Volume 1 — APPENDIX. (continued 2)

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.]