Chapter XLII: Part 42

XI.--1. And there shall come forth a twig from the stock of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall grow. 2. And upon Him shall rest the Spirit of Jehovah, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah. 3. And His sense of smelling (shall be exercised) in the fear of Jehovah, and not by the sight of His eyes shall He judge, and not by the hearing of His ears shall He decide; 4. and He shall judge in righteousness the weak, and do justice with equity to the meek of the earth; and shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.

6. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and young lion and fatling together, and a little child shall lead them; 7. and the cow and the bear shall feed, together shall their young lie down, and the lion like the ox shall eat straw; 8. and the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and on the den of the basilisk shall the weaned child stretch its hand. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, because the land is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, like the waters covering the sea.

10. And in that day shall the root of Jesse which is set up be for a signal to the nations: unto Him shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious.

11. And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall add His hand a second time to redeem the remnants of His people from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12. And He shall set up a signal to the nations, and shall gather the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah shall He bring together from the four wings of the earth. 13. And the army of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14. And they shall fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines towards the sea; together they shall spoil the sons of the East; Edom and Moab the stretching out of their hand, and the children of Ammon their obedience. 15. And Jehovah will destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and He will wave His hand over the river, in the violence of His wind, and smite it into seven streams, and make (His people) tread (it) in shoes. 16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people which shall be left, from Assyria, as there was for Israel in the day of his coming up from the land of Egypt.

XII.--1, 2. And thou shalt say in that day, O Lord, I will praise Thee! For Thou wast angry with me, but Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid; for my strength and song is Jah Jehovah, and He is become my salvation. 3. And ye shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation. 4-6. And ye shall say in that day, Praise Jehovah! Call upon His name! Make known among the nations His exploits; remind them that His name is exalted. Praise Jehovah, because He has done a sublime deed. Known is this in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel.

PROPHECIES AGAINST CERTAIN FOREIGN POWERS.--CHAPS. XIII.-XXIII.

_The fall of the Babylonian empire, and the destruction of Babylon._--CHAPS. XIII., XIV.

XIII.--1. The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

2. Upon a bare hill, set up a signal, raise the voice to them, wave the hand, and let them enter the gates of the nobles. 3. I (Myself) have given command to My consecrated. Yes, I have called (forth) My mighty ones for (the execution of) My wrath, My proud exulters. 4. The voices of a multitude in the mountains! the likeness of much people! the sound of a tumult of kingdoms of nations gathered! Jehovah of hosts mustering a host of battle! 5. Coming from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, Jehovah and the instruments of His wrath, to lay waste the whole land. 6. Howl, for the day of Jehovah is near! like might from the Almighty it shall come. 7. Therefore all hands shall sink and every heart of man shall melt. 8. And they shall be confounded, pangs and throes shall seize (them), like the travailing (woman) they shall writhe, each at his neighbour, they shall wander, faces of flames their faces. 9. Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, terrible, and wrath and heat of anger, to make the land a waste, and its survivors He will destroy from it.

10. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not shed their light, the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. 11. And I will visit upon the world (its) iniquity, and upon the wicked their iniquity, and I will cause to cease the arrogance of presumptuous sinners, and the pride of tyrants I will humble. 12. And I will make man more scarce than pure gold, and a human being than the ore of Ophir. 13. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth shall shake out of its place in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts and in the day of the heat of His anger. 14. And it shall be that like a roe chased, and like sheep, with none to gather them--each to his people, they shall turn--and each to his country they shall flee. 15. Every one found shall be stabbed, and every one joined shall fall by the sword. 16. And their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished. 17. Behold, I (am) stirring up the Madai who will not regard silver, and (as for) gold they will not take pleasure in it. 18. And bows shall dash boys in pieces, and the fruit of the womb they shall not pity; on children their eye shall not have mercy.

19. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the ornament, the pride of the Chaldees, shall be like God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah. 20. It shall not be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be dwelt in from generation to generation, neither shall the Arab pitch tent there, neither shall shepherds cause their flocks to lie there. 21. But there shall lie down desert creatures, and their houses shall be filled with howls (or yells), and there shall dwell the daughters of the ostrich, and shaggy beasts shall gambol there. 22. And wolves shall howl in his palaces, and jackals in the temples of pleasure. And near to come is her time, and her days shall not be prolonged.

XIV.--1. For Jehovah will pity Jacob, and will still choose Israel and cause them to rest on their (own) land, and the stranger shall be joined to them, and they shall be attached to the house of Jacob. 2. And nations shall take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall take possession of them on Jehovah's land for male and female servants--and (thus) they shall be captors of their captors, and rule over their oppressors. 3. And it shall be in the day of Jehovah's causing thee to rest from thy toil, and from thy commotion, and from the hard service which was wrought by thee, 4. that thou shalt raise this song over the king of Babylon, and say--

How hath the oppressor ceased, and the golden (city) ceased! 5. Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, 6. smiting nations in anger by a stroke without cessation, ruling nations in wrath by a rule without restraint. 7. At rest, quiet, is the whole earth. They burst forth into singing. 8. And the cypresses rejoice with respect to thee, the cedars of Lebanon (saying), Now that thou art fallen, the feller shall not come up against us.

9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it rouses for thee the giants, all the chief ones of the earth; it raises from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10. All of them shall answer and say to thee, Thou also art made weak as we, to us are likened! 11. Down to the grave is brought thy pride, the music of thy harps: under thee is spread the worm, thy covering is vermin. 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! felled to the ground, thou that didst lord it over the nations! 13. And (yet) thou hadst said in thy heart, The heavens will I mount; above the stars of God will I raise my throne; and I will sit in the mount of meeting, in the sides of the north; 14. I will mount above the cloud-heights; I will make myself like the Most High. 15. But thou shalt only be brought down to hell, to the depths of the pit. 16. Those seeing thee shall gaze at thee, they shall look at thee attentively, (and say), Is this the man that made the earth shake, that made kingdoms tremble, 17. made a world like a desert, destroyed its cities, and its captives did not set free homewards? 18. All kings of nations, all of them, lie in state, each in his house; 19. and thou art cast out from thy grave--like a despised branch, the raiment of the slain, pierced with the sword, going down to the stones of the pit, like a trampled carcass. 20. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thy land thou hast destroyed, thy people thou hast slain. Let the seed of evil-doers be named no more for ever.

21. Prepare for his sons a slaughter, for the iniquity of their fathers. Let them not arise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. 22. And I (Myself) will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name, and remnant, and progeny, and offspring, saith Jehovah. 23. And I will render it a possession of the porcupine, and pools of water, and will sweep it with the broom of destruction.

24. Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have planned, it shall come to pass, and as I have devised it shall stand; 25. to break Assyria in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him; and his yoke shall depart from off them, and his burden from off his back shall depart. 26. This is the purpose that is purposed upon all the earth, and this the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 27. For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall annul? And His hand the one stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

28. In the year of the death of King Ahaz, was this burden.

29. Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken, for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and its fruit a fiery flying serpent. 30. And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy in security lie down, and I will kill thy root with famine, and thy remnant it shall slay.

31. Howl, O gate! cry, O city! dissolved, O Philistia, is the whole of thee; for out of the north a smoke comes, and there is no straggler in his forces. 32. And what shall one answer to the ambassadors of a nation? That Jehovah has founded Zion, and in it the afflicted of His people shall seek refuge.

THE DOWNFALL OF MOAB.--CHAPS. XV., XVI.

1. (This is) the burden of Moab, That in a night Ar-Moab is laid waste, is destroyed; that in a night Kir-Moab is laid waste, is destroyed. 2. They go up to the house, and Dibon (to) the high places for weeping. On Nebo and on Medeba Moab howls, and all heads baldness, every beard cut off. 3. In its streets, they are girded with sackcloth; on its roofs and in its squares all of it howls, coming down with weeping. 4. And Heshbon cries and Eleaich--even to Jahaz is their voice heard; therefore the warriors of Moab cry, his soul is distress in him. 5. My heart for Moab cries out; her fugitives (are fled) as far as Zoar--an heifer of three years old; for he that goes up Luhith with weeping goes up by it, for in the way of Horonaim a cry of destruction they lift up. 6. For the waters of Nimrim (are and) shall be desolations: for withered is the grass, gone is the herbage, verdure there is none. 7. Therefore the remainder of what each one has made, (and their) hoard, over the brook of the willows they carry them away. 8. For the cry goes round the border of Moab; even to Eglaim (is) its howling (heard), and to Beer-Elim its howling. 9. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; and I will bring upon Dimon additions, on the escaped of Moab a lion; and on the remnant of it.

XVI.--1. Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. 2. And it shall come to pass like a bird wandering, (like) a nest cast out, shall be the daughters of Moab, the fords of Arnon. 3. [Alexander omits the _translation_ of this verse, but comments on it. . . .] 4. Let my outcasts, Moab, sojourn with thee; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, oppression has ceased, consumed are the tramplers out of the land. 5. And a throne shall be established in mercy; and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice, and prompt in equity.

6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, the very proud, his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath, the falsehood of his pretensions. 7. Therefore Moab shall howl for Moab; all of it shall howl; for the grapes of Kir-hareseth shall ye sigh, altogether smitten. 8. For the fields of Heshbon are withered--the vine of Sibmah--the lords of the nations broke down its choice plants--unto Jazer they reached--they strayed into the desert--its branches--they were stretched out--they reached to the sea. 9. Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer (for) the vine of Sibmah. I will wet thee (with) my tears, Heshbon and (thee) Elealeh! for upon thy fruit and thy harvest a cry has fallen. 10. And taken away is joy and gladness from the fruitful field: and in the vineyards shall no (more) be sung, no (more) be shouted; wine in the presses shall the treader not tread; the cry have I stilled. 11. Therefore my bowels for Moab like the harp shall sound, and my inwards for Kirhares. 12. And it shall come to pass, when Moab has appeared (before his gods), when he has wearied himself (with vain oblations) on the high place, then he shall enter into his sanctuary to pray, and shall not be able (to obtain an answer).

13. This is the word which Jehovah spake concerning Moab of old. 14. And now Jehovah speaks, saying, In three years, like the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab, shall be disgraced, with all the great throng, and the remnant shall be small, and few, not much.

THE DOOM OF THE ENEMIES OF JUDAH.--CHAPS. XVII., XVIII.

XVII.--1. The burden of Damascus.

Behold, Damascus is removed from (being) a city, and is a heap, a ruin. 2. Forsaken are the cities of Aroer; for flocks shall they be, and they shall lie down, and there shall be no one making (them) afraid. 3. Then shall cease defence for Ephraim and royalty from Damascus and the rest of Syria. Like the glory of the children of Israel shall they be, with Jehovah of hosts.

4. And it shall come to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob shall be brought low, and the fatness of his flesh shall be made lean. 5. And it shall be as one gathers the harvest, the standing corn, and his arm reaps the ears. And it shall be like one collecting ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6. And gleanings shall be left therein like the shaking of an olive-tree, two (or) three berries in the top of a high bough, four (or) five in the branches of the fruit-tree, saith Jehovah, God of Israel.

7. In that day man shall turn to his Maker, and his eyes to the Holy One of Israel shall look. 8. And he shall not turn to the altars, the work of his own hands, and that which his own fingers have made shall he not regard, and the groves of Ashtoreth and the pillars of the sun.

9. In that day shall his fortified cities by like what is left in the thickets and the lofty branch, which they leave (as they retire) from before the children of Israel, and (the land) shall be a waste. 10. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, therefore thou wilt plant plants of pleasantness, and with a strange slip set it. 11. In the day of thy planting thou wilt hedge it in, and in the morning thou wilt make thy seed to blossom, (but) away flies the crop in a day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12. Hark! the noise of many nations! Like the noise of the sea they make a noise. And the rush of peoples! Like the rush of many waters they are rushing. 13. Nations, like the rush of many waters, rush; and he rebukes it, and it flees from afar, and is chased like the chaff of hills before a wind, and like a rolling thing before a whirlwind. 14. At evening-tide, and behold terror; before morning he is not. This be the portion of our plunderers, and the lot of our spoilers.

XVIII.--1. Ho! land of rustling wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush, 2. sending by sea ambassadors, and in vessels of papyrus on the face of the waters. Go, ye light messengers, to a nation drawn and shorn, to a people terrible since it existed and onwards, a nation of double strength and tramplings, whose land the streams divide. 3. All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, shall see as it were the raising of a standard on the mountains, and shall hear as it were the blowing of a trumpet.

4. For thus said Jehovah to me, I will rest and look on in My dwelling-place, like a serene heat upon herbs, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5. For before the harvest or the bloom is finished, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts down the branches with the pruning-knives, and the tendrils he removes, he cuts away. 6. They shall be left together to the wild birds of the mountains, and to the wild beasts of the earth, and the wild birds shall summer thereon, and every wild beast of the earth thereon shall winter.

7. At that time shall be brought a gift to Jehovah of hosts, a people drawn out and shorn, and from a people terrible since it hath been and onward, a nation of double power and trampling, whose land streams divide, to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, mount Zion.

THE BURDEN OF EGYPT.--CHAP. XIX.

1. Behold! Jehovah riding on a light cloud, and He comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt move at His presence, and the heart of Egypt melts within him. 2. And I will excite Egypt against Egypt, and they shall fight, a man with his brother, and a man with his fellow, city with city, kingdom with kingdom. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied out in the midst thereof, and the counsel thereof I will swallow up, and they will seek to the idols, and to the mutterers, and to the familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4. And I will shut up Egypt in the hands of a hard master, and a strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

5. And the waters shall be dried up from the sea, and the river shall fail and be dried up. 6. And the rivers shall stink, the streams of Egypt are emptied and dried up, reed and rush sicken. 7. And meadows by the river, by the mouth of the river, and all the sown ground of the river, shall wither being driven away, and it is not. 8. And the fisherman shall mourn, and they shall lament, all the throwers of a hook into the river, and the spreaders of a net upon the surface of the water, languish. 9. And ashamed are the workers of combed flax, and the weavers of white (stuffs). 10. And her pillars are broken down, all labourers for hire are grieved at heart.

11. Entirely foolish are the princes of Zoan, the sages of the counsellors of Pharaoh, (their) counsel is become brutish. How can ye say to Pharaoh, I am the son of wise (fathers), I am the son of kings of old? 12. Where (are) they? Where (are) thy wise men? Pray let them tell thee, and (if that is too much) let them (at least) know, what Jehovah of hosts hath purposed concerning Egypt. 13. Infatuated are the chiefs of Zoan, deceived are the chiefs of Noph, and they have misled Egypt, the corner-stone of her tribes. 14. Jehovah hath mingled in the midst of her a spirit of confusion, and they have misled Egypt in all its work, like the misleading of a drunkard in his vomit. 15. And there shall not be in Egypt a work which head and tail, branch and rush, may do.

16. In that day shall Egypt be like women, and shall fear and tremble from before the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which He is shaking over it. 17. And the land of Judah shall be for a terror unto Egypt, every person to whom one mentions it shall fear before the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, which He is purposing against it.

18. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of hosts. The city of destruction shall one be called. 19. In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land, and a pillar near the border to Jehovah. 20. And it shall be for a sign and a testimony to Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt, that they shall cry to Jehovah from the presence of oppressors, and He will send them a deliverer and a mighty one, and save them. 21. And Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and Egypt shall know Jehovah in that day, and shall serve with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to Jehovah, and perform it.

22. And Jehovah shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they shall return unto Jehovah, and He shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. 23. In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt shall serve with Assyria. 24. In that day shall Israel be a third with respect to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25. which Jehovah has blessed, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and the work of My hands Assyria, and My heritage Israel.

THE DEFEAT AND CAPTIVITY OF THE EGYPTIANS AND ETHIOPIANS.--CHAP. XX.

1. In the year of Tartan's coming to Ashdod, in Sargon king of Assyria's sending him, and he fought with Ashdod and took it; 2. at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and thou shalt loose the sackcloth from upon thy loins, and thy shoe thou shalt pull off from thy foot. And he did so, going naked and barefoot.

3. And Jehovah said, As my servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years a sign and symbol concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia, 4. so shall the king of Assyria lead the captivity of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, the disgrace of Egypt.

5. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their boast. 6. And the inhabitant of this coast shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we fled for help, to be delivered from the presence of the king of Assyria! and how shall we (ourselves) escape?

THE BURDEN OF THE DESERT OF THE SEA.--CHAP. XXI. 1-10.

XXI.--1. Like whirlwinds in the south, as to rushing from the wilderness it comes, from a terrible land. 2. A hard vision it is revealed to me; the deceiver deceiving and the spoiler spoiling. Go, up, O Elam! besiege, O Media! All sighing have I made to cease. 3. Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have seized me like the pangs of a travailing woman; I writhe from hearing; I am shocked from seeing. 4. My heart wonders; horror appals me; the twilight of my pleasure He has put for fear for me.

5. Set the table, spread the cloth, eat, drink; arise, ye chiefs, anoint the shield! 6. For thus saith the Lord to me, Go, set the watchman: that which he sees let him tell. 7. And should he see cavalry--pairs of horsemen--ass-riders--camel-riders--then shall he hearken with a harkening a great harkening. 8. And he cries--a lion--on the watch-tower, Lord, I am standing always by day, and on my ward I am stationed all the night. 9. And behold, this comes, mounted men, pairs of horsemen. And he speaks again, and says, Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods He has broken to the earth.

10. O my threshing, and the son of my threshing-floor! What I have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I have told you.

THE BURDEN OF DUMAH.--CHAP. XXI. 11-18.

11. To me (one is) calling from Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 12. The watchman says, Morning comes and also night; if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come.

THE BURDEN OF ARABIA.--CHAP. XXI. 13-17.

13. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, oh ye caravans of Dedanim. 14. To meet the thirsty they bring water; with his bread they anticipate the fugitive. 15. Because from the presence of swords they fled, from the presence of a drawn sword and from the presence of a bended bow, and from the presence of a weight of war. 16. For thus saith the Lord to me, In yet a year, like the years of a hireling shall fall all the glory of Kedar. 17. And the remnant of the number of bows, the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be few, for Jehovah God of Israel hath spoken it.

THE BURDEN OF THE VALLEY OF VISION.--CHAP. XXII. 1-14.

1. What (is) to thee, that thou art wholly gone up on the house-tops? 2. Full of stirs, a noisy town, a joyous city, thy slain are not slain with the sword nor dead in battle. 3. All thy shields fled together--from the bow--they were found--all that were found of thee were bound together--from afar they fled.

4. Therefore I said, Look away from me; let me weep bitterly; try not to comfort me for the desolation of the daughter of my people. 5. For there is a day of confusion and trampling and perplexity to the Lord Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision--breaking the wall and crying to the mountain. 6. And Elam bare a quiver, with chariots, infantry, horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7. And it came to pass (that) the choice of thy valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen drew up towards the gate. 8. And the covering of Judah was removed, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest. 9. And the breaches of the city of David ye saw, that they were many, and ye gathered the waters of the lower pool. 10. And the house of Jerusalem ye numbered, and ye pulled down the house to repair the wall. 11. And a reservoir ye made between the two walls for the waters of the old pool, and ye did not look to the Maker of it, and the Former of it ye did not see. 12. And the Lord Jehovah of hosts called in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding sackcloth; 13. and behold mirth and jollity, slaying of oxen and killing of sheep, eating of flesh and drinking of wine; eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 14. And Jehovah of hosts made a revelation to me, saying, This iniquity shall certainly not be forgiven you until you die.

THE MESSAGE TO SHEBNA.--CHAP. XXII. 15-25.

15. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Go, go into this treasurer, to Shebna who (is) over the house. 16. What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee here a sepulchre? Hewing on high his sepulchre, graving in the rook a habitation for himself! 17. Behold, Jehovah is casting thee a cast, O man! and covering thee a covering. 18. Rolling He will roll thee in a roll, like a ball (thrown) into a spacious ground--there thou shalt die--and there the chariots of thy glory--shame of thy master's house. 19. And I will thrust thee from thy post, and from thy station thou shalt be pulled down.

20. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call for thy servant, for Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah; 21. and I will clothe him with thy dress, and with thy girdle will I strengthen him, and thy power will I give into his hand, and he shall be for a father to the dweller in Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22. And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder; he shall open, and there shall be no one shutting; he shall shut, and there shall be no one opening. 23. And I will fasten him a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house. 24. And they shall hang upon him all the honour of his father's house--the offspring and the issue--all vessels of small quantity--from vessels of cups even to all vessels of flagons. 25. In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall, and the burden which was upon it shall be cut off, for Jehovah speaks.

THE BURDEN OF TYRE.--CHAP. XXIII.

1. Howl, ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, no house, no entrance; from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2. Be silent, O inhabitants of the isle, the merchants of Sidon crossing the sea filled thee. 3. And in great waters (was) the seed of the Nile; the harvest of the river (was) her revenue; and she was a mart of nations. 5. When the report comes to Egypt, they are pained at the report of Tyre. 6. Pass over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. 7. Is this your joyous city? From the days of old is her antiquity; her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

8. Who hath purposed this against Tyre the crowning (city), whose merchants (are) princes, her traffickers the honoured of the earth? 9. Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to profane the elevation of all beauty, to degrade all the honoured of the earth. 10. Pass through thy land like the river; daughter of Tarshish, there is no girdle (any) longer. 11. His hand He stretched out over the sea; He made kingdoms tremble; Jehovah commanded respecting Canaan to destroy her strongholds. 12. And He said, Thou shalt not continue to triumph, violated virgin daughter of Zidon; to Chittim arise, pass over; there also there shall be no rest to thee. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldees; this people was not; Assyria founded it for dwellers in the wilderness; they have set up his towers; they have roused up her palaces; he has rendered it a ruin. 14. Howl, ships of Tarshish, for destroyed is your stronghold.

15. And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, as the days of one king; from the end of seventy years shall be to Tyre like the harlot's song.

16. Take a harp, go about the city, O forgotten harlot! play well, sing much, that thou mayest be remembered. 17. And it shall be at the end of seventy years, Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the ground.

18. And her gain and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah; it shall not be stored and it shall not be hoarded; for her gain shall be for those who sit before Jehovah, to eat to satiety, and for substantial clothing.

PROPHECIES HAVING REFERENCE CHIEFLY TO JUDAH.--CHAPS. XXIV.-XXXV.

COMING JUDGMENTS.--CHAPS. XXIV.-XXVII.

I.--_Some of the Consequences of National Iniquity._--CHAP. XXIV. 1-12.

XXIV.--1. Behold Jehovah (is) pouring out the land and emptying it, and He will turn down its face, and He will scatter its inhabitants. 2. And it shall be, as the people so the priest, as the servant so his master, as the maid so her mistress, as the buyer so the seller, as the lender so the borrower, as the creditor so the debtor. 3. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled, for Jehovah speaks this word. 4. The earth mourneth, fadeth; the world languisheth, fadeth; the highest of the people of the earth languish. 5. And the land has been profaned under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statute, broken the everlasting covenant. 6. Therefore a curse devoured the earth, and those dwelling in it were reckoned guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burned, and there are few men left. 7. The new wine mourneth; the vine languisheth; all the merry-hearted do sigh. 8. Still is the mirth of drums; ceased is the noise of revellers; still is the mirth of the harp. 9. With the song they shall not drink wine; bitter shall strong drink be to them that drink it. 10. Broken down is the city of confusion, shut up is every house so that it cannot be entered. 11. A cry for wine in the streets--darkened is all joy--departed is the gladness of the earth. 12. What is left in the city is desolation, and into ruins is the gate beaten down.

II.--_The Songs of the Scattered Remnant._--VERS. 13-16.

13. For so shall it be in the midst of the earth among the nations, like the beating of an olive-tree, like gleanings when the gathering is done. 14. They shall raise their voice, they shall sing, for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea. 15. Therefore in the fires glorify Jehovah, in the islands of the sea the name of Jehovah God of Israel. 16. From the wing of the earth we have heard songs, praise to the righteous; and I said, Woe to me, woe to me, alas for me! The deceivers deceive, with deceit the deceivers deceive.

III.--_Jehovah's Exaltation in Jerusalem._--VERS. 17-23.

17. Fear and pit and snare upon thee, O inhabitant of the land! 18. And it shall be that the (one) flying from the voice of the fear shall fall into the pit, and the (one) coming up from the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for windows from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. 19. Behold, broken is the earth; shattered, shattered is the earth; shaken, shaken is the earth. 20. The earth reels, reels like a drunken man, and is shaken like a hammock. And heavy upon her is her guilt, and she shall fall and rise no more. 21. And it shall be in that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the host of the high place, and upon the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22. And they shall be gathered with a gathering as prisoners in a pit, and shall be shut up in a dungeon, and after many days they shall be visited. 23. And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, for Jehovah of hosts is King in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem and before His elders there is glory.

IV.--_The destruction of Babylon and the Deliverance of the Jews._--CHAP. XXV. 1-5.

XXV.--1. Jehovah my God (art) Thou; I will exalt Thee; I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done a wonder, counsels from afar off, truth, certainty. 2. For Thou hast turned (it) from a city to a heap, a fortified town to a ruin, a palace of strangers from (being) a city; for ever it shall not be built. 3. Therefore a powerful people shall honour Thee, a city of terrible nations shall fear Thee. 4. For Thou hast been a stronghold to the weak, a stronghold to the poor, in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible was like a storm against a wall. 5. As heat in a drought, the noise of strangers wilt Thou bring down; (as) hast by the shadow of a cloud, (so) shall the song of the tyrants be brought low.

V.--_A promise of Favour to the Gentiles and the People of God when united on Mount Zion._--VERS. 6-9.

6. And Jehovah of hosts will make, for all nations, in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things, full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7. And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the veil, the veil upon all people, and the web, the (one) woven over all the nations. 8. He has swallowed up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovah wipes away tears from off all faces, and the reproach of His people he will take away from off all the earth, for Jehovah hath spoken (it). 9. And they shall say in that day, Lo, this is our God! we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.

VI.--_The Ruin of Moab._--VERS. 10-12.

10. For the hand of Jehovah shall rest upon this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden in the water of the dunghill. 11. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of it, as the swimmer spreadeth forth his hands to swim; and He shall humble his pride, together with the devices of his hands. 12. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls He hath cast down, humbled, brought to the ground, to the very dust.

VII.--_A Song of Praise and Deliverance._--CHAP. XXVI. 1-19.

XXVI.--1. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will He place (as) walls and breastwork. 2. Open ye the gates, and let the righteous nation enter, keeping truth. 3. The mind stayed (on Thee) Thou wilt preserve in peace, (in) peace, because in Thee (it is) confident. 4. Trust ye in Jehovah for ever, for in Jah Jehovah is a rock of ages.

5. For He hath brought down the inhabitants of the high place, the exalted city; He will lay it low. He will lay it low, to the very ground; He will bring it to the very dust. 6. The foot shall trample on it, the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the weak. 7. The way for the righteous is straight; Thou most upright wilt level the path of the righteous. 8. Also in the way of Thy judgments, O Jehovah, we have waited for Thee; to Thy name and Thy remembrance (was our) soul's desire. 9. (With) my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yes (with) my spirit within me will I seek Thee early; for when Thy judgments (come) to the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10. Let the wicked be favoured, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of the right, he will do wrong, and will not see the exaltation of Jehovah. 11. Jehovah, Thy hand is high, they will not see; (yes) they will see (and be ashamed) Thy zeal for Thy people; yea, the fire of Thine enemies shall devour them.

12. Jehovah, Thou will give us peace, for even all our works Thou hast wrought for us. 13. Jehovah, our God, (other) lords beside Thee have ruled us; (but henceforth) Thee, Thy name, only will we celebrate. 14. Dead, they shall not live: ghosts, they shall not rise: therefore Thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all memory to perish with respect to them. 15. Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah, Thou hast added to the nation; Thou hast glorified Thyself; Thou hast put far off all the ends of the land. 16. Jehovah, in distress they visited Thee; they uttered a whisper: Thy chastisement was on them.

17. As when a pregnant (woman) draws near to the birth, she writhes, she cries out in her pangs, so have we been from Thy presence, O Jehovah! 18. We were in travail, we were in pain, as it were we brought forth wind. Deliverance we could not make the land, nor would the inhabitants of the world fall. 19. Thy dead shall live, my corpses shall arise: (awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust!) for the dew of herbs is Thy dew, and (on) the earth (on) the dead, Thou wilt cause it to fall.

VIII.--_The Time is not Yet._--VERS. 20, 21.

20. Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors after thee, hide thyself for a little moment, till the wrath be past. 21. For behold, Jehovah (is) coming out of His place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth upon him, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

IX.--_Israel's Chastisements and Jehovah's Judgments on His enemies, with the glorious results thereof._--CHAP. XXVII.

1. In that day shall Jehovah visit with His sword, the hard, the great, the strong (sword), upon leviathan the flying serpent, and upon leviathan the coiled serpent, and shall slay the dragon which (is) in the sea. 2. In that day, as a vineyard of wine, afflict her. 3. I Jehovah (am) keeping her; every moment I will water her; lest any hurt her, night and day will I keep her. 4. It is not because I am cruel or revengeful that I thus afflict My people, but because she is a vineyard overrun with thorns or briers, on account of which I must pass through her and burn them out of her [Or, I am (no longer) angry with My people; O that their enemies, as thorns and briers, would array themselves against Me, that I might rush upon them and consume them.] 5. Or let him lay hold of My strength and make peace with Me; peace let him make with Me.

6. (In) coming (days) shall Jacob take root, Israel shall bud and blossom, and they shall fill the face of the earth with fruit. 7. Like the smiting of the smiter did He smite him, or like the slaying of his slain was he slain?

8. In measure, by sending her away, Thou dost contend with her. He removes (her) by His hard wind in the day of the east wind. 9. Therefore by this (affliction) shall Jacob's iniquity be purged away, and this is all (its) fruit to take away his sin, (as will appear) in his placing all the stones of the (idolatrous) altar like limestones dashed in pieces (so that) groves and solar images shall arise no more.

10. For a fenced city shall be desolate, a dwelling-place broken up and forsaken like the wilderness. There shall the calf feed, and there shall it lie and consume her branches. 11. When its boughs are withered they shall be broken off, women coming and burning them; because it is not a people of understanding, therefore its Creator shall not pity it, and its Maker shall not have mercy on it.

12. And it shall be in that day, that Jehovah shall gather in His fruit from the channel of the river to the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one to another, O ye children of Israel! 13. And it shall come to pass in that day, (that) a great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come that were wandering in the land of Assyria, and those exiled in the land of Egypt, and shall bow down to Jehovah, in the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.

THE DOWNFALL OF SAMARIA.--CHAP. XXVIII.

1. Woe to the high crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower, his ornament of beauty, which (is) on the head of the fat valley of the wine-smitten. 2. Behold the Lord has a strong and mighty one, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty rushing waters. He has brought it to the ground with the hand. 3. With the feet shall be trodden the lofty crown of the drunkards of Ephraim. 4. And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be like a first-ripe fig before summer, which he that sees it sees, and while it is yet in his hand swallows it.

5. In that day shall Jehovah of hosts become a crown of beauty and a diadem of glory to the remnant of His people; 6. and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

7. And (yet) these through wine have erred, and through strong drink have gone astray. Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, have been swallowed up of wine, have been led astray by strong drink, have erred in vision, have wavered in judgment. 8. For all tables are full of vomit, of filth, without a (clean) place. 9. Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand doctrine? Those weaned from the milk and removed from the breasts. 10. For (it is) rule upon rule, rule upon rule, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there. 11. For with stammering lips and with another tongue will He speak unto this people. 12. Who said to them, This is rest, give rest to the weary, and this is quiet, but they would not hear. 13. And the word of Jehovah was to them rule upon rule, rule upon rule; line upon line, line upon line; a little here, a little there; that they might go, and fall backwards, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

14. Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful men, the rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem. 15. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell have formed a league; the overflowing scourge, when it passes through, shall not come upon us, for we have made falsehood our refuge, and in fraud we have hid ourselves; 16. therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold I lay in Zion a stone, a stone of proof, a corner-stone of value, of a firm foundation; the builder will not be in haste. 17. And I will place judgment for a line and justice for a plummet, and hail shall sweep away the refuge of falsehood, and the hiding-place waters shall overflow. 18. And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your league with hell shall not stand, and the overflowing scourge--for it shall pass through, and ye shall be for it to trample on. 19. And as soon as it passes through, it shall carry you away; for every morning it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and only vexation shall be the understanding of the thing heard. 20. For the bed is too short to stretch one's self, and the covering too narrow to wrap one's self. 21. For like mount Perazim shall Jehovah rise up, like the valley in Gibeon, shall He rage, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His strange task. 22. And now scoff not, lest your bands be strong; for even a decreed consumption I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth.

23. Give ear and hear my voice; hearken and hear my speech. 24. Does the husbandman plough every day to sow? Does he open and level his ground? 25. Does he not, when he has levelled the surface of it, cast abroad dill, and scatter cummin, and set wheat in rows, and barley (in the place) marked out, and spelt in his border? 26. So teaches him aright, his God instructs him. 27. For not with sledge must dill be threshed, or the cart wheel turned upon cummin; for with the stick must dill be beaten, and cummin with the rod. 28. Bread-corn must be crushed, for he will not be always threshing it; so he drives the wheel of his cart (upon it), but with his horses he does not crush it. 29. Even this from Jehovah of hosts comes forth; He is wonderful in counsel; great in wisdom.

PROPHECY CONCERNING JERUSALEM.--CHAP. XXIX.

1. Alas for Ariel, Ariel, the city David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts revolve; 2. And I will distress Ariel, and there shall be sadness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel. 3. And I will camp against thee round about, and push against thee a post, and raise against thee ramparts. 4. And thou shalt be brought down, out of the ground shalt thou speak, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be like (the voice of) a spirit, out of the ground, and out of the dust shall thy speech mutter.

5. And shall be like fine dust the multitude of thy strangers, and like passing chaff be in a moment suddenly. 6. From the presence of Jehovah shall it be raised with thunder, and earthquake, and great noise, tempest and storm, and flame of devouring fire. 7. Then shall be as a dream, a vision of the night, the multitude of all the nations fighting against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and distress her. 8. And it shall be as when the hungry dreams, and lo he eats, and he awakes, and his soul is empty; and as when the thirsty dreams, and lo he drinks, and he awakes, and lo he is faint and his soul craving: so shall be the multitude of all the nations that fight against mount Zion.