35 For I will defend this city to save it 36 For mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early 37 in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of 38 Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead. 38 IN those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, 2 Set 2 thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned 3 his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, and said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah 4, 5 wept sore. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: 7 and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, 8 that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. 9 10 THE WRITING OF HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH, WHEN HE HAD BEEN SICK, AND WAS RECOVERED OF HIS SICKNESS: I said in the cutting off of my days, 11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, Even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more With the inhabitants of the world. 12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: He will cut me off 5 with pining sickness : From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, So will he break all my bones: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: 15 I did mourn as a dove: Mine eyes fail with looking upward : O LORD, I am oppressed: What shall undertake for me. say? He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it : I shall go softly all my years In the bitterness of my soul. 16 O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these things is the life of my spirit: So wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17 Behold, 7 for peace I had great bitterness : But 8 thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption : For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 1 Heb. Ararat. 2 Heb. Give charge concern- 3 Heb. with great weeping. 4 Heb. degrees by, or, with the sun. 5 Or, from the thrum. 7 Or, on my peace came great bitterness. 8 Heb. thou hast loved my soul from the pit. 18 For the grave cannot praise thee, Death can not celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth. 20 The LORD was ready to save me : 21 Therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister 22 upon the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD? 39 1 AT that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and 2 was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his 23 armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. 3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, 4 They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen there is nothing among my treasures that I have 5 not showed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of 6 hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing 7 shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace 8 of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days. 40 COMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, Saith your God. 4 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, That her warfare is accomplished, That her iniquity is pardoned: For she hath received of the LORD's hand Double for all her sins. 3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, 4 Prepare ye the way of the LORD, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And every mountain and hill shall be made low : And the crooked shall be made 6 straight, And the rough places 7 plain: 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? 7 All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: Because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : But the word of our God shall stand for ever. 6 Or, a straight place. > Or, appointed time. 7 Or, a plain place. 1 Or, spicery. 3 Heb. vessels or, in- 4 Heb. to the heart. struments. 9 10 Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; 2 O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, Lift up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 11 Behold, the Lord Gon will come 3 with strong hand, Behold, his reward is with him, And this work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: And carry them in his bosom, And shall gently lead those 5 that are with young. 12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, And comprehended the dust of the earth in 6 a measure, And the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, And taught him in the path of judgment, And taught him knowledge, And showed to him the way of 9 understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, And are counted as the small dust of the balance : 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; 18 And they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. Or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, And the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, And casteth silver chains. 20 He that 10 is so impoverished that he hath no oblation Chooseth a tree that will not rot; He seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 11 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; 25 Yea, they shall not be sown: Yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: And he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, To whom then will ye liken me, Or shall I be equal? Saith the Holy One. 1 Or, 0 thou that tellest good 2 Or, O thou that tellest good 4 Or, recompence for his 5 Or, that give suck. 7 Heb. man of his counsel. 8 Heb. made him understand. 9 Heb. understandings? 10 Heb. is poor of oblation. 11 Or, Him that sitteth, &c. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold Who hath created these things, 27 That bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; Not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, And my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; 41 2 They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary ; And they shall walk, and not faint. KEEP silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: Let them come near; then let them speak: Let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, Called him to his foot, Gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, And as driven stubble to his bow. 3 He pursued them, and passed 3 safely; Even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. 4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? 5 I the LORD, the first, And with the last; I am he. The isles saw it, and feared; The ends of the earth were afraid, Drew near, and came. 6 They helped every one his neighbour; And every one said to his brother, 4 Be of good courage. 7 So the carpenter encouraged the "goldsmith, 8 And he that smootheth with the hammer 6 him that smote the anvil, 7 Saying, It is ready for the soldering: And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called thee from the chief men thereof, And said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee 1 Heb. change. 2 Heb. righteousness. 3 Heb, in peace. 4 Heb. Be strong. 5 Or, founder. 7 Or, Saying of the solder, It is good. Shall be ashamed and confounded: They shall be as nothing; And they that strive with thee shall perish. 12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, Even them that contended with thee: 3 They that war against thee Shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, Saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, And thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument Having teeth: Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, And shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them: 17 And thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, And their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in high places, And fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, And the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, And the pine, and the box tree together: 20 That they may see, and know, 21 225 And consider, and understand together, 6 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. 22 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen : Let them show the former things, what they be, That we may 7 consider them, and know the latter end of them; 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that ye are gods: Yea, do good, or do evil, That we may be dismayed, and behold it together. 24 Behold, ye are 8 of nothing, And your work 9 of nought: An abomination is he that chooseth you. 25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come : From the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name : And he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, And as the potter treadeth clay. 26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? Yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that declareth, 27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them : 1 Heb. the men of thy strife. 4 Or, few men. 2 Heb. the men of thy contention. 5 Heb. mouths. 3 Heb. The men of thy war. 7 Heb. set our heart upon them. 8 Or, worse than nothing. 6 Heb. Cause to come near. 9 Or, worse than of a viper. |