words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach Thee, the Living God. Of a truth, O Lord! the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone-therefore they have destroyed them. Now, I beseech Thee, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou the Only One."

Jehovah's final message to Assyria.

Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent unto Hezekiah, saying:-"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, this is the Word, which the Lord hath spoken concerning him

"The virgin, the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem hath contempt for thee.' Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against Whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, 'By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the slopes of Lebanon. Now I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof, yea, I will enter into his highest height, the forest of his fruitful field. I have digged wells, and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up the rivers of Upper and Lower Egypt.'

"Hast thou not heard that long ago I have planned it, and formed it in ancient times? Now, have I brought it to pass that thou shouldst be to lay waste fortified cities, and make

them ruined heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded, they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be fully grown. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me. Because thy rage against Me, and thy careless ease is come up into Mine ears, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way, by which thou camest.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, 'He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor raise up a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come into this city,' saith the Lord; 'for I will defend this city to save it for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.'

"And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth of the same: but in the third year ye shall sow and reap-plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. For the remnant that is escaped of the House of Jacob shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and those who escape out of Mount Zion. The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this."

The fulfilled Word (701 B.C.).

And the Angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred and fourscore and five thousand. When they arose in the morning, behold! they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went, and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.

The Death of Sennacherib (681 B.C.).

Now it came to pass as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Armenia. Then Esar-Haddon, his son, reigned in his stead. (Ch. xxxvii. 14-38.)

The Renown of Hezekiah.

Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, and from the hand of every enemy, and guided them on every side. And many brought gifts unto the Lord, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah, king of Judah. So he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time henceforth. (2 Chron. xxxii. 22.)

A Psalm of Victory.

God is our refuge and stronghold: a help near in trouble!
Therefore we'll not fear, though the earth do shake-
Though the mountains be moved, in the midst of the seas!
Though the waves thereof roar, and be troubled;
Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof!
There is a river-its streams make glad the City of God,
The Holy Place of the Tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in her midst! She shall not be moved!
God hath helped her, even at the morning dawn!

The nations raged! The kingdoms were moved!

He uttered His voice! The earth melted!

The Lord of Hosts is with us: the God of Jacob our Refuge sure.

Come behold the works of the Lord-what desolations in

the earth He makes !

He maketh wars to cease, unto the end of the earth!

He breaketh the bow: He cutteth the spear in sunder!
He burneth the chariots in the fire.

Be still and know that I am God, high among the nations, high in the earth.

The Lord of Hosts is with us: the God of Jacob-our Refuge sure.

(Psalm xlvi.)

PART VIII.

A SERIES OF PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE CERTAIN DOOM OF ASSYRIA.

Isaiah to Assyria (720-710 B.C.).

The Divine Supremacy.-O Assyrian! thou art the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in thine hand is that of Mine indignation. I will send him against a profane nation, and against a people, with whom I am displeased, will I give him a command, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. He indeed purposeth not so, neither does his heart think so. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. He is saying: "Are not my generals all kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus ? As my hand hath found the kingdoms that worship idols, and whose graven images did excel those of Jerusalem, and of Samaria, shall I not do unto Jerusalem and her idols as I have done unto Samaria, and her idols?”

Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed all His work upon Mount Zion, and on Jerusalem,

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I will punish the fruit of the boastful heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his proud looks. For he is saying, 'By the strength of my hand have I done this, and by my wisdom, for I am wise. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and have put down kings as their superior. Yea, my hand hath found out the riches of the people, as one findẹth a nest: and as one gathereth the eggs that are left in it, have I gathered all the earth. There was none that moved its wing, or opened its mouth, or chirped against me." (Chap. x. 5-14.)

The Destruction of Pride.

Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? As if a rod should shake those that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up what is not wood! Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, send leanness among his fat ones, and instead of his glory He shall kindle a burning, like the burning of a fire. And the Light of Israel shall be a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day, and shall consume the glory of the forest, and of the fruitful field, both soul and body, and they shall be as when a sick man pineth away. Then the rest of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that a child may count them.

But in that day it shall come to pass that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the House of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay in truth upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, the remnant of them shall return: the consumption that is decreed shall overflow with righteousness. A consumption