make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down A.C. 710 to the stock of a tree?

to 699.

*
which comes of

20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned Heb. that him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant : O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

a tree?

26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the † decayed places +Heb. wasics. thereof:

27 That saith to the deep Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou o 2 Chron. shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be

laid.

ISAIAH XLV.

1 God calleth Cyrus for his church's sake. 5 By his omnipotency he challengeth obedience. 20 He convinceth the idols of vanity by his saving power.

xxxvi. 22, 23,

Ezra i. 1, &c. ch. xlv. 13.

1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; Or, strengthand I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the ened. two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that

A.C.710 I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of

to 699.

p Deut. iv. 35, 39. & xxxii.

Israel.

4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

5 IP am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no 39. ch. xliv. 8. God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known

Rom. ix. 20.

me.

6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the Jer. xviii. 6. potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

* Or, make straight.

10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will * direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD Eziai. 1, &c. of hosts.

r2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23.

ch. xliv. 28.

13 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.

15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of sch. xliv. 11. them they shall go to confusion together that are makers

of idols.

to 699.

17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an ever- A.C. 710 lasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD: and there is none else.

19 I have not spoken in 'secret, in a dark place of the Deut. xxx. earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

20 ¶ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every "knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I + ousness and strength: even to him shall men come; that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

u Rom. xiv. 11. Phil. ii. 10.

shall say of

righte-Or, Surely and all me, In the

25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

SECTION XX.

Prophecy of the Babylonish Captivity, and Destruction of

Babylon.

ISAIAH XLVI.

1 The idols of Babylon could not save themselves. 3 God saveth his people to the end. 5 Idols are not comparable to God for power, 12 or present salvation.

1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.

LORD is all righteousness and strength.

+Heb. rightc

ousness.

soul.

2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but ‡ themselves are gone into captivity. Heb. their 3¶Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb.

A.C. 710 to 699.

x ch. XL 18,

25.

Ps. xxxiii. 21. & xxi. 30.

11. Prov. xix.

Heb. vi. 17. * Heb. the man of my counsel.

4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

5 To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith: and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.

7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

y

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure :

11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, * the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I I will also do it.

12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:

13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

ISAIAH XLVII.

1 God's judgment upon Babylon and Chaldea, 6 for their unmercifulness, 7 pride, 10 and over boldness, 11 shall be unresistible.

1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

4 As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter

of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady A.C. 710 of kingdoms.

6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

to 699.

7 ¶ And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that z Rev. xviii. 7. thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.

8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

9 But a these two things shall come to thee in a moment a ch. li. 19. in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath * perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I Or, caused am, and none else beside me.

thee to turn away.

morning

11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know + from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon + Heb. the thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation thereof. shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.

13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

Heb. expiate.

Heb viewers
Heb. that

of the heavens.

give knowledge concerning the months.

14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power Heb. their of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

souls.