14. And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people. 7. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the na15. For thus saith the high and lofty Oneked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Ho- not thyself from thine own flesh? ly; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 16. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. 18. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. 8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee: the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward. 9. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity: 10. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon-day: 11. And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 19. I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him. 20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21. There is no peace, saith my God, to up the foundations of many generations; and the wicked. CHAP. LVIII. The prophet declareth what promises are due to the keeping of the sabbath. 1. CRY aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 3. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 12. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise thou shalt be called, The Repairer of the breach, The Restorer of paths to dwell in. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a Delight, the Holy of the LORD, Honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14. Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. CHAP. LIX. 1. BEH 1 The damnable nature of sin. 3 The sins of the Jews. 1. EHOLD, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed || shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the breaketh out into a viper. LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 6. Their webs shall not become gar- 20. And the Redeemer shall come to ments, neither shall they cover themselves Zion, and unto them that turn from transwith their works: their works are works ofgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 21. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy 7. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and de-mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, struction are in their paths. 8. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. 9. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. 10. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon-day as in the night; we are at the in desolate places as dead men.d 11. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them: 13. In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. 15. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17. For he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. 19. So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. CHAP. LX. The glory of the church in the abundant access of the Gentiles. 1. RISE, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen A upon thee. 2. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thy heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. 6. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. 7. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. 8. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows! 9. Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. 10. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. 11. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. the rising of the sun. When the enemy i 12. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those | Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, nations shall be utterly wasted. the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called Trees of Righteousness, The Planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. 13. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations 16. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy of ficers peace, and thine exactors righteous ness. 18. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders: but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory; 20. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. -22. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time. 1. CHAP. LXI. 1 The office of Christ. 7 The blessings of the faithful. 4. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. 5. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen, and your vine-dressers. 6. But ye shall be named the priests of the LORD; men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves. 7. For your shame you shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in the portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double; everlasting joy shall be unto them.. 8. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt-offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. 10. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. CHAP. LXII. The desire of the prophet to confirm the church in God's 1. FOR promises. 1. OR Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake 1 HE Spirit of the Lord GoD is upon will not rest, until the righteousness thereof me; because the LORD hath anoint-go forth as brightness, and ther salvation thereof, as a lamp that burneth. ed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in 2. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. 3. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 4. Thou shalt no more be termed For saken: neither shall thy land any more be || salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called me. Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 6. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Ó Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence; 7. And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 8. The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine for the which thou hast laboured: 9. But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. 10. Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. 11. Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 12. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. CHAP. LXIII. Christ sheweth his power to save. 1. W with dyed garments from Bozrah? hom WHO is this that cometh from Edom, this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? 6. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk-in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. 7. I will mention the loving-kindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. 8. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. 9. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them: and he bare them, and carried them all the || days of old. 10. But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. the arust 11. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? 12. That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 13. That led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? 14. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest; so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. 15. Look down from heaven, and behold thy glory; where, is of thy bevels and of from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where of thy hunts sad toy strength, the souiding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained? 16. Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. 3. I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me: 17. O LORD, why hast thou made us to for I will tread them inger, and err from thy ways, and hardened our heart mine trample them in my fury; and their blood from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I the tribes of thine inheritance. will stain all my raiment. 4. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5. And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold; therefore mine own arm brought 18. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. 19. We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name. 1. CHAP. LXIV. The church prayeth for the illustration of God's power. gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; 4. Which remain among the graves, and Othat at thou wouldst come down, lodge in the monuments; which eat swine's that the mountains might flow down at thy presence; 2. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil; to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! 3. When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. 4. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. 5. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we haye flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; 5. Which say, Stand by thyself, come not\ near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. 6. Behold, it is written before me; I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 7. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burnt incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom. 8. Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy and we shall kit those is con- it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for 6. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. 8. But now, O LORD, thou art our Father: we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. 9. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. 10. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 11. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. 12. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? CHAP. LXV. 1 The calling of the Gentiles. 2 The Jews are rejected. my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. 9. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. 10. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. 11. But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink-offering unto that number. 12. Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. 13. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: 14. Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. 15. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by an other name: 16. That he who blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. |