The evil of forsaking God. CHAP. XXXI, XXXII. Blessings of Christ's kingdom. be as the light of the sun, and the light of 5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he seven days, in the day that the LORD bind- will deliver it; and passing over he will eth up the breach of his people, and heal-preserve it. eth the stroke of their wound. 6 Turn ye unto him from whom the 27 ¶ Behold, the name of the LORD children of Israel have deeply revolted. cometh from far, burning with his anger, 7 For in that day every man shall cast and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips away his idols of silver, and his idols of are full of indignation, and his tongue as gold, which your own hands have made a devouring fire: unto you for a sin. 28 And his breath, as an overflowing 8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with stream, shall reach to the midst of the the sword, not of a mighty man; and the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of sword, not of a mean man, shall devour vanity and there shall be a bridle in the him: but he shall flee from the sword, and jaws of the people, causing them to err. his young men shall be discomfited. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night 9 And he shall pass over to his strong when a holy solemnity is kept; and glad-hold for fear, and his princes shall be ness of heart, as when one goeth with a afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, pipe to come into the mountain of the whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel. Jerusalem. 30 And the LORD shall cause his glori CHAP. XXXII. ous voice to be heard, and shall shew the Busness, and princes shall rule in judgment. lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and 2 And a man shall be as a hiding-place tempest, and hail-stones. from the wind, and a covert from the tem31 For through the voice of the LORD pest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which the shadow of a great rock in a weary smote with a rod. land. 32 And in every place where the 3 And the eyes of them that see shall grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets shall hearken. and harps and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. : 33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. CHAP. XXXI. O to them that go down to Egypt 4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. 5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. 6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise bypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the Wo to Land he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very 7 The instruments also of the churl are strong; but they look not unto the Holy evil: he deviseth wicked devices to deOne of Israel, neither seek the LORD! stroy the poor with lying words, even 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring when the needy speaketh right. evil, and will not call back his words: but 8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; will arise against the house of the evil- and by liberal things shall he stand. doers, and against the help of them that 9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; work iniquity. hear my voice, ye careless daughters; 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not give ear unto my speech. God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. 10 Many days and years shall ye be When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, troubled, ye careless women; for the vinboth he that helpeth shall fall, and he that tage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. is holpen shall fall down, and they all 11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; shall fail together. be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, 4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon me, Like as the lion and the young lion your loins. roaring on his prey, when a multitude) 12 They shall lament for the teats, for of shepherds is called forth against him, the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. he will not be afraid of their voice, nor 13 Upon the land of my people shall abase himself for the noise of them so come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight the houses of joy in the joyous city: for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. 14 Because the palaces shall be for Judgments in behalf of the church. ISAIAH. The privileges of the godly. saken; the multitude of the city shall be bring forth stubble : your breath, as fire, left; the forts and towers shall be for dens shall devour you. for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of 12 And the people shall be as the burnflocks; ings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they 15 Until the Spirit be poured upon us be burned in the fire. from on high, and the wilderness be a 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I fruitful field, and the fruitful field be have done; and ye that are near, acknow. counted for a forest. ledge my might. 16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. 18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places, 19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. 20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. CHAP. XXXIII. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fear. fulness hath surprised the hypocrites Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; 16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. 17 Thine eyes shall see the King in his Woot not spoiled; and dealest very far off. to thee that spoilest, and thou beauty: they shall behold the land that is treacherously, and they dealt not treache- 18 Thy heart shall meditate terror. rously with thee! when thou shalt cease Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when where is he that counted the towers? thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. 2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. 5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. 19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. 21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. 22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King; he will save us. 6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be 23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could the stability of thy times, and strength of not well strengthen their mast; they could salvation: the fear of the LORD is his not spread the sail: then is the prey of a treasure. great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. 7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry 24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I without the ambassadors of peace shall am sick the people that dwell therein weep bitterly. shall be forgiven their iniquity. CHAP. XXXIV. near, ye nations, to hear; and 8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the COME nn, ye people: let the earth covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. hear, and all that is therein; the world, 9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: and all things that come forth of it. Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: 2 For the indignation of the LORD is Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan upon all nations, and his fury upon all and Carmel shake off their fruits. their armies: he hath utterly destroyed 10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; them, he hath delivered them to the now will I be exalted; now will I lift up slaughter. myself. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and 11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall their stink shall come up out of their Fate of the church's enemies. CHAP. XXXV, XXXVI. carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. Of Christ's kingdom. shall be glad for them; and the de4 And all the host of heaven shall be dis-THE wilderness and the solitary place 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and resolved, and the heavens shall be rolled sert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from joice, even with joy and singing: the the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, tree. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in hea- they shall see the glory of the LORD, and 3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and ven: behold, it shall come down upon the excellency of our God. confirm the feeble knees. Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. your God 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, 6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and Be strong, fear not: behold, with the blood of lambs and goats, with will come with vengeance, even God with 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be the fat of the kidneys of rams for the a recompense; he will come and save you. LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be great slaughter in the land of Idumea. unstopped. 7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. 6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. : 7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of wa9 And the streams thereof shall be turn-ter: in the habitation of dragons, where ed into pitch, and the dust thereof into each lay, shall be grass with reeds and brimstone, and the land thereof shall be- rushes. come burning pitch. 8 And a highway shall be there, and 10 It shall not be quenched night nor a way, and it shall be called, The way of day; the smoke thereof shall go up for holiness; the unclean shall not pass over ever: from generation to generation it it; but it shall be for those: the way-faring 9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenshall lie waste; none shall pass through it men, though fools, shall not err therein. for ever and ever. 11 ¶ But the cormorant and the bittern ous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not shall possess it; the owl also and the be found there; but the redeemed shall raven shall dwell in it: and he shall walk there: stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall NOW CHAP. XXXVI. TOW it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against al! the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabalso meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; king Hezekiah with a great army. And the screech-owl also shall rest there, and shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her he stood by the conduit of the upper pool nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under in the highway of the fuller's field. her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 T Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall wani her mate for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. 4 T And Rabshakeh said unto them, great king, the king of Assyria, What Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the 5 I say, sayest thou (but they are but 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, confidence is this wherein thou trustest? and his hand hath divided it unto them by! line: they shall possess it for ever, from vain words) I have counsel and strength thou rebellest against me? 541 generation to generation shall they dwell for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that therein. The blasphemy of Rabshakeh. ISAIAH. The deep affliction of Hezekiah. 6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this out of my hand, that the LORD should debroken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man liver Jerusalem out of my hand? lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce 21 But they held their peace, and an.it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that swered him not a word: for the king's trust in him. commandment was, saying, Answer him 7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the not. LORD our God: is it not he, whose high 22 ¶ Then came Eliakim the son of places and whose altars Hezekiah hath Hilkiah, that was over the household, and taken away, and said to Judah and to Je- Shebna the scribe, and Joab, the son of rusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with 8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray their clothes rent, and told him the words thee, to my master the king of Assyria, of Rabshakeh. and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? CHAP. XXXVII. AND it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and 10 And am I now come up without the the elders of the priests covered with LORD against this land to destroy it? the sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, the son LORD said unto me, Go up against this of Amoz. land, and destroy it. 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith 11 Then said Eli kim, and Shebna, and Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, Joah,unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy for the unto thy servants in the Syrian language; children are come to the birth, and there is for we understand it: and speak not to us not strength to bring forth. in the Jews' language, in the ears of the 4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear people that are on the wall. the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king 12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach master sent me to thy master and to thee the living God, and will reprove the words to speak these words? hath he not sent me which the LORD thy God hath heard: to the men that sit upon the wall, that they wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remmay eat their own dung, and drink their nant that is left. own piss with you? 5 So the servants of king Hezekiah 13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried caine to Isaiah. with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. 6 ¶ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphenied me. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust and he shall hear a rumour, and return to in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely his own land; and I will cause him to fall deliver us: this city shall not be delivered by the sword in his own land. into the hand of the king of Assyria. 8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus the king of Assyria warring against Libsaith the king of Assyria, Make an agree-nah: for he had heard that he was dement with me by a present, and come out parted from Lachish. to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, 9 And he heard say concerning Tirand every one of his fig-tree, and drink hakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth ye every one the waters of his own cistern; to make war with thee. And when he 17 Until I come and take you away to a heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, land like your own land, a land of corn saying, and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, any of the gods of the nations delivered his Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? of the king of Assyria. 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the Arpad? where are the gods of Sephar-kings of Assyria have done to all lands by vaim? and have they delivered Samaria destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be out of my hand? delivered? 20 Who are they among all the gods of 12 Have the gods of the nations deliverthese lands, that have delivered their landed them which my fathers have destroyed, Isaiah comforts Hezekiah. CHAP. XXXVIII. Hezekiah's life lengthened. as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and field, and as the green herb, as the grass the children of Eden which were in Te- on the house-tops, and as corn blasted belassar? fore it be grown up. 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? 14 ¶ And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, 28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye 16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; dwellest between the cherubims, thou art and the second year that which springeth the God, even thou alone, of all the king-of the same: and in the third year sow ye, doms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the and earth. fruit thereof. 17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; 31 And the remnant that is escaped of open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and the house of Judah shall again take root hear all the words of Sennacherib, which downward, and bear fruit upward: hath sent to reproach the living God. 18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of As- a remnant, and they that escape out of syria have laid waste all the nations, and mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts their countries, shall do this. 19 And have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: thereforej they have destroyed them. 20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only. 21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: 32 For out of Jerusalem` shall go forth 33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyri22 This is the word which the LORD ans a hundred and fourscore and five thouhath spoken concerning him; The virgin, sand: and when they arose early in the the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, morning, behold, they were all dead and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter corpses. of Jerusalem bath shaken her head at thee. 37 ¶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria 23 Whom hast thou reproached and blas-departed, and went and returned, and phemed; and against whom hast thou ex-dwelt at Nineveh. alted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on 38 And it came to pass, as he was worhigh? even against the Holy One of Israel. shipping in the house of Nisroch his god, 24 By thy servants hast thou reproached that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons the LORD, and hast said, By the multitude smote him with the sword; and they of my chariots am I come up to the height escaped into the land of Armenia: and of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead. and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, CHAP. XXXVIII. and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. 25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. 26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. I N those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, 3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. 27 Therefore their inhabitants were of And Hezekiah wept sore. small power, they were dismayed and con- 4 T Then came the word of the LORD founded: they were as the grass of the to Isaiah, saying, |