shalt weep no more! Oh! thou people that dwellest in Zion, in Jerusalem, thou He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry. When He shall hear it, He will answer thee. And the Lord shall give thee adversity as bread, and affliction as water. And thy Teacher shall not be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy Teacher, and thine ears shall hear a Voice behind thee, saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it," when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Then shalt thou defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold-thou shalt cast them away as an unclean cloth-thou shalt say unto it, "Get thee hence." Then shall He give the rain to thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground with; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be rich and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise, and the young asses that plough the ground shall eat savoury provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel, and with the fan. Then there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of water in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. (Ch. xxx. 17-26.) The Day of Divine Vengeance against Judah's Enemies. His lips-they're full of wrath : His tongue is a devouring fire His breath is an overflowing stream-it reaches to the middle ; of the neck, It sifts the nations, with the sieve of destruction. A bridle causing them to err shall be on the people's jaws. Ye shall have a song as in the night when a festival is kept: and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a musical instrument to come into the Mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause the Voice of His glory to be heard, and shall show the coming down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire with a crashing, and tempest, and hailstones. And through the Voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down. He shall smite him with a rod : and every blow of the staff of doom which the Lord shall lay upon him shall be with tabrets and harps (on your part)— in battles of the shaking of His Hand will He fight with him. For the funeral pyre is already ordained; for Moloch it is prepared. It hath been made deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood-the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, shall kindle it. (Ch. xxx. 27-33.) The Folly of Trust in Egypt. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help: that depend upon horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but do not look unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! Yet He also is wise! He bringeth calamity, and calleth not back His words! He will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Consider this. "The Egyptians are men, and not God! Their horses are flesh, and not spirit! When the Lord shall stretch out His Hand, both he that helpeth shall fall and he that is helped shall fall-yea, they all shall fail together!" For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me:— I. "Like as when the lion and the young lion growleth over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of Hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the Hill thereof." 2. "Like as mother birds flying above their nest, So will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem. Passing over it, He will preserve it ! "O children of Israel, turn ye unto Him from whom ye have deeply revolted. "Then shall every man cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which his own hands have sinfully made for him. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not the sword of man: and the sword shall devour him, not the sword of man. He shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall pay tribute. His stronghold shall be passed in fear his princes shall be dismayed at their own standard!" Thus saith the Lord whose fire is in Zion, and whose hearth is in Jerusalem. (Ch. xxxi. 1-9.) : PART X. THE PROPHET URGES REPENTANCE ON HIS OWN PEOPLE. Warning drawn from the Siege of Samaria (722 B.C.). Ah! the crown of pride! Ah! the drunkards of Ephraim ! Their glorious beauty-alas! 'tis a fading flower! On the top of the fat valleys; they're overcome with wine! Behold! The Lord hath a mighty, and a strong one-a tempest of hail ! A destroying storm-a flood of mighty waters, overflowing. He is casting her down to the earth with His Hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet, and the glorious beauty, which is situated on the head of the fertile valley, shall be a fading flower, as the early fruit before its season: which he that looketh upon and seeth, while it is yet in his hand, eateth up. In that day the Lord of Hosts shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of His people. He shall also be for a spirit of justice to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. The State of Jerusalem. But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way! The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink they are swallowed up of wine: they are out of the way through strong drink. They err in vision: they stumble in judging! All their tables are covered with vomit and filthiness: there is no place clean. “Whom will he teach knowledge?" say they, "and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn away from the breast! For it's precept upon precept, line upon line: here a little, and there a little." "Yes, with stammering lips, and a foreign tongue, will He speak to this people. For to them He said, 'This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing,' but they would not hear. Yes, indeed, the Word of the Lord shall be unto them precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line: here a little, and there a little (as they say), that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." Oh hear the Word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people in Jerusalem! Because ye have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with the grave we are in agreement :—when the overflowing scourge shall pass along, it shall not come unto us-we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." Therefore, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, "Behold! I will lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. He that trusteth on it shall not be confounded. Justice also will I make the line, and righteousness the plummet. The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with the grave shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass along, then ye shall be trodden down by it. As often as it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass along, both by day and by night and it shall be a vexation to you only to learn the news. The bed shall be too short for a man to stretch himself upon it! The covering shall be too narrow for him to wrap himself in it! For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim; He shall be wroth as in the Valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work, and bring to pass His act, His strange act. (Ch. xxviii. 1-21.) |