The second Song of Esay.

Esa. 12.

SONG XX.

LORD! I will sing to thee,
For thou displeased wast,

And yet withdrew'st thy wrath from me
And sent me comfort hast.

Thou art my health, on whom
A fearless trust I lay,

For thou, O Lord! thou art become
My strength, my song, my stay.

And with rejoicing now,

Sweet waters we convey

Forth of those springs whence life doth flow; And thus we therefore say,

O sing unto the Lord!

His name and works proclaim;

Yea to the people bear record,
That glorious is his name.
Unto the Lord, O sing!
For wonders he hath done;
And many a renowned thing,

Which through the earth is known.
O sing aloud, all ye

On Sion hill that dwell!

For lo! the Holy-one in thee
Is great, O Israel!

The third Song of Esay.

Esa. 26.

SONG XXI.

A CITY now we have obtain'd,
Where strong defences are;
And God salvation hath obtain'd,
For walls and bulwarks there.

The gates thereof wide open yet,
That such as justly do,

And those that truth's observers be,
May enter thereinto.

There thou in peace wilt keep them sure,
Whose thoughts well grounded be;
In peace, that ever shall endure,
Because they trusted thee.

For ever, therefore, on the Lord,
Without distrust depend;
For in the Lord, th' eternal Lord,
Is strength that hath no end.
He makes the lofty city yield,
And her proud dwellers bow;
He lays it level with the field,
Ev'n with the dust below.

Their feet that are in want and care, Their feet thereon shall tread;

Their ways are right that righteous are,

And thou their path dost heed.

Upon thy course of judgments we,
O Lord! attending were ;

And to record thy name and thee,
Our souls desirous are.

On thee our minds, with strong desire,
Are fixed in the night;

And after thee our hearts enquire
Before the morning light.

For when thy righteous judgments are
Upon the earth discern'd

By those, that do inhabit there,
Uprightness shall be learn'd.

Yet sinners for no terror will
Just dealings understand,
But in their sins continue still,
Amid the Holy Land.

To seek the glory of the Lord,

They unregardful be;

And thy advanced hand, O Lord!

They will not deign to see.

But they shall see, and see with shame,

That bear thy people spite;

Yea, from thy foes shall come a flame,

Which shall devour them quite.

Then, Lord! for us thou wilt procure,

That we in peace may be ;

Because that ev'ry work of our

Is wrought for us by thee.

And, Lord our God! though we are brought

To other lords in thrall,

Of thee alone shall be our thought,

Upon thy name to call.

They are deceas'd, and never shall
Renewed life obtain;

They die, and shall not rise at all
To tyrannize again.

For thou didst visit them therefore,
And wide dispers'd them hast;
That so their fame for evermore
May wholly be defac'd.

But Lord! increas'd thy people are,
Increas'd they are by thee!

And thou art glorified as far
As earth's wide limits be.

For Lord! in their distresses, when Thy rod on them was laid,

They unto thee did hasten then,
And without ceasing pray'd.

As one with child is pain'd, when as
Her throes of bearing be,

And cries in pangs, before thy face,
O Lord! so fared we.

We have conceiv'd, and for a birth
Of wind have pained been.

The world's unsafe, and still on earth
They thrive, that dwell therein.

Thy dead shall live and rise again,

With my dead body shall.

O you that in the dust remain,

Awake, and sing you all!

For as the dew doth herbs renew,

That buried seem'd before,

So earth shall through thy heavenly dew Her dead alive restore.

My people! to thy chambers fare,
Shut close the door to thee,

And stay awhile, a moment there,
Till past the fury be;

For lo! the Lord doth now arise:
He cometh from his place,
To punish their impieties
Who now the world

possess.

The earth that blood discover shall,
Which is in her conceal'd,

And bring to light those murthers all,
Which yet are unreveal'd.

The Prayer of Hezekiah.

Esay. 37. 15.

SONG XXII.

O LORD of Hosts and God of Israel,
Thou, who between the Cherubim do dwell!
Of all the world thou only art the king,
And heav'n and earth unto their form didst bring.
Lord! bow thine ear: to hear attentive be;
Lift up thine eyes, and deign, O Lord! to see
What words Sennacherib hath cast abroad,
And his proud message to the living God.
Lord! true it is, that lands and kingdoms all
Are to the king of Ashur brought in thrall;

Yea, he their gods into the fire hath thrown;
For gods they were not, but of wood and stone.