desert like the garden of righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4 Hearken unto me my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my 9 ¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep: that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over: 11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 12 1, even Ì, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass: 13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? 14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divideth the sea, whose waves roared; The LORD of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. 17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. 18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. 19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? 20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God. 21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: 22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. EVENING. ISAIAH, CHAP. LIII. HAD the Son of Amos never written another word; had he never uttered another syllable of prediction; this Chapter alone would have established his claim to be called the Evangelical Prophet. After complaining of the incredulity of the Jewish nation, which would neither "believe" the "report" of those who foretold the Messiah's advent, nor yet would see "the arm of the LORD revealed" in Him, when, in after times, he came; Isaiah proceeds to give such a literal, such an exact description of the circumstances of our Saviour's appearance, that the only objection which infidelity ever attempted to advance against the account, was that it must have been composed, after the events, which it purports to foretell, had taken place. The Jewish canon however, itself, bears witness on our side, here: and the authenticity of the prophecy, which was delivered seven hundred years before its accomplishment, has been too firmly established, to shrink before a false accusation. It would be impossible to do the subject justice, except by extending our analysis beyond those limits, which the nature of this little work allots to one chapter: but that is, fortunately, of less consequence in the present instance, than it could have been in any other. Every line shadows forth our Redeemer so distinctly, that the words themselves compose their own best commentary. In reading this Lesson, we might almost persuade ourselves, that we were perusing our Saviour's history, as it is given in the Gospels: for even they are hardly more explicit in their annals of Him, who "bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." WHO hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him: he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way: and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before her shearers is dumb, so openeth he not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong: because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. MORNING. ISAIAH, CHAP. LV. THE opening of this prophetic Chapter is very striking. The uni versality of that water of life which is contained in the Gospel, is proclaimed in the Prophet's exclamation-"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money." It was doubtless in reference to this prophecy, that, when the people, on the great day of the feast, were drawing water from the pool of Siloam, our blessed Saviour stood and cried, "If any man thirst, let him come unto ME and drink!" The blessings of the Gospel covenant are styled, in verse 3, the sure mercies of David," because they are mercies made sure by repeated promises to David and his seed. These mercies are shrewn, in what follows, to extend to other nations besides the Jews, on the condition of true repentance; which God, whose ways are not as our ways, is mercifully willing to accept. The word of God is then beautifully compared to the rains which water the earth, in its fertilizing powers. Joy and peace shall be its certain fruits; and wherever the dews of this his word shall fall, instead of the wicked shall arise the just, and instead of sinners such as fear to sin, F Ho, every one that thirst eth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 6 ¶ Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier |