PRELUDE

A CRY OF COMFORT FOR JERUSALEM

JEHOVAH

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; that she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

[Voices carry on the tidings across the desert to Jerusalem

A VOICE OF ONE CRYING

Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD,

Make straight in the desert a high way for our God. 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 :

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.

A SECOND VOICE (in the distance)

Cry!

A DESPAIRING VOICE

What shall I cry?

All flesh is grass,

And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the

field:

The grass withereth,

The flower fadeth,

Because the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass!

THE SECOND VOICE

The grass withereth,

The flower fadeth:

But the word of our God shall stand for ever.

FOURTH VOICE (still more distant)

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
Get thee up into the high mountain;
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,
Lift up thy voice with strength;

Lift it up, be not afraid;

Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your

God!

FIFTH VOICE

Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one,

And his arm shall rule for him:

Behold, his reward is with him,
And his recompence before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,
He shall gather the lambs in his arm,
And carry them in his bosom,

And shall gently lead those that give suck.

133

VISION I

THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH DELIVERED

Introduction

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a 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. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The graven image, a workman melted it, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth for it silver chains. He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will