah; and at such persons do I look, at the miserable and broken-hearted, and him that trembleth at My word.[1] 3. He that slaughtereth the ox is the slayer of a man; he that sacrificeth the sheep is a strangler of dogs; he that offereth a meat offering, it is swine's blood; he that causeth incense to rise up in smoke, blesseth idols. As they have chosen their ways, and their soul cherisheth pleasure in their abominations; 4. so will I choose their ill-treatments,[2] and bring their terrors upon them, because I called and no one replied, I spake and they did not hear, and they did evil in Mine eyes, and chose that in which I took no pleasure.

5. Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at His word: your brethren that hate you, that thrust you from them for My name's sake, say, "Let Jehovah get honour, that we may see your joy;" they will be put to shame.

6. Sound of tumult from the city! Sound from the temple! Sound of Jehovah, who repays His enemies with punishment.

7. Before she travailed she brought forth; before pains came upon her, she was delivered of a boy. 8. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen anything like it? Are men delivered of a land in one day? Or is a nation begotten at once? For Zion hath travailed, yea, hath brought forth her children. 9. Should I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah; or should I, who cause to bring forth, shut up? saith thy God.

10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and exult over her, all ye that love her; be ye delightfully glad with her, all ye that mourn over her, 11. that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breast of her consolations, that ye may sip and delight yourselves in the abundance of her glory. 12. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I guide peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like an overflowing stream, that ye may suck; ye shall be borne upon arms, and fondled upon knees. 13. Like a man whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14. And ye will see, and your heart will be joyful, and your bones will flourish like young herbage; and thus does the hand of Jehovah make itself known to His servants, and fiercely does He treat His enemies. 15. For behold Jehovah, in the fire will He come, and His chariots are like the whirlwind, to pay out His wrath in burning of fire. 16. For in the midst of fire Jehovah holds judgment, and in the midst of His sword with all flesh; and great will be the multitude pierced through by Jehovah. 17. They that consecrate themselves and purify themselves for the gardens behind one in the midst, who eat swine's flesh and abomination and the field mouse--they all come to an end together, saith Jehovah. 18. And I, their works and their thoughts--it comes to pass that all nations and tongues are gathered together, that they come and see My glory.[3]

19. And I set a sign upon them, and send away those that have escaped from them to the Gentiles, to Tarshish, Phûl and Lûd, to the stretchers of the bow, Tubal and Javan--the distant islands that have not heard My fame and have not seen My glory, and they will proclaim My glory among the Gentiles. 20. And they will bring your brethren out of all heathen nations, a sacrifice for Jehovah, upon horses and upon chariots, and upon litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to My holy mountain, to Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring the meat-offering in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. 21. And I will also add some of them to the priests, to the Levites, saith Jehovah. 22. For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I am about to make, continue before Me, saith Jehovah, so will your family and your name continue. 23. And it will come to pass, from new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh will come, to worship before Me, saith Jehovah. 24. And they go out and look at the corpses of the men that have rebelled against Me, for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they become an abomination to all flesh.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "But to this will I look, even to him that is poor, and contrite in spirit, and trembleth at My word."--_Birks._ "Afflicted, and crushed in spirit."--_Cheyne._ "Meek and of a contrite spirit."--_Arnold._

[2] "Freaks of fortune."--_Cheyne._ "I also will choose to mock them."--_Arnold, Strachey._

[3] "But [I will punish] their works and their thoughts; [behold the time] is come that I gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see My glory."--_Cheyne._ _Arnold_ treats the words: "For I know their works and their thoughts," as the completion of a paragraph, and commences the next paragraph: "It shall come, that I will gather all nations," &c.

CALKINS.[1]

CHAPS. LII. 13-LIII.

I.

13. Behold my Servant shall prosper, He shall rise up, and be extolled, and stand triumphantly exalted. 14. Even as many were shocked at Him (His countenance was so marred as to be no more that of a man, His form no more that of sons of men!) 15. So shall He sprinkle many nations. The kings shall shut their mouths before Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they never heard they shall consider.

II.

1. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is Jehovah's arm revealed? 2. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a sprout out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness that we should look up to Him, No beauty that we should take pleasure in Him. 3. He is despised and rejected of men, A man of sorrows, well acquainted with sickness; And like one hiding his face before us, He was despised and we esteemed Him not. 4. And yet it was our own sickness that He bore, And our sorrows that He loaded upon Himself. But we supposed He was punished, Smitten of God and tormented! 5. Oh, no! He was wounded for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities, Chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And with His stripes we are made whole. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray, We have turned every one to his own way, And Jehovah made the guilt of us all to meet upon Him. 7. He was oppressed, and yet He humbled Himself, And He opened not His mouth, like a lamb that is brought to the slaughter, And as a sheep is dumb before her shearers, So He opened not His mouth. 8. He was dragged to punishment by violence, and yet by process of law; And who of the men of His generation took it to heart, That He was cut off from the land of the living, That the stroke for my people's transgression fell upon Him! 9. They appointed Him His grave with criminals (Still He was with a rich man in His death!). Although He had done no wrong, Neither was any deceit in His mouth. 10. And yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him; He laid sickness upon Him. But when He has made over His soul as a sin-offering, He shall see offspring; He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in His hands!

III.

11. Free from the travail of His soul, He shall see and be satisfied. By His knowledge shall my righteous Servant make many righteous, Because He shall bear their iniquities. 12. Therefore will I give Him the great as a portion, And He shall distribute the strong as spoil. For He hath poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with transgressors, While He was bearing the sin of many And was making intercession for the transgressors.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Dickinson's Theological Quarterly, vol. iv. pp. 19-30: _Article,_ "The Great Messianic Prophecy," by the Rev. Wolcott Calkins, D.D.

URWICK.

THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH.[1]--CHAP LII. 13-LIII. 12.

LII.--13. Behold! My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high. 14. As many were astonied, so marred more than any man: His visage and His form more than the sons of men. 15. So shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at Him, for that which hath not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they understand.

LIII.--1. Who hath believed our report? and the arm of the Lord to whom hath it been revealed? 2. For He grew up as a tender plant before Him, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness that we should regard Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And there was, as it were, the hiding of the face from Him. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

4. Surely our griefs HE hath bore, and our sorrows HE hath carried them; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But HE was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of OUR peace (or, our peace, chastisement) was upon HIM; and with His stripes we are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; as the lamb to the slaughter, He was brought; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who considereth His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people was He stricken. 9. And they made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, neither was there deceit in His mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief.

When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for guilt (or, a guilt-offering), He shall see (His) seed, He shall prolong (His) days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11. Because of the travail of His soul He shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall My Righteous Servant justify the many, for their iniquities He shall bear. 12. Therefore will I divide Him a portion in the many [_i.e.,_ the many shall be the portion allotted to Him], and with the strong shall He divide the spoil; for in that He poured out His soul unto the death, and was numbered with the transgressors, He Himself bare the sin of the many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Servant of Jehovah. A Commentary, Grammatical and Critical, upon Isaiah lii. 13-liii. 12. By William Urwick, M.A., Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

END OF VOL. I.

Transcriber's Notes.

- The pound sign or hash (#) has been used to indicate a missing character, throughout.

- When the book refers to a range of pages, the first page number of the range is coded as a hyperlink. Page ranges in the Index of Authors link to the beginning of an outline by the named author on the indicated page.

- Index of Subjects, throughout: dashes used as ditto marks have been removed.

- Index of Subjects, page vii. (numbered 7 originally), capitalize "That" in "Book That Will Bear Testing, A;" capitalize "A" in "Church, The Christian, A Continuation of the Jewish;" capitalize "Their" in "Children of Babylon, Their Doom;" change the page number for outline "The Discipline of Sin" from 292 to 291; and capitalize "Its" in "Drink and Its Woes."

- Index of Subjects, page viii. (numbered 8 originaly), add a second outline "False Refuges" at page 488; add outline "Great Deliverance, A" at page 437; capitalize "Be" in "Hallowed Be Thy Name;" capitalize "Art" in "In Whom Art Thou Trusting;" capitalize "His" in "Isaiah, His Interview with Ahaz," "Isaiah, His Vision of the King and His Kingdom," "Isaiah, His Vision of God," and "Isaiah, His Vision of the Last Days;" capitalize "The" in "Isaiah, The Evangelical Prophet" and change the page from 3 to 1; capitalize "Its" in "Language, Its Influence on Character;" capitalize "Life" in "Life, The Shortening of" and capitalize "Instead" in "Lip Service Instead of Heart Worship."

- Index of Subjects, page ix. (numbered 9 originally), capitalize "The" in "National Peace, The Gift of God;" correct "Needless Strifes" to "Needless Stripes;" change the page number for outline "Nobility and Security" from 483 to 492; capitalize "Their" in "Oppressed and Their Relief, The;" capitalize second "Our" in "Our Trust and Our Test" and change the page from 364 to 304; capitalize "The" in "Peace, The Work of Righteousness;" change the page number for outline "Spreading the Letter before the Lord" from 486 to 494; capitalize "To" and "Be" in "Things To Be Considered;" and capitalize "But" in "Threatened But Safe."

- Index of Authors, page x. (numbered 10 originally), correct "Archdeacou Bather" to "Archdeacon Bather" and change page number 446 to 445; for R. A. Bertram, change 221 to 220; for R. W. Forrest, change 134 to 133; insert "Griffin, E." at page 348; for Robert Hall, change 345 to 344; R. Macculloch, change 122 to 121; for A. Maclaren, change 328 to 348, and add a link to his second outline on page 348.

- Index of Authors, page xi. (numbered 11 originally), change "M'Auslane" to "McAuslane;" for W. Manning, insert a reference to page 241; insert "Monks, Richard" at page 433; insert "Monod, Horace" at page 434; for Thomas Neave, change 106 to 105; insert "Smith, George" at pages 224 and 252; for Dr. Talmage, change 311 to 310; for Samuel Thodey, change 332 to 333. In the list of Times, Seasons, and Occasions, update a Missionary Sermon from 319 to 318 and a Peace Society Sermon from 229 to 228.

- The list of Texts is not in the original.

- On page 1, capitalize "Kings" in "Chronicles of the Kings of Judah."

- On page 4, in "An Appeal and an Argument," point III has two subpoints numbered "2." Change the second one to "3."

- The break between pages 4 and 5 is in the word "between": be|tween. In this and all subsequent similar cases, the whole word was moved to the earlier page.

- On page 5, in the text of footnote 4 (denoted δ originally), insert a missing period into "St Austin."

- The break between pages 7 and 8 is in the word "tendency": ten|dency.

- On page 8, in the text of footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), apply Reverential Capitalization (RC) to "Love" in the phrase "thrice holy God, whose name is Love."

- On page 12, a printing issue mars the copy from which this transcription is made. The line in question is: "TXey do answer the end" with the "X" representing an issue; transcribed as "They."

- On page 16, at the end of the outline "Moral Obduracy," there is a reference to "(Rev. i. 9, 11, 21)." Changed to Revelation ii., because Revelation i. has only 20 verses.

- On page 17, in the text of footnote 2 (denoted β originally), second column, fourth line, change "tays" to "stays" in "poison of the physic stays in the body also." In the next paragraph, apply RC to "Providence." In outline "Needless Stripes," in the second paragraph, apply RC to "Divine" and "the Gospel."

- On page 19, in outline "Total Depravity," in the first paragraph, apply RC to "Divine grace."

- On page 20, in outline "God's Reluctance to Punish," in footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally), the final sentence is "Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not God's mercy is a holy mercy; where it pardons, it heals." This was broken into two sentences by inserting a period after "fear and sin not."

- On page 21, in outline "The Summons to Jerusalem," two subpoints of point I. 1 were formatted inconsistently. Set the word "In" of point "(1)" in Italics to match the corresponding word of point "(2)."

- The break between pages 22 and 23 is in the word "spending": spend|ing.

- On page 23, in outline "Rejected Sacrifices," in the first paragraph, apply RC to "Divine appointment" and "Divine worship." In the second paragraph, apply RC to "Divine appointment."

- On page 24, same outline, in the "Judaism and its ritual" paragraph, remove the second "the" from "assemble in the sanctuary on the Sunday."

- On page 29, in outline "God Oppressed," in point I, change the reference for the effect upon David of Nathan's parable from "2 Sam. xii. 8" to "2 Sam. xii. 5."

- The break between pages 29 and 30 is between the point number and the start of the sentence, 4.|_That_. The transcriber moved the first word of the sentence to the earlier page to avoid the separation.

- On page 31, "God Oppressed," footnote 2 (denoted β originally), apply RC to "Divine commands."

- On page 32, in outline "Worthless Husks," change the text of point I from "ritualism without spontaneity" to "ritualism without spirituality" per Errata.

- On page 33, after outline "Worthless Husks," text for two footnotes appears but the outline has only one footnote anchor. Add an anchor for the second footnote at the end of the outline.

- On page 37, in outline "Moral Ablution," in point I. 1, augment the reference "Hab. i. 13" with "Prov. xxxi. 10-31" regarding the virtuous woman.

- On page 38, same outline, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), apply RC to "the Gospel."

- On page 44, capitalize "Their" in outline title "The Oppressed and Their Relief."

- The break between pages 46 and 47 is in the middle of a scripture reference: James i.|27. Move the verse number to the earlier page to keep it with the chapter number.

- On page 48, outline "God's Gracious Invitation to Sinners," in point II, apply RC to "He is willing to hear." In footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), insert closing double quotes after "crimson."

- On page 49, in outline "Cleansing for the Vilest," in point I 3, in the "As the uniform" sentence, insert a comma after the first of the three numbered points.

- On page 50, in footnote 3 for outline "Comfort for the Desponding," (denoted ɣ originally), change "tea s" to "tears" in the phrase "though he cannot shed tea s."

- On page 55, outline "Self-Scrutiny in God's Presence," includes a reference to "1 Chron. xx. 13." Because that chapter has only 8 verses, updated to 1 Chron. xxi. 13.

- On page 56, change the reference for the passage for outline "Sinners Self-destroyed" from "i. 19" to "i. 19-20."

- On page 57, same outline, remove a redundant second anchor to the one footnote from the end of the outline. Change the reference for the passage for outline "The Certainty of the Destruction of the Impenitent" from "i. 19" to "i. 20." In point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."

- On page 63, in outline "The Purpose of Punishment," change "Ghengis Khan" to "Genghis Khan." The original text of the footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally) is printed as two paragraphs. Because the outline includes two footnote anchors, a second footnote was created with the second paragraph.

- On page 65, in outline "The Divine Idea of Redemption," the original shows a second set of Roman-numbered points as subpoints of point III. Change the Roman numerals to Arabic and the bold type to Italic.

- On page 67, in outline "Forsaking the Lord," in point I change "transcendant" to "transcendent." Subpoints of points II and III were shown as Arabic numerals within parentheses. Remove the parentheses for consistency with other outlines. In the quoted scripture for outline "The Doom of the Apostates," correct "oaks which ye have denied" to "oaks which ye have desired."

- On page 68, same outline, in point I, change "Every man's God is what he lives for" to make "god" lower case. Insert closing double quotes after "covetousness is idolatry." In point IV, change "there is a day appointing" to "appointed."

- On page 69, same outline, in footnote 3 (designated ɣ originally), capitalize "Tow" and "Spark" to set the name of the subsequent outline in title case. Thanks to Dr. Ron Lawler for his help with the Hebrew text transcription. In outline "The Tow and the Spark," points in the introductory paragraph are marked with Arabic numerals in parentheses. Remove the parentheses for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 73, in outline "The Future Triumphs of the Gospel," the Roman numeral I is not bold while the subsequent text is bold. Bold the numeral for consistency. The subpoints of point II were marked by Arabic numerals in parentheses. Remove the parentheses for consistency with other outlines.

- The break between pages 73 and 74 is in the word "moisture": mois|ture.

- On page 77, in outline "A Terrible Picture," at the end of point IV, change the question mark to a period. In point V, change "Ritualistic" to lower case.

- On page 78, in outline "God's People Forsaken," insert the period at the end of point II 2.

- On page 79, same outline, in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), apply RC to "while He stops the mouth." In outline "Forsaken of God," in point I, apply RC to "Divine withdrawals," and remove parentheses from the Arabic numbers on the subpoints of points I and II.

- On page 80, in outline "The Material and the Moral," in point II, insert a comma after the introductory phrase "In the absence of this moral restraint."

- The break between pages 81 and 82 is in the word "without": with|out.

- On page 83, in outline "The Great Dethronement," in point IV, supply a missing period after the sentence "Custom and fashion have wrought in the same direction."

- The break between pages 83 and 84 is in the word "experience": ex|perience.

- On page 84, in outline "Lessons from a National Bereavement," in point II, correct "politicans" to "politicians," and "there rivalries" to "their rivalries."

- On page 86, in outline "National Greatness," in point IV, remove the parentheses from the Arabic numerals marking subpoints.

- On page 88, in outline "Shameless Sinners," the subpoints of point II 2 were marked by Arabic numerals; parentheses have been added for consistency with other outlines. Later, a printing issue in Application, point 2,

the moral sense of #he community is being raised. Evil a# #re our days, the testimony is conclusiv# #hat the former days were not better, but worse. 3. As

was transcribed as ". . . the moral sense of the community is being raised. Evil as are our days, the testimony is conclusive that the former days . . . ."

- On page 94, in outline "Blind Leaders," in footnote 3 (originally denoted ɣ), insert the reference Matt. vi. 23 after the quotation of the passage.

- On page 95, in outline "Oppression of the Poor," in the Application, point 2, apply RC to "His creatures."

- On page 96, in outline "The Pleader and the Judge," in point II 1, add a period to end the second sentence. In point II 3, apply bold formatting to the closing quote mark.

- On page 99, in outline "The Desolating and Disorganizing Power of War," in the scripture quotation, correct "We will at our own bread" to "We will eat."

- On page 101, in outline "The Divine Ideal of Israel Realised," change "Seventy-second Psalm" to "seventy-second."

- On page 102, same outline, in point V, insert the reference 2 Cor. i. 20 after the quotation of the passage.

- On page 105, in outline "The Parable of the Vineyard," in point I, change "The Privileges conferred" to "The privileges."

- On page 108, in outline "Great Privileges," near the end of point II, change "He will not demand from Him" to "from him" because the object of the sentence is the servant.

- On page 109, in outline "Divine Disappointments," in the first paragraph, in the second and third sentences, change the words "god," "he," and "him" to lower case because they refer to a counterfeit deity.

- On page 110, same outline, point II, correct "anthromorphological" to "anthropomorphological."

- On page 111, in outline "A Sad Canticle," in point I, capitalize "Similitude" to match the capitalization of the other points.

- On page 113, in outline "On the Advantage," a printing issue in point II,

not only of himself, but of beings dear ## and dependent upon him, has been #riven into some town to add to the misery, its debasement, and its discon-

was transcribed as ". . . dear to and dependent upon him, has been driven into some town . . . ." In the final sentence, add closing quote to the phrase "common Father."

- On page 113, in outline "Wild Grapes," in point I, in the text "Note, 1," change the comma after the 1 to a period, to match the other points in the list. In point 2 of this list, remove the comma between the second "&c." and the footnote anchor.

- On page 114, same outline, in point V, correct "humility nd desire" to "and." In point VI, correct "sensual usts" to "lusts" and "(ver. 22, 23)" to "(vers. 22, 23)." In the concluding paragraph, correct "wall hereof" to "wall thereof."

- On page 116, in outline "Sensuality," change point II from "Follies" to "Its Follies" for consistency with the other three points.

- On page 120, in outline "Death and the Grave," change the subpoints of Roman I from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 121, same outline, change the subpoints of Roman II from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals for consistency with other outlines. In footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), first paragraph, correct "Meshach" to "Meshech;" second paragraph, change "has flattered" to "hath flattered."

- On page 122, change the credit for outline "Cords of Vanity" from "Maculloch" to "Macculloch," for consistency with the Index of Authors.

- On page 123, in outline "Influence of Language," in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), correct "Sylla" to "Sulla."

- On page 125, capitalize "Using" in the outline title "The Sin of Using Wrong Names."

- On page 125, in outline "Self-Conceit," in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), in line three of the Butler poem, change "use to bear" to "used to bear."

- On page 126, in outline "The Woe of the Drunkard," change "drunkard's" in point I to lower case.

- On page 127, capitalize "Its" in the title of outline "Drink and Its Woes."

- On page 129, in outline "The Doom of Despisers," add a closing double quotes at the end of point III 3.

- On page 132, in outine "Cords and Cart-Ropes," in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), add the names of target outlines so this cross reference is useful in the plain text file.

- On page 133, in outline "The Prophet's Call," in footnote 2 (denoted β originaly), apply RC to "Divine power."

- On page 136, in outline "Revelations of God," footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), in the description of the laver, after the statement of its capacity, remove an extraneous comma from "its brim wrought." Apply RC to "Divine King of Israel." In the next paragraph, correct "vail" to "veil." In footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally), change "D. P. I." to "P. D."

- On page 137, in outline "Isaiah's Vision," in point V, apply RC to "Divine origin."

- On page 139, in outline "The Seraphim," in the final paragraph of footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), correct "from the alter" to "altar."

- On page 140, capitalize "Their" in the outline title "The Seraphim and Their Song." In point II 1, correct "Isa. xi. 26" to "Isa. xi. 2-6."

- On page 141, same outline, in point III 1, change "voice of Him" to "voice of him," referring to an angel. In footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally), change "Host of Heaven" to "host of heaven" and "Hosts of God" to "hosts."

- On page 142, same outline, same footnote, change "Host of Heaven" to "host of heaven" (twice). In outline "A Sight of God," in point II, apply RC to "Divine purity." In point III, apply RC to "Divine cleansing."

- On page 143, same outline, in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), remove opening double quotes from the beginning of the paragraph. Correct "Holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts" to "Holy, holy, holy."

- On page 144, in outline "Volunteer Service," in point II 1, capitalize "By" at the beginning of the sentence. In point II 2, correct "Rev. 1. 17" to "Rev. i. 17." In point III, add a period after "Josh" in the scripture reference. In outline "Messengers Wanted," in point I, apply RC to "Divine perplexity."

- On page 146, in outline "The Rejection of Divine Truth," apply RC to "Divine message."

- On page 148, same outline, at the end of footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally) correct "D. P. Q." to "P. D." In outline "The Duration," in paragraph 4, apply RC to "Divine purposes."

- On page 149, same outline, in footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally), insert the reference Isa. lxv.%8 after the quotation of the passage.

- On page 151, in outline "Purposes and Panics," point I introduces a subpoint 1 at "In forming our plans . . ." Remove the number because it is alone.

- On page 152, in outline "Isaiah's Interview," in point III, apply RC to "Divine purposes." In footnote 2 (denoted β originally), apply RC to "Divine mercy."

- On page 153, in outline "A Threefold Counsel," in point I, apply RC to "Divinely-provided."

- On page 154, the title to outline "Heedfulness" was set with extra space between each letter. This may be known as _"gesperrt"_ or _"sperrsatz."_ In German literature, this may indicate emphasis. In the credit at the end of the outline, insert a comma between the name of the book and the volume indicator.

- On page 156, in outline "Stability though Faith," in point I, apply RC to "Divine declarations." In point II 1, apply RC to "places Him before us." In point II 2, change "firstfruits" to "first-fruits." Run in the text at point III 1 rather than starting a new paragraph. Remove an extraneous right parenthesis from the credit at the end of the outline.

- The break between pages 157 and 158 is in the word "determining": deter|mining.

- On page 158, in outline "Irreligious Piety," remove quotation marks around opening scripture quotation. An ink smudge in the second paragraph,

fessedly for the excellent reason that too great a disparity in age betXXXen man and wife is not desirablXXXut really because the suitor is not suffi-

was transcribed as ". . . for the excellent reason that too great a disparity in age between man and wife is not desirable but really because the suitor is not sufficiently wealthy."

- On page 160, in outline "Trials of the Divine Patience," in point I, apply RC to "this Book."

- On page 162, in outline "The Virgin's Son," in the eighth paragraph, capitalize "King of Judah." In the tenth paragraph, change "lovingkindnesses" to "loving-kindnesses."

- On page 165, in outline "Immanuel," point I 2 (1) includes a reference to Prov. xxix. 30, which does not exist. It could be a typesetter's error for Prov. viii. 29-30.

- On page 166, same outline, in point III 2, change "His Deity" to "deity." In outline "The Great Object," correct the reference from "vii. 15" to "vii. 16."

- On page 167, same outline, in point 1, apply RC to "God's Word."

- On page 168, in outline "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz," in point III, apply RC to "Divine direction."

- On page 170, in outline "The Stream Rejected," in the first sentence, correct "Rezim" to "Rezin" twice.

- On page 171, sane outine, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), insert a period after "village of Werai." Insert "of" into "on both sides of its course."

- On page 173, in outline "Biblical Politicians," in the second sentence, apply RC to "Divine principles."

- On page 174, same outline, in point III, apply RC to "Divine scrutiny." In footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), change "His Name" to "His name." In footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally), insert closing double quotes after the second "kesher."

- On page 175, capitalize "Our" twice in outline title "God Our Refuge, or Our Ruin."

- On page 177, in outline "The Stone of Stumbling," in point 2, change "Gal. v. 28, 29" to "Gal. iii. 28, 29." Correct a word broken across lines without a hyphen: dis|gust.

- The break between pages 177 and 178 comes within a unit that style indicates should not be broken. "but--I.|Let." The whole unit has been moved to the earlier page.

- On page 178, in outline "Waiting on the Lord," in point I 2, apply RC to "hides Himself."

- On page 179, same outline, in footnote 1 (originaly denoted ɑ), update the title of the outline cited in the second volume of Isaiah commentary from THE HIDDEN THINGS OF GOD to THE CONCEALMENT OF GOD. In outline "Penitential Waiting," correct "Ps. xxxvii. 14" to "Ps. xxvii. 14." The title of outline "Necromancy" was set with extra space between the letters.

- On page 180, same outline, add a comma to the credit between the author's degree and the title of his book. In outline "The Law and the Testimony," in the second paragraph, insert a period after the word "Intelligently" and insert a period after the Arabic numeral 1 for consistency with the succeeding numbered points.

- On page 181, same outline, in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), capitalize "Divines" in "Westminster Assembly of Divines." Insert an opening quotation mark at the beginning of the second and third paragraphs in the lengthy quotation from the Westminster Assembly Confession of Faith.

- The break between pages 181 and 182 is in the word "irrespective": irrespec|tive.

- On page 183, in outline "The Remedy," point IV opens a quotation but does not close it. Insert closing quotation marks after "expectation." Apply RC to "direction is Divine."

- On page 184, the title of outline "The Joy of Harvest" is set with extra space between the letters. In point I, move the first footnote anchor from the beginning of the second sentence to the end of the first sentence.

- On page 185, in outline "The Titles," in point I 3, insert closing quotes at the end of the sentence.

- On page 188, in outline "Christ our Counsellor," remove extraneous closing quotes from the end of point III. Subsequently, eliminate the paragraph break after the word "profligate." Change the question mark in point III 3 to a period. In outline "Almighty God," apply RC to "Divinely given."

- On page 189, in outline "The Everlasting Father," insert a closing double quote after "the _everlasting_ Father." Apply RC to, and insert an opening quote before, "Father of eternity."

- On page 191, same outline, at the end of point III 2, insert reference Matt. xxviii. 20 after the quotation of that passage. In outline "The Prince of Peace," just before the end of Anderson's text, insert a left parenthesis before "H. E. I. 884."

- On page 192, in outline "The Empire of Christ," in the first paragraph, correct "political revelations" to "political revolutions."

- On page 193, same outline, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), in the third sentence, apply RC to "Newest;" and in the fourth sentence, apply RC to "Oldest," "Newest," "Old," and "New," for consistency with the first and second sentences.

- On page 194, in outline "The Security," remove the parentheses from the subpoints of point II, for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 195, in outline "The Outstretched Hand," in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), insert the names of target outlines to make this cross-reference useful in the plain text file.

- On page 196, in outline "The Duty," in point II 2, move the second footnote anchor to follow the references to scripture and another book. At the end of the outline, correct "Jerusaem" to "Jerusalem."

- On page 198, in outline "Two Constant Feelings," change the commas after the subpoint numbers of point I to periods, for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 200, in outline "The Destructiveness," subpoints 2 through 6 of point I are numbered in the original; insert point "1" before the first sentence in Italic type.

- The break between pages 200 and 201 is in the word "Consequently": Conse|quently.

- On page 201, same outline, in the McAuslane text, remove the parentheses from the subpoints of point I and change the period after the third subpoint to a question mark.

- On page 202, same outline, change the credit from "M'Auslane" to "McAuslane."

- On page 203, in outline "The Day of Visitation," change Arabic 1 to Roman I and start a new paragraph at "There will probably come to you . . . ." In point II, change an exclamation point to a question mark after Italic "you."

- On page 204, in outline "The Assyrian Invasion," at the end of point II, move the period inside the square brackets.

- On page 206, in outline "Man Proposes, God Disposes," insert right parenthesis after "Ps. cxxxix. 1-12" reference.

- On page 207, same outline, footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), remove extraneous comma from "P. D." In footnote 2 (denoted β originally), capitalize "Man's" in the outline title in the other volume of Isaiah commentary. In outline "A Happy Conversation," change a bold Arabic 1 to Roman I.

- On page 208, same outline, change the first subpoint of point II from Roman I to Arabic 1. Correct "Ps. ix. 107" to "Ps. cxix. 107." A cross reference at the end of point II refers to "H. E. I. 1191-1934," which is likely an error. Change the credit line to remove Italic formatting from the "pp." abbreviation.

- On page 210, in outline "The Remnants of Society," in point 2 of the final paragraph, insert a period after "complaining and mourning."

- On page 212, in outline "Isaiah's Vision," in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), include names of the target outlines to make this cross reference useful in the plain text file. In outline "The Spirit of the Lord," from the last sentence of the first paragraph, remove a duplicated "we" immediately after the semicolon.

- The break between pages 212 and 213 occurs in a block of text that style indicates should be treated as a unit: "absurd,|--then." The whole unit was moved to the earlier page.

- On page 213, same outline, in point II, change "counterfact" to "counter-fact."

- On page 214, in outline "Universal Diffusion," insert a period after the chapter number in the opening quotation reference. Correct the credit for the first paragraph from "Tyth" to "Lyth," per Errata.

- On page 215, same outline, in point I, apply RC to "Gospel principles," and "the Gospel" (twice).

- On page 216, same outline, in Rawlinson's point I, apply RC to "the Gospel." In his point III, correct "Whereever" to "Wherever;" change commas after subpoint numbers to periods, for consistency; and apply RC to "the Gospel." In his concluding paragraph, in point 2, apply RC to "the Gospel."

- On page 217, same outline, in the second paragraph after the Manning credit, correct "Jas. iii. 19" to "Jas. ii. 19."

- On page 218, same outline, in point 3 of the final paragraph, change "pledges Himself" to "pledges himself."

- On page 219, same outline, the text for the fourth footnote was omitted from the book.

- On page 221, in outline "The Reconciler of Men," in point IV, apply RC to "the Gospel" (thrice).

- On page 222, same outline, footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), insert opening double quotes at the beginning of the footnote. In outline "A New Song," capitalize the first word of point I.

- On page 224, in outline "Wells of Salvation," capitalize the first word of points I and II.

- On page 225, same outline, in point II 3, correct "Num. xxiv. 9" to "Num. xxiv. 6." In the first paragraph of the Manning text, in the last sentence, insert a question mark after "Apostle." In the next paragraph, correct "John viii. 37, 38" to "John vii. 37, 38."

- On page 226, same outline, in Thodey's point I 1, insert a period after "Matt" in "Matt. v. 6." In point I 2 (1), apply RC to "Divine displeasure."

- On page 227, same outline, in the (unattributed) Bertram text, remove the parentheses from the subpoint numbers of point V, for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 228, same outline, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), in Geikie's second paragraph, apply RC to "Divine grace."

- The break between pages 232 and 233 is in the word "dangers": dan|gers.

- On page 233, in outline "Spare the Children," all of point 4 was set in Italics. Set the first two words in Roman type to match the other points.

- On page 235, capitalize the word "Its" in the title of outline "The Grave and Its Mysteries."

- On pages 236-237, in outline "The Conqueror Conquered," set all of point III 3 in Italic type rather than just the first word, for consistency with the other subpoints of point III.

- On page 238, in outline "A Memorable Answer," set all of point I in bold, rather than leaving the word "That" not bold.

- On page 240, in outline "God's Outcasts," in point IV, change "John xiv. 1" to "John xiv. 1-3."

- On page 240, in outline "Fruitless Supplications," in point I 1, set the word "special" in Italic to match subpoints 2 and 3.

- The break between pages 242 and 243 occurs within text that style indicates should be a unit: "This appears|--1. In" The unit has been moved to the earlier page to prevent it from being broken between pages.

- On page 244, in outline "Forgetfulness of God," in the concluding paragraph, change "Gal. vi. 6" "Gal. vi. 7" to improve the connection with sowing and reaping. In outline "The Punishment of the Wicked," change points II and III to set the word "Of" in Italic, to match point I.

- On page 245, in outline "An Altar and a Saviour for Egypt," in point II, insert closing double quotes after "oppressors."

- The break between pages 246 and 247 comes in the word "empires": em|pires.

- On page 246, in outline "The Burden of Dumah," in the paragraph that continues on to the page, move the closing parenthesis from after "baker" to after "butler."

- On page 248, in outline "Night and Morning," in point II, add subpoint 1 before the Italic word "Morning," to correspond with the second numbered point referring to "night.".

- On page 249, the title of outline "The Grievousness of War" is set with extra space between the letters.

- On page 251, in outline "The Glory of the Messiah," in the last sentence of the introductory paragraph, insert opening quotes after the word "Him." In point II, label the sentence after the quotation as point 1. In point II 3, change "glory of His triumphs" to "his triumphs," referring to the "spiritual veteran."

- On page 253, in outline "The Gospel Feast," remove an extra period after "Matt. xxii. 1-3."

- On page 254, same outline, in point III of Thodey's text, apply RC to "His Word."

- On page 255, same outline, in point II of Reeve's text, correct "Luke ii. 71-75" to "Luke i. 71-75."

- The break between pages 255 and 256 is in the word "invitation:" invita|tion.

- On page 257, in outline "A Sorrowless World," change "P. Q." to "P. D."

- On page 260, in outline "Advent Thoughts and Joys," in Blomfield's point I, correct "Arimithea" to "Arimathea." In point II, apply RC to "His Divinity." In point III, change "atoning Work" to "work."

- On page 262, in outline "The Protecting Hand," in point III, correct "colloseum" to "Colosseum."

- On page 264, in outline "Perfect Peace," in point IV 1, apply RC to "Divine will," "Divine love," and "His Word."

- On page 265, same outline, in Miall's point II, change the second use of "will" to lower case to match the first use.

- On page 266, same outline, in the (unattributed) Bertram text, point III, correct a closing single quote to a closing double quote after "perfect peace."

- On page 269, in outline "The Righteousness," move the period at the end of point II inside the square brackets. In outline "The Just Man's Security," in the first sentence, change the reference from "(xxv. 10)" to "(Job xxxv. 10)."

- On page 270, same outline, in point II, correct the reference from "Ps. lviii. 3" to "Ps. lviii. 2." Insert snippet of Ps. lxxviii. 50.

- On page 272, in outline "Night Longings for God," remove the paragraph break at point II 2.

- On page 273, in outline "Chastisement," in point II, correct "Ps. xxxix. 19" to "Ps. xxxiv. 19."

- On page 274, same outline, change the credit from "Hollock" to "Kollock" to match the Table of Authors.

- On page 276, in outline "National Peace the Gift of God," in point III, change "Atheist" to "atheist." Capitalize "Accomplished" and "Ordained" in outline title "Holiness Accomplished, Peace Ordained." In point I 1, apply RC to "Divine work."

- On page 277, same outline, in point I 1, apply RC to "operation is Divine" and "His Divine work."

- On page 278, in outline "Man's Holiness, God's Workmanship," in point I, correct "Gal. vi. 22, 23" to "Gal. v. 22, 23." Capitalize the word "For" and change the trailing commas to periods in each of the subpoints of point II. In point II 2, change the exclamation mark to a question mark.

- On page 279, in outline "Spiritual Usurpers Renounced," in Parkes' point I, change "Paganism" to "paganism" and apply RC to "Divine help." In the first paragraph of Rawlison's text, make "other gods" lower case.

- The break between pages 279 and 280 is in the word "responsible": re|sponsible.

- On page 282, the title of outline "God's Invitation to Shelter" was set with extra space between the letters.

- On page 283, in outline "Chambers of Safety," in the introductory paragraph, insert reference to Matt. xxviii. 20 after the passage is quoted. In point I, apply RC to "Divine character" and "Divine promise."

- On page 284, in outline "God's Goodness," in the introduction, correct "Prov. xxxiii. 31" to "Prov. xxiii. 31."

- The break between pages 285 and 286 is in the word "uncontrollable" uncontroll|able.

- On page 286, in outline "A Solemn Disclaimer," in the concluding paragraph, change "He took hold" to "he," referring to the man-slayer.

- On page 287, in outline "Taking Hold," remove the parentheses from the subpoints of point II, for consistency with other outlines. In point II 1, remove the period after "submission" and correct "Ps. ii. 10" to "Ps. li. 10."

- On page 288, in outline "The Day of the East Wind," change "Job xviii. 17" to "Job xxi. 18."

- On page 290, set the title "The Afflictions of God's People" in title case. In point II, apply RC to "God."

- On page 291, same outline, in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), insert the names of target outlines to make the cross reference useful in the plain text file; correct page 6 to page 5. In outline "The Discipline of Sin," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine teaching" and "Divine design." In the second paragraph, apply RC to "Divine dealing." Remove the parentheses from the subpoints of point II for consistency with other outlines.

- The break between pages 291 and 292 is in the word "knowing": know|ing.

- On page 292, same outline, in point II 3, apply RC to "Divine One."

- The break between pages 292 and 293 is in the word "astonishing": as|tonishing.

- On page 293, in outline "The Gospel Trumpet," in point II, remove the "1" from the first sentence and replace the "2" before the second sentence with "1." Insert a paragraph break at "As chaplain." In outline "England's Crying Sin," remove an extra comma from the scripture quotation.

- On page 294, same outline, in point I 3, apply RC to "his Judge." In point II, capitalize "Penalty."

- On page 295, same outline, in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), include names of target outlines to make the cross reference useful in the plain text file. In outline "The Believer's Dignity," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine wrath." Insert a paragraph break after the text of point I to match that of point II on the following page. Apply RC to "Divine nature."

- On page 296, same outline, apply RC to "Divine character."

- On page 299, in outline "The Sure Foundation," apply RC to "Divinely appointed."

- The break between pages 299 and 300 is in the word "schoolmaster": school|master.

- On page 300, same outline, insert "IV" where it is missing.

- On page 301, same outline, change the formatting of Jay's point I from small-cap to bold, to match his other points. In point I 3, move the sentence ending period from after "Christians" to after the scripture reference.

- The break between pages 301 and 302 is in the word "declaration": declara|tion.

- On pages 302-303, same outline, make Hawes' point II subpoints consistent by removing parentheses from subpoints (1) and (3).

- The break between pages 302 and 303 is in the word "immortal": im|mortal.

- On page 303, same outline, in Hawes' point II 5, there is a second reference to footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally). To support linking from the footnote back to the text, create footnote 4. Insert an em-dash at the beginning of the Hawes citation.

- On page 304, in outline "Our Trust," at the end of point I, there is a sentence in square brackets. The Transcriber added a dash and the author's initials, treating it an an editorial aside, and moved the period inside the brackets.

- On page 305, in outline "False Refuges," in point I, change "Pagans" to "pagans."

- The break between pages 305 and 306 is in the word "decisions": deci|sions.

- On page 306, same outline, in the Application, apply RC to "believe in Him." In outline "The Short Bed," in point I, correct "Tirhakeh" to "Tirhakah."

- On page 309, in outline "The Parable," change the scripture quote to British English: change "plowman" and "plow" to "ploughman" and "plough." In the introductory paragraph, apply RC to "Divine dealing."

- The break between pages 309 and 310 is in the word "impurity": im|purity.

- On page 310, same outline, in point I, apply RC to "Divine character" and "Divine law." In point II, apply RC to "the Gospel."

- On page 311, in outline "The Parable," in Talmage's point I, change "M'Leod" to "McLeod."

- On page 312, in outline "A Feast for Faith," in the quoted scripture, change "Lord of Hosts" to "hosts," to match typical capitalization. Remove the parentheses from point I 1, to match the other points at that level. In point I 2, change "Providence" to "providence." In point I 4, change "Son of God" to "son" (John i. 12).

- On page 313, same outline, at the end of point I 8, insert the reference Rev. xix. 6 after the quotation of the passage. The title of outline "Ariel" is set with extra space between the letters.

- On page 314, same outline, parentheses were removed from points 2 and 3 such that they match point 1 in the concluding paragraph.

- On page 316, in outine "Awakened," in point III, apply RC to "the Gospel." In outline, "The Futility," in the introductory paragraph, apply RC to "His Gospel."

- On page 317, same outline, in point I, apply RC to "the Gospel." In point I 1, change "Pagan" to "pagan." In point II 2, add references Matt. xvi. 18 and Ps. xcvii. 1 where those passages are quoted. In outline "Lip-Service," in point I, remove point 1, because it is the only point at this level.

- On page 318, same outline, in Parkes' point II, change "xxxiii. 31" to "Ezek. xxxiii. 31" for specificity. In Rawlinson's introduction, apply RC to "Divine worship."

- On page 321, in outline "Religious Joy," in point I, apply RC to "Divine character" in the first and third paragraphs. In point II 1, apply RC to "Divine goodness."

- On page 322, in outline "The Origin," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine counsel." In point I 1, apply RC to "the Word." In point I 2, apply RC to "the Divine."

- On page 324 in outline "Strength in Quietness," in point III, change "i. 21" to "Job i. 21" for specificity. Point IV includes a reference to "Rom. xii. 19-26," which is not correct. In the concluding paragraph, apply RC to "the Spirit."

- On page 325, in outline "Dislike to Ministerial Fidelity," in point I, apply RC to "Divine law."

- The break between pages 325 and 326 occurs within what style indicates should be a unit: "(1.)|The." The whole unit was moved to the earlier page.

- On page 326, same outline, in the Application, point 2 (3), apply RC to "Divine truth."

- On page 327, in outline "Christian Quietness," in point IV, apply RC to "upon a Rock," meaning Jesus. In outline "The Vanity," the second paragraph includes a list which was typeset "Exodus, Gideon, David, and Goliath;" remove the comma after "David."

- On page 328, in outline "Divine Salvation Rejected," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine remonstrance." In point I, apply RC to "Divine salvation." In point I 2, change "Jesus died" to "Jesus died and rose again." Many religious figures have died; only One has risen again.

- On page 329, same outline, in point II 3, apply RC to "Divine favour."

- On page 330, in outline "Waiting, Divine and Human," in point I 2, change "P. I." to "P. D."

- On page 333, in outline "Waiting for the Lord," in Crow's point II 2, change "Ps. lxii. 15" to "Ps. lxii. 1-5."

- On page 334, in outline "God's Readiness," in point I 2, change "Go to Him" to "go."

- On page 335, same outline, in point II 3, change "Go to Him" to "go." In outline "The Bread," in Thodey's point II, change "1 Cor. i. 5" to "2 Cor. i. 5." In his point III, change the first point "3" to "2."

- The break between pages 335 and 336 is in the word "principles": prin|ciples.

- On page 336, same outline, Rawlinson's point I, apply RC to "It is not that He." In point II, change "antidote" and "promised" to lower case to match point I. In the conclusion, apply RC to "the Word." In footnote 3 (denoted ɣ originally), apply RC to "The Word" and insert a comma after "helps."

- On page 337, in outline "The Guiding Voice," apply RC to "God's Word."

- The break between pages 337 and 338 is in the word "encouragement": encourage|ment.

- On page 338, same outline, in Horton's point IV, apply RC to "the Word." In Thodey's point II 4, apply RC to "by Whom."

- The break between pages 339 and 340 is in the word "disappointments": disappoint|ments.

- On page 340, in outline "The Earthly Song," in the introduction, capitalise "Passover" (twice). Apply RC to "Divine interposition," "Divine response," and "the Divine." In point 1, capitalise "Passover" (twice).

- On page 341, same outline, in point 2, capitalise "Passover" and "Paschal Hymn." In point 3, apply RC to "Divine ownership." In point 4, capitalise "Paschal song" and apply RC to "Divine resources." In point 5, capitalise "Paschal Hymn." In the conclusion, apply RC to "Divinely appointed." In outline "Tophet," insert a period after "more excellent way."

- On page 343, in outline "The Only Counsellor," in point 2, after "were no longer" insert "to hold intercourse with it," per Errata. In the next paragraph, change "wo" to "woe."

- The break between pages 343 and 344 occurs within text which style indicates should be a unit: "it.--Julius." The whole unit was moved to the earlier page.

- On page 344, in outline "The Spirituality," remove the quotation marks from the scripture quotation in the header for consistency.

- On page 346, in outline "A Call," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine idea" and "Divine communications." In point I, apply RC to "Divine holiness" (twice). Change "Then Himself disappears" to "Then He disappears." In point II, insert "1" before the first sentence.

- The break between pages 346 and 347 is in the word "feelings": feel|ings.

- On page 347, same outline, in point II 2, apply RC to "the Gospel." In outline "The Fiery Ordeal," in point I, apply RC to "life Divine." In the Conclusion, point (1), capitalize "To."

- On page 348, in outline "The Preciousness," remove the quotation marks from the scripture quotation in the header for consistency. In Maclaren's point I 3, apply RC to "Divine wrath."

- On page 349, same outline, in Bertram's (uncredited) point II, move the semicolon outside the parentheses. In his point III, set the name of the referenced outline in small caps.

- On page 350, same outline, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), remove a duplicated word "or" from the last sentence.

- On page 351, in outline "The Christian's Refuge," in the introduction, apply RC to "God's Word."

- On page 352, same outline, in point I, remove the subpoint "1" because there are no others. In point II 1, remove the quotation marks from the point. Correct "assuage their thirst" to "assuage your thirst."

- The break between pages 357 and 358 is in the word "Conscience": Con|science.

- On page 358, in outline "Christian Liberality," in the conclusion, apply RC to "done it unto Me" (Matt. xxv. 40).

- On page 359, in outline "A Call," in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), include the names of target outlines to make the cross reference useful in the plain text file. In outline "The Essential Condition," in the second paragraph, apply RC to "as Divine."

- On page 360, same outline, in point I 1, capitalise "From" and move the sentence-ending period outside the parentheses. In point I 4, insert a sentence-ending period after the parentheses. In point I 7, apply RC to "Divine power." In point II, apply RC to "Divine agency" (twice).

- On page 361, same outline, in Magie's point I, change the subpoints from parenthesised Italic lower-case letters to Arabic numerals for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 362, same outline, in Magie's conclusion, change the points from parenthesised Italic lower-case letters to Arabic numerals for consistency with other outlines. Change the credit from "Magee" to "Magie," per Errata.

- On page 363, same outline, in Rawlinson's point III, apply RC to "the Word." In footnote 2 (denoted β originally), apply RC to "Divine influence" and "Divine communication."

- On page 364, in outline "The Moral Wilderness," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine judgments." In point I, apply RC to "Divine beauty." In point II 3, apply RC to "Divine sanction."

- On page 366, same outline, in Rawlinson's introduction, apply RC to "Divine government."

- On page 368, in outline "Spiritual Husbandry," in the second introductory paragraph, apply RC to "the Gospel." In point I, apply RC to "God's Word."

- On page 369, same outline, the text of point II printed poorly at the right margin.

- On page 371, in outline "The Saint's Attitude," in the introduction, apply RC to "Divine Governor."

- On page 372, same outline, in point I 1, apply RC to "Divine disposition" and "His Word." In point I 3, apply RC to "His Word and Way" and "Divine consolation."

- On page 374, in outline "The Importance," in Watson's point II, apply RC to "Divine philosophy."

- The break between pages 374 and 375 is in the word "prosperity": pros|perity.

- On page 382, in outline "The Prospect," in point III, remove the subpoint "2" because there are no others.

- On page 382, in outline "The Beauty," remove the parentheses from the subpoints of point I, for consistency with other outlines. In point I 2, correct "Luke xxxiii. 43" to "Luke xxiii. 43."

- On page 384, in outline "Characteristics," in the introductory paragraph, add an outline title to make the page reference useful in the plain text file. In point I, apply RC to "Divine grace." In footnote 2 (denoted β originally), capitalize "The" and change "Peaceable" to "Peaceful" to match the referenced outline.

- On page 386, in outline "A Controlling Fact," in point I, correct "Ps. cxxxi. 1-7" to "Ps. cxxi. 1-7." Apply RC to "His knowledge."

- On page 388, in outline "The Atonement," in point I, apply RC to "as He was" and "God's Son."

- On page 389, same outline, in point III 4, apply RC to "sacrifice He has made."

- The break between pages 390 and 391 is in the word "sickness": sick|ness.

- The break between pages 391 and 392 is in the word "advancing": ad|vancing.

- The break between pages 393 and 394 is in the word "outward": out|ward.

- On page 394, in outline "The Controversy," in point III, remove the Arabic 1 and remove the parentheses from the other subpoints.

- On page 395, in outline "A Call to Study," in point I, correct "2 Tim. i. 21" to "2 Pet. i. 21."

- On page 396, capitalize "Will" in the outline title "The Book that Will Endure Testing." In the introduction, apply RC to "its Divinity."

- On page 397, same outline, in point IV, change "Rom. viii. 19 23" to "Rom. viii. 19-23."

- On page 398, in outline "The Certainty," in the application paragraph, insert point 1.

- On page 399, in outline "Transformation," in the introduction, correct "co-called" to "so-called."

- On page 400, same outline, in point II 5, capitalise "Holy of Holies." Remove a redundant footnote anchor from the end of Kay's text.

- On page 401, same outine, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), insert two outline titles to make the cross reference useful in the plain text file.

- On page 402, in outline "Encouragement," In point II 1, update "Has not Jesus died?" to "Has not Jesus died and risen again?" because many religious leaders have died, but only One has risen again. In point II 3, insert two scripture references after the quotation of the passages.

- On page 404, in outline "The Healer," insert a paragraph break after point I. At the end of point I 1, correct "After all the argument, he fact remains" to "the fact remains."

- On page 406, in outline "The Curse Done Away," in point III 1, change "Matt. xiii. 58" to "Matt. ix. 2."

- The break between pages 406 and and 407 is in the worth "Nazareth": Naza|reth.

- On page 407, in outline "Beautiful Visions," remove a redundant footnote anchor from the end of the text.

- On page 408, same outline, in footnote 1 (denoted ɑ originally), change "Ps. lxxxiv. 7" to "Ps. lxxxiv. 6" for the reference to the valley of Baca. Later in the Koran quotation, tag the word _sarab_ as Arabic, twice.

- On page 409, in outline "The Exiles' Return," insert a paragraph break after point III.

- The break between pages 409 and 410 is in the word "fulness": ful|ness.

- On page 411, in outline "The Road," in point II, apply RC to "Divine sympathy."

- On page 413, in outline "The Banishment," in point IV, change "Nature" to "nature."

- On page 414, capitalise "Their" in outline title "Modern Rabshakehs, and Their Attempts to Terrify God's People." Add a question mark to the end of point I.

- The break between pages 414 and 415 is in the word "ecclesiastical": eccle|siastical.

- On page 416, capitalise "Art" and "Thou" in outline title "In Whom Art Thou Trusting?"

- On page 417, same outline, in point III 2, insert a period after "yet we have." Change the second "4" to "5."

- The break between pages 419 and 420 is in the word "wrong-doings": wrong-|doings.

- On page 420, in outline "A King in Trouble," in point II, apply RC to "Omnipotence."

- The break between pages 421 and 422 is in the word "dwelling-place": dwelling-|place.

- On page 423, in outline "A Christian Prayer," in the introduction, apply RC to "exclusive Divinity."

- On page 424, same outline, in point III, change "from His hand" to "his," because the prayer is for God to intervene against another person.

- The break between pages 427 and 428 is in the word "instance": in|stance.

- On page 429, in outline "Duties," in the introduction, change "whenever He knocks" to "he," referring to death.

- On page 433, in outline "The Shortening," at the end of the Application paragraph, change "xiii. 15, or i. 21" to "Job xiii. 15, or Job i. 21" for specificity.

- On page 434, the title of outline "The Suretyship of Christ" was set with extra space between the letters.

- On page 435, in outline "Hezekiah's Resolution," in point 1, apply RC to "Source and Giver of life."

- On page 436, same outline, in point 4, add parentheses to subpoints 2 and 3.

- The break between pages 441 and 442 is in the word "forgetfulness": forgetful|ness.

- On page 445, in outline "Hezekiah Tried," in point II, correct "2 Kings xx. 45" to "2 Kings xx. 4-5." In point III, change "He says nothing" to "he," referring to Hezekiah.

- On page 450, in outline "The Cessation of War," in point III 1, apply RC to "Divine power."

- On page 456, in outline "The Inexcusability," in the third paragraph, move a closing quotation mark from after "done" to after "Nature" and another from after "done" to after "conviction."

- On page 461, in outline "The Service," change "taskwork" to "task-work."

- On page 462, same outline, in footnote 2 (denoted β originally), change "1#42" to "1842."

- On page 463, in outline "The Moral History," in point III, apply RC to "Divinely-appointed."

- On page 464, in outline "Sanctuary in God," in point I, change "Pagan" to "pagan." Apply RC to "Divinity." In point II, correct "lxiii. 9" to "liii. 9." In point III, apply RC to "Water."

- On page 465, the title of outline "Wise Lessons from Wicked Lips" is set with extra space between the letters.

- On page 468, in outline "The Diffusion," in point II, remove the parentheses from the subpoint numbers, for consistency with other outlines.

- On page 469, same outline, in the Conclusion, change "Ps. xxiii. 27" to "Ps. xxiii. 2."

- On page 470, in outline "The Proud City Doomed," change "Man-God" to "man-god." Apply RC to "Divinity."

- On page 475, in outline "The Blessings," in point II, add an outline title to make the page cross reference useful in the plain text file.

- On page 476, same outline, in point 3 of the paragraph after point III, apply RC to "Divinity."

- On page 478, in outline "Peaceful Keeping," in Guinness' point III, change the question mark after "heart of God" to a period. In Corbin's introduction, apply RC to "Divine."

- On page 479, same outline, in point I, change "Nature" to "nature." In outline "The Song," In point I 2, remove the subpoint "(1.)" because there are no others.

- The break between pages 479 and 480 is in the word "constitute": con|stitute.

- On page 480, same outline, correct "2 Cor. vi. 7" to "2 Cor. vi. 17." In the credit, remove the Italic formatting from "pp." and change "Port Madoc" to "Portmadoc."

- On page 481, in outline "The Storms of Life," in point III, add an outline title to make the page cross reference useful in the plain text file.

- The break between pages 481 and 482 is in the word "threatening": threaten|ing.

- On page 482, same outline, change the name of the town from "Port Madoc" to "Portmadoc."

- On page 485, in outline "Rejecters," add parentheses to point I 2 (2).

- On page 486, same outline, apply RC to "Divinely sublime." Change "Jesu's" to "Jesus'." Add parentheses to points I 2 (3)-(5).

- The break between pages 487 and 488 is in the word "become": be|come.

- On page 488, in outline "False Refuges," add a period to the end of the scripture quotation. Change "Ps. l. 22" to "Ps. l. 22-23."

- On page 490, in outline "Some Aspects," in point II 1, apply RC to "Will of God." In outline "Growing Light," apply RC to "the Source."

- The break between pages 491 and 492 is in the word "promise": pro|mise.

- On page 492, same outline, capitalise "51st Psalm." Remove right parenthesis from credit.

- On page 493, in outline "Nobility and Security," in point II, correct the quoted text "munitions of rock" to "rocks."

- The break between pages 493 and 494 is in the word "elevated": ele|vated.

- On page 494, same outline, correct "you are a mem ber" to "member."

- On page 495, in outline "Spreading the Letter," in point III, change "story" to "account."

- Regarding the Appendix, in the original, the two translations are presented as two columns on each page. To maintain this presentation would require more effort than is currently available. Consequently, the two translations are presented consecutively. The page numbers indicate the page and column. Two additional translations of chapter lii. 13 through chapter liii. appear on appendix pages 67 and 69. These passages follow the other two translations.

- There may have been confusion in typesetting with regard to footnotes. Anchors for the notes on chapters v. and vi. are inserted into both translations; anchors for subsequent notes appear in the Delitzsch translation only. Consequently, the notes were transcribed only in the Delitzsch translation. The original footnotes use symbols, and reset to asterisk with each new page; the transcribed footnotes appear at chapter breaks and reset to 1 with each chapter.

- Verse numbers that appear in the middle of a sentence were often followed by a comma. The transcription follows each one with a period.

- On page A1L, ch. i. 2, apply RC to "against Me." Verse 3, apply RC, "My people."

- On page A2L, ch. i. 11, apply RC, "sacrifices to Me." Verse 12, apply RC, "before Me" and "My courts." Verse 13, apply RC, "to Me." Verse 14, apply RC, "My soul hateth," "to Me." Verse 15, apply RC, "Mine eyes." Verse 16, apply RC, "Mine eyes."

- On page A3L, ch. i. 24, apply RC, "comfort Myself of My adversaries," "avenge Myself of Mine enemies." Verse 25, apply RC, "turn My hand."

- On page A5L, ch. iii. 15, apply RC, "My people."

- On page A9, the page number was corrected or inserted manually by the typesetter.

- On page A9L, insert missing number for ch. vii. 6.

- On page A10L, insert missing chapter number "VIII."

- On page A12L, ch. x. 5, apply RC, "My anger" and "My indignation." Verse 6, apply RC, "My wrath." Verse 12, apply RC, "all His work."

- On page A13L, ch. x. 34, apply RC, "a Mighty One."

- On page A15L, ch. xiii. 3, apply RC, "Myself" and "My" (four times). Verse 5, apply RC, "His wrath."

- Verse number 15 for chapter xiii. was moved ahead to page A16L, with the text.

- On page A17L, ch. xiv. 22, apply RC, "Myself." Verse 25, apply RC, "My" (twice).

- The break between pages A19L and A20L is in the word "rebukes": re|bukes.

- On page A20L, ch. xviii. 4, apply RC, "My dwelling-place."

- On page A21L, ch. xix. 25, apply RC, "My" (thrice).

- On page A25L, ch. xxiii. 13, change "He has rendered it a ruin" to "he."

- The break between pages A27L and A28L is in the word "desired": de|sired.

- On page A28L, ch. xxvi. 15, apply RC, "Thou hast glorified." Ch. xxvii. 4, apply RC, "My people."

- On page A29L, ch. xxvii. 4, apply RC, "My people" and "Me." Verse 5, apply RC, "My" and "Me" (twice).

- On page A30L, ch. xxviii. 6, change "to Him that sitteth" to "him." Verse 9, apply RC, "He" (twice). Verse 11, apply RC, "He."

- On page A31L, ch. xxix. 2, apply RC, "Me." Verse 13, apply RC, "Me" (thrice).

- On page A32L, ch. xxix. 23, apply RC, "My" (twice). Ch. xxx. 1, apply RC to "Me" and "My." In ch. xxx. 2, apply RC"My."

- On page A33L, ch. xxx. 22, change "And he shall defile" to "ye."

- On page A34L, move the dash to between chapter number xxxi. and verse number 1.

- The break between pages A34L and A35L is between verse 7 and the first word of the verse. The verse number was moved to the subsequent page.

- On page A36L, ch. xxxiii. 10, apply RC to "Myself." Insert verse number 16.

- On page A37L, ch. xxxiv. 5, apply RC to "My" (twice).

- On page A38L, ch. xxxiv. 11, apply RC to "One." Verse 16, apply RC to "My." In ch. xxxv., two verses are numbered 6; number the second one 7.

- On page A42L, ch. xxxvii. 28, apply RC to "Me." Verse 29, apply RC to "Me" and "My" (thrice). Verse 35, apply RC to "My" (twice). In ch. xxxviii. 3, apply RC to "Thee" and "Thine."

- On page A44L, in the introduction to ch. xl., apply RC to "Divine."

- On page A45L, ch. xl. 20, change "he" to lower case twice, referring to a man.

- On page A46L, ch. xl. 25, apply RC to "Me." Ch. xli. 1, apply RC to "Me." Verse 2, apply RC to "Him" (thrice) and "His" (twice). Verse 3, apply RC to "He" (twice) and "His." Verse 4, apply RC to "First" and "Last."

- On page A47L, ch. xli. 8, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 10, apply RC to "My." Verse 25, apply RC to "My."

- On page A48L, ch. xlii. 1, apply RC to "My" (four times). Verse 8, apply RC to "My" (thrice).

- On page A49L, ch. xlii. 19, apply RC to "My" (twice).

- On page A50L, ch. xliii. 1, apply RC to "Mine." Verse 4, apply RC to "My." Verse 5, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 7, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 9, apply RC to "My." Verse 10, apply RC to "My" (twice), "Me" (thrice), and "He." Verse 11, apply RC to "Me." Verse 12, apply RC to "My." Verse 13, apply RC to "My."

- On page A51L, in ch. xliii. 20, apply RC to "Me" and "My" (twice). Verse 21, apply RC to "Myself" and "My." Verse 22, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 23, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 24, apply RC to "Me" (four times). Verse 25, apply RC to "He" and "Mine." Verse 26, apply RC to "Me." Verse 27, apply RC to "Me."

- On page A52L, ch. xliv. 1, apply RC to "My." Verse 2, apply RC to "My." Verse 3, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 6, apply RC to "Me." Verse 7, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 8, apply RC to "My" and "Me."

- On page A53L, ch. xliv. 21, apply RC to "My" and "Me" (twice). Verse 22, apply RC to "Me." Verse 24, apply RC to "Former" and "Myself."

- On page A54L, ch. xliv. 28, apply RC to "My." In the introduction to chap xlv., apply RC to "Divine." Verse 4, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Me." Verse 5, apply RC to "Me" twice. Verse 6, apply RC to "Me." Verse 11, apply RC to "Me" (twice) and "My" (twice). Verse 12, apply RC to "My." Verse 13, apply RC to "My" twice.

- On page A55L, ch. xlv. 15, apply RC to "Thou" and "Thyself." Verse 18, apply RC to "Creator," "Former," and "Maker." Verse 19, apply RC to "Me." Verse 21, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 22, apply RC to "Me." Verse 23, apply RC to "Myself" and "Me." In the introduction to ch. xlvi., apply RC to "Divinity."

- The break between pages A55L and A56L is in the word "control": con|trol.

- On page A56L, ch. xlvi. 3, apply RC to "Me." Verse 5, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 9, apply RC to "Me." Verse 10, apply RC to "My." Verse 12, apply RC to "Me." Verse 13, apply RC to "My" (four times).

- On page A57L, ch. xlvii., insert verse number 6. Verse 6, apply RC to "My" (thrice).

- On page A58L, ch. xlviii. 3, apply RC to "My."

- On page A59L, ch. xlviii. 9, apply RC to "My" (thrice). Verse 11, apply RC to "My" (thrice). Verse 12, apply RC to "Me" and "My." Verse 13, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 18, apply RC to "My." Verse 19, apply RC to "Me." Verse 21, apply RC to "He."

- On page A60L, ch. xlix. 1, apply RC to "Me" (twice) and "My" (twice). Verse 2, apply RC to "My" and "Me" (twice). Verse 3, apply RC to "My" and "Me." Verse 4, apply RC to "My" (four times). Verse 5, apply RC to "Me" and "My" (twice). Verse 6, apply RC to "Thou," "My" (twice), and "Thee." Verse 7, apply RC to "Thee." Verse 8, apply RC to "Thee" (four times).

- On page A61L, ch. xlix. 11, apply RC to "My." Verse 16, apply RC to "My" and "Me." Verse 22, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 26, apply RC to "Mighty."

- On page A62L, ch. l. 1, apply RC to "My." Verse 2, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Me." Verse 4, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 5, apply RC to "Me." Verse 6, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 7, apply RC to "Me" and "My." Verse 8, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Me" (twice). Verse 9, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 11, apply RC to "My."

- On page A63L, ch. li. 1, apply RC to "Me." Verse 4, apply RC to "Me" (thrice) and "My" (thrice). Verse 5, apply RC to "My" (four times) and "Me." Verse 6, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 7, apply RC to "Me" and "My." Verse 8, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 9, apply RC to "Thou." Verse 10, apply RC to "Thou." Verse 12, apply RC to "He."

- On page A64L, ch. li. 16, apply RC to "My" (thrice). Verse 22, apply RC to "My."

- On page A65L, ch. lii. 4, apply RC to "My." Verse 5, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 6, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Me."

- On page A68L, in the introduction to ch. liv., apply RC to "Divine."

- On page A69L, ch. liv. 8, apply RC to "My." Verse 9, apply RC to "Me." Verse 10, apply RC to "My" (twice).

- On page A70L, ch. liv. 15, apply RC to "My." Verse 17, apply RC to "Me." In the introduction to ch. lv., apply RC to "Divine."

- On page A71L, ch. lv. 4, change "him" to lower case, referring to David. In verse 8, apply RC to "My" (twice). In verse 9, apply RC to "My" (twice). In verse 11, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Me." In ch. lvi. 1, apply RC to "My" (twice).

- On page A72L, ch. lvi. 4, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 5, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 7, apply RC to "My" (four times).

- On page A73L, ch. lvii. 11, apply RC to "Me" (twice) and "My." Verse 12, insert right parenthesis after "avail." Verse 13, apply RC to "Me" and "My."

- On page A74L, ch. lvii. 16, apply RC to "Me." Verse 17, apply RC to "Me." In ch. lviii. 1, apply RC to "My." Verse 2, apply RC to "Me" (twice) and "My."

- On page A75L, ch. lviii. 9, apply RC to "Me." Verse 13, apply RC to "My." In the introduction to chapter lix., change "in justice" to "injustice" and apply RC to "Divine" and "Redeemer."

- On page A77L, ch. lix. 21, apply RC to "My" (twice). In the introduction to ch. lx., insert a dash immediately after the chapter number and apply RC to "Divine."

- On page A78L, ch. lx. 7, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 9, apply RC to "Me." Verse 10, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 13, apply RC to "My" (twice).

- On page A79L, ch. lx. 21, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Myself."

- On page A80L, in the introduction to ch. lxii., apply RC to "Deliverer" and move the final period inside the square brackets.

- The break between pages A80L and A81L is in the word "Jehovah": Jeho|vah.

- On page A81L, ch. lxii. 9, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 12, make the translation of the second city name lower case. In the introduction to ch. lxiii., move the final period inside the square brackets. In the introduction to ch. lxiv., apply RC to "Divine" and move the final period inside the square brackets. Ch. lxiii. 1, apply RC to "His" (thrice). Verse 2, apply RC to "Thy" (twice). Verse 3, apply RC to "Myself."

- On page A82L, ch. lxiii. 3, apply RC to "Me" and "My" (four times). Verse 4, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 5, apply RC to "My" (twice) and "Me" (twice). Verse 6, apply RC to "My" twice. Verse 8, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 16, apply RC to "Thou."

- On page A83L, the versification for the last verse of Isaiah lxiii. and most of lxiv. followed the Hebrew and not the English. The start of chapter lxiv. was moved and a dash inserted after the chapter number. Verses 1-10 were renumbered 2-11. Verse 9, apply RC to "Thy." In the introduction to ch. lxv., change "this s connected" to "is."

- On page A84L, in the introduction to ch. lxv., change "vers. 8, 10" to "vers. 8-10." Verse 1, apply RC to "Me" (thrice). Verse 2, apply RC to "My." Verse 3, apply RC to "Me" and "My." Verse 5, apply RC to "My" Verses 6 and 7, apply RC to "Me" (twice). Verse 8, apply RC to "My" Verse 9, apply RC to "My" (thrice). Verse 10, apply RC to "My" and "Me." Verse 11, apply RC to "My"

- On page A85L, ch. xlv. 13 and 14, apply RC to "My" (four times). Verse 15, apply RC to "My." Verse 16, apply RC to "My." Verse 19, apply RC to "My." Verses 21 and 22, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 25, apply RC to "My."

- On page A86L, in the introduction to ch. lxvi., apply RC to "Divinely." Change "7, 9" to "7-9" and "15, 17" to "15-17." Verse 1, apply RC to "My" (five times) and "Me." Verse 4, apply RC to "My." Verse 5, apply RC to "My."

- On page A87L, ch. xlvi. 18, apply RC to "My." Verse 19, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 20, apply RC to "My."

- The break between pages A87L and A88L is between verse number 22 and the text of the verse. Move the verse number to the following page.

- On page A88L, ch. xlvi. 22, apply RC to "Me." Verse 23, apply RC to "Me." Verse 24, apply RC to "Me."

- On page A1R, Italic heading of Part I, capitalise "Concerning," "Ways," "Ungrateful," "Rebellious," and "Nation." Ch. i. 2, apply RC to "Me."

- On page A2R, ch. i. 11, apply RC to "Me." Verse 12, apply RC to "My" (twice). Verse 13, apply RC to "Me" Verse 14, apply RC to "My" and "Me." Verse 15, apply RC to "Mine." Verse 16, apply RC to "My."

- On page A3R, ch. i. 24, apply RC to "Myself" (twice) and "Mine" (twice). Verse 25, apply RC to "My." In the heading before ch. ii., change "glory of the true" to "glory to the true."

- On page A5R, ch. iii. 15, apply RC to "My." Ch. v. 1, apply RC to "His."

- On page A6R, ch. iii. 3, apply RC to "Me" and "My." Verse 4, apply RC to "My." Verse 5, apply RC to "My." Verse 13, apply RC to "My." Ch. v., footnote 1, insert right double quote after question mark at the end of the note. Ch. v., footnote 2, in verse 13, apply RC to "My."

- On page A8R, Italic heading of Part II, capitalise "Sign" and "Wondrous."

- On page A10R, ch. viii., insert verse number 2. Italic heading before viii. 5, capitalise "Coming" and "Darkness."

- On page A11R, ch. viii. 21, change "befals" to "befalls." Italic heading before ix. 8, capitalise "Outstretched" and "Hand."

- On page A12R, Italic heading before x. 5, capitalise "Imperial," "Kingdom" (twice), "World," and "Rise." Verse 5, apply RC to "Mine" (twice). Verse 6, apply RC to "My."

- On page A13R, ch. x. 17, change "His Holy One" to "his." Verse 22, apply RC to "Mighty."

- On page A15R, ch. xii. 1, 2, capitalise first word of poetry lines: "For" and "And." Verses 4-6, capitalise first word of poetry lines: "Make," "Boast," "Let," and "For." Italic heading of