Page images
PDF
EPUB

The isles saw it, and feared;

The ends of the earth were afraid,

Drew near, and came.

They helped every one his neighbour;

And every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. 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.

But thou, Israel, art my servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

The seed of Abraham my friend.

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.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee:

Be not dismayed; for I am thy God:

I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;

Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded:

They shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee:

They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand,
Saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel;
I will help thee, saith the Lord,

And thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth:

Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small,

And shalt make the hills as chaff.

Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them

away,

And the whirlwind shall scatter them:

And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,

And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
When the

none,

poor and needy seek water, and there is

And their tongue faileth for thirst,

I the Lord will hear them,

I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

I will open rivers in high places,

And fountains in the midst of the valleys:
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,

And the dry land springs of water.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree;

I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together,

That the hand of the Lord hath done this,

And the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
Produce your cause, saith the Lord;

Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of
Jacob.

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.

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. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: An abomination is he that chooseth you.

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 morter, And as the potter treadeth clay.

Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know?

And beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth,

Yea, there is none that heareth your words.

The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: And I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

For I beheld, and there was no man;

Even among them, and there was no counsellor, That, when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing:

Their molten images are wind and confusion.

BEHOLD my servant, whom I uphold;
Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth;

I have put my spirit upon him:

He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up,

Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break,

And the smoking flax shall he not quench:
He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged,

Till he have set judgment in the earth:
And the isles shall wait for his law.

Thus saith God the Lord,

He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it;

He that giveth breath unto the people upon it,
And spirit to them that walk therein:

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness,
And will hold thine hand, and will keep thee,

And give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

To

open the blind eyes,

To bring out the prisoners from the prison,

And them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

I am the Lord: that is my name:

And my glory will I not give to another,

Neither my praise to graven images.

Behold, the former things are come to pass,

And new things do I declare:

Before they spring forth I tell you of them.

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 thereof.

Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice,

« PreviousContinue »