Exhortation to holiness.

seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

Before CHRIST

cir. 712.

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth its ch. 54. 9. shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12 t For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall u break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap

their hands.

Before CHRIST cir. 712.

Or, dreaming, or, talking in their sleep. t Heb. strong of appetite. p Mic. 3. 11. Heb. know not to be satisfied. g Ezek. 34.

33.

13 y Instead of z the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of y ch. 41. 19. the brier shall come up the myrtle-z Mic. 7. 4. tree and it shall be to the LORD

a for a name, for an everlasting sign a Jer. 13. 11. that shall not be cut off.

CHAPTER LVI.

The prophet exhorteth to sanctification. 3 He promiseth it shall be general without respect of persons. 9 He weigheth against blind watchmen. THUS saith the LORD, Keep ye | judgment, and do justice: a for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

Or, equity. a ch. 46. 13. Matt. 3.2.& 13. 11, 12.

4. 17. Rom.

r Ps. 10. 6.

Prov. 23. 35.

ch. 22. 13. Luke 12. 19. 1 Cor. 15. 32.

cir. 698.

t Heb. men

of kindness, or, godli

ness.

a Ps. 12. 1. Mic. 7. 2.

b 1 Kings 14.

13. See 2 Kings 22.

20.

Or, from that which is evil.

2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; b that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither let c the son of the c See Deut. stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me & 17. 4. & from his people: neither let the 18. 7. 1 Pet. eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry 1. 1.

tree.

4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;

23. 1, 2, 3. Acts 8. 27. & 10. 1, 2, 34.

5 Even unto them will I give in dmine house and within my walls, ad 1 Tim. 3. place e and a name better than of 15. sons and of daughters: I will give 1 John 3. 1. them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

e John 1. 12.

fch. 2. 2.

7 Even them will I fbring to my holy mountain, and make them 1 Pet. 1. 1, joyful in my house of prayer. g their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for h mine house shall be called an house of prayer i for all people.

8 The Lord GOD which gather-i eth the outcasts of Israel saith, 1 Yet will I gather others to him, t besides those that are gathered unto him.

9 m All ye beasts of the field, come to devour; yea, all ye beasts

in the forest.

peace.

Luke 2. 29.

c 2 Chr. 16. 14.

Or, before him. d Matt. 16.4. Or, among the oaks. ch.

1. 29.

e 2 Kin. 16. 4. & 17. 10. Jer. 2. 20.

The idolatry of the Jews. dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yea, they are †P greedy dogs which ta can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; r and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

CHAPTER LVII.

1 The blessed death of the righteous. 3 God reproveth the Jews for their whor ish idolatry. 13 He giveth evangelical promises to the penitent.

THE righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and ta merciful men are taken away, b none considering that the righteous is taken away || from the evil

to come.

2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

3 But draw near hither, d ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of false hood;

5 Inflaming yourselves with idols e under every green tree, i slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?

6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou 2 Kin. 16. 3. hast offered a meat-offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

f Lev. 18. 21. & 20. 2.

& 23. 10.

Jer. 7. 31.

Ezek. 16. 20.

& 20. 26.
Ezek. 16.
16, 25.
hi Ezek. 23.
41.

46.

Mal. 1. 11. k Ps. 147. 2.

ch. 11. 12.

John 10. 16. Eph. 1.10.& 2. 14, 15, 16.

Heb. to his gathered. m Jer. 12. 9. n Matt. 15. 14. & 23. 16.

10 His watchmen are n blind: they are all ignorant, o they are allo Phil. 3. 2.

Or, thou

respectedst king. k ch. 30. 6. Ezek. 16. 33. & 23. 16.

Hos. 7. 11.

& 12. 1.

Jer. 2. 25.

Or, living. ch. 51. 12,

13.

Ps. 50. 21.

7 Upon a lofty and high moun tain hast thou set hthy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; i thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

9 And k thou wentest to the king with "ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

10 Thou art wearied in the great ness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.

11 And m of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered ne, nor laid it to thy heart? n have not I held my peace even of old, and

thou fearest me not?

12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

Mercy promised to the penitent.

ISAIAH.

Before

cir. 698.

Before

cir. 698.

och. 40. 3. & 62. 10.

the contrite ones.

16 t 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 x his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: y I hid me, and was wroth, z and he went on † frowardly in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways, and a will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to b his mourners.

19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace d to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

20 e But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

g Neh. 5. 10, 11, 12. Heb. the bundles of the yoke. h Jer. 34. 9. t Heb. broken. Ezek. 18. 7, 16. Matt. 25. 35. Or, afflicted.

k Job 31. 19.

Gen. 29. 14. & 51. 17. & m Job 11.17.

138. 6. ch. 66. 2. s Ps. 147. 3. ch. 61. 1. 103. 9. Mic.

t Ps. 85. 5. &

7. 18.

Neh. 5. 5.

n Ex. 14. 19.

ch. 52. 12. t Heb. shall gather thee up.

o Ps. 12. 2.

+ Heb. droughts.

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.

31 a Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? where fore have we bafflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your If labours.

4 c 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 d such a fast that I have chosen? e a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and fto spread sackcloth and ashes under

+ Heb. lie, or, deceive. p ch. 61. 4.

q ch. 56. 2.

r Job 22. 26.

s Deut. 32.

The fast which God accepteth 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, g to undo the heavy burdens, and h to let the toppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not i to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? k when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from 1 thine own flesh?

8 m Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD † shall be thy rere-ward.

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.

12 And they that shall be of thee P shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 ¶ If a 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:

14r Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places 13. & 33. 29. of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: t for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

6 d Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and d Job 8. 14, the act of violence is in their 15. hands.

7 e Their feet run to evil, and e Prov. 1. 16. they make haste to shed innocent Rom. 3. 15. blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and † destruction are in their paths.

8 The way of peace they know and there is no

Heb. breaking.

not; judgment Or, right. in their goings: f they have made Ps. 125. 5. them crooked paths: whosoever Prov. 2. 15. goeth therein shall not know peace.

9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: g we wait for light, but g Jer. 8. 15. behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

10 h We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

11 We roar all like bears, and i 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;

h Deut. 28. 29. Job 5. 14.

Amos 8. 9.

ich. 38. 14. Ezek. 7. 16.

13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering k from the heart words of k Matt. 12. falsehood.

14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street,

and equity cannot enter.

34.

15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil || maketh Or, is achimself a prey and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

counted mad.

+ Heb. it was evil in his

16 T1 And he saw that there was eyes. no man, and m wondered that thereEzek. 22. was no intercessor: n therefore his 30. arm brought salvation unto him:m Mark 6. 6. and his righteousness, it sustained Ps. 98. 1.

him.

ch. 63. 5.

17 For he put on righteousness o Eph. 6. 14, as a breast-plate, and an helmet of 17. 1 Thess. salvation upon his head; and he 5.8. put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

Heb.

18 According to their † deeds, P ch. 63. 6. accordingly he will repay, fury to recom his adversaries, recompense to his pences

Before CHRIST cir. 698.

q Ps. 113. 3. Mal. 1. 11.

r Rev. 12.15. 1 Or, put him to flight.

s Rom. 11. 26.

t Heb. 8. 10. & 10. 16.

Salvation cometh of God only enemies; to the islands he will ro pay recompense.

19 q So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in r like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

21 t As for me, this is my cove nant 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 mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

CHAPTER LX.

1 The glory of the church in the abundant access of the Gentiles, 15 and the great blessings after a short affliction.

ARISE, a || shine; for thy light is come, and b the glory of the LORD is risen 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 c Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4 d Lift up thine eyes round about, and see all they gather themselves together, e 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 thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because f 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 g Ephah; all they from h Sheba shall come: they shall bring i gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

7 All the flocks of k 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 m Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, n to bring thy sons from far, o their silver and their gold with them, P unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, q because he hath glorified thee.

10 And r the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for tin my wrath I smote thee, u but

11 Therefore thy gates 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.

12 y For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

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;

Before CHRIST cir. 698.

e See Lev. 25.9.

17, 19.

& 63. 4. & 66. 14. Mal. 4. 1, 3.

2 Thess. 1. 7, 8, 9.

z ch. 35. 2. & 41. 19.

Matt. 5. 4.

h Ps. 30. 11.

i ch. 60. 21.

k John 15. 8.

1 ch. 49. 8. & 58. 12.

The office of Christ. captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2e To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and f the day of vengeance of our God; g to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, h to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness; that they mourning, the garment of praise for might be called Trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the

14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall b bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of

28. 2. Ps. 132. 7.

bch. 49. 23. Rev. 3. 9.

c Heb. 12.

the LORD, The Zion of the Holy 22. Rev. 14.

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, d and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that e 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 officers peace, and thine exactors righteous

ness.

1.

d ch. 49. 23. & 61. 6. &

66, 11, 12. e ch. 43. 3.

20 Thy sun shall no more goi See Amos down; neither shall thy moon with- 8.9. draw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21k Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, m the branch of my planting, n 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.

-36.

m Eph. 2.12.

In Ex. 19. 6. ch. 60. 17. &

66. 21. 1 Pet.

2. 5, 9. Rev. 1.6. & 5. 10. lo ch. 60. 5, 11, 16. p ch. 40. 2. Zech. 9. 12.

q Ps. 11. 7. r ch. 1. 11, 13.

s ch. 55. 3.

t ch. 65. 23.

u Hab. 3. 18.

16.

repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

5 And m strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vine-dressers.

6 n But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall

call you the Ministers of our God:

o ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

7 P For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double everlasting joy shall be unto them.

8 For qI the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burntoffering; 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, t that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

10 u I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in x Ps. 132. 9, my God; for x he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of y ch. 49. 18. righteousness, y as a bridegroom Tdecketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with decketh as a her jewels. priest.

Rev. 21. 2.

+ Heb.

1 The fervent desire of the prophet to con firm the church in God's promises. The office of the ministers (unto which they are incited) in preaching the gospel, 10 and preparing the people thereto.

FOR Zion's sake will I not hold

my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2 a And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy b See ver. 4, glory: band thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

12. ch. 65.

15.