God's judgment for sin: ISAIAH. He is praised by a remnant. hath given a commandment against the 8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise merchant-city, to destroy the strong holds of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the thereof. harp_ceaseth. 12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof, and he brought it to ruin. 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. 9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 10 The city of confusion is brokendown: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. 12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. 13 ¶ When thus it shall be in the midst 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, of the land among the people, there shall that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, be as the shaking of an olive-tree, and as according to the days of one king: after the gleaning-grapes when the vintage is the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing done. as a harlot. 16 Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17¶ And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her bire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. CHAP. XXIV. B EHOLD, the LORD maketh the earth 14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. 16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, wo unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so 19 The earth is utterly broken down, with the priest; as with the servant, so the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is with his master; as with the maid, so with moved exceedingly. her mistress; as with the buyer, so with 20 The earth shall reel to and fro like the seller; as with the lender, so with the a drunkard, and shall be removed like a borrower; as with the taker of usury, so cottage; and the transgression thereof with the giver of usury to him. shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. 4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of bosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. CHAP. XXV. 7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh.. for LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; thou hast done wonderful things; thy Of confidence in God, CHAP. XXVI. His coming to judgment. counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 6 The foot shall tread it down, even the 2 For thou hast made of a city a heap; feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of stran- 7 The way of the just is uprightness: gers to be no city; it shall never be built. thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of 3 Therefore shall the strong people the just. glorify thee, the city of the terrible na- 8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O tions shall fear thee. LORD, have we waited for thee; the de4 For thou hast been a strength to the sire of our soul is to thy name, and to the poor, a strength to the needy in his dis- remembrance of thee. tress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow 9 With my soul have I desired thee in from the heat, when the blast of the terri- the night; yea, with my spirit within me ble ones is as a storm against the wall. will I seek thee early for when thy judg5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of ments are in the earth, the inhabitants of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the world will learn righteousness. the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the 10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, branch of the terrible ones shall be brought yet will he not learn righteousness: in the low. land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, : 6 And in this mountain shall the LORD and will not behold the majesty of the of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat LORD. things, a feast of wines on the lees; of fat 11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, things full of marrow, of wines on the lees they will not see: but they shall see, and well refined. be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. 7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all na tions. 12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our 8 He will swallow up death in victory; works in us. and the Lord GoD will wipe away tears 13 O LORD our God, other lords besides from off all faces; and the rebuke of his thee have had dominion over us; but by people shall he take away from off all the thee only will we make mention of thy earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. name. 9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, 14 They are dead, they shall not live; this is our God; we have waited for him, they are deceased, they shall not rise: and he will save us : this is the LORD; we therefore hast thou visited and destroyed have waited for him, we will be glad and them, and made all their memory to perish. rejoice in his salvation. 15 Thou hast increased the nation, O 10 For in this mountain shall the hand LORD, thou hast increased the nation; of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trod- thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far den down under him, even as straw is unto all the ends of the earth. trodden down for the dunghill. 11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. 12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. CHAP. XXVI. N that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. 16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. 17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. 18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. 2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the 3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace earth shall cast out the dead. whose mind is stayed on thee: because he 20 Come, my people, enter thou into trusteth in thee. thy chambers, and shut thy doors about 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for thee: hide thyself as it were for a little in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting moment, until the indignation be overpasi. strength: 21 For behold, the LORD cometh out of 5 For he bringeth down them that his place to punish the inhabitants of the dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it earth for their iniquity: the earth also low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; shall disclose her blood, and shall no more he bringeth it even to the dust. cover her slain. IN that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. 2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. Ephraim is threatened, Ja destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: 4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the 3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it summer; which when he that looketh upon every moment : lest any hurt it, I will keep it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he it night and day. eateth it up. 4 Fury is not in me: who would set the 5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts briers and thorns against me in battle? I be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem would go through them, I would burn them of beauty, unto the residue of his people, together. 6 And for a spirit of judgment to him 5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that sitteth in judgment, and for strength that he may make peace with me, and he to them that turn the battle.to the gate. shall make peace with me. 7 But they also have erred through 6 He shall cause them that come of Ja-wine, and through strong drink are out of cob to take root: Israel shall blossom and the way; the priest and the prophet have bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. erred through strong drink, they are swal7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote lowep of wine, they are out of the way those that smote him? or is he slain ac- through strong drink; they err in vision, cording to the slaughter of them that are they stumble in judgment. slain by him? 8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. no favour. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. 9 Whom shall be teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little : 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 11 When the boughs thereof are wither- 13 But the word of the LORD was unto ed, they shall be broken off: the women them, precept upon precept, precept upon come and set them on fire; for it is a peo- precept; line upon line, line upon line; ple of no understanding: therefore he that here a little, and there a little; that they inade them will not have mercy on them, might go, and fall backward, and be and he that formed them will shew them broken, and snared, and taken. 14 Wherefore hear the word of the 12 And it shall come to pass in that LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this peoday, that the LORD shall beat off from the ple which is in Jerusalem. channel of the river unto the stream of 15 Because ye have said, We have made Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by a covenant with death, and with hell are one, O ye children of Israel. we at agreement; when the overflowing 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, scourge shall pass through, it shall not come that the great trumpet shall be blown, and unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, they shall come which were ready to perish and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord the land of Egypt, and shall worship the GoD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundaLORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. tion a stone, a tried stone, a precious cor ner stone, a sure foundation: he that be CHAP. XXVIII. WOto the crown of pride, to the drunk-lieveth shall not make haste. ards of Ephraim, whose glorious 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, beauty is a fading flower, which are on and righteousness to the plummet: and the the head of the fat valleys of them that are hai! shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and overcome with wine! the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. 2 Behold, the LORD hath a mighty and 18 And your covenant with death strong one, which as a tempest of hail and shall be disannulled, and your agreement God's judgment upon Jerusalem. CHAP. XXIX. A promise of better times. with hell shall not stand; when the over-that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an flowing scourge shall pass through, then instant suddenly. ye shall be trodden down by it. 6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of 19 From the time that it goeth forth it hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, shall take you for morning by morning and great noise, with storm and tempest, shall it pass over, by day and by night: and the flame of devouring fire. and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap bimself in it. 7 ¶ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a nightvision. 8 It shall even be as when a hungry 21 For the LORD shall rise up as in man dreameth, and behold, he eateth ; but mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in he awaketh, and his soul is empty or as the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his when a thirsty man dreameth, and bework, his strange work; and bring to pass hold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and his act, his strange act. behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appe22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, tite: so shall the multitude of all the nalest your bands be made strong: for Itions be, that fight against mount Zion. have heard from the Lord GoD of hosts a 9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry consumption, even determined upon the ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but whole earth. not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 23 ¶ Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. 24 Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? 10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 25 When he hath made plain the face 11 And the vision of all is become unto thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitch-you as the words of a book that is sealed, es, and scatter the cummin, and cast in which men deliver to one that is learned, the principal wheat, and the appointed saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he barley, and the rye in their place? 26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cartwheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. 28 Bread-corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. 29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. W CHAP. XXIX. O to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: 12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 13 ¶ Wherefore the LORD said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14 Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 15 Wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? 16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's 3 And I will camp against thee round clay: for shall the work say of him that about, and will lay siege against thee with made it, He made me not? or 'shall the a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. thing framed say of him that framed it, 4 And thou shalt be brought down, and He had no understanding? shalt speak out of the ground, and thy 17 Is it not yet a very little while, and speech shall be low out of the dust, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemfamiliar spirit, out of the ground, and thy ed as a forest? speech shall whisper out of the dust. 18 And in that day shall the deaf hear 5 Moreover, the multitude of thy stran- the words of the book, and the eyes of gers shall be like small dust, and the mul- the blind shall see out of obscurity, and titude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff, out of darkness. The people threatened for their ISAIAH. contempt of God's word. 19 The meek also shall increase their of Israel, Because ye despise this word, joy in the LORD, and the poor among men and trust in oppression and perverseness, shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. and stay thereon: 20 For the terrible one is brought to 13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you nought, and the scorner is consumed, and as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a all that watch for iniquity are cut off: high wall, whose breaking cometh sudden 21 That make a man an offender for a ly at an instant. word, and lay a snare for him that re- 14 And he shall break it as the breakproveth in the gate, and turn aside the ing of the potter's vessel that is broken in just for a thing of nought. pieces; he shall not spare: so that there 22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who shall not be found in the bursting of it a redeemed Abraham, concerning the house sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, take water withal out of the pit. neither shall his face now wax pale. 23 But when he seeth his children, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest work of my hands, in the midst of him, shall ye be saved; in quietness and in conthey shall sanctify my name, and sanctify fidence shall be your strength: and ye the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the would not. God of Israel. 15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the 16 But ye said, No; for we will flee up24 They also that erred in spirit shall on horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, come to understanding, and they that mur- We will ride upon the swift; therefore mured shall learn doctrine. shall they that pursue you be swift. 17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke O to the rebellious children, saith of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: CHAP. XXX. Wo to but till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin : 2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill. 18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. 5 They were all ashamed of a people 20 And though the Lord give you the that could not profit them, nor be a help bread of adversity, and the water of afflicnor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. tion, yet shall not thy teachers be removed 6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall into the land of trouble and anguish, from see thy teachers: whence come the young and old lion, the 21 And thine ears shall hear a word beviper and fiery flying serpent, they will hind thee, saying, This is the way, walk carry their riches upon the shoulders of ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, young asses, and their treasures upon the and when ye turn to the left. bunches of camels, to a people that shall 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of not profit them. 7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is tosit still. 8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: 9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. 23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. 24 The oxen likewise and the young 10 Which say to the seers, See not; and asses that ear the ground shall eat clean to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right provender, winch hath been winnowed things, speak unto us smooth things, pro- with the shovel and with the fan. phesy deceits: 25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One 26 Moreover the light of the moon shall 11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. |