Hezekiah's life lengthened.

ISAIAH.

His song of thanksgiving. out, and thy coming in, and thy rage of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I against me. will defend this city.

29 Because thy rage against me, and thy 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing will I put my hook in thy nose, and my that he hath spoken;

bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow by the way by which thou camest. of the degrees, which is gone down in the 30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; So the sun returned ten degrees, by which and the second year that which springeth degrees it was gone down. of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

I

10 I said in the cutting off of my days, shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, even

32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall behold man no more with the inhabitants do this. of the world.

33 Therefore thus saith the LORD con- 12 Mine age is departed, and is removed cerning the king of Assyria, He shall not from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut come into this city, nor shoot an arrow off like a weaver my life: he will cut me there, nor come before it with shields, nor off with pining sickness: from day even to cast a bank against it. night wilt thou make an end of me.

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.

13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

36 ¶ Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and five 15 What shall I say? he hath both thousand and when they arose early in spoken unto me, and himself hath done it : the morning, behold, they were all dead I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

corpses.

37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria 16 O LORD, by these things men live, departed, and went and returned, and and in all these things is the life of my dwelt at Nineveh. spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make

38 And it came to pass, as he was wor-me to live. shipping in the house of Nisroch his god, 17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterthat Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons ness: but thou hast in love to my soul desmote him with the sword; and they livered it from the pit of corruption: for escaped into the land of Armenia: and thou hast cast all my sins behind thy Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead. back.

CHAP. XXXVIII.

18 For the grave cannot praise thee, those days was Hezekiah sick unto death can not celebrate thee: they that go

I prophet the son into

of Amoz came unto him, and said unto truth.

him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house 19 The living, the living, he shall praise in order for thou shalt die, and not live. thee, as I do this day: the father to the chil 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to-dren shall make known thy truth.

ward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD.

20 The LORD was ready to save me:

3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, therefore we will sing my songs to the I beseech thee, how I have walked before stringed instruments all the days of our life thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and in the house of the LORD. have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take

a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon

4 Then came the word of the LORD the boil, and he shall recover.

to Isaiah, saying,

22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the

5 Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith sign that I shall go up to the house of the the LORD, the God of David thy father, I LORD? have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy

CHAP. XXXIX.

tears: behold, I will add unto thy days AT that time Merodach-baladan, the

fifteen years. son of Baladan, king of Babylon, 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for

God's incomparable power.

The promulgation of the gospel. CHAP. XL. he had heard that he had been sick, and rusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up was recovered. thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not 2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Beshewed them the house of his precious hold your God!

things, the silver, and the gold, and the 10 Behold the Lord GOD will come with spices, and the precious ointment, and all strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: the house of his armour, and all that was behold, his reward is with him, and his found in his treasures: there was nothing work before him.

in his house, nor in all his dominion, that 11 He shall feed his flock like a shep. Hezekiah shewed them not. herd he shall gather the lambs with his 3 ¶ Then came Isaiah the prophet unto arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall king Hezekiah and said unto him, What gently lead those that are with young. said these men? and from whence came 12 ¶ Who hath measured the waters in they unto thee? and Hezekiah said, They the hollow of his hand, and meted out are come from a far country unto me, even heaven with a span, and comprehended from Babylon. the dust of the earth in a measure, and

4 Then said he, What have they seen in weighed the mountains in scales, and the thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All hills in a balance? that is in mine house have they seen there :

13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the is nothing among my treasures that I have LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught not shewed them.

him?

5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear 14 With whom took he counsel, and who the word of the LORD of hosts: instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

15 Behold, the nations are as the drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a

8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good burnt-offering. is the word of the LORD which thou hast 17 All nations before him are as nothing; spoken. He said moreover, For there and they are counted to him less than shall be peace and truth in my days.

COMFO

CHAP. XL.

OMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

nothing, and vanity.

18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in :

23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24 Yea, they shall not be planted: yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 9 TO Zion, that bringest good tidings, 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and beget thee up into the high mountain: O Je-hold who hath created these things, that

God expostulates about

ISAIAH. his mercies, &c. to the church. bringeth out their host by number: he call- against thee shall be ashamed and coneth them all by names, by the greatness of founded: they shall be as nothing; and his might, for that he is strong in power; they that strive with thee shall perish. not one faileth. 12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not 27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and find them, even them that contended with speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the thee: they that war against thee shall be LORD, and my judgment is passed over as nothing, and as a thing of nought. from my God? 13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faint- 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye eth not, neither is weary there is no men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the searching of his understanding. LORD, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou 30 Even the youths shall faint and be shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them weary, and the young men shall utterly small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. fall: 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind

:

31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall renew their strength; they shall shall scatter them and thou shalt rejoice mount up with wings as eagles; they shall in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, One of Israel. and not faint.

CHAP. XLI.

KEEP silence before me, O islands;

and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak let us come near together to judgment.

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth

for

thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the

God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: 1 will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the 19 I will plant in the wilderness the nations before him, and made him rule cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, and over kings? he gave them as the dust to his the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the firsword, and as driven stubble to his bow. tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together:

3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the 4 Who hath wrought and done it, call-hand of the LORD hath done this, and the ing the generations from the beginning? I Holy One of Israel hath created it. the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and

came.

6 They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good

courage.

21 ¶ Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.

23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your S But thou, Israel, art my servant, Ja- work of nought: an abomination is he that cob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abra- chooseth you. ham my friend.

9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.

26 Who hath declared from the begin10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: ning, that we may know? and beforetime, be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will that we may say, He is righteous? yea, strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; there is none that sheweth, yea, there is yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand none that declareth, yea, there is none that of my righteousness. heareth your words.

11 Behold, all they that were incensed

27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold,

CHAP. XLII, XLIII.

The office of Christ. The church comforted. behold them and I will give to Jerusalem paths that they have not known: I will one that bringeth good tidings. make darkness light before them, and

28 For I beheld, and there was no man; crooked things straight. These things will even among them, and there was no coun-I do unto them, and not forsake them. sellor, that, when I asked of them, could 17 They shall be turned back, they answer a word. shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in 29 Behold, they are all vanity, their graven images, that say to the molten works are nothing their molten images images, Ye are our gods. are wind and confusion.

CHAP. XLII.

BEHOLD my servant, whom I uphold;

18 ¶ Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

19 Who is blind, but my servant? or mine elect, in whom my soul delight-deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is eth; I have put my Spirit upon him he blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. LORD's servant? 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.

21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth and 22 But this is a people robbed and spoilthe isles shall wait for his law. ed; they are all of them snared in holes, 5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that and they are hid in prison-houses; they created the heavens, and stretched them are for a prey, and none delivereth, for a out; he that spread forth the earth, and spoil, and none saith, Restore.

come?

that which cometh out of it; he that 23 Who among you will give ear to this? giveth breath unto the people upon it, and who will hearken, and hear for the time to spirit to them that walk therein 6 I the LORD have called thee in right- 24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Iseousness, and will hold thine hand, and will rael to the robbers? did not the LORD, he keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of against whom we have sinned? for they the people, for a light of the Gentiles; would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.

7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

9 Behold, the former things are come to

pass, and new things do I declare: before

they spring forth I tell you of them.

10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants there

of.

25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

CHAP. XLIII.

Be thee, O Jacob, and he that form

UT now thus saith the LORD that created

ed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, 11 Let the wilderness and the cities they shall not overflow thee: when thou thereof lift up their voice, the villages that walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of burned; neither shall the flame kindle the rock sing, let them shout from the top upon thee. of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: noo will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destrov and devour at once.

3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Poly One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

5 Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west :

15 I will make waste mountains and hills, 6 I will say to the north, Give up; and and dry up all their herbs; and I will make to the south, Keep not back: bring my the rivers islands, and I will dry up the sons from far, and my daughters from the pools. ends of the earth;

16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in

7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory,

Babylon's destruction foretold.

ISAIAH.

The folly of idol makers. I have formed him; yea, I have made transgressions for mine own sake, and will him. not.remember thy sins.

8 ¶ Bring forth the blind people that 26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after

me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.

28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. CHAP. XLIV.

12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange I god among you therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

13 Yea, before the day was, I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

YE

ET now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen :

2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses. 5 One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his 14 Thus saith the LORD, your Re- hand unto the LORD, and surname himself deemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your by the name of Israel. sake I have sent to Babylon, and have 6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Isbrought down all their nobles, and the rael, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the first, and I am the last; and be15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the side me there is no God. Creator of Israel, your King.

7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I

16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty appointed the ancient people? and the waters; things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is 18 Remember ye not the former there a God beside me? yea, there is no things, neither consider the things of old. God; I know not any.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now 9 They that make a graven image are it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? all of them vanity; and their delectable I will even make a way in the wilderness, things shall not profit; and they are their and rivers in the desert. own witnesses; they see not, nor know,

20 The beast of the field shall honour that they may be ashamed. me, the dragons and the owls: because I 10 Who hath formed a god, or molten give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in a graven image that is profitable for nothe desert, to give drink to my people, my thing? chosen.

21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.

22 ¶ But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.

12 The smith with the tongs both work23 Thou hast not brought me the small eth in the coals, and fashioneth it with cattle of thy burnt-offerings; neither hast hammers, and worketh it with the strength thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his have not caused thee to serve with an offer- strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and ing, nor wearied thee with incense.

is faint.

24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane 13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; with money, neither hast thou filled me he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast with planes, and he marketh it out with made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast the compass, and maketh it after the figure wearied me with thine iniquities. of a man, according to the beauty of a 25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy man; that it may remain in the house,