The Holy BiblePart 41 out of 74the doctrine of wisdom and instruction, who renewed wisdom from his heart. 50:30. Blessed is he that is conversant in these good things and he that layeth them up in his heart, shall be wise always. 50:31. For if he do them, he shall be strong to do all things: because the light of God guideth his steps. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 51 A prayer of praise and thanksgiving. 51:1. A prayer of Jesus the son of Sirach. I will give glory to thee, O Lord, O King, and I will praise thee, O God my Saviour. 51:2. I will give glory to thy name: for thou hast been a helper and protector to me. 51:3. And hast preserved my body from destruction, from the snare of an unjust tongue, and from the lips of them that forge lies, and in the sight of them that stood by, thou hast been my helper. 51:4. And thou hast delivered me, according to the multitude of the mercy of thy name, from them that did roar, prepared to devour. 51:5. Out of the hands of them that sought my life, and from the gates of afflictions, which compassed me about: 51:6. From the oppression of the flame which surrounded me, and in the midst of the fire I was not burnt. 51:7. From the depth of the belly of hell, and from an unclean tongue, and from lying words, from an unjust king, and from a slanderous tongue: 51:8. My soul shall praise the Lord even to death. 51:9. And my life was drawing near to hell beneath. 51:10. They compassed me on every side, and there was no one that would help me. I looked for the succour of men, and there was none. 51:11. I remembered thy mercy, O Lord, and thy works, which are from the beginning of the world. 51:12. How thou deliverest them that wait for thee, O Lord, and savest them out of the hands of the nations. 51:13. Thou hast exalted my dwelling place upon the earth and I have prayed for death to pass away. 51:14. I called upon the Lord, the father of my Lord, that he would not leave me in the day of my trouble, and in the time of the proud without help. 51:15. I will praise thy name continually, and will praise it with thanksgiving, and my prayer was heard. 51:16. And thou hast saved me from destruction, and hast delivered me from the evil time. 51:17. Therefore I will give thanks, and praise thee, and bless the name of the Lord. 51:18. When I was yet young, before I wandered about, I sought for wisdom openly in my prayer. 51:19. I prayed for her before the temple, and unto the very end I will seek after her, and she flourished as a grape soon ripe. 51:20. My heart delighted in her, my foot walked in the right way, from my youth up I sought after her. 51:21. I bowed down my ear a little, and received her. 51:22. I found much wisdom in myself, and profited much therein. 51:23. To him that giveth me wisdom, will I give glory. 51:24. For I have determined to follow her: I have had a zeal for good, and shall not be confounded. 51:25. My soul hath wrestled for her, and in doing it I have been confirmed. 51:26. I stretched forth my hands on high, and I bewailed my ignorance of her. 51:27. I directed my soul to her, and in knowledge I found her. 51:28. I possessed my heart with her from the beginning: therefore I shall not be forsaken. 51:29. My entrails were troubled in seeking her: therefore shall I possess a good possession. 51:30. The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward: and with it I will praise him. 51:31. Draw near to me, ye unlearned, and gather yourselves together into the hours of discipline. 51:32. Why are ye slow and what do you say of these things? your souls are exceeding thirsty. 51:33. I have opened my mouth, and have spoken: buy her for yourselves without silver, 51:34. And submit your neck to the yoke, and let your soul receive discipline: for she is near at hand to be found. 51:35. Behold with your eyes how I have laboured a little, and have found much rest to myself. 51:36. Receive ye discipline as a great sum of money, and possess abundance of gold by her. 51:37. Let your soul rejoice in his mercy and you shall not be confounded in his praise. 51:38. Work your work before the time, and he will give you your reward in his time. THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS This inspired writer is called by the Holy Ghost, the great prophet, (Ecclesiasticus 48.25,) from the greatness of his prophetic spirit, by which he hath foretold so long before, and in so clear a manner, the coming of Christ, the mysteries of our redemption, the calling of the Gentiles, and the glorious establishment, and perpetual flourishing of the church of Christ: insomuch that he may seem to have been rather an evangelist than a prophet. His very name is not without mystery; for Isaias in Hebrew signifies the salvation of the Lord, or Jesus is the Lord. He was, according to the tradition of the Hebrews, of the blood royal of the kings of Juda: and after a most holy life, ended his days by a glorious martyrdom; being sawed in two, at the command of his wicked son in law, King Manasses, for reproving his evil ways. Isaias Chapter 1 The prophet complains of the sins of Juda and Jerusalem, and exhorts them to a sincere conversion. 1:1. The vision of Isaias the Son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda. 1:2. Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me. 1:3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. 1:4. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards. 1:5. For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad. 1:6. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil. 1:7. Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies. 1:8. And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste. 1:9. Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha. 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha. 1:11. To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats. 1:12. When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts? 1:13. Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked. 1:14. My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them. 1:15. And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood. 1:16. Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes, cease to do perversely, 1:17. Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. 1:18. And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. 1:19. If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. 1:20. But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 1:21. How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers. 1:22. Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water. 1:23. Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, they run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cause cometh not in to them. 1:24. Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies. 1:25. And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin. 1:26. And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city. 1:27. Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice. 1:28. And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed. 1:29. For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen. 1:30. When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water. 1:31. And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it. Isaias Chapter 2 All nations shall flow to the church of Christ. The Jews shall be rejected for their sins. Idolatry shall be destroyed. 2:1. The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem. 2:2. And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. The last days. . .The whole time of the new law, from the coming of Christ till the end of the world, is called in the scripture the last days; because no other age or time shall come after it, but only eternity.--Ibid. On the top of mountains, etc. . .This shews the perpetual visibility of the church of Christ: for a mountain upon the top of mountains cannot be hid. 2:3. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 2:4. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. 2:5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 2:6. For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children. 2:7. Their land is filled with silver and gold: and there is no end of their treasures. 2:8. And their land is filled with horses: and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. 2:9. And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been debased: therefore forgive them not. 2:10. Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. 2:11. The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 2:12. Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and highminded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled. 2:13. And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan. 2:14. And upon all the high mountains and upon all the elevated hills. 2:15. And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall. 2:16. And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to behold. 2:17. And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 2:18. And idols shall be utterly destroyed. Idols shall be utterly destroyed. . .or utterly pass away. This was verified by the establishment of Christianity. And by this and other texts of the like nature, the wild system of some modern sectaries is abundantly confuted, who charge the whole Christian church with worshipping idols, for many ages. 2:19. And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. 2:20. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats. 2:21. And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. 2:22. Cease ye therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high. Isaias Chapter 3 The confusion and other evils that shall come upon the Jews for their sins. The pride of their women shall be punished. 3:1. For behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Juda the valiant and the strong, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water. 3:2. The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet and the cunning man, and the ancient. 3:3. The captain over fifty, and the honourable in countenance, and the counsellor, and the architect, and the skilful in eloquent speech. 3:4. And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them. 3:5. And the people shall rush one upon another, and every man against his neighbour: the child shall make a tumult against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. 3:6. For a man shall take hold of his brother, one of the house of his father, saying: Thou hast a garment, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. 3:7. In that day he shall answer, saying: I am no healer, and in my house there is no bread, nor clothing: make me not ruler of the people. 3:8. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Juda is fallen: because their tongue, and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty. 3:9. The shew of their countenance hath answered them: and they have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom, and they have not hid it: woe to their souls, for evils are rendered to them. 3:10. Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings. 3:11. Woe to the wicked unto evil: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. 3:12. As for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them. O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps. 3:13. The Lord standeth up to judge, and he standeth to judge the people. 3:14. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and its princes: for you have devoured the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house. 3:15. Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts. 3:16. And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton glances of their eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their feet and moved in a set pace: 3:17. The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair. 3:18. In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes, and little moons, 3:19. And chains and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets, 3:20. And bodkins, and ornaments of the legs, and tablets, and sweet balls, and earrings, 3:21. And rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead, 3:22. And changes of apparel, and short cloaks, and fine linen, and crisping pins, 3:23. And lookingglasses, and lawns, and headbands, and fine veils. 3:24. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness, and instead of a stomacher, haircloth. 3:25. Thy fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and thy valiant ones in battle. 3:26. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground. Isaias Chapter 4 After an extremity of evils that shall fall upon the Jews, a remnant shall be comforted by Christ. 4:1. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, take away our reproach. 4:2. In that day the bud of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a great joy to them that shall have escaped of Israel. The bud of the Lord. . .That is, Christ. 4:3. And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall be left in Sion, and that shall remain in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written in life in Jerusalem. 4:4. If the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion, and shall wash away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 4:5. And the Lord will create upon every place of mount Sion, and where he is called upon, a cloud by day, and a smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire in the night: for over all the glory shall be a protection. 4:6. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind, and from rain. Isaias Chapter 5 The reprobation of the Jews is foreshewn under the parable of a vineyard. A woe is pronounced against sinners: the army of God shall send against them. 5:1. I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place. My cousin. . .So the prophet calls Christ, as being of his family and kindred, by descending from the house of David. Ibid. On a hill, etc. . .Literally, in the horn, the son of oil. 5:2. And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 5:3. And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard. 5:4. What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? was it that I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes? 5:5. And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. 5:6. And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it. 5:7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry. 5:8. Woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth? 5:9. These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: Unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an inhabitant. 5:10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels. 5:11. Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink in the evening, to be inflamed with wine. 5:12. The harp, and the lyre, and, the timbrel and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you consider the works of his hands. 5:13. Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst. 5:14. Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it. 5:15. And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low. 5:16. And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice. 5:17. And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness. 5:18. Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart. 5:19. That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it. 5:20. Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. 5:21. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits. 5:22. Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at drunkenness. 5:23. That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of the just from him. 5:24. Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the flame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel. 5:25. Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and the mountains were troubles, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets. For after this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 5:26. And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly. 5:27. There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they shall not slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken. 5:28. Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the flint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest. 5:29. Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it. 5:30. And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the roaring of the sea; we shall look towards the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist thereof. Isaias Chapter 6 A glorious vision, in which the prophet's lips are cleansed: he foretelleth the obstinacy of the Jews. 6:1. In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. 6:2. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. 6:3. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory, 6:4. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 6:5. And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts. 6:6. And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. 6:7. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed. 6:8. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me. 6:9. And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not. 6:10. Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them. 6:11. And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate. 6:12. And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth. 6:13. And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn, and shall be made a show as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that spreadeth its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy seed. Isaias Chapter 7 The prophet assures king Achaz that the two kings his enemies shall not take Jerusalem. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. 7:1. And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Rasin king of Syria and Phacee the son of Romelia king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to fight against it: but they could not prevail over it. 7:2. And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind. 7:3. And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller's field. 7:4. And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these firebrands, smoking with the wrath of the fury of Rasin king of Syria, and of the son of Romelia. 7:5. Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying: 7:6. Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof. 7:7. Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be. 7:8. But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rasin: and within threescore and five years, Ephraim shall cease to be a people: 7:9. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue. 7:10. And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: 7:11. Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. 7:12. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. 7:13. And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? 7:14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel. 7:15. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. 7:16. For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings. 7:17. The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda with the king of the Assyrians. 7:18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 7:19. And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with shrubs, and in all hollow places. 7:20. In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard. 7:21. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep. 7:22. And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land. 7:23. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers. 7:24. With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers and thorns shall be in all the land. 7:25. And as for the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon. Isaias Chapter 8 The name of a child that is to be born: many evils shall come upon the Jews for their sins. 8:1. And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it with a man's pen. Take away the spoils with speed, quickly take the prey. 8:2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias the priest, and Zacharias the son of Barachias. 8:3. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils: Make hast to take away the prey. 8:4. For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians. 8:5. And the Lord spoke to me again, saying: 8:6. Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, and hath rather taken Rasin, and the son of Romelia: 8:7. Therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks. 8:8. And shall pass through Juda, overflowing, and going over shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy, land, O Emmanuel. 8:9. Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome, gird yourselves, and be overcome. 8:10. Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word, and it shall not be done: because God is with us. 8:11. For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 8:12. Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 8:13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 8:14. And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 8:15. And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken. 8:16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 8:17. And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 8:18. Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Sion. 8:19. And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead? Seek of pythons. . .That is, people pretending to tell future things by a prophesying spirit.--Ibid. Should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead?. . .Here is signified, that it is to God we should pray to be directed, and not to seek of the dead, (that is, of fortune-tellers dead in sin,) for the health of the living. 8:20. To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light. 8:21. And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king, and their God, and look upwards. 8:22. And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress. Isaias Chapter 9 What joy shall come after afflictions by the birth and kingdom of Christ; which shall flourish for ever. Judgments upon Israel for their sins. 9:1. At the first time the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtali was lightly touched: and at the last the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles was heavily loaded. 9:2. The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen. 9:3. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy. They shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils. 9:4. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the sceptre of their oppressor thou hast overcome, as in the day of Madian. 9:5. For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire. 9:6. For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. 9:7. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 9:8. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. 9:9. And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and the inhabitants of Samaria that say in the pride and haughtiness of their heart: 9:10. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with square stones: they have cut down the sycamores, but we will change them for cedars. 9:11. And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rasin over him, and shall bring on his enemies in a crowd: 9:12. The Syrians from the east, and, the Philistines from the west: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 9:13. And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them, and have not sought after the Lord of hosts. 9:14. And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel the head and the tail, him that bendeth down, and him that holdeth back, in one day. 9:15. The aged and honourable, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 9:16. And they that call this people blessed, shall cause them to err: and they that are called blessed, shall be thrown down, headlong. 9:17. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men: neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless, and widows: for every one is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth hath spoken folly. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 9:18. For wickedness is kindled as a fire, it shall devour the brier and the thorn: and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in smoke ascending on high. 9:19. By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire: no man shall spare his brother. 9:20. And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled: every one shall eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, and they together shall be against Juda. 9:21. After all these things his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Isaias Chapter 10 Woe to the makers of wicked laws. The Assyrian shall be a rod for punishing Israel: but for their pride they shall be destroyed: and a remnant of Israel saved. 10:1. Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice: 10:2. To oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and that they might rob the fatherless. 10:3. What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which cometh from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? 10:4. That you be not bowed down under the bond, and fall with the slain? In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 10:5. Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands. 10:6. I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 10:7. But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 10:8. For he shall say: 10:9. Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus? 10:10. As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria. 10:11. Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? 10:12. And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes. 10:13. For he hath said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have taken the spoils of the princes, and as a mighty man hath pulled down them that sat on high. 10:14. And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest; and as eggs are gathered, that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise. 10:15. Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood. 10:16. Therefore the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of a fire. 10:17. And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and the Holy One thereof as a flame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on fire, and shall be devoured in one day. 10:18. And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear. 10:19. And they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that they shall easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down. 10:20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 10:21. The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. 10:22. For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall overflow with justice. A remnant of them shall be converted. . .This was partly verified in the children of Israel who remained after the devastations of the Assyrians, in the time of king Ezechias: and partly in the conversion of a remnant of the Jews to the faithful of Christ.--Ibid. The consumption abridged, etc. . .That is, the number of them cut short, and reduced to few, shall flourish in abundance of justice. 10:23. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land. 10:24. Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: O my people that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt. 10:25. For yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness. 10:26. And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. 10:27. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall putrefy at the presence of the oil. At the presence of the oil. . .That is, by the sweet unction of divine mercy. 10:28. He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at Machmas he shall lay up his carriages. Into Aiath, etc. . .Here the prophet describes the march of the Assyrians under Sennacherib; and the terror they should carry with them; and how they should suddenly be destroyed. 10:29. They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was astonished, Gabaath of Saul fled away. 10:30. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, attend, O Laisa, poor Anathoth. 10:31. Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take courage. 10:32. It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of Jerusalem. 10:33. Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled. 10:34. And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Libanus with its high ones shall fall. Isaias Chapter 11 Of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, to which all nations shall repair. 11:1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. 11:2. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. 11:3. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. 11:4. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 11:5. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. 11:6. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. 11:7. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 11:8. And the sucking child shall play on other hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. 11:9. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. 11:10. In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious. 11:11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea. 11:12. And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth. 11:13. And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim. 11:14. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, till Moab shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient. 11:15. And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes. 11:16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Isaias Chapter 12 A canticle of thanksgiving for the benefits of Christ. 12:1. And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me. 12:2. Behold, God is my saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation. 12:3. Thou shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour's fountains: 12:4. And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high. 12:5. Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: shew this forth in all the earth. 12:6. Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel. Isaias Chapter 13 The desolation of Babylon. 13:1. The burden of Babylon which Isaias the son of Amos saw. The burden of Babylon. . .That is, a prophecy against Babylon. 13:2. Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates. 13:3. I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory. 13:4. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war. 13:5. To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land. 13:6. Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord. 13:7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt, 13:8. And shall be broken. Gripings and pains, shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt. 13:9. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 13:10. For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light. 13:11. And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty. 13:12. A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold. 13:13. For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his fierce wrath. 13:14. And they shall be as a doe fleeing away, and as a sheep: and there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land. 13:15. Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword. 13:16. Their inhabitants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished. 13:17. Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold: 13:18. But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons. 13:19. And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. 13:20. It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there. 13:21. But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there: 13:22. And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. Isaias Chapter 14 The restoration of Israel after their captivity. The parable or song insulting over the king of Babylon. A prophecy against the Philistines. 14:1. Her time is near at hand, and her days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose out of Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall adhere to the house of Jacob. 14:2. And the people shall take them, and bring them into their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors. 14:3. And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage, wherewith thou didst serve before, 14:4. Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say: How is the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute hath ceased? 14:5. The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, 14:6. That struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel manner. 14:7. The whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad and hath rejoiced. 14:8. The fir trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of Libanus, saying: Since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to cut us down. 14:9. Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of nations. 14:10. All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us. 14:11. Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering. 14:12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? O Lucifer. . .O day star. All this, according to the letter, is spoken of the king of Babylon. It may also be applied, in a spiritual sense, to Lucifer the prince of devils, who was created a bright angel, but fell by pride and rebellion against God. 14:13. And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. 14:14. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. 14:15. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. 14:16. They that shall see thee, shall turn toward thee, and behold thee. Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms, 14:17. That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to his prisoners? 14:18. All the kings of the nations have all of them slept in glory, every one in his own house. 14:19. But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch defiled, and wrapped up among them that were slain by the sword, and art gone down to the bottom of the pit, as a rotten carcass. 14:20. Thou shalt not keep company with them, even in burial: for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people: the seed of the wicked shall not be named for ever. 14:21. Prepare his children for slaughter for the iniquity of their fathers: they shall not rise up, nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 14:22. And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the bud, and the offspring, saith the Lord. 14:23. And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of waters, and I will sweep it and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord of hosts. 14:24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be: and as I have purposed, 14:25. So shall it fall out: That I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulder. 14:26. This is the counsel, that I have purposed upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. 14:27. For the Lord of hosts hath decreed, and who can disannul it? and his hand is stretched out: and who shall turn it away? 14:28. In the year that king Achaz died, was this burden: 14:29. Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, that the rod of him that struck thee is broken in pieces: for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall swallow the bird. 14:30. And the firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest with confidence: and I will make thy root perish with famine, and I will kill thy remnant. 14:31. Howl, O gate; cry, O city: all Philistia is thrown down: for a smoke shall come from the north, and there is none that shall escape his troop. 14:32. And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nations? That the Lord hath founded Sion, and the poor of his people shall hope in him. Isaias Chapter 15 A prophecy of the desolation of the Moabites. 15:1. The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, it is silent: because the wall of Moab is destroyed in the night, it is silent. 15:2. The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places to mourn over Nabo, and over Medaba, Moab hath howled: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaven. 15:3. In their streets they are girded with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets all shall howl and come down weeping. 15:4. Hesebon shall cry, and Eleale, their voice is heard even to Jasa. For this shall the well appointed men of Moab howl, his soul shall howl to itself. 15:5. My heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof shall flee unto Segor a heifer of three years old: for by the ascent of Luith they shall go up weeping: and in the way of Oronaim they shall lift up a cry of destruction. 15:6. For the waters of Nemrim shall be desolate, for the grass is withered away, the spring is faded, all the greenness is perished. 15:7. According to the greatness of their work, is their visitation also: they shall lead them to the torrent of the willows. Torrent of the willows. . .That is, as some say, the waters of Babylon: others render it, a valley of the Arabians. 15:8. For the cry is gone round about the border of Moab: the howling thereof unto Gallim, and unto the well of Elim the cry thereof. 15:9. For the waters of Dibon are filled with blood: for I will bring more upon Dibon: the lion upon them that shall flee of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. Isaias Chapter 16 The prophet prayeth for Christ's coming. The affliction of the Moabites for their pride. 16:1. Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion. 16:2. And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon. 16:3. Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. 16:4. My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot. 16:5. And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just. 16:6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength. 16:7. Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes. 16:8. For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea. 16:9. Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy harvest. 16:10. And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away. Carmel. . .This name is often taken to signify a fair and fruitful hill or field, such as mount Carmel is. 16:11. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall. 16:12. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail. 16:13. This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time: 16:14. And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many. Isaias Chapter 17 Judgments upon Damascus and Samaria. The overthrow of the Assyrians. 17:1. The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones. 17:2. The cities of Aroer shall be left for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid. 17:3. And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: saith the Lord of hosts. 17:4. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean. 17:5. And it shall be as when one gathereth in the harvest that which remaineth, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn: and it shall be as he that seeketh ears in the vale of Raphaim. 17:6. And the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive tree, two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the top of the tree, saith the Lord the God of Israel. 17:7. In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel. 17:8. And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made; and he shall not have respect to the things that his fingers wrought, such as groves and temples. 17:9. In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs, and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and thou shalt be desolate. That were left. . .Viz., by the Chanaanites, when the children of Israel came into their land. 17:10. Because thou hast forgotten God thy saviour, and hast not remembered thy strong helper: therefore shalt thou plant good plants, and shalt sow strange seed. 17:11. In the day of thy planting shall be the wild grape, and in the morning thy seed shall flourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and shall grieve thee much. 17:12. Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters. The multitude, etc. . .This and all that follows to the end of the chapter, relates to the Assyrian army under Sennacherib. 17:13. Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing, but he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. 17:14. In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. Isaias Chapter 18 A woe to the Ethiopians, who fed Israel with vain hopes, their future conversion. 18:1. Woe to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, 18:2. That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters. Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and torn in pieces: to a terrible people, after which there is no other: to a nation expecting and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have spoiled. Angels. . .Or messengers. 18:3. All ye inhabitants of the world, who dwell on the earth, when the sign shall be lifted up on the mountains, you shall see, and you shall hear the sound of the trumpet. 18:4. For thus saith the Lord to me: I will take my rest, and consider in my place, as the noon light is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest. 18:5. For before the harvest it was all flourishing, and it shall bud without perfect ripeness, and the sprigs thereof shall be cut off with pruning hooks: and what is left shall be cut away and shaken out. 18:6. And they shall be left together to the birds of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall be upon them all the summer, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 18:7. At that time shall a present be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people rent and torn in pieces: from a terrible people, after which there hath been no other: from a nation expecting, expecting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, to mount Sion. Isaias Chapter 19 The punishment of Egypt: their call to the church. 19:1. The burden of Egypt. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. 19:2. And I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians: and they shall fight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 19:3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the bowels thereof, and I will cast down their counsel: and they shall consult their idols, and their diviners, and their wizards, and soothsayers. 19:4. And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord the God of hosts. 19:5. And the water of the sea shall be dried up, and the river shall be wasted and dry. 19:6. And the rivers shall fail: the streams of the banks shall be diminished, and be dried up. The reed and the bulrush shall wither away. 19:7. The channel of the river shall be laid bare from its fountain, and every thing sown by the water shall be dried up, it shall wither away, and shall be no more. 19:8. The fishers also shall mourn, and all that cast a hook into the river shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish away. 19:9. They shall be confounded that wrought in flax, combing and weaving fine linen. 19:10. And its watery places shall be dry, all they shall mourn that made pools to take fishes. 19:11. The princes of Tanis are become fools, the wise counsellors of Pharao have given foolish counsel: how will you say to Pharao: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 19:12. Where are now thy wise men? let them tell thee, and shew what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 19:13. The princes of Tanis are become fools, the princes of Memphis are gone astray, they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people thereof. 19:14. The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of giddiness: and they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a drunken man staggereth and vomiteth. 19:15. And there shall be no work for Egypt, to make head or tail, him that bendeth down, or that holdeth back. 19:16. In that day Egypt shall be like unto women, and they shall be amazed, and afraid, because of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall move over it. 19:17. And the land of Juda shall be a terror to Egypt: everyone that shall remember it shall tremble because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined concerning it. 19:18. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the city of the sun. 19:19. In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a monument of the Lord at the borders thereof: 19:20. It shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he shall send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver them. 19:21. And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them. 19:22. And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be pacified towards them, and heal them. 19:23. In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian. 19:24. In that day shall Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the Assyrian: a blessing in the midst of the land, 19:25. Which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands to the Assyrian: but Israel is my inheritance. Isaias Chapter 20 The ignominious captivity of the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians. 20:1. In the year that Tharthan entered into Azotus, when Sargon the king of the Assyrians had sent him, and he had fought against Azotus, and had taken it: 20:2. At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaias the son of Amos, saying Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and barefoot. 20:3. And the Lord said: As my servant Isaias hath walked, naked and barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia, 20:4. So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt. 20:5. And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and of Egypt their glory. 20:6. And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver us from the face of the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape? Isaias Chapter 21 The destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians: a prophecy against the Edomites and the Arabians. 21:1. The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land. The desert of the sea. . .So Babylon is here called, because from a city as full of people as the sea is with water, it was become a desert. 21:2. A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease. O Elam. . .That is, O Persia. 21:3. Therefore are my loins filled with pain, anguish hath taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the hearing of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it. 21:4. My heart failed, darkness amazed me: Babylon my beloved is become a wonder to me. 21:5. Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield. 21:6. For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman: and whatsoever he shall see, let him tell. 21:7. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed. A rider upon an ass, etc. . .These two riders are the kings of the Persians and Medes. 21:8. And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights. And a lion cried out. . .That is, I Isaias seeing the approaching ruin of Babylon, have cried out as a lion roaring. 21:9. Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground. 21:10. O my thrashing, and the children of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you. 21:11. The burden of Duma calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night? Duma. . .That is, Idumea, or Edom. 21:12. The watchman said: The morning cometh, also the night: if you seek, seek: return, come. 21:13. The burden in Arabia. In the forest at evening you shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim. 21:14. Meeting the thirsty bring him water, you that inhabit the land of the south, meet with bread him that fleeth. 21:15. For they are fled from before the swords, from the sword that hung over them, from the bent bow, from the face of a grievous battle. 21:16. For thus saith the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away. Cedar. . .Arabia. 21:17. And the residue of the number of strong archers of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord the God of Israel hath spoken it. Isaias Chapter 22 The prophet laments the devastation of Juda. He foretells the deprivation of Sobna, and the substitution of Eliacim, a figure of Christ. 22:1. The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops? The valley of vision. . .Jerusalem. The temple of Jerusalem was built upon mount Moria, or the mountain of vision. But the city is here called the valley of vision; either because it was lower than the temple, or because of the low condition to which it was to be reduced. 22:2. Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle. 22:3. All the princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off. 22:4. Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people. 22:5. For it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain. 22:6. And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall. 22:7. And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall place themselves in the gate. 22:8. And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest. 22:9. And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower pool, 22:10. And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify the wall. 22:11. And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago. 22:12. And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 22:13. And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. 22:14. And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts. 22:15. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him: 22:16. What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock. 22:17. Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment. 22:18. He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord. 22:19. And I will drive thee out from thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry. 22:20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias, 22:21. And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda. 22:22. And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open. 22:23. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father. 22:24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music. 22:25. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it. Isaias Chapter 23 The destruction of Tyre. It shall be repaired again after seventy years. 23:1. The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them. 23:2. Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee. 23:3. The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations. 23:4. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins. 23:5. When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre: 23:6. Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island. 23:7. Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 23:8. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth? 23:9. The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth. 23:10. Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more. 23:11. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof. 23:12. And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no rest. 23:13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the Assyrians founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have, brought it to ruin. 23:14. Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste. 23:15. And it shall come to pass in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot. 23:16. Take a harp, go about the city, harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered. 23:17. And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 23:18. And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance.
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