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And comfort thee,

To mournful Sion saith her Lord;

Thy warfare ended,

Grace is extended;

Blessings upon thy head are poured.

In deserts bare

Those shouts declare

"Make straight a highway for our God! Each vale be raised,

Mountains displaced;

Ye rough and crooked, be ye trod."

Jehovah's glory

Shall shine before ye;

Behold it, sons of every nation!

B

Hear from God's mouth,

Both north and south,

The joyful tidings of salvation.

A voice saith, "Cry!" And what shall I proclaim?

All flesh is grass, its goodliness the same;

It withers as the winds around it pass:

This people verily is nought but grass.

The blasts of heaven the feeble buds may sever,

But God's unfailing word shall stand for ever.

With strength lift up thy voice,

O thou that bidd'st Jerusalem rejoice!
Ascend the mountain's height,

Proclaim it in all ears;

Cry unto Judah, "Mark the glorious sight! Ye distant cities, Lo! your God appears."

Jehovah, sovereign Lord,

Against the mighty ones shall raise the sword:
His hand shall give the shock:

He brings his recompence.

Like tender shepherd shall he feed his flock, And be the weak and nursling's sure defence.

Who hath gathered the seas in the palm of his hand? And who with a metre the heavens hath spanned?

Who the dust of the earth in a measure hath laid?

And where are the scales which the mountains have

weighed?

Say, who hath directed the mind of the Lord?

And whose is the counsel he deigns to record?
Who gave him instruction? Declare at whose hands
He judgment, or wisdom, or knowledge demands.
Lo, each nation before him a water-drop seems;
Yea, these as the dust of the balance he deems:
In his sight all the islands like atoms appear.
And if
ye
to his name would an offering rear
Then were Lebanon's self an inadequate pile,

All the beasts of its forest an offering vile.

And what are the nations? As nought in his sight; Less than nothing are they, and as vanity, light.

Unto what semblance liken ye the Lord?
What can to him similitude afford?

The workman will some costly image mould,
A smith o'erlayeth it with plates of gold,

And laboureth to forge its silver chains.
He that is poor some lasting wood will choose:
Nor doth the skilful artist's hand refuse

To carve the image which his house retains.
What, will ye never know? will ye not hear?
Did not His word to you of old declare

He sitteth on the circle of the world? Dense swarms to him its myriads represent: He as a veil extends the firmament,

Which as his vast pavilion is unfurled.

The great ones of the earth to nought he brings,
Reduces to a fleeting shade their kings,

That not a vestige shall they leave behind.

B 2

Yea, they shall not be sown, they shall not grow, They wither instantly if he but blow:

They shall be borne like chaff before the wind.

To whom will ye compare Jehovah then?
Where is his likeness, O ye sons of men?

Lift up your eyes on high,

Say who hath formed the starry host of heaven? He calleth forth the armies of the sky,

He hath to each a name and station given:

By his command their trackless path they steer; At his almighty word none faileth to appear.

Why, O Jacob, dost thou sayWherefore, Israel, speak'st thou thus,

Jehovah doth not see my way;

Our God hath no regard or thought for us?

Say, hast thou never known? hast thou not heard, Jehovah is the Everlasting One?

By his creative power the earth was reared,

He faints not, he his endless course doth run; Unsearchable himself, he tries all hearts; And to the poor and weak his strength imparts. Even the noble youths shall faint at length,

And thou the young men's utter fall shalt view; But they that wait on God shall gather strength; Like eagles they their vigour shall renew; They shall press forward, with increasing pace Shall run, and not be wearied in the race.

CHAPTER XLI.

APPROACH, ye nations, with your minds renewed,
And be the people with fresh strength imbued;
Let them draw near, bring forward each pretence:
Let us engage in solemn conference.

Who from the east the righteous man hath called,
And summoned him his footsteps to attend?
Who to his hand the nations hath enthralled,
And made the mighty ones on him depend?
Caused them as dust before his sword to show?
And as the driven stubble to his bow?

He follows them, in safety he is brought,

And by a way his feet had never known: Who hath performed it? who this work hath wrought? Who, in all generations, this hath done? The great Jehovah's self this deed will claim, The first, and with the last; I am the same.

All this the distant nations saw,
With terror were they shaken;
The earth's remotest parts felt awe,
And thus their fears awaken.

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