Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. And they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown : To whom then will ye liken me, Or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, And my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, The Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. T Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; AWAKE, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; And ye shall be redeemed without money. My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there: They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord: That I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, That publisheth peace; That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; With the voice together shall they sing : For they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence. Touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: For the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, Ye shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. His visage was so marred more than any man, And his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; The kings shall shut their mouths at him: And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 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. 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. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteein him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: And with his stripes we are healed. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth : And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, He was taken from prison and from judgment For he was cut off out of the land of the living: And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 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. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, Because he hath poured out his soul unto death: And he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, A leader and commander to the people. 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. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. not thither, But watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, 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. 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. And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree, For an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off. JEREMIAH. How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people ! How is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, And princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her ene mies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great ser vitude: She dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: Her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. For the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, What thing shall I take to witness for thee? What thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?' I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good? Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, |