A.C. 710 to 699. *Heb. hard. + Or, for sil ver. SECTION XXI. Idolatry reproved. ISAIAH XLVIII. 1 God, to convince the people of their foreknown obstinacy, revealed his prophecies. 9 He saveth them for his own sake. 12 He exhorteth them to obedience, because of his power and providence. 16 He lamenteth their backwardness. 20 He powerfully delivereth his out of Babylon. 1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb. 9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not † with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do b ch. xlii. 8. it for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. 12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; xliv. 6. Rev. I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. c ch. xli. 4. & i. 17. & xxii. C 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, A. C. 710 and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. to 699. * Or, the palm of my right 14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among hand hath them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved spread out. him he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16 ¶ Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: . 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath d redeemed d Ex. xix. 4, his servant Jacob. 5,6. 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he e caused the waters to flow out of the rock for e Ex. xvii. 6. them he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. Num. xx. 11. 22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked. fch. lvii. 21. SECTION XXII. Messiah addresses his People. ISAIAH XLIX. 1 Christ, being sent to the Jews, complaineth of them. 5 He is sent to the Gen- 2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. A. C. 710 to 699. 4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment * Or, my re. is with the LORD, and * work with my ward. my God. 5 ¶ And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, +Or, that Is +Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the of the LORD, and eyes God shall be my strength. 6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore rael may be that thou be shouldest, &c. the my preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light Or, desola- to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto g ch. xlii. 6 the end of the earth. tions. || Or, to him in soul. 7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his that is despised Holy One, || to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. h 2 Cor. xvi. 2. 8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the *Or, raise up, people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; i ch. xlii. 7. 9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. k Rev. vii. 16. 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. + Heb. from having com passion. 11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. 13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my LORD hath forgotten me. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. 17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and A.C. 710 they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. to 699. 18 ¶Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all 1 ch. Ix. 4. these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. 19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me give place to me that I may dwell. 21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daugh- * Heb. bosom. ters shall be carried upon their shoulders. rishers. cesses. 23 And kings shall be thy + nursing fathers, and their + Heb. nouqueens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee 1 Heb. prinwith their face toward the earth, and m lick up the dust of m Ps, Ixxii. 9. thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. 24 ¶ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or § the lawful captive delivered? 25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. 26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own "blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. Heb. the captivity of the just. Heb. capti. vity. n Rev. xiv. 20. & xvi. 6. Or, new wine. A.C. 710 to 699. ch. lix. 1. SECTION XXIII. Prophecy of the Rejection of Christ, and the evetnual Exaltation of his Church. ISAIAH L. 1 Christ sheweth that the dereliction of the Jews is not to be imputed to him, by his ability to save, 5 by his obedience in that work, 7 and by his confidence in that assistance. 10 An exhortation to trust in God, and not in ourselves. 1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. my 2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I o Num. xi. 23. called, was there none to answer? Is hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? p Ex. xiv. 21. behold, at my rebuke IP dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. q Josh. iii. 16. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. 4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to r Matt. xi. 28. him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. s John xiv. 31. Phil. ii. 8. Heb. x. 5, &c. 67. & xxvii. 26. Matt. xxvi. u Rom. viii. 32, 33, 34. * Heb. the 5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 " He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let master of my him come near to me. cause. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they shall all wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. 10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass your |