God's judgment upon Babylon. CHAP. XLVIII, XLIX. The intent of prophecy. 9 But these two things shall come to thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest thee in a moment in one day, the loss of say, Behold, I knew them. children, and widowhood: they shall come 8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou upon thee in their perfection, for the mul- knewest not; yea, from that time that titude of thy sorceries, and for the great thine ear was not opened: for I knew that abundance of thine enchantments. thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wicked-wast called a transgressor from the womb. ness thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy 9 ¶ For my name's sake will I defer mine wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath per- anger, and for my praise will I refrain for verted thee; and thou hast said in thine thee, that I cut thee not off. heart, I am, and none else beside me. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; with silver; I have chosen thee in the furthou shalt not know from whence it riseth: nace of affliction. and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou 11 For mine own sake, even for mine shalt not be able to put it off: and desola- own sake, will I do it: for how should my tion shall come upon thee suddenly, which name be polluted? and I will not give my thou shalt not know. glory unto another. 12 Stand now with thine enchant- 12 ¶ Hearken unto me, O Jacob and ments, and with the multitude of thy sorce- Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, ries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy I also am the last. youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. 13, Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, 14 All ye, assemble yourselves and hear; stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken, yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with 16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye whom thou hast laboured, even thy mer- this; I have not spoken in secret from the chants, from thy youth: they shall wander beginning; from the time that it was, there every one to his quarter; none shall save am I and now the Lord GOD, and his thee. Spirit, hath sent me. CHAP. XLVIII. HEAR ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Is rael, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the est go. LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteous- commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou should ness. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name. and the offspring of thy bowels like the 3 I have declared the former things from gravel thereof; his name should not have the beginning; and they went forth out of been cut off nor destroyed from before my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them me. suddenly, and they came to pass. 20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singand thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy ing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the brow brass; end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath 5 I have even from the beginning de- redeemed his servant Jacob. clared it to thee; before it came to pass I 21 And they thirsted not when he led shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, them through the deserts: he caused the Mine idol hath done them; and my graven waters to flow out of the rock for them: he image, and my molten image, hath com- clave the rock also, and the waters gushed manded them. out. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will 22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new unto the wicked. things from this time, even, hidden things, and thou didst not know them. CHAP. XLIX. 7 They are created now, and not from LISTEN, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath the beginning, even before the day when called me from the womb; from the bow Christ sent to the Gentiles. ISAIAH. els of my mother hath he made mention of my name. Cause of the Jews' dereliction. 17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste 2 And he hath made my mouth like a shall go forth of thee. sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand 18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and hath he hid me, and made me a polished behold: all these gather themselves togeshaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; thes, and come to thee. As I live, saith 3 And said unto me, Thou art my ser- the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee vant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. with them all, as with an ornament, and 4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work 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, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. 19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. 6 And he said, It is a light thing that 21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, thou shouldest be my servant to raise up Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the pre- lost my children, and am desolate, a capserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a tive, and removing to and fro? and who light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be hath brought up these? Behold I was left my salvation unto the end of the earth. alone; these, where had they been? 7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and man despiseth, to him whom the nation ab- set up my standard to the people: and they horreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy see and arise, princes also shall worship, daughters shall be carried upon their shoulbecause of the LORD that is faithful, and ders. thee. the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose | 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mo8 Thus saith the LORD, In an accepta- thers: they shall bow down to thee with ble time have I heard thee, and in a day of their face toward the earth, and lick up salvation have I helped thee: and I will the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know preserve thee, and give thee for a cove- that I am the LORD: for they shall not be nant of the people, to establish the earth, ashamed that wait for me. to cause to inherit the desolate heritages: 9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 12 Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. 24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? 25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. 26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Re deemer, the mighty One of Jacob. CHAP. L. HUS saith the LORD, Where is the THUS 13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, bill of your mother's divorcement, O earth; and break forth into singing, O whom I have put away? or which of my mountains for the LORD hath comforted creditors is it to whom I have sold you? his people, and will have mercy upon his Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold afflicted. yourselves, and for your transgressions is 14 But Zion said, The LORD hath for- your mother put away. saken me, and my LORD hath forgotten me. 2 Wherefore, when I came, was there 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, no man? when I called, was there none that she should not have compassion on the answer? Is my hand shortened at all, th son of her womb? yea, they may forget, it cannot redeem? or have I no power yet will I not forget thee. deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up th 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: the palms of my hands; thy walls are continu- fish stinketh, because there is no water, an ally before me. dieth for thirst. Christ defends his people. CHAP. LI. Jerusalem's affliction. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, ever, and my righteousness shall not be and I make sackcloth their covering. abolished. 4 The Lord God hath given me the 7 ¶ Hearken unto me, ye that know tongue of the learned, that I should know righteousness, the people in whose heart is how to speak a word in season to him that my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, is weary: he wakeneth morning by morn- neither be ye afraid of their revilings. ing, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like 5 The Lord God hath opened mine wool: but my righteousness shall be for ear, and I was not rebellious, neither ever, and my salvation from generation to turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord God will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 He is near that justifieth me: who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. generation. 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? 11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto 9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they their head: they shall obtain gladness and all shall wax old as a garment; the moth joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee shall eat them up. away. 10 Who is among you that feareth the 12 ¶ I, even I, am he that comforteth LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his ser- you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be vant, that walketh in darkness, and hath afraid of a man that shall die, and of the no light? let him trust in the name of the son of man which shall be made as grass; LORD, and stay upon his God. 13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that that hath stretched forth the heavens, and compass yourselves about with sparks: laid the foundations of the earth; and hast walk in the light of your fire, and in the feared continually every day because of the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? in sorrow. HEARKEN CHAP. LI. EARKEN to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and 16 And I have put my words in thy unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him mouth, and I have covered thee in the alone, and blessed him, and increased shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the him. heavens, and lay the foundations of the 3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my will comfort all her waste places; and he people. will make her wilderness like Eden, and 17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jeruher desert like the garden of the LORD; salem, which hast drunk at the hand of the joy and gladness shall be found therein, LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunkthanksgiving, and the voice of melody. en the dregs of the cup of trembling, and 4 ¶ Hearken unto me, my people; and wrung them out. give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law 18 There is none to guide her among all shall proceed from me, and I will make my the sons whom she hath brought forth; judgment to rest for a light of the people. neither is there any that taketh her by the 5 My righteousness is near; my salva- hand of all the sons that she hath brought tion is gone forth, and mine arms shall up. judge the people; the isles shall wait upon 19 These two things are come unto thee; me, and on mine arm shall they trust. who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: look upon the earth beneath: for the hea- by whom shall I comfort thee? vens shall vanish away like smoke, and the 20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at earth shall wax old like a garment, and the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in they that dwell therein shall die in like a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, manner: but my salvation shall be for the rebuke of thy God. Christ's free redemption. ISAIAH. His passion. 21 ¶ Therefore hear now this, thou af- dently, he shall be exalted and extolled, flicted, and drunken, but not with wine: and be very high. 22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and 14 As many were astonished at thee; thy God that pleadeth the cause of his (his visage was so marred more than any people, Behold, I have taken out of thine man, and his form more than the sons of hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs men:) of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. CHAP. LII. AWAKE, on beautiful gur WAKE, awake, put on thy strength, 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. WE CHAP. LIII. HO hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD re vealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. : 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; 3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold he was despised, and we esteemed him yourselves for nought; and ye shall be re- not. deemed without money. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, 4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My and carried our sorrows: yet we did espeople went down aforetime into Egypt to teem him stricken, smitten of God, and sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed afflicted. them without cause. 5 But he was wounded for our trans 5 Now therefore, what have I here, gressions, he was bruised for our iniquisaith the LORD, that my people is taken ties; the chastisement of our peace was away for nought? they that rule over them upon him; and with his stripes we are make them to howl, saith the LORD; and healed. my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; 6 Therefore my people shall know my and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity name: therefore they shall know in that of us all. day that I am he that doth speak: behold, 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is 7 How beautiful upon the mountains brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as are the feet of him that bringeth good a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he tidings, that publisheth peace; that bring-openeth not his mouth. it is I. eth good tidings of good, that publisheth 8 He was taken from prison and from salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God judgment: and who shall declare his genereigneth! ration? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; be9 Break forth into joy, sing together, cause he had done no violence, neither ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the was any deceit in his mouth. LORD hath comforted his people, he hath 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, from thence, touch no unclean thing; go and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, shall my righteous servant justify many; that bear the vessels of the LORD. for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 For ye shall not go out with haste, 12 Therefore will I divide him a por nor go by flight: for the LORD will go be- tion with the great, and he shall divide the fore you; and the God of Israel will be spoil with the strong; because he hath -your rere-ward. poured out his soul unto death: and he was 13 ¶ Behold, my servant shall deal pru-numbered with the transgressors; and he An exhortation to faith. bare the sin of many, and made sion for the transgressors. SING, CHAP. LIV. CHAP. LIV, L.V. The happiness of believers. interces-bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. ING, O barren, thou that didst not 17 No weapon that is formed against bear; break forth into singing, and thee shall prosper; and every tongue that cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with shall rise against thee in judgment thou child for more are the children of the shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the desolate than the children of the married servants of the LORD, and their righteouswife, saith the LORD. ness is of me, saith the LORD. 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; CHAP. LV. HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right buy wine and milk without money and hand and on the left; and thy seed shall without price. inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that cities to be inhabited. which is not bread? and your labour for 4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be that which satisfieth not? hearken diligentashamed: neither be thou confounded; for ly unto me, and eat ye that which is good, thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou and let your soul delight itself in fatness. shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: shalt not remember the reproach of thy hear, and your soul shall live; and I will widowhood any more. make an everlasting covenant with you, 5 For thy Maker is thine husband; The even the sure mercies of David. LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Re- 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness deemer the Holy One of Israel; The God to the people, a leader and commander to of the whole earth shall he be called. the people. 6 For the LORD hath called thee as a 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and thou knowest not, and nations that knew a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, not thee shall run unto thee, because of the saith thy God. LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 6 ¶ Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from near: thee for a moment; but with everlasting 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let the LORD thy Redeemer. him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 10 For the mountains shall depart, and 9 For as the heavens are higher than the hills be removed, but my kindness the earth, so are my ways higher than shall not depart from thee, neither shall the your ways, and my thoughts than your covenant of my peace be removed, saith thoughts. the LORD that hath mercy on thee. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and 11 TO! thou afflicted, tossed with tem- the snow from heaven, and returneth not pest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy it bring forth and bud, that it may give foundations with sapphires. seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I 13 And all thy children shall be taught please, and it shall prosper in the thing of the LORD; and great shall be the peace whereto I sent it. of thy children. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be 14 In righteousness shalt thou be esta- led forth with peace: the mountains and blished: thou shalt be far from oppression; the hills shall break forth before you into for thou shalt not fear and from terror; singing, and all the trees of the field shall for it shall not come near thee. clap their hands. : 15 ¶ Behold, they shall surely gather to- 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up gether, but not by me: whosoever shall the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall gather together against thee shall fall for come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be thy sake. to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that |