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Thus saith the Lord, Lo, I will lift my hand,
My signal I will raise to every land;

And they shall bring thy sons upon their breast,
Thy daughters on their shoulders shall they rest;
And monarchs shall their foster-fathers be,

Queens thou shalt as their nursing mothers see;

Their faces to the earth shall they bow down,
And lick the dust whereon thy feet have trod;
And they shall surely know that I am God,
And I the faithful never will disown.

What, shall the prey

Be taken from the mighty one away?

Or shall the spoils

Be rescued from the adversary's toils?

Jehovah hath said, Yea:

Even the great ones' prey shall be released,

Ye shall recover what the spoiler seized.

With those that strive with thee, I am the striver

And I thy children surely will deliver.

And those that wrought thee ill,

With their own flesh I fill,

And as with wine, their blood

Shall drench them in a flood:
And every eye shall see
That God hath saved thee
And that the deed is done
By Jacob's Mighty One.

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CHAPTER L.

THUS saith the Lord,

Produce to me the word

By which I wrote your mother's separation;
To which do you belong,

My creditors among,

To whom I sold you as a compensation?
Lo, ye are sold for your iniquities,

And from your sins does her divorce arise.

Is

my

I came, there was not one:

I called, had answer none.

hand shortened that I cannot save? What, can I not set free?

In wrath I dry the sea:

Their fish have failed because they lack the wave: Yea, I in darkness will envelop heaven,

And I have sackcloth as its covering given.

The Lord hath favoured me with wisdom's tongue,
That I might comfort to the weary speak ;
He wakeneth me, he calleth all day long,
That as a learner I might knowledge seek;

The Lord Jehovah opened hath mine ear,
I turned not, nor rebellious would appear.

Unto the smiting ones my back I

gave,

My cheeks to those that plucked off the hair, Nor would my face from shame and spitting save;

The Lord hath holpen me these ills to bear;

I therefore as a flint have set my face,
Nor shall be brought to shame or to disgrace.

The justifying one is near at hand,

What mortal to contend with me will choose?
Where is my adversary? let him stand:
God is my advocate, who shall accuse?
Lo, all of these shall as a vest decay,
And to consuming moths shall fall a prey.

Where is the man among you fearing God?
Let him attend unto his servant's voice.
He, who in darksome places still hath trod,
And doth not yet in cheering light rejoice—
Let the Almighty's name afford him aid,
And on Jehovah let his trust be stayed.

Behold, ye blind igniters of a flame,

Which ye with fuel thus have compassed round; Ye raised the light-now walk ye in the same, And in the fuel which your sparks have found; This punishment my hand to you shall send, In shame and sorrow your device shall end.

CHAPTER LI.

HEARKEN, all ye who righteousness have sought,
And who would call upon Jehovah's name:
Look up unto the rock whence ye were brought,
And to the hollowed cave from whence ye came.

Abraham, your great father, look upon;
Your eyes on Sarah as your mother place:
Behold, I called him, as being one,
I blessed him, I multiplied his race.

Thus will I comfort Sion's deep distress,
And consolation to her wastes afford;
Like Eden will I make her wilderness,
The desert like the garden of the Lord.

Great joy and gladness Sion shall display,
Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

O all ye peoples, to my words give heed,
And unto me, ye nations, lend your ear;
Behold, from me the judgment shall proceed,
And to the people shall my light appear.

My coming righteousness is near at hand;
Now even, my salvation is gone forth;
My arm gives judgment to each distant land;
On this are placed the hopes of all the earth.
Lift up unto the firmament your eyes,

And all the earth beneath your feet behold:
The heavens shall dissolve, as vapour flies;
And as a garment shall the earth wax old.

From its inhabitants their breath I sever,
E'en as the short-lived insects of a day:
But
my salvation shall endure for ever;
My promised righteousness shall ne'er decay.

Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness,
The people in whose hearts my law is shown;
Let not vile man's reproach your minds distress,
By their revilings be ye not borne down.

These as a garment shall the moth consume,
The wasting worm shall eat them up like wool;
Yet shall my righteousness for ever bloom,
Eternally shall my salvation rule.

Awake, awake, thy mighty strength unfold,

Arm of Jehovah !

Awake, awake, as in the days of old!

Art thou not he that smote proud Rahab's hold, And the rebellious dragon triumphed over?

Art thou not he that dried up the sea

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