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 • Division XI30 \^ ---^ 
 Section « K^ .«. 
 Number 
 
THE 
 
 p^eppEciE3 OF i^niM' 
 
THE 
 
 PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 :nnsIatcLj front iht Mcbuto 
 
 BY 
 
 J. M. EODWELL, M.A., 
 
 OF GOSVILLE AND CAIDS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; RECTOR OF ST. 
 
 ETHELBURGA, LONDON ; TRANSLATOR OF THE KORAN 
 
 AND OF THE BOOK OF JOB ; ETC., ETC. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 FREDERIC NORGATE, 
 
 7, KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN; 
 WILLIAMS & NORGATE, 20, FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 
 1886. 
 
TO 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, 
 Prime Minister of England, 
 
 THIS TRANSLATION 
 
 IS (by his permission) dedicated 
 
 WITH SINCEREST RESPECT 
 BY 
 
 THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
ERRATUM. 
 
 Page 96, line 13, punctuate and lead — 
 'Protect this city.' (And Isaiah said: 'Let them 
 ' bring a cake of figs, and let them bind to the boil, 
 ' that he may live.' For Hezekiah said : ' What is 
 'the sign that I shall go up to the house of Yahveh?') 
 'And this the siu;n, &c.' 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tnii object of the translator, in the following pages, 
 is to present the utterances of the Prophet Isaiah in a 
 form as nearly as possible identical with that in which 
 they met the eye of those to whom they were originally 
 addressed. He has therefore aimed on the one hand to 
 be strictly literal and faithful to the Hebrew text, even 
 at the cost of occasional roughness and baldness of ex- 
 pression, while, on the other, he has retained the paral- 
 lelisms which are a distinguishing feature of all He- 
 brew poetry, and which, by the expansion of a primary 
 idea into two or more varied forms, enable the writer not 
 only to emphasize his statement, but to a great extent 
 to become his own interpreter. 
 
 The translator has adhered throughout to the com- 
 mon Masoretic text with reference both to the order of 
 the chapters and to its readings, with the exception of 
 an occasional preference of the Keri to the ChetJiib, but 
 without adopting in any case the conjectural emendations 
 of modern scholars. It must, however, be admitted that 
 the chapters admit of an arrangement more closely in 
 harmonv with the events which occurred diirino' the reiaii 
 of the various princes under whom Isaiah wrote, between 
 the last year of Uzziah in B.C. 758, and the accession of 
 Manasseh in e.g. 698. Judging from the analogy of otiier 
 prophetic writings, it would seem as if the Bouk of I- 
 
11 PREFACE 
 
 saiah would more naturally commence with the introduc- 
 tory visionof chapter vi., while chapters xiii., xiv. 1 — 27, 
 xix., xxi. 1 — 10, should follow, instead of preceding, chap- 
 ters xxiv. — xwii. At any rate, it is agreed by critics, 
 both foreign and English, that the existing order of the 
 prophecies is not strictly chronological, although the de- 
 viations from accuracy are not considerable. It will be 
 sufficient in connection with this point to observe that 
 some commentators, as Havernick, Gesenius, and Dr. 
 Davidson, have proposed to divide the Avhole Book into 
 four smaller portions, viz., (1) chapters i — xiii : (2) chap- 
 ters xiii — xxiii : (3) chapters xxiv — xxxv, treating the 
 historical and prose chapters, xxxvi — xxxix as a kind of 
 of appendix, adopted and incorporated with ceitain mo- 
 difications from the national chronicles : and (4) chapters 
 xl — Ixvi : while other critics, as Ewald and Delitzsch, 
 subdivide the Book to a still greater extent, and suppose 
 the existence of several authors and editors, at different 
 periods. To prosecute, however, this difficult and thorny 
 subject, would be wholly inconsistent with the necessary 
 limits of a preface, as well as with the translator's main 
 object as above stated. It will be sufficient here to remark 
 that chapters xl^ — Ixvi have been assigned to another 
 w riter than the Isaiah of the previous prophecies, j)rin- 
 cipally on the ground of difference of style and expression 
 as well as of subject matter. 
 
 A translation will naturally take much of its tone 
 and colour from the views which the translator himself 
 may happen to entertain of prophecy in general, and of 
 the extent to which he regards the writings of any par- 
 ticular prophet as penetrated by the Messianic idea. He 
 
PREFACE 111 
 
 might thus be able to translate according to some pre- 
 conceived theory or bias, and often to stamp his own 
 theological views on the very front of his version. If, 
 for instance, he should be persuaded that the Prophecies 
 of Isaiah, down to the minutest particulars, have im- 
 mediate and primary reference to jm-^'^^f^^!/ events, and at 
 the same time contain implied references to coming events 
 in the history of the Jewisli people and of humanity at 
 large — that whatever was spoken by Isaiah of Jeru- 
 salem — of the Righteousness, or righteous and faithful 
 dealings of God with Israel, resulting in national Pros- 
 perity, as in ch. Ixii. 12 — of their Salcation^ ov deliver- 
 ance from Babylon — of Cyrus as its instrument — of tlie 
 Gael i.e.. Vindicator, Liberator or Redeemer, as one who 
 ransoms, brings back into freedom, and so restores, a lost 
 inheritance — of the Servant or servants of God as pro- 
 phetic announcers of deliverance — not only admits of 
 application to the Christian dispensation at large, but 
 was so intended — he would naturally translate in ac- 
 cordance with his prepossessions, believing that words 
 which to Isaiah himself must have been little more than 
 a dim intuition, assume the proportion of divine enlighten- 
 ment when taken in connection with the Evangelic 
 History. At the same time he would find himself bur- 
 dened with the difficulty of doing justice to this twofold 
 aspect of his author, and in danger of bringing either the 
 Present or the Future into undue prominence by his 
 choice of words and renderings. 
 
 A translator, moreover, may see in the Prophecies 
 of Isaiah nothing more than the utterances of a pure 
 patriotism, vague but lofty hopes of a brighter future. 
 
IV PREFACE 
 
 interspersed with dark pictures of the sufferings to which 
 the faithful servants of God, whether as individuals, or 
 as a prophetic order, or as a faithful remnant among the 
 people, would be subjected. He might see in them 
 merely a reflection of the stormy times which ushered in 
 and caused the decadence of the Jewish nation, and the 
 rejection of an unwelcome message, which would draw 
 down upon the prophet bitter persecution. To such a 
 translator Isaiah would be little more than the patriot 
 statesman, or the stern moralist filled with a boldness 
 wdiicli enabled him to rebuke the sinful, whether princes 
 or people, to strengthen the vacillating and encourage 
 the faint-hearted. He would see in him one of those who 
 stood against their age and the spirit of the world — never 
 despairing of better times— a devout adorer of the God 
 of his Fathers, — full of Faith in a Divine superintendence, 
 and thus enabled to look through all the clouds that ob- 
 scured the present, to a bright but unknown future. 
 Such a translator would of course translate in accordance 
 with his liteialistic views. 
 
 But whatever opinions the translator of Isaiah may 
 hold, he ought to be especially on his guard against the 
 loose, ornate, and paraphrastic style which has so greatly 
 disfigured the earlier, as well as against that tendency to a 
 mystic pietism, wliich finds the ideal, spiritual and super- 
 sensible, where nothing but passing events anel matters 
 of fact were intended by the author, so characteristic of 
 some recent translations. 
 
 The translations of Gesenius and of Ewald with 
 their accompanying commentaries, especially that of Ge- 
 senius, may be studied with the greatest advantage. A 
 
PREFACE 
 
 considerable amount of learning may be found in the notes 
 appended to the version of the late Dr. Henderson, but 
 the version itself is very faulty. He leans far too strong- 
 ly to the Messianic interpretation. 
 
 The accuracy and trustworthiness of the historical 
 portions of the Prophet Isaiah may be illustrated by an 
 extract from my translation of the Cuneiform text of a 
 slab belonging to the Koyunjik Bulls in the British Mu- 
 seum, published in the Records of the Past, vol. vii., and 
 and commonly known as the Sennacherib Inscription. 
 It says (v. 22), *'Tlie Governors and the population of 
 the city Ekron, who Padi their king (23) an ally of As- 
 syria with a chain of iron had bound, and to Hezokiah 
 king of Judah had delivered him — them the shadows of 
 death overwhelmed. . . . Hezekiah king of Judah did 
 not submit to my yoke ; (28) Forty-six of his cities . . . 
 I plundered. Himself I made like a caged bird in the 
 midst of Jerusalem — the city of his royalty (29). Gar- 
 rison towers against him I raised. . . . (30). Hezekiah 
 himself, the fear of the approach of my majesty (31) over- 
 whelmed, and the soldiers whom he had caused to enter 
 Jerusalem his royal city. He consented to the payment 
 of tribute, 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver. " 
 
 The Bel and Nebo of Isasah xlvi. 1, are mentioned 
 together as thus addressed by Cyrus, on the Babylonian 
 Cylinder described in the Trans. Soc. Bihl. Archmol. 
 vol. vii, p. 139 sqq., " That the length of my days they 
 should fulfil, and that they should bless the law of my 
 destiny, I addressed Bel and Nebo every day. " 
 
NOTE. 
 
 N.B. — The asterisk (*) occasionally found in the following pages, indi- 
 cates the use, in the Hebrew, of a paronomasia, — assonance, or play upon 
 words of similar sound but different meaning, which could not be repro- 
 duced in translation. 
 
 The reader of Isaiah should be apprized that the time, past, present, or 
 future, implied in Hebrew verbs, is often to be gathered from the context, 
 and that in some cases each of the tenses is employed with equal pro- 
 priety. Vide Gesenius, Grammar, ch. iii., on the Syntax of the Hebrew 
 Verb. 
 
THE 
 
 P^0PPEOIEg 0F WW' 
 
 CHAPTER L 1—4. 
 
 The great arraignjiient. (Ewald). Complaints of the anl- 
 mrsal corruption and degeneracy of the people : ivith 
 intimations of impending judgments, and the promise 
 of a reformation and return to p>rimitive purity and 
 prosperity. 
 
 Vision of Isaiah, son of Amos, which he saw concern- 
 ing Juclah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziali, Jotham, 
 Ahaz, Hezekiah, Kings of Judah. 
 
 Hearken, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. 
 
 For Yahveh speaks ! 
 
 *' I have reared and brought up sons, 
 
 " And they have broken away from me ! 
 
 " An ox knows his owner, 
 
 " And an ass his master's crib : — 
 
 " Israel knows not, 
 
 " My people doth not consider ! " 
 
 Ah sinful nation !* guilt-laden people ! 
 
 Seed of transgressors ! sons that act corruptly ! 
 
 They have forsaken Yahveh, 
 
 Have disdained Israel's Holy One, 
 
 Are gone away backward ! 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter I. 5 — 12. 
 
 Why, increasing revolt, will ye still be smitten \ 
 
 Every lieiul sickens and every heart is faint ; 
 
 From solo of foot even to head — no soundness in it— 
 
 But wound and weal and festering sore : 
 
 They have not been pressed out, nor bound up, 
 
 Nor softened with oil. 
 
 Your land — a desolation ! 
 
 Your cities — burned with fire 1 
 
 Your soil — aliens devour it in your presence — 
 
 Even a desolation, like an overthrow by aliens ! 
 
 And Zion's daughter is left 
 
 Like a hut in a vineyard, 
 
 Like a lodge in a cucumber field, 
 
 Like a besieged city ! 
 
 Had not Yahveh of Hosts left us a remnant. 
 
 We had within a little been as Sodom, 
 
 We had been like to Gomorrah ! 
 
 Judges of Sodom, hear the word of Yahveh ! 
 People of Gomorrah, give ear to the teaching [Torah] 
 of our Elohim. 
 
 Wherefore a niultitude of your sacrifices to me ? saith 
 
 Yahveh : 
 I am sated with burnt offerings of rams and fat of 
 
 fatlings. 
 And ill blood of bullocks and lambs and he goats I 
 
 delight not. 
 When ye come to behold my face, 
 Who luith required this at your hands — to tread my 
 
 courts 'I 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 3 
 
 Chapter I. 13 — 21. 
 
 Bring no more an oblation of vanity, 
 
 Incense that is an abomination to me — 
 
 New moon and Sabbath and calling of assembly — 
 
 I cannot endnre wickedness and festival : 
 
 Your new moons and your set days my soul hates, 
 
 They have become a weight upon me, 
 
 I am weary of bearing it. 
 
 And when ye spread forth your palms, 
 
 I will hide mine eyes from you : 
 
 Even if ye make many prayers I listen not — 
 
 Your hands are full of blood. 
 
 Wash ye, purify yourselves. 
 
 Put away the evil of your doings from before mine 
 
 eyes, 
 Cease to do wrong, learn to do good : 
 Seek judgment, set right the oppressor, 
 To orphan do justice, for widow plead. 
 
 Come now, let us close our dispute, saith Yahveli ; 
 " Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be Avhite 
 
 like snow ; 
 *' Though they be red like crimson, they shall be like 
 
 wool. 
 " If ye be willing and hearken, ye shall eat the good 
 
 of the land, 
 " But if ye refuse and rebel, by th.e sword shall ye be 
 
 eaten. 
 '' For Yahveh's mouth has said it. " 
 
 How is a faithful city become an harlot. 
 She that was full of justice ! 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter I. 21—31. 
 
 Eighteousness did abide in her — but now, murderers ! 
 
 Thy silver is become dross, 
 
 Thy wine weakened with water ; 
 
 Thy rulers are unruly,* and comrades of robbers, 
 
 Every one loves a bribe, and hurries after rewards, — 
 
 To orphan tliey do no justice. 
 
 Nor comes the cause of widow to them. 
 
 Therefore — a voice from Yahveh of Hosts, Israel's 
 
 mighty one : — 
 Ha ! I will get me ease through mine adversaries, 
 And I will be avenged* on my foes ; 
 And I will bring back my hand upon thee. 
 And smelt out thy dross as ivitk lye. 
 And take away all thy alloy. 
 And bring back thy judges as at first, 
 And thy counsellors as at the beginning. 
 After this thou shalt be called, 
 WatchtoAver of righteousness. Faithful city ; 
 Through justice shall Zion be preserved. 
 And they that turn in her, through righteous dealing, 
 But a destruction of renegades and sinners together ! 
 And they who forsake Yahveh shall be consumed. 
 For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths in which 
 
 ye found pleasure. 
 And ye shall blush for the gardens which ye chose ; 
 Yea, ye shall be like a terebinth whose leaf withers. 
 And like a garden which has no water ; 
 And the strong one becomes tow. 
 And his work a spark. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter I. 5 — 12. 
 
 And they both burn together, 
 And no one quenches. 
 
 CHAPTERS 11. III. IV 
 
 Chapter II. 1 — 4. 
 
 Mount Zion is to be a centre of religious unity. Present 
 confidence in sorcery and idols. The pride and ex- 
 travagance of women. Future restoration, fertility 
 and security. 
 
 The word which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning 
 Judah and Jerusalem : 
 
 *' And it comes to pass in the after- days 
 
 " That tlie mountain of Yahveh's house 
 
 " Shall be fixed on the top of the mountains, 
 
 "And exalted above the hills : 
 
 * And all the nations flow unto it, 
 
 " Andinany peoples set forth and say, 
 
 " Come, let us go up to Yahveh's mount, 
 
 " To the house of Jacob's God, 
 
 " And let Him teach us of His ways, 
 
 " And we will walk in His paths : 
 
 " For out of Zion shall a teaching [Torah] go forth, 
 
 ** And from Jerusalem the word of Yahveh. 
 
 "Then He judges among the nations, 
 
 " And decides for many peoples ; 
 
 " And they beat their swords into ploughshares, 
 
 " And their spears into pruning hooks : 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter II. 4 — 12 
 
 " Nation lifts not up sword against nation, 
 
 " And they learn war no more. " 
 
 Come, house of Jacob, 
 
 And let us walk in the light of Yahveh. 
 
 For Thou hast abandoned thy people, the house of 
 
 Jacob, 
 Because they are filled from the East, 
 And are cloud-observers like the Philistines, 
 And strike bargains with sons of aliens : 
 And his land is filled with silver and gold. 
 And to his treasures there is no end ; 
 And his land is filled with horses. 
 And to his chariots there is no end ; 
 And his land is full of vain-gods, 
 To the work of their hands they do reverence, 
 To that Avhich their fingers have wrought ; 
 And the mean man bows down, 
 
 And the great man abases himself, ^" 
 
 And thou forgivest them not. 
 Enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust 
 From before M^ terror of Yahveh and from the splendour 
 
 of his majesty : — . 
 
 Man's haughty eyes are humbled 
 And the loftiness of men is bowed down. 
 And Yahveh alone is exalted in that day. 
 
 For Yahveh of Sabaoth hath a day 
 Against all that is proud and lofty, 
 And against all that is uplifted, that it be brouglit low ; 
 And against all cedars of the LebaXfQn, the lofty and 
 the uplifted, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 7 
 
 Chapter II. 13—22. 
 
 And against all oaks of the Bash an ; 
 
 And against all the lofty mountains, 
 
 And against all the uplifted hills, 
 
 And against every high tower, 
 
 And against every fenced wall. 
 
 And against all ships of Tarshish, 
 
 And against all delightful sights, 
 
 And man's highness is bowed down, 
 
 And the loftiness of mortals is brought low, 
 
 And Yahveh alone is exalted in that day. 
 
 And the vain-gods — the whole shall pass away ; 
 And they go into caverns of rocks and into holes of 
 
 the ground 
 From before the terror of Yahveh, 
 And from the splendour of His majesty. 
 When He uprises to affright the earth.* 
 In that day shall the man cast away 
 His vain-gods of silver and his vain-gods of gold. 
 Which they had made for him to worship, 
 To moles and to bats : 
 To go into clefts of the rocks 
 And into rents of the crags. 
 From before the terror of Yahveh 
 And from the splendour of His majesty 
 When He uprise tli to affright the earth. 
 
 Cease ye from the earth-born, 
 In whose nostrils is hut a breath. 
 For in what is he to be accounted of ? 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter III. 1 — 9. 
 
 For behold, the Lord Yahveh of Sabaoth 
 
 Withdraws from Jerusalem and Judah, 
 
 Stay and staff, 
 
 All stay of bread, and all stay of water. 
 
 Champion and man of war. 
 
 Judge and prophet, and diviner and elder, 
 
 Captain of fifty and man of lofty bearing. 
 
 And counsellor and skilled labourer and adept 
 
 in charms. 
 And I A\ ill make youths their princes. 
 And K'ltli caprice will they rule ovei* them ; 
 And the people shall be oppressed, 
 Man by man, and each by his neighbour. 
 They will outrage — the youth, the aged. 
 And the mean man, him who is to be honoured; 
 For a man Avill lay hold on his brother in his father's 
 
 house — 
 — " Thou hast raiment, 
 
 " Thou slialt be our ruler. 
 
 And let this ruin be under thy hand. " 
 
 On that day shall he lift up his voice, 
 
 *' I will not be a healer, 
 
 ** And in my house is neither bread nor raiment ; 
 
 " Ye shall not make me a ruler of the people. " 
 
 For Jerusalem totters and Judah falls. 
 
 Because their tongue and their doings are against 
 Yahveh, 
 
 To provoke tlte eyes of His glory. 
 
 The shew of their countenance witnesses against them ; 
 
 And they proclaim their sin like Sodom ; they hide it not. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 9 
 
 Chapter III. 9—18. 
 
 Alas, for them ! for to themselves they have requited 
 
 evil. 
 Say ye of the righteous, "it is well, " 
 For the fruit of their deeds shall they eat : 
 Alas for the wicked ! " ill 1 " 
 
 For unto him the desert of his hands shall be rendered. 
 My people ! a child is his oppressor, 
 And women lord it over him : 
 My people ! thy guides are causing to err, 
 And they swallow up thy pathways. 
 
 Yahveh is stationed to plead, 
 
 And stands to judge peoples ; 
 
 Yahveh will enter into judgment 
 
 With the elders of his people and its princes : 
 
 " For ye have eaten up the vineyard. 
 
 Plunder of the poor is in your houses. 
 
 What mean ye that ye crush my people, 
 
 And grind the face of the poor ? " 
 
 An oracle of the Lord Yahveh Sabaoth. 
 
 And Yahveh saith, 
 
 Because Zion's daughters are haughty. 
 
 And walk with outstretched neck and leering eyes, 
 
 Walking and mincing as they walk, 
 
 And tinkling with their feet ; 
 
 Therefore will Adonai make bald the crown of Zion's 
 
 daughters. 
 And Yahveh will lay bare their shame. 
 In that day Adonai will strip away, 
 
10 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter III. 18— IV. 1. 
 
 The ornaments of the anklets and the network and 
 
 the crescents, 
 The ear-drops and the bracelets and the veils, 
 The tires and the stepchains and the girdles, 
 And the perfume boxes and the amulets. 
 The signet-rings and the nose-rings, 
 The rich dresses and the mantles, 
 And the cloaks and the purses. 
 The mirrors and the linen vests. 
 And the turbans and the shawls. 
 And it comes to pass that instead of fragrance there 
 
 shall be rottenness. 
 And instead of a cincture a rope ; 
 And instead of a work of curls, baldness ; 
 And instead of a wide mantle, a girding with sack- 
 cloth ; 
 
 A brand instead of beauty. 
 
 Thy men fall by the sword, 
 
 And thy mighty men in war ; 
 
 And her gates lament and wail. 
 
 And she sits, emptied, upon the ground. 
 
 And seven women lay hold on one man in that day, 
 saying, 
 
 " Our own bread will we eat, 
 
 And witli our own garments will we be clad ; 
 
 Only let us be called by thy name ; 
 
 Take away our reproach. " 
 
 In that day shall the upgrowth of Yahveh be for 
 splendour and for glory. 
 
 And the fruit of the land, for excellency and for beauty, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH.^ 11 
 
 Chapter IV. 2—6. 
 
 To the escaped of Israel. 
 
 And it comes to pass that whosoever is left in Zion 
 
 And remains in Jerusalem, 
 
 Shall be called holy, 
 
 Every one written down for life in Jerusalem, 
 
 When Adonai hath washed away the filth of Zion's 
 
 daughters, 
 And from her midst has purged the blood of Jerusalem, 
 With blast of judgment and with blast of burning. 
 And, upon the whole station of Mount Zion 
 And upon her places of assembly, 
 Yahveh will create a cloud by day and smoke, 
 And a brightness of flaming fire by night ; 
 Yea, over all the glory shall he a covering, 
 And it shall be a pavilion for shade from heat by day. 
 And for a covert and for a refuge from storm 
 
 and from rain. 
 
 '■'■'^'^'■'■'■'■'^'■'■•■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■'■^^'- 
 
 CHAPTER V. 1—2. 
 
 The ungroM/al and disappointing mneyard. The As- 
 syrian invasion. 
 
 Let me now sing concerning my beloved, 
 
 A song of my Love about his vineyard. 
 
 My beloved had a vineyard 
 
 Upon a hill-top, son of fatness : 
 
 And he digged it and cleared it of stones. 
 
 And planted it with the Sorek-»z/2^, 
 
 And in the midst of it he built a tower, 
 
12 .THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter V. 2 — 9. 
 
 And also hollowed out a wine-vat in it ; 
 
 And he hoped that it would bear grapes, 
 
 But it bore wild-grapes ! 
 
 And now, Inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, 
 
 Judge, I pray, between me and my vineyard. 
 
 What was there yet to do lor my vineyard that I have 
 
 not done in it 1 
 Why, when I hoped that it should bring forth grapes, 
 Brought it forth wild-grapes ? 
 And now, I pray, let me acquaint you, 
 What I will do to my vineyard — 
 Taking away its fence that it become a pasture, 
 Demolishing its wall that it become downtrodden : 
 And I will make it a waste ; 
 It shall not be pruned and it shall not be weeded, 
 And thorn and thistle springs up ; 
 And on the clouds will I lay a charge 
 To rain no rain upon it. 
 For the vineyard of Yahveh Sabaoth is the house of 
 
 Israel, 
 And tJte men of Judah His delightsome plant ; 
 And He hoped for justice, but lo ! bloodshed,* 
 For equity, but lo ! an outcry.* 
 
 Woe to those who join house to house. 
 
 Who lay field to field till room fails,' ' 
 
 And ye have to dwell alone in the Hiyist of the land ! 
 
 In Mine ears saith Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 Surely many houses shall become a desolation. 
 
 Great and fair ones without inhabitant ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH 13 
 
 Chapter V. 10—1 9. 
 
 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield hut a single bath, 
 
 And seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. 
 
 Woe to those who rise at dawn to follow after strong 
 
 drink, 
 Who are late at even till wine inflame them : 
 And lyre and cymbal, timbrel and pipe and wine are 
 
 in their revel, 
 But the work of Yahveh they regard not, 
 And the operation of His hands thej'- do not behold. 
 Therefore is My people led unawares into exile. 
 And his nobles become men of famine. 
 And his riotous throng, parched with thirst. 
 Therefore Sheol enlarges her appetite, 
 And opens her mouth without limit. 
 And down go her glory and her riotous throng, 
 And her uproar and he that was joyous within her ; 
 And tlie mean man is bowed down, and the great 
 
 man is brought low, 
 And the eyes of the haughty are brought low. 
 But Yahveh Sabaoth is exalted through justice, 
 And the holy God is hallowed through His righteous 
 
 dealing. 
 Then feed the lambs as on their own pasture. 
 And aliens eat the wastes of the rich. 
 
 Woe to those who draw on the punishment of guilt 
 
 with cords of ungodliness, 
 And sin as with traces of a wain ; 
 Who say let Him speed, let Him hasten on His work, 
 To the intent that we may see it ; 
 
14 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter V. 19—26. 
 
 And let tlie purpose of Israel's Holy one draw nigh 
 and come that we may know it ! 
 
 Woe to those tvJio call evil good and good evil, 
 Who put darkness for light and light for darkness ; 
 Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter ! 
 
 Woe to tJie wise in their own eyes 
 And prudent in their own esteem ! 
 
 Woe to the heroes in drinking wine, 
 Who declare tlte wicked righteous for a bribe ; 
 And men of prowess in mingling strong drink : 
 And take away tJie righteousness of the righteous 
 
 from him. 
 Therefore as tongue of fire devours stubble, 
 And burning grass sinks down in the flame, 
 So their root shall be as rottenness. 
 And their blossom shall go up as dust ; 
 For they have despised the instruction of Yahveh 
 
 Sabaoth, 
 And the utterance of Israel's Holy One have they 
 
 scorned. 
 Wherefore the anger of Yahveh is kindled against His 
 
 people, 
 And He stretches out His hand against him. 
 And He smites him, and the mountains quake. 
 And their carcases are like sweepings in mid-streets. 
 For all this His anger turns not back. 
 But His hand is stretched out still. 
 
 And He raises a standard to far off nations, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 15 
 
 Chapter V. 26—30. 
 
 And from the ends of the earth He hisses to him, 
 
 And lo ! with speed He lightly comes ; 
 
 None is weary, and none stumbles therein, 
 
 He slumbers not and sleeps not, 
 
 The girdle of His loins is not loosed, 
 
 And tJie thong of His sandals is not broken : — 
 
 Whose arrows are sharpened. 
 
 And all His bows bent ; 
 
 His horses' hoofs are counted like stone, 
 
 And His wheels like a whirlwind. 
 
 He has a roar like a lioness, * 
 
 And like young lions He roars. 
 
 And growls and seizes on prey. 
 
 And bears it off, and there is none to rescue ! 
 
 And in that day, one roars against Him as the roaring 
 
 of a sea ; 
 And if one look to the land. 
 Behold darkness, and distress. 
 And light is dark through its clouds. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 1—3. 
 
 Cdll of Isaiah to the Prophetic office. His message to 
 the Jewish nation. 
 
 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sit- 
 ting on a high and uplifted throne, and His train filling 
 the temple — Seraphim standing above Him, each with 
 six wings ; with two he covered his face, and with two 
 he covered his feet and with two he flew. And one 
 
16 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chaptek VI. 3—11. 
 
 called to the other and said, 
 
 Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 I The fulness of the whole earth is, His glory. 
 
 And the foundations of the thresholds quaked at the 
 
 voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with 
 
 s moke. Then said I, woe is me ! surely I perish : for 
 
 I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amid a people 
 
 of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the King' 
 
 Yahveh Sabaoth ! Then one of the Seraphim flew to me, 
 
 and in his hand a hot stone which he had taken with 
 
 tongs from off the altar : and he touched my mouth and 
 
 said : *' Lo, this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity 
 
 is taken away, and thy sin is forgiven. " Also, I heard 
 
 the voice of the Lord saying. 
 
 Whom shall I send 
 And who will go for us ? 
 
 Then said I, " Behold here am I, send me. " And He 
 said, 
 
 Go, and say to this people, 
 
 " Hear on, but understand not. 
 
 And see on, but perceive not ; 
 
 Make fat this people's heart, 
 
 And its ears make heavy and its eyes besmear, 
 
 Lest it see with its eyes and hear with its ears. 
 
 And lest its heart understand, and it turn, and be 
 healed. " 
 Then said I, O Lord, how long ? 
 And He said, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, 
 
 And houses without men. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH 17 
 
 Chapter VI. 11—13. 
 
 And the ground be waste, desolate, 
 
 And Yah veil have removed men afar, 
 
 And large the deserted places in the midst of the land. 
 
 And should there still be a tenth therein, 
 
 It likewise would be burned : 
 
 Like a terebinth and like an oak. 
 
 At whose felling remains a stem ; 
 
 So their stem shall be a holy seed. 
 
 CHAPTERS VII. 1— IX. 7. 
 
 Chapter VII. 1 — 4. 
 
 ConsterncLtAon of Ahaz in, prospect of the siege of Jeru- 
 salem by the forces of Syria and Israel. Allegorical 
 or tgpic'tl signs assuring him of delimrance. The 
 Assyrian invasion. 
 
 And it cams to pass in the days of Ahaz son of Jotliam, 
 son of Uzziah king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram, 
 with Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Judah, came u ) 
 to Jerusalem for war against it, but was not able to 
 wage the war against it. And it was announced to the 
 house of David saying, " Aram is resting in alliance on 
 Ephraim ;" and his heart shook, and the heart of his 
 people, as trees of a forest shake before the wind. Then 
 said Yahveli to Isaiah, " Go forth now to meet Ahaz, 
 thou and REMNANT-SHALL-RETURN thy son, at 
 the end of the conduit of the upper pool, at the cause- 
 way of the fuller's field, and thou shalt say to him : 
 
 2 
 
.18 THE PROPECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter VII. 4 — 14. 
 
 Be wary and be still : 
 
 Fear not neither let thy heart be faint, 
 
 Because of these two stumps of the smoking brands, 
 
 At the hot wrath of Rezin and Aram, and Remaliah's 
 
 son : 
 Because Aram has plotted mischief against thee, 
 
 With Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, 
 " Let us go up against Judah and alarm it, 
 And let us break it open for ourselves, 
 And let us make king in the midst of it the son of 
 Tabe] : " 
 
 Thus saith the Lord Yahveh, 
 
 It shall not stand and it shall not be : 
 
 For the head of Aram is Damascus 
 
 And the head of Damascus, Rezin ; 
 
 Yet within sixty five years shall Rezin be broken, 
 
 That it be not a people : 
 
 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, 
 
 And the head of Samaria the son of Remaliah ; 
 
 If ye do not hold-fast, verily ye shall not stand-fast 
 
 * 
 
 And Yahveh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 
 
 " Ask for thyself a sign from Yahveh thine Elohim, 
 
 Ask it in the depth, or in the height above. " 
 
 But Ahaz said, '' I will not ask, neither will I make 
 
 trial of Yahveh. " 
 Then said he, '• Hear ye now, house of David : 
 Is it too little for you to weary out men. 
 That ye weary out my Elohim also ? 
 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 19 
 
 Chapter VII. 14 — 22. 
 
 Behold the maiden conceives and bears a son, 
 
 And calls His name GOD-WITH-US. 
 
 Curdled-milk and honey shall He eat, 
 
 When He knows how to refuse the bad and to choose 
 
 the good ; 
 For ere yet the boy shall know. 
 
 How to refuse the bad and to choose the good, 
 
 The land, at whose two kings thou art disquieted, shall 
 
 be deserted. 
 
 Yahveh will bring upon thee. 
 
 Days such as have not come, 
 
 Since the day that Ephraim revolted from Judah, 
 
 — The King of Assyria. 
 
 And in that day it comes to pass, 
 
 That Yahveh shall hiss for the flies which are at 
 
 the end of Egypt's rivers. 
 And for the bees in the land of Assyria ; 
 And they come and light, all ot them. 
 On the desolate valleys and on the clefts of the rocks, 
 And on all the thickets and on all the pastures. 
 In that day the Lord will shave 
 With razor hired beyond the River, 
 By the King of Assyria, 
 The head and hair of the feet, 
 And the beard too shall it take away. 
 And it comes to pass in that day, 
 
 That a heifer and two sheep only can a man maintain ; 
 Yet it comes to pass that from the full supply of milk 
 He shall eat curdled milk. 
 
20 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter VII. 22 — 25. 
 
 For every one shall eat only curdled milk and honey, 
 
 Who is left within the land. 
 
 And so it is in that day, that there shall be in every 
 
 place, 
 Wherein were a thousand vines 
 At a thousand pieces of silver, 
 — for thorns and for briars shall it be : 
 With arrows and with bow shall a man go thither, 
 For all the land shall be briars and thorns, 
 And as for all the hills which were cleared with hoe, 
 Thither comes not the fear of thorns and briars. 
 But it becomes a place for sending forth of oxen, 
 And for sheep to tread. 
 
 Chapter VIII. i — 6. 
 
 And Yahveh said to me : Take thee a large tablet and 
 inscribe on it with the stylus of the common people, con- 
 cerning"PLUNDER-QUICKLY-PREY-SWIFTLY," 
 and that I should take to me trustworthy witnesses 
 Uriah the Priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 
 Then I had connexion with the Priestess, and she con- 
 ceived and bare a son ; and Yahveh said to me. Call his 
 name PLUNDER-OUICKLY-PREY-SWIFTLY : for 
 ere the boy know how to cry ' my father ' and ' my mother ' 
 Men will bear away the riches of Damascus and the prey 
 of Samaria before the king cf Assyria. And Yahveh 
 spoke to me again saying : 
 Because this people scorns 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 21 
 
 Chapter VI EI. 6^14. 
 
 The softly flowing waters of the Shiloah 
 
 And rejoices in Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 
 
 Therefore behold, Adonai brings up upon them, 
 
 The waters of the river, the strong and the great, 
 
 — The king of Assyria and all his glory — 
 
 And it rises up above all its channels 
 
 And passes over all its banks, 
 
 And it sweeps into Judah and overflows the floods — 
 
 To the neck it reaches ; 
 
 And the spreading of it wings cover 
 
 The full-breadth of Thy land o GOD-WITH-US. 
 
 Be enraged ye peoples — yet ye break down — 
 
 And give ear all ye far off lands : 
 
 Gird yourselves, yet ye break down, 
 
 Gird yourselves, yet ye break down : — 
 
 Purpose a purpose, yet it shall be frustrated — 
 
 Decree a decree, yet it shall not stand. 
 
 For GOD-IS- WITH-US. 
 
 For thus spake Yahveh to me, and strong was His 
 
 hand upon me, 
 And warned me not to walk in the way of this people, 
 Saying : Say ye not that all is conspiracy. 
 Which this people declares to be a conspiracy, 
 Neither fear what they fear nor be dismayed. 
 Yahveh Sabaoth — Him reverence, 
 And let Him be your fear, and Him your dread : 
 And He will be to you for a sanctuary, 
 And yet a tripping-stone and for a rock of stumbling 
 To both houses of Israel, 
 For a snare and for a trap to the dwellers in Jerusalem, 
 
22 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 15—23. 
 
 And many among them stumble and fall, ' 
 
 And are broken and snared and caught. 
 
 Bind up a testimony, 
 
 Seal a precept [Torah], among my taught ones, 
 
 — And I will wait for Yahveh } ' ■ 
 
 Who hides His face from the house of Jacob, . ■'■ •- 
 
 And in Him I hope — 
 
 Behold, I and the children whom Yahveh has 
 
 GIVEN ME, 
 
 Are for signs and for portents in Israel 
 
 From Yahveh Sabaoth Who dwells on Mount Zk^n. 
 
 And when they shall say to you, 
 
 " Enquire of the necromancers and the wizards 
 
 Who gibber and who moan ; ' 
 
 Should not a people consult their Elohim ^ ' 
 
 The dead concerning the living ? ■ 
 
 T/ie/f, to t/fe precept and to the testimony : 
 
 If they shall not speak according to this word, 
 
 It is because no dawn is on them ; 
 
 And each passes through the land 
 
 Hard pressed and famished ; 
 
 And it comes to pass that, when he shall be famished 
 
 that he is also fretted, 
 And curses his king and his Elohim and looks up ! 
 And if one look to the earth 
 
 Then lo ! anguish of darkness, dimness of trouble ; — 
 And into gloom he is driven. 
 
 Yet there is not ever gloom where is now distress ; 
 As the former time brought into contempt 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 23 
 
 Chapter IX. 1 — 7. 
 
 The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, 
 
 So the latter has honoured 
 
 The way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, the district 
 
 of the nations. 
 The people that walked in darkness, 
 Behold a great light ; 
 Dwellers in a land of death-shade, — 
 On them a light shines brightly. 
 Thou hast multiplied the nation. 
 Thou hast increased its joy ! 
 They joy before thee like the joy in harvest. 
 And as men exult when they divide spoil ! 
 For, the yoke of his burden, and the staff which 
 
 smote his shoulder. 
 The rod of his task-master, 
 Hast Thou broken as in the day of Midian. 
 For every sandal of the sandalled in conflict 
 And garment rolled in blood, 
 Is for burning, food for fire. 
 For to us a Child is born. 
 To us a Son is given. 
 And on His shoulder is laid the rule 
 And men call His name 
 Wonderful-counsellor, Mighty-deity 
 Evermore-a-father, Prince-of-peace : 
 For enlargement of empire and for endless 
 
 peace, 
 Upon David's throne and over his kingdom. 
 To stablish and to support it. 
 Through justice and through faithful dealing. 
 
24 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter IX. 7. 
 
 Hencefoj'th and for ever ! 
 
 The zeal of Yahveh Sabaoth will perform this. 
 
 CHAPTERS IX. 8— X. 4. 
 
 Chapter IX. 8— 14. 
 
 The fate of the Northern Kingdom. 
 
 Into Jacob has Adonai sent a message, 
 
 And into Israel has it lighted down ; 
 
 And all His people know it, 
 
 Ephraim and dwellers in Samaria, 
 
 In pride a nd fullness of heart, declaring, 
 
 " Bricks are fallen, but with hewn stones we will 
 
 build up ; 
 Sycamores have been cut down, but with cedars will 
 
 we replace them. " 
 Therefore will Yahveh strengthen the princes of Rezin 
 
 against him. 
 And arm his foes ; 
 
 Syria in front, and Philistines in rear, 
 And they will devour Israel with open mouth. 
 
 For all this His anger is not turned away. 
 And His hand is stretched out still. 
 
 But the people turn not to Him that smote them, 
 
 And Yahveh Sabaoth they seek not : 
 
 Therefore Yahveh will cut off from Israel head and tail, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 25 
 
 Chapter IX. 14— X. 1. 
 
 Palm-lDranch and bulrush in a single clay ; 
 The ancient and the man of lofty bearing, he is the head, 
 And the false-teaching prophet, he is the tail ; 
 And the leaders of this people seduce them, 
 And those who are led by them are swallowed up. 
 Therefore Adonai will not rejoice in their youth. 
 And their orphans and their widows he will not pity, 
 For every one is profane and an evil-doer, 
 And every mouth speaks folly. 
 
 For all this his anger is not turned away, 
 And his hand is stretched out still. 
 
 For wickedness burns like fire, . 
 
 Thorn and thistle it devours ; 
 
 And in thickets of the forest it kindles, 
 
 And they roll up in a column of smoke. 
 
 Through tlie wrath of Yahveh Sabaoth is the land 
 
 burnt up, 
 And the people are as fuel of fire : 
 No one will pity his brother. 
 For a man will snatch on the right h uid and yet is 
 
 hungry ; 
 And devour on the left hand, yet is not satisfied ; 
 They devour, each the flesh of his own arm .• 
 — Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, 
 Both together against Judah. 
 
 For all this his anger is not turned away, 
 And his hand is stretched out still. 
 
 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, 
 To scribes who put oppression on record, 
 
26 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH 
 
 Chapter X. 2 — 4. 
 
 To turn aside tlie feeble from j udgment, 
 
 And to strip their right //owz the afflicted of My people, 
 
 That widows may be their prey, 
 
 And that they may plunder the orphans. 
 
 What then will ye do in the day of visitation, 
 
 And in a desolation that cometh from afar % 
 
 To whom will ye flee for succour? 
 
 And where will ye leave your glory ? 
 
 Forsaken by Me they crouch among the captives, 
 
 And they shall fall among the slain. 
 
 For all this his anger is not turned away, 
 And his hand is stretched out still. 
 
 CHAPTEKS X. 5— 12.— XII. 6. 
 
 Chapter X. 5 — 7. 
 
 Woes against Asshur (Assyria), and Deliverance for the 
 remnant of Jacob. Promises of National prosperity. 
 Hy 711718 of Tlumksgimng. 
 
 Woe to Asshur, rod of my anger. 
 
 And a statt' in whose hand is my indignation ! 
 
 Against a wicked nation I send him. 
 
 And against people of my wrath I give him charge, 
 
 To take spoil and seize on prey, 
 
 And to make it a trampling like mire in the streets. 
 
 But he — he means not thus, 
 
 And his heart — not thus does it purpose. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 27 
 
 Chapter X. 7^14. 
 
 For to destroy is in his heart, 
 
 And to cut off nations not a few. 
 
 " For," saith he, " are not my princes wholly kings ? 
 
 Is not Calno as Carchemish ? 
 
 Is not H imath as Arpad ? 
 
 Is not Samaria as Damascus ? 
 
 As my hand has reached the kingdoms of the vain-gods, 
 
 Whose images exceeded those of Damascus and 
 Samaria, 
 
 Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and to her vain- 
 gods, 
 
 So do to Jerusalem and her images ?" 
 
 And it shall be that when the Lord has completed all 
 his work, 
 
 In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, 
 
 I will visit upon tfie fruit of tlie proud heart of the king 
 of Assyria, 
 
 And upon the vain glory of the loftiness of his eyes. 
 
 " For saith he, " By strength of mine hand have I 
 done it, 
 
 And by my wisdom, for I am discerning ; 
 
 And [ have removed boundaries of peoples. 
 
 And their treasures have I plundered, 
 
 And like a hero, I brought down the enthroned. 
 
 And my hand lighted on the riches of the peoples as 
 on a nest ; 
 
 And as one gathers forsaken eggs, 
 
 So have I gathered all the earth. 
 
 And none was there that moved wing. 
 
 Opened mouth or chirped." 
 
28 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter X. 15—22. 
 
 Is the axe to vaunt itself against him who hews with 
 
 it? 
 Is the saw to boast itself against him who wields it ? 
 As if a rod could wield Him who lifts it ! 
 As if a staff could lift Wiiii who is not word ! 
 Therefore the Lord, A'!onai Sabaoth, 
 Will send leanness on his lusty ones, 
 And under his glory kindle a kindling 
 Like t//e kindling of a fire. 
 And t//e light of Israel shall be for a fire, 
 And his Holy One for a flame, 
 And it burns and devours his thorns. 
 And his thistles in a single day, 
 And t/te glory of his forest and fruitful field. 
 It will consume, both soul and body ; 
 And it is as when a sick man wastes away.* 
 And the remnant of his forest trees shall be scanty, 
 So that a child may note them down. 
 And in that day it conies to pass. 
 That the remnant of Israel and the escaped of the 
 
 house of Jacob. 
 Shall lean no more on him that smote them, 
 But lean upon Yahveh, the HcjlyOne of Lsrael, in truth. 
 A EEMNANT-SHALL-IiETUEN, a remnant of 
 
 Jacob, 
 To El the mighty : 
 For though thy people, O Israel, were like sand of the 
 
 sea, 
 Onli/ A EEMNANT-SHALL-KETURN of them : 
 A desolation is decreed, bringing injustice like a flood ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 29 
 
 Chapter X. 23 — ^2 
 
 For desolation and doom doth Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth 
 
 execute within all the land. 
 Thus therefore saith Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 Fear not, O my people who dwellest in Zion, because of 
 
 Assur, {/"with staff he smite thee, 
 And lift up his rod against thee, in //^^ manner of Egypt ; 
 For yet a very little while, and my indignation is 
 
 completed, 
 And my anger, for their destruction. 
 And Yahveh Sabaoth brandishes a scourge over him, 
 As at the smiting of Midian at the rock of Oreb ; 
 And as his rod was over the sea. 
 So he lifts it up as in the manner of Egypt, 
 And it comes to pass in that day, 
 That his burden removes from thy shoulder. 
 And his yoke from orf thy nsck, 
 And by fatness is a yoke broken. 
 
 He is come upon Aiath — he passes through Migron ; 
 
 At Michmash he lays up his baggage : 
 
 They go through the pass, 
 
 Geba is their quarters, 
 
 Ramah trembles, 
 
 Gibeah of Saul flies ! 
 
 Daughter of Gallim lift up thy voice ; 
 
 Listen Laishah — answer her Anathoth.* 
 
 Madmenah wanders away ; 
 
 The inhabitants of Gebim save their goods by flight. 
 
 Y&t /01' the day he halts at Nob : 
 
 He shakes his hand at the mount of Z ion's daughter, 
 
30 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter X. 32 — XI. 7. 
 
 The hill of Jerusalem ! 
 
 But see ! the Lord Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 Lops a crowning-branch with terrific crash, 
 
 And the. tall of stature are cut down, 
 
 And the haughty are brought low, 
 
 And with iron he fells the thickets of the forest, 
 
 And the Lebanon falls by a Majestic One. 
 
 Then a shoot comes forth from the stem of Jesse, 
 
 And a scion from his roots bears fruit ; 
 
 And the spirit of Yahveh rests upon him, 
 
 A spirit of wisdom and of discernment, 
 
 A spirit of counsel and of might, 
 
 A spirit of knowledge and of reverence for Yahveh, 
 
 And he finds a sweet savour in reverence for Yahveh ; 
 
 And not at the sight of his eyes will he judge, 
 
 Nor by the hearing of his ears will he decide, 
 
 But judges the poor with fairness, 
 
 And decides with equity for the meek of the land, 
 
 And smites tJie land with rod of his mouth, 
 
 And with breath of his lips will slay the wicked : 
 
 And justice is the girdle of his loins, 
 
 And faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 
 
 Then wolf lodges with lamb. 
 
 And leopard will lie down with kid. 
 
 And calf and young lion and falling together — 
 
 And a little child is leading them. 
 
 And heifer and she-bear will feed together. 
 
 Together will their young lie down, 
 
 And a lion eat straw like an ox ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 31 
 
 Chapter XI. 8 — 14. 
 
 And a suckling plays at hole of asp, 
 
 And weaned-child reaches forth its hand to den of 
 
 basilisk : 
 They will not harm nor destroy in all my holy mountain, 
 For the land is full of knowledge of Yahveh, 
 As waters which cover the sea. 
 
 Also it comes to pass in that day — 
 
 A root of Jesse which stands for an ensign to peoples — 
 
 To it nations will repair, 
 
 And its resting-place becomes a glory. 
 
 And in that day it comes to pass, 
 
 Adonai will again the second time put forth his hand 
 
 To recover the remnant of his people that shall be left 
 
 From Asshur and from Egypt, 
 
 And from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam, 
 
 And from Shinar and from Hamath and from coasts of 
 the sea ; 
 
 And he rears an ensign to the nations 
 
 And gathers the outcasts of Israel, 
 
 And will collect the dispersed of Judah, 
 
 From the four corners of the earth ; 
 
 And //^^ jealousy of Ephraim departs, 
 
 And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; 
 
 Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, 
 
 And Jacob will not vex Ephraim ; 
 
 But they fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines west- 
 ward ; 
 
 Together they will spoil the sons of the east 
 
 And they lay their hands on Edom and Moab, 
 
7,2 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XI. 14 — XII. 6. 
 
 And Ihe sons of Ammon obey them. 
 
 Then Yahveh devotes io dryness the tongue of the 
 
 Egyptian sea, 
 And shakes his hand over the river with violence of his 
 
 blast, 
 And strikes it into seven channels 
 And makes men cross it dryshod ; 
 And a highway is made for the remnant of his people 
 
 which shall be left, from Assyria, 
 As there was made for Israel in the day of his coming up 
 
 from the land of Egypt. 
 
 And in that day thou sayest 
 ' I will praise thee, Yahveh, for though thou wast wrath 
 with me, 
 
 ' Thy wrath has turned away and Thou hast comforted me. 
 ' Behold, El is my deliverance ! 
 
 * I will trust and not be afraid, 
 
 ' For my strength and my song is Yah-Yahveh, 
 ' And He has become my deliverance.' 
 
 And with joy ye draw waters 
 
 From fountains of the deliverance. 
 
 And ye say in that day, 
 ' Praise Yahveh, invoke his name ; 
 ' Declare his deeds among the peoples, 
 ' Record it that his name is exalted. 
 
 * Sing ye to Yahveh for he has done excellent things ; 
 ' Known is this in all the earth, 
 
 ' Cry out and shout, inhabitress of Zion, 
 
 * For great in thy midst is the Holy One of Israel.' 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. zz 
 
 CHAPTERS XIII. XIV., 1—23. 
 Chapter XT 1 1, i — 9. 
 Summons to the Medes, and the doivnfall of Babylon. 
 Oracle of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 
 
 On a bare mountain raise ye a banner, 
 Uplift a cry to them, wave the hand. 
 That they may enter the gates of the princes. 
 I give a charge to my consecrated ones. 
 My mighty ones I also call for my wrath, 
 My proudly exulting ones. 
 
 A noise of a tumult on the mountains as of much people ! 
 
 A noise of an uproar of kingdoms, of assembled nations ! 
 
 Yahveh Sabaoth is mustering a hosty^r battle ! 
 
 They are coining from a far-off land, 
 
 From the end of the Heavens, 
 
 Yahveh and instruments of his wrath, 
 
 To lay waste all the earth ! 
 
 Wail ye ! for Yahveh's day is near, 
 
 As a destruction from the Mighty One will it come !* 
 
 Therefore all hands shall hang down, 
 
 And every heart of man will melt : 
 
 They are terrified ; pangs and throes shall seize on them ; 
 
 They shall writhe like a woman in travail, 
 
 Each shall look with amazement at his neighbour, 
 
 ■ — Faces of flame their faces ! 
 
 Behold, a day of Yahveh comes, 
 Cruel, and wrath, and a glow of anger, 
 
34 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 9 — 18. 
 
 To make the earth a desolation, 
 
 And it will destroy its sinners out of it : 
 
 For the stars of the Heavens and their Orions 
 
 Shall not give forth their light ; 
 
 The sun is darkened in his going forth, 
 
 And the moon will not suffer her light to shine. 
 
 And I visit upon the world its evil, 
 
 And their iniquities upon the wicked, 
 And I still the arrogance of the proud, 
 
 And the haughtiness of terrible ones will I abase : 
 
 I will make men more scarce than gold, 
 
 And a man than Ophir's gold-wedge. 
 
 Wherefore I will cause the heavens to tremble, 
 
 And the earth shall move, quaking from its place 
 
 At the wrath of Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 And at the day of the glow' of his anger. 
 
 And it is as with a chased roe, 
 
 And like sheep which no man folds. 
 
 They shall turn each towards his own people, 
 
 And flee every one to his own land. 
 
 Every one who is found shall be thrust through, 
 
 And every one who is caught shall fall by the sword. 
 
 And their infants shall be dashed down before their eyes, 
 
 Their houses plundered, and their wives ravished. 
 
 Behold I stir up the Medes against them, 
 
 Who make no account of silver. 
 
 And as for gold, have no pleasure in it. 
 
 And bows shall dash youths in pieces. 
 
 And on fruit of womb they will have no compassion, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAP4H. 
 
 Chapter XIII. i8 — 22. 
 
 Their eye will not spare children. 
 
 And Babylon, glory ot kingdoms, 
 
 Proud ornament of Chaldeans, 
 
 Becomes as when Elohim overthrew Sodom and 
 Gomorrah ; 
 
 It will not be inhabited for ever, 
 
 Nor dwelt in for generation and generation ; 
 And Arab will not pitch tent there, 
 
 And shepherds will not cause i/ieir flocks to lie down 
 
 there ; 
 But beasts of the desert lie there, 
 And owlets fill their houses, 
 And ostriches dwell there, 
 And satyrs will dance there ; 
 
 And in the palaces thereof wolves howl to one another. 
 And jackals in the mansions of luxury. 
 Her time is nearly come, 
 And her days shall not be prolonged. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. I, 2. 
 
 But Yahveh will have compassion on Jacob, 
 
 And again chooses Israel, 
 
 And gives them rest in their own land. 
 
 And the alien is joined to them ; 
 
 And they cleave to the house of Jacob, — 
 
 And heathen take them, and bring them to their place. 
 
 And the house of Israel takes them in possession. 
 
 In the land of Yahveh, for servants and for handmaids ; 
 
36 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XIV. 2 — 10. 
 
 And they capture their captors, and rule over their 
 oppressors. 
 
 And it comes to pass in the day that Yahveh gives thee 
 
 rest 
 From thy distress, and from thy disquiet. 
 And from the hard servitude which men laid upon thee, 
 Then dost thou take up this strain of derision 
 Against the king of Babylon, and sayest : 
 How stilled M^ tyrant ! how stilled his oppression ! 
 The staff of the wicked, the sceptre of tyrants, has 
 
 Yahveh broken. 
 Which in wrath smote peoples with ceaseless smiting. 
 Trampling on nations in wrath, a trampling without 
 
 restraint ! 
 The whole earth is at rest, is still : they break out into 
 
 shouting : 
 The cypresses, also rejoice at thee, the cedars of 
 
 Lebanon, saying, 
 ' Since thou liest low, no feller will come up against us.' 
 
 Sheol beneath is stirred because of thee, to meet thy 
 
 arrival, 
 It arouses the shades for thee, all who were leaders on 
 
 earth. 
 It makes all kings of nations to arise from their thrones- 
 They all answer and say to thee, 
 ' Thou too art become weak as we, Thou art become 
 
 like us ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. zi 
 
 Chapter XIV. ii — 19. 
 
 ' Thy pride is brought down to Sheol, the sound of thy 
 
 lyres : 
 ' Beneath thee is spread corruption, and worms are thy 
 
 covering ! ' 
 
 How art thou fallen from heaven, Bright one, son of the 
 
 Dayspring ! 
 Felled thou art to the ground, who didst overpower 
 
 nations ! 
 And thou saidst in thine heart, I will mount the heavens. 
 To the stars of El will I exalt my throne. 
 And take my seat in the mount of assembly, in the 
 
 recesses of the north ; 
 I will mount above heiofhts of clouds — will be like the 
 
 Most High. 
 Surely thou art brought down to Sheol, to the recesses of 
 
 the pit. 
 
 They who see thee, gaze and mark thee well, and say, 
 ' Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who 
 made kingdoms quake ; 
 
 * Made the world as a wilderness, and laid its cities to 
 
 waste, 
 ' Released not his captives for their home .'' 
 ' All kings of nations, all of them lie in honour, each in 
 
 his house, 
 ' But thou from thy grave art flung away like a loathed 
 
 branch, 
 
 * Clad with sword-pierced slain, like a trampled carcass. 
 
38 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XIV. 20 — 2^. 
 
 ' They who go down to //^^ stones of //le pit — 
 ' Not with them art thou joined in burial ; 
 ' Because thou hast destroyed thy land, hast slain thy 
 people." 
 
 Unnamed for ever shall be the seed of evildoers ! 
 
 Prepare a slaughter for his children, for their fathers' sin. 
 
 Lest they arise and possess the earth 
 
 And fill the face of tJie world with ruins. 
 
 And I arise against them — -it is an utterance of Yahveh 
 
 Sabaoth, — 
 And I cut off from Babylon name and remnant, 
 And seed and progeny — an utterance of Yahveh ; — 
 And I make it the possession of bittern, and pools of 
 
 waters, 
 And I sweep it with sweeping-broom of destruction : 
 
 — an utterance of Yahveh Sabaoth. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 24—26. 
 
 Downfall of Assyria. A Fragment, probably misplaced. 
 
 Yahveh Sabaoth has sworn, saying, 
 Surely as I have purposed, so shall it be, 
 And as I have counselled, that shall stand ; 
 To crush Assyria in my land. 
 And on my mountains will I tread him down : 
 And his yoke removes from them. 
 And his burden wil! remove from his shoulder. 
 This is the purpose which is purposed for the whole 
 earth, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 39 
 
 Chapter XIV. 26, 27. 
 
 And this the hand that is outstretched over all 
 
 nations. 
 For Yahveh Sabaoth has purposed, 
 And who may disannul it ? 
 And his hand is the outstretched, 
 And who may turn it back '^ 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 28—32. 
 
 Philistia must bezuare of rejoicing in the judgment thus 
 annotuiced (in xiv. 24 — 2^\ 
 
 In the year King Ahaz died was this oracle : 
 Rejoice not, Philistia, all of thee. 
 That a rod which smote thee is broken ; 
 For from the snake's root springs forth a basilisk, 
 And its fruit, a winged serpent ! 
 And the first-born of the poor feed. 
 And the needy shall lie down in security, 
 But thy root I kill with drought — 
 And thy remnant shall he slay. 
 Howl, gate ! cry aloud, city ; 
 
 O Philistia, thou art all of thee dissolved ivith fear : 
 For from the north comes forth a smoke. 
 And none walks singly in their troops — 
 And what shall one answer the messengers of the nations ? 
 ' That Yahveh has founded Zion, 
 An(i in her the afflicted of his people will confide.' 
 
40 THE PROPHECIES GF ISAIAH. 
 
 CHAPTERS XV. XVI. 
 
 Chapter XV. i — 6. 
 
 A Prophecy against Moal\ zuhose king had revolted. A 
 claim of Tribute, xvi. i. {Comp. 2 Kings iii. 4, &c.) 
 Denunciations of Moab's pride and idolatry. 
 
 The oracle of Moab ; 
 
 For in a nio-ht is Ar-Moab laid waste and ruined ! 
 
 For in a night is Kir-Moab laid waste, ruined ! 
 
 He is gone up to the temple and Dibon, the high places, 
 
 to weep ; 
 On Nebo and on Medeba shall Moab wail, 
 On all their heads baldness, 
 Every head shorn. 
 In his streets they gird on sackcloth, 
 On its roofs and in its open places every one will wail, 
 Flowing down with tears : 
 And Heshbon cries aloud, and Elealeh ; 
 Even to Jahaz their voice is heard ; 
 Therefore the warriors of Moab shall cry aloud. 
 His soul shall quail within him. "' 
 My heart cries out for Moab ; 
 His fugitives wander to Zoar like a heifer of three 
 
 years old : 
 For the ascent to the Luhith — with weeping shall he 
 
 ascend it, * 
 For, in the way of Horonaim shall they raise a cry of 
 
 destruction, 
 For, the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 41 
 
 Chapters XV. 6 — 9. XVI. i — 5. 
 
 For grass is dried up — herbage consumed — 
 
 There is nothing green. 
 
 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and their 
 
 store — 
 Over the torrent of the willows shall they remove them ; 
 For the cry encircles the border of Moab, 
 Her wail reaches to Eglaim, 
 Even to Beer-Elim her wail : 
 For, the waters of Dimon are full of blood ; * 
 For, fresh evils will I bring on Dimon, 
 Unto the escaped of Moab, a lion, 
 And unto the remnant of the land. 
 
 ' Send ye the lambs of the ruler of the land. 
 ' From Sela towards the desert, 
 
 * To the Mount of Sion's daughter.' 
 
 Then comes it to pass that like a wandering bird 
 
 driven from nest, 
 Shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of Arnon : 
 
 * Propose advice, say they — ' come to a decision — 
 ' Make thy shadow like night in mid-noontide : 
 
 ' Shelter outcasts : betray not a fugitive : 
 ' Let Moab's outcasts sojourn with thee, 
 
 * Be thou a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler ; 
 
 * For the oppressor is no more, destruction is finished, 
 
 ' He who trampled down has vanished out of the land, 
 ' And by kindness has a throne been established, 
 ' And one sits upon it with faithfulness in David's tent, 
 'Judging and seeking justice and speeding right.' 
 
42 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XVI. 6 — 13. 
 
 We have heard of the pride of Moab, the very proud, 
 His haughtiness and his arrogance and his wrath, 
 The falseness of his boastings — 
 Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab. wail entirely, 
 For tJie ruins of Kir-Hareseth shall ye moan, the 
 
 smitten utterly. 
 For the fields of Heshbon shall languish ; 
 The vine of Sibmah — 
 
 Lords of nations have struck down its choice plants ; — 
 They reached to Yaser, strayed to the desert, 
 Her shoots spread forth, passed beyond the sea. 
 Therefore will I weep with weeping of Yazer for 
 
 Sibmah's vine ; 
 With my tears will I water thee,- O Heshbon and 
 
 Elealeh, 
 For on thy summer-fruits and on thy vintage has a 
 
 war-cry fallen, 
 And joy and gladness is taken from the fruitful field, 
 And in the vineyards they sing not, they shout not. 
 And in the presses no treader treads out the wine — 
 The vintage-cry have I made to cease. 
 Therefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, 
 And my inward parts for Kir-Hareseth. 
 Then comes it to pass that when Moab appears. 
 When he wearies himself on the high place, 
 And comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not 
 
 prevail. 
 
 This is the word which Yahveh long since spoke 
 concerning Moab : 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH, 43 
 
 Chapter XVI. 13, 14. 
 
 But now Yahveh speaks, saying : 
 
 Within three years as the years of an hireling, 
 
 And Moab's glory shall be abased, 
 
 With all the great multitude. 
 
 And the remnant shall be very small, without power. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 1—6. 
 
 The Oracle of Damascus. 
 
 See ! Damascus is removed from being a city. 
 
 And is become a heap, a luin. * 
 
 Forsaken are the cities of Aroer, '" 
 
 They 2lX^ given up to flocks, 
 
 And they lie down, and there is none to alarm ; 
 
 And stronghold ceases from Ephraim, 
 
 And kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of 
 
 Aram ; — 
 They become like the glory of the sons of Israel : 
 — An utterance of Yahveh Sabaoth. 
 
 And in that day it comes to pass, 
 
 That Jacob's glory will be wasted, 
 
 And the fatness of his flesh grow lean : 
 
 And it is as when a reaper gathers standing corn, 
 
 And his arm will reap the ears — 
 
 Yea, it is as when one harvests ears in the valley oi 
 
 Rephaim, 
 And gleanings only are left in it, 
 As in the beating of an olive tree, 
 Two, three berries on a highest bough-top, 
 
44 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XVII. 6 — ri. 
 
 Four, five, on the branches of the fruit-tree. 
 An utterance of Yahveh the Elohim of Israel. 
 
 In that clay shall the earth-born have regard to his maker, 
 
 And his eye shall look to Israel's Holy One ; 
 
 But the altars — work of his own hands — he will not 
 
 regard. 
 Nor look on that which his own fingers have made 
 The Asheras and the sun-images. 
 In that day his strong cities 
 
 Become like deserted places of forest and hill-top. 
 Which men deserted before the children of Israel, 
 And it shall become a desolation. 
 For thou didst forget the Elohim of thy safety, 
 And the rock of thy strength didst not remember ; 
 Therefore thou plantedst delightsome plants 
 And didst set foreign scions — 
 In the day thou plantedst it thou didst hedge it in. 
 And at morn thou didst make thy scion blossom ; 
 But fled Is the harvest in the day of possession, 
 And grievous is the sorrow. 
 
 CHAPTERS XVII. 12— 14.— XVIII. 
 
 Chapter XVII. 12 — 14. 
 
 Destruction of the Assyrian forces — specially announced 
 to ^Ethiopia (Czish) as in alliance, or sympathy, with 
 Israel. 
 
 Hah ! a tumult of many peoples ! 
 
 Like a tumult of seas shall they be tumultuous ! 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 45 
 
 Chapter XVII. 12—14. XVIII. 1—5. 
 
 And a roar of nations — 
 
 Nations — like a roaring of mighty waters shall they roar ! 
 
 But He rebukes it, and it flies afar, 
 
 And is chased like chaff of mountains before a blast, 
 
 And like whirling dust before an hurricane. 
 
 At eventide, behold terror ; 
 
 Ere morning, it is gone ! 
 
 This the portion of those who spoil us, 
 
 And the lot of those who plunder us. 
 
 Hah ! land of rustling wings. 
 
 Which art beyond the rivers of Cush ; 
 
 Which sendest ambassadors by sea, 
 
 And in vessels of papyrus on face of waters ! 
 
 Go, ye light messengers, 
 
 To a nation robust and fierce, 
 
 To a people terrible from the first, and hitherto. 
 
 To a nation of domineering and trampling down, 
 
 Whose land rivers divide. 
 
 All ye inhabitants of the world 
 
 And dwellers on earth. 
 
 At the lifting of a signal on the mountains, behold. 
 
 And when a trumpet is sounded, hearken. 
 
 For thus saith Yahveh to me : 
 
 In my dwelling place will I keep me still and look on. 
 
 Like clear heat in sunshine. 
 
 Like dew-cloud in heat of harvest : 
 
 But before harvest, when blossom is over, 
 
 And a bud is become a ripening grape, 
 
46 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 5 — 7. 
 
 Then with pruaing-hooks he lops the branches, 
 
 And the tendrils he takes away aitd cuts off : 
 
 To mountain bird of prey they shall be left together, 
 
 And to beast of the land ; 
 
 And the bird of prey shall summer upon them, 
 
 And every beast of the land shall winter upon them. 
 
 At that time shall a grift be brouo-ht to Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 From a nation robust and fierce, 
 
 And from a people terrible from the first, and hitherto, 
 
 A nation of domineering and down-trampling, 
 
 Whose land rivers divide, 
 
 To the place oi the house Yahveh Sabaoth, Zion's hill. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 1—4. 
 Oracle of Egypt 
 See ! Yahveh riding on a swift cloud — 
 And to Egypt he comes ! 
 
 And at his presence the vain-gods of Egypt shake. 
 And Egypt's heart will melt within it. 
 And I spur on Egyptians against Egyptians, 
 And they fight each against his brother. 
 And each against his fellow ; 
 City against city, kingdom against kingdom, 
 And Egypt's spirit is made empty within it. 
 And its counsel will I destroy ; 
 
 And they resort to the vain-gods and the whisperers, 
 And the necromancers and the wizards. 
 And I shut up the Egyptians into the hand of a hard 
 Lord, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 47 
 
 Chapter XIX. 4 — 13. 
 
 And a fierce king shall rule over them. 
 
 — The utterance of the Lord, Yahveh Sabaoth. 
 
 And waters fail from the sea, 
 
 And the River is wasted and dry ; 
 
 And rivers become putrid, 
 
 And the streams of Egypt are wasted and dried up : 
 
 Reed and flag wither, 
 
 The meadows by the iV//^-stream, at the stream-mouth. 
 
 And all that is sown by the stream. 
 
 Dries up, is scattered, and is no more, 
 
 And the fishermen sigh^ 
 
 And all who cast hook into the stream lament, 
 
 And they who spread nets on the face of the waters 
 
 languish : 
 And they who dress the carded flax are ashamed. 
 They too who weave white linen I 
 And her pillars are become broken down. 
 And all who work for hire are sad of soul. 
 
 Surely, foolish are Zoan's nobles, 
 
 The wise men of Pharaoh's counsellors — brutish thei}' 
 
 counsel ! 
 How say ye to Pharaoh, *a son of sages am I, a son of 
 
 ancient kings ?' 
 Where are they then, thy sages '^. — ■ 
 
 And let them now announce to thee, and let them know. 
 What Yahveh Sabaoth has counselled concerning Egypt. 
 The princes of Zoan are become foolish. 
 Deceived are the princes of Noph, 
 
48 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 13 — 21. 
 
 And they have led Egypt astray 
 
 Who are the corner stone of her tribes. 
 
 Yahveh has mingled within her a spirit of giddiness, 
 
 So that they have made Egypt to reel in all his work, 
 
 Like the reeling of drunkard in his vomit. 
 
 Nor shall there be any work for Egypt, 
 
 Which head or tail, palm branch or bulrush, may work. 
 
 In that day Egypt shall be like women. 
 
 And it trembles and quakes. 
 
 At the shaking of Yahveh Sabaoth's hand. 
 
 Which He shakes over it. 
 
 And the land of Judah becomes a terror to Egypt : 
 
 Whoever mentions it to him shudders. 
 
 Because of the purpose of Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 Which He purposes against it. 
 
 In that day shall be five cities in the land of Egypt 
 
 Speaking the language of Canaan, 
 
 And swearing to Yahveh Sabaoth ; 
 
 One shall be called " City of the Sun." 
 
 In that day shall be an altar to Yahveh 
 
 In the midst of the land of Egypt, 
 
 And near its boundary a pillar to Yahveh ; 
 
 And it becomes a sign and a witness. 
 
 For Yahveh Sabaoth in the land of Egypt ; 
 
 When they shall cry to Yahveh because of oppressors, 
 
 And He will send them a deliverer and a champion. 
 
 And will rescue them. 
 
 And Yahveh becomes known to Egypt, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 49 
 
 Chapter XIX. 21 — 25. 
 
 And Egyptians know Yahveh in that day, 
 
 And serve with sacrifice and oblation, 
 
 And vow a vow unto Yahveh and pay it. 
 
 So Yahveh smites Egypt, smiting and healing, 
 
 And they turn unto Yahveh, 
 
 And he is entreated of them and heals them. 
 
 In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt 
 
 towards Assyria, 
 So that Assyria comes into Egypt and Egypt into 
 
 Assyria, 
 And Egyptians serve with the Assyrians. 
 
 In that day Israel shall be a third to Egypt and to 
 
 Assyria, 
 A Blessing in the midst of the earth, 
 Wherewith Yahveh Sabaoth has blessed him, saying. 
 Blessed be my people Egypt, 
 And Assyria, work of my hands. 
 And Israel my inheritance. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. I, 2. 
 
 Isaiah, by a symbolical action, sets forth the fate of those 
 in whom Egypt a?id Palestine trusted. 
 
 In they^d^r when Tartan came to Ashdod, when sent by 
 Sargon king of Assyria, and fought against Ashdod and 
 took it — at that time Yahveh spake by Isaiah son of 
 Amoz, saying : 
 
50 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XX. 2 — 6. 
 
 Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins 
 And unbind thy sandals from off thy foot. 
 And he did so, walkinor naked and barefoot : Then 
 Yahveh said, 
 
 As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot, 
 for three years a sign 
 And a portent against Egypt and against Cush, 
 So shall the King of Assyria lead the captivity of Egypt, 
 And the exiles of Cush, young and old, 
 Naked and barefoot and their hind-parts uncovered, 
 A disgrace to Egypt. 
 Then are they afraid and ashamed 
 
 Of Cush their confidence and of Egypt their ornament. 
 In that clay dwellers in this coast say, 
 ' Lo, such is our trust to which we fled for succour, 
 ' To be delivered from the king of Assyria, 
 • And how shall we escape .-* ' 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. I, 2. 
 
 The destruction of the " wilderness by the sea," i.e., 
 
 Babylon on the Eziphrntes, by Mcdes and Persia7is. 
 An oracle concerning the wilderness by the sea. 
 
 Like hurricanes in the south driving past 
 
 It comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. 
 
 A grievous vision is revealed to me, 
 
 The plunderer plundering and the destroyerdestroying: — 
 
 Go up, Elam : besiege, Media — 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 51 
 
 Chapter XXI, 2 — 10. 
 All sighing I make to cease. 
 
 Therefore are my loins filled with anguish ; 
 
 Throes seize me like the throes of her who travails — 
 
 I writhe so that I cannot hear, 
 
 I am so troubled that I cannot see ; 
 
 My heart is bewildered — alarms dismay me. 
 
 He hath made the evening of my pleasure a terror to 
 
 me. 
 A setting out the table — a watching the watch — Eating, 
 
 drinking ! 
 
 * Up ye princes, anoint the shield.' 
 
 For thus saith Adonai to me : 
 Go station a watchman — 
 What he shall see let him report. 
 And he saw riders, horsemen in double rank, 
 Riders on asses, riders on camels : 
 And he gave heed with utmost heed. 
 Then he cried out like a lion, 
 ' My Lord, I stand on the watch-tower all day long, 
 
 * And all the nights am I posted in my ward : 
 
 * And lo ! there come men riding, horsemen in double 
 
 rank,' 
 And he cried aloud and said, ' Fallen, fallen is Babylon, 
 
 * And all the images of her gods hath he broken against 
 
 the ground.' 
 O my threshed one and son of my winnowing-floor ! 
 What I have heard from Yahveh Sabaoth, Israel's 
 
 Elohim, have I proclaimed to you. 
 
52 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. II, 12. 
 
 The oracle concerning Duniah (an abbreviated form of 
 Edo7?i), zvith implied allusion to the silence (Duniah) 
 of desolation. 
 
 Oracle of Dumah. 
 
 Out of Seir one cries to me, 
 ' Watchman ! what time of the night .'* 
 * Watchman ! what time of the night ? " 
 
 The watchman answers, 
 ' Morning comes and also night ! ' 
 
 If ye will enquire, enquire : 
 
 Turn, come. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 13—16. 
 
 The Oracle "In the Evening," against the DedaniteSy 
 and other Arabian Tribes. 
 
 In thickets must ye lodge in tJie evening* 
 
 Ye caravans of Dedanites ! 
 
 Ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, 
 
 Bring forth water to meet //^^ thirsty, 
 
 Be ready with his bread for the fugitive ; 
 
 For from the face of swords do they flee, 
 
 From the face of drawn sword. 
 
 And before bended bow, 
 
 And before the press of war. 
 
 For thus said Yahveh to me : 
 
 Within yet a year according to a hireling's years 
 
 And all the glory of Kedar is at an end ; 
 
 And the number of bows that is left 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 53 
 
 Chapter XXI. 16. 
 
 Of Kedar's mighty sons, shall be minished, 
 For Yahveh, the Elohim of Israel, has spoken. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 1—6. 
 
 With refer^ence to judgments upon Jerusalem, 
 
 Oracle of ' a valley of vision.' 
 
 What ails thee then, that ye have all mounted the roofs — 
 
 Thou that a7't full of uproar, tumultuous city, joyous 
 
 town ! 
 Thy slain are not the slain of sword 
 Nor the dead of battle ! 
 
 All thy chieftains have fled together : 
 By the archers are they taken prisoners ; 
 All that are found of thee are made prisoners together, 
 Who had fled afar. 
 
 Therefore, say I, ' Look away from me — I would weep 
 bitterly — 
 ' Strive not to comfort me 
 ' For the spoiling of the daughter of my people.' 
 
 For a day of tumult and of treading down and of 
 confusion* 
 
 Hath Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth, in ' a valley of vision,' 
 
 Unwalling the wall,* 
 
 And a cry reaches the mount. 
 
 And Elam carries the quiver. 
 
 With chariots, men, horsemen. 
 
 And Kir makes bare the shield, 
 
54 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 7 — 14. 
 
 And thy choicest vallies are filled with chariots, 
 And the horsemen post themselves gate-ward, 
 And He will draw aside the veil of Judah. 
 
 But thou lookest in that day to the armour of the forest- 
 house, 
 
 And ye see that the breaches of David's city are many. 
 
 And ye collect the waters of the lower pool. 
 
 And the houses of Jerusalem ye number. 
 
 And ye break down the houses to fortify the wall, 
 
 And ye make a reservoir between the two walls 
 
 For waters of the old conduit : 
 
 But, Him who made it ye regard not, 
 
 And to Him that fashioned it of old ye look not. 
 
 And in that day Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth will summon 
 to weeping and to wailing 
 
 And to baldness and to girding with sackcloth ; 
 
 But behold, joy and gladness. 
 
 Killing oxen and slaughtering sheep. 
 
 Eating flesh and drinking wine : — 
 ' Eat and drink, for we die to morrow.' 
 
 Therefore in mine ears is it revealed by Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 This iniquity shall not be forgiven you till ye die, 
 
 Saith Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth. 
 
 CHAPTER XXH. 15. 
 
 The removal of Shebna from office at Court. The advance- 
 ment of E Hakim. 
 
 Thus saith Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth : 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 55 
 
 Chapter XXII. 15 — 24. 
 
 Go, get thee to this minister, 
 To Shebna who is over the house, and say, 
 What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, 
 That thou hewest thee out a sepulchre here, 
 Hewing out his sepulchre on high, 
 Cutting out an abiding-place for himself in the rock ! 
 Lo, with strong cast Yahveh casts thee out — 
 Wrapping He wraps thee up, 
 And rolling He will roll thee as a roll. 
 Like a ball into a spacious land : 
 There shalt thou die, 
 And there shall be thy splendid chariots. 
 Thou shame of thy master's house ! 
 And I thrust thee from thy station. 
 And from thy place He pulls thee down. 
 And it comes to pass in that day, 
 That I summon my servant, 
 Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, 
 And with thy robe I invest him, 
 And will bind him with thy girdle, 
 And into his hand will I commit thy government : 
 And he becomes a Father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 
 And to the house of Judah. 
 
 And I lay upon his shoulder the key of David's house, 
 So that he opens and no man shuts. 
 And shuts and no man opens : 
 And as a nail in a sure place I fasten him, 
 And he becomes a seat of honour to his father's house. 
 And on him they hang all the honour of his Father's 
 house, 
 
56 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 24, 25. 
 
 The scions and the offshoots, 
 
 All the small vessels, from vessels of the cups even to 
 all the flagon-like vessels. 
 
 In that day — an utterance of Yahveh Sabaoth — 
 The nail fastened in a sure place gives way, 
 And it is cut down and falls. 
 And the burden that was upon it is cut down ; 
 For Yahveh has spoken. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 1—4. 
 
 The fall of Tyre by means of Assyria, which unde7' 
 Sargon had conquered Babylonia. For seventy years 
 (i.e., a long time) Tyre shall remain unchanged as if 
 under a single reign, and then recover her prosperity. 
 
 Oracle of Tyre. 
 
 Wail, ships of Tarshish, 
 
 For she is spoiled of house, of access ! 
 
 From the land of Chittim it is disclosed to them. 
 
 Be silent, ye inhabitants of the coast, 
 
 Which sea-traversing merchants of Zidon did crowd : 
 
 And on great waters was the grain of Shihor, 
 
 The harvest of the River was her revenue, 
 
 So that she became a mart of nations ! 
 
 Be ashamed, Zidon, for the sea speaks. 
 The fortress of the sea, saying, 
 ' I have not travailed nor brought forth, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 57 
 
 Chapter XXIII. 4 — 13. 
 
 ' I have not reared youths, nor brought up virgins.' 
 When the tidings reach Egypt, 
 At the tidings of Tyre shall they be pained. 
 
 Pass over to Tarshish, 
 
 Howl, inhabitants of the coast ! 
 
 Is this your exulting city, 
 
 Whose ancientness is of ancient days ? 
 
 Her own feet carry her far away to sojourn ! 
 
 Who has purposed this 
 
 Against Tyre the bestower of crowns. 
 
 Whose merchants were princes, 
 
 Whose traders the honoured of earth ? 
 
 Yahveh Sabaoth purposed it, 
 
 To profane the pride of all splendour, 
 
 To debase all the honoured of earth. 
 
 Overflow thy land like the River ; 
 
 O daughter of Tarshish, there is no more restraint ; 
 
 He stretched out His hand over the sea, 
 
 Kingdoms has He made to tremble — 
 
 Concerning Canaan has Yahveh commanded 
 
 To destroy her fortresses. 
 
 And he said. Exult no more. 
 
 Violated Virgin, daughter of Sidon — 
 
 Arise, pass over to Chittim — 
 
 Even there thou shalt not rest 
 
 Behold the land of the Chaldees — 
 
 This people is no more ; 
 
 Assyria has made it over to beasts of the desert ; 
 
58 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXIII. 13—18. 
 
 They raised their i-/^^-towers, 
 
 They overthrew her palaces, 
 
 He has made her a ruin. 
 
 Wail, ships of Tarshish, 
 
 For your stronghold is destroyed ! 
 
 And it comes to pass in that day, 
 
 That Tyre is forgotten seventy years. 
 
 As the days of a single king : 
 
 But at the end of seventy years it shall be with Tyre 
 
 As in a harlot's song ; 
 
 * Take thy harp, go round the city, forgotten harlot ! 
 
 * Touch the strings skilfully ; sing many a song, 
 
 * That thou mayest be remembered.' 
 
 And it comes to pass at the end of seventy years, 
 
 Yahveh will visit Tyre, 
 
 And she returns to her hire. 
 
 And fornicates with all kingdoms of the earth. 
 
 That are on the face of the world. 
 
 But her merchandize and her hire become holy to Yahveh; 
 
 It shall not be treasured up nor kept in store. 
 
 But her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before 
 
 Yahveh 
 For abundant food, and for splendid vestments. 
 
 vy^»>*»»»»'»*»**^'>^^' 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 59 
 
 CHAPTERS XXIV. XXVII. 
 
 Chapter XXIV. 1—7. 
 
 The desolation of the land : the return of the Jews from 
 exile : Hym7is to be sung by the Prophet in the 7iame 
 of the people, and by the people themselves : the destruc- 
 tion of Babylon : the restoration of the Theocracy. 
 
 See ! Yahveh pours out the land and empties it """ 
 
 And turns its face upside down 
 
 And scatters its inhabitants ! 
 
 And it comes to pass that as people, so priest ; 
 
 As servant, so his master ; 
 
 As maid, so her mistress ; 
 
 As buyer, so seller : 
 
 As lender, so borrower ; 
 
 As debtor, so creditor ; — 
 
 With emptying emptied, with spoiling spoiled is the\3.nd,* 
 
 For this word has Yahveh spoken. 
 
 The land wails, fails ;'"' 
 
 The world fades, fails ; 
 
 The loftiness of the people of the land languishes, 
 
 And the earth is polluted under its inhabitants ; 
 
 For they have transgressed precepts, violated law, 
 
 Broken an everlasting covenant. 
 
 Therefore a curse devours the land. 
 
 And the dwellers therein are punished for guilt ; 
 
 Therefore the dwellers on the land are burned up, 
 
 And few are left. 
 
 The new wine mourns, the vine languishes. 
 
6o THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXIV. 7 — 17. 
 
 All that were glad of heart are sighing ! 
 
 Ceased is the mirth of timbrels, 
 
 Ended the uproar of the joyous, 
 
 Ceased is the mirth of harp. 
 
 They shall not drink wine with song, 
 
 Bitter to them that quaff it shall be strong drink ; 
 
 A city of desolation is broken down, 
 
 Closed every house from entry ; 
 
 In the streets is a cry because of the wine. 
 
 All joy has set, 
 
 The mirth of the land is banished. 
 
 Desolation is left in the city, 
 
 And the gate is smitten mto ruins. 
 
 For so shall it be within the land amid the peoples, 
 
 As when an olive tree is beaten, 
 
 As a gleaning when the vintage is done : 
 
 These shall uplift their voice ; 
 
 Shall shout for the majesty of Yahveh, 
 
 From the sea they cry aloud ; — 
 'Wherefore in the countries glorify Yahveh, 
 ' In the countries of the sea, the name of Yahveh, Elohim 
 of Israel ! 
 
 From the outskirts of the land we hear sones, 
 * Honour for the righteous ! ' 
 
 But I said, ' For me is pining — for me is pining ! Alas 
 for me ! ' 
 
 The spoilers spoil. 
 
 And spoilers spoil the spoil 
 
 A scaring, and pit-snare and snare* 
 
 Are upon thee, O inhabitant of the land ! 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 6f 
 
 Chapter XXIV. 18—23.— XXV. i, 2. 
 
 And it is so that one who flies from sound of the scarinof 
 
 Will fall into the pit-snare ; 
 
 And one who comes up from the midst of the pit-snare, 
 
 Will be taken in the snare ; 
 
 For lattices from on high have opened, 
 
 And the foundations of the land tremble. 
 
 Quaking the land quakes !* 
 
 Breaking, the land breaks up ! 
 
 Shaking, the land shakes ! 
 
 Reeling, the land reels like a drunkard. 
 
 And rocks to and fro like a hammock ! 
 
 And her rebellion lies heavy on her. 
 
 And she falls and rises not again. 
 
 And it comes to pass in that day that Yahveh will visit 
 
 the Host of the Height in the height, 
 And kings of the Earth on the Earth. 
 And they are gathered with gathering of prisoners for 
 
 the pit,* 
 And in prison are imprisoned, 
 
 And after many days shall they be visited in mercy ; 
 And the moon blushes and the sun is ashamed, 
 When Yahveh Sabaoth reigns 
 On Mount Sion and in Jerusalem, — 
 And before his ancients, in glory. 
 Yahveh ! thou art my Elohim ; 
 Thee will I exalt, will praise thy name ; 
 For thou hast wrought out a wonder, — 
 Counsels long since purposed — truth, faithfulness! 
 Thou hast made of a city an heap, 
 
62 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXV. 2 — 9. 
 
 A fenced town into a ruin, 
 
 A fortress of aliens to be no city, — 
 
 Never shall it be rebuilt. 
 
 Therefore shall peoples of might honour thee, 
 
 Cities of terrible nations shall fear thee ; 
 
 For to the weak thou hast become a stronghold, 
 
 A stronghold to the needy in his strait, 
 
 From storm a shelter, from heat a shade ; 
 
 For the blast of the terrible was like a storm against a 
 
 wall. 
 As heat on a parched land, 
 Didst thou subdue the uproar of the alien ; 
 As heat by shadow of a cloud, 
 The sone of the terrible ones is humbled. 
 
 And Yahveh Sabaoth makes in this mountain for all the 
 
 peoples 
 A Feast of fat things, a feast of vat-kept wine,* 
 Of marrowy fat things, of vat-kept wine refined. 
 And in this mountain He swallows up 
 The face of the veil which veils all the peoples, 
 And the covering that covers all the nations ; 
 He swallows up death for ever. 
 
 And from all faces Adonai Yahveh wipes away tears, 
 And takes away from off all the earth the reproach 01 
 
 his people, 
 For Yahveh has spoken. 
 In that day it is said, ' Lo, our Elohim, 
 * For whom we waited that He should deliver us ! 
 ' This is Yahveh for whom we waited, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 63 
 
 Chapter XXV. 9- -12. XXVI. 1—8. 
 
 * Let us rejoice and be glad in his deliverance.' 
 For on this mountain the hand of Yahveh rests, 
 And in his own place is Moab trodden down, 
 
 As straw is trodden down in water of a dunghill : 
 
 And though he spread forth his hand in its midst. 
 
 As the swimmer spreads them forth to swim, 
 
 Yet He brings down his pride, 
 
 Together with the manoeuvres of his hands ; 
 
 And the fortress of thy lofty walls He throws down. 
 
 Lays low, levels with the ground, even to the dust. 
 
 In that day will this song be sung in Judah's land : 
 ' A city of strength is ours, 
 
 ' For walls and bulwark He appoints deliverance : 
 ' Open ye the gates, 
 
 ' That a just nation keeping faithfulness, may enter ; 
 ' Him that is of firm purpose thou keepest in peace, peace,* 
 ' Because he trusts in Thee. 
 
 * Trust ye in Yahveh evermore, 
 
 ' For in Yah-Yahveh is a rock of ages. 
 ' For He has cast down those who dwelt on high ; 
 *A lofty city, — He lays it low, 
 ' He laid it low, even to the ground, 
 ' He levels it with the very dust. 
 ' The foot tramples her — the feet oi the afiflicted, — 
 ' The steps of the helpless ! 
 ' Straight is the path for the righteous ; 
 ' A road-way for the righteous thou levellest evenly. 
 ' Yea, in the path of thy judgments we waited for thee, 
 O Yahveh ! 
 
64 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXVI. 8—16. 
 
 ' To thy name and to the remembrance of thee was oiir 
 soul's desire. 
 
 * With my soul I longed for thee by night, 
 
 ' Yea, with my spirit within me I sought thee earnestly ; 
 
 ' For when thy judgments are upon the earth, 
 
 ' The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness, 
 
 ' Should a wicked man be favoured, he learns not 
 
 righteousness ; 
 ' In a land of uprightness will he act perversely, 
 ' And will not behold the majesty of Yahveh ! 
 ' Uplifted was thy hand, Yahveh ! — they saw it not ! 
 ' But they shall see the jealousy for the people and be 
 
 ashamed, 
 ' Yea, a fire shall devour thy foes. 
 
 ' Yahveh ! Thou wilt ordain peace for us, 
 
 ' For Thou too has wrought all our works for us. 
 
 ' Yahveh, our Elohim ! Lords beside thee have ruled over 
 
 us ; 
 ' Only through thyself do we commemorate thy name ; 
 ' Dead, they revive not — 
 ' Shades, they do not arise ! 
 ' For this was it that thou didst visit and destroy them, 
 
 * And madest all their memory to perish. 
 
 ' Yahveh ! thou hast increased the nation, 
 
 * Thou hast increased the nation and art glorified, 
 ' Thou hast widened all the borders of the land. 
 
 * Yahveh ! in distress to thee they looked — 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 65 
 
 Chapters XXVI. 15. XXVII. i, 2. 
 
 ' Thy chastening on them, they poured out whispered 
 
 prayers ; 
 ' As when a pregnant woman draws nigh to the birth, 
 ' Travails, cries out in her throes, 
 ' So have we been in thy sight, Yahveh ! 
 ' We have been with child, have travailed, 
 ' We brought forth as it were wind, 
 * We wrought not deliverance for the land, 
 ' And inhabitants of the land were not born. 
 ' Thy dead shall live — 
 ' My dead bodies shall arise : 
 ' Awake and sing ye dwellers in dust, 
 ' For thy dew is a dew of herbs, 
 ' And Earth shall give birth to the shades." 
 
 Go, my people, enter thy chambers. 
 
 And close thy door after thee ; 
 
 Hide thee as for a little moment, 
 
 Till indignation be overpast. 
 
 For lo ! from his place Yahveh comes forth. 
 
 To visit the sin of earth's inhabitants upon them, 
 
 And the earth shall disclose her bloodshed, 
 
 And shall cover her slain no longer. 
 
 In that day Yahveh visits with his sword, 
 
 The hard and the great and the powerful, 
 
 Leviathan, fleet serpent. 
 
 Leviathan, coiled serpent, 
 
 And slays the dragon which is in the sea. 
 
 In that day sing ye of ' the lovely vineyard,' 
 
66 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXVII. 3 — 11. 
 
 ' I, Yahveh, am its keeper — every moment do I water 
 
 it — 
 ' Lest any harm it, I keep it night and day. 
 ' My anger is gone : 
 
 ' Would that I had in battle thorns and briars — 
 ' I would rush on them, would burn them together ! 
 ' Or else let any one lay hold on my protection, 
 ' Let him make peace with me, 
 ' Peace let him make with me.' 
 
 In the coming days Jacob shall strike root, 
 
 Israel shall bloom and bud, 
 
 And they fill the face of the world with fruit. 
 
 Hath He smitten him as He smote his smiter ? "'' 
 
 Is he slain as his slayers were slain ? 
 
 In measur^^-measure, in putting her away, didst thou 
 contend with her. 
 
 He took her away with his rough blast in a day of east 
 wind : 
 
 Therefore by this shall the guilt of Jacob be expiated, 
 
 And this, all the fruit of putting away his sin, 
 
 When he makes all altar-stones like pounded chalk- 
 stones, 
 
 So that Asherahs and sun-pillars stand no longer. 
 
 For a 071CC fortified city becomes solitary. 
 
 An abode unpeopled, and deserted like a wilderness : 
 
 There shall pasture, and there lie down the calf, 
 
 And it consumes its branches ! 
 
 When its boughs are dry they are broken off, 
 
 Women come and kindle them. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 67 
 
 Chapter XXVII. 11 — 13. 
 
 For it is not a people of understanding, 
 
 Therefore their Maimer pities them not, 
 
 And he that formed them shews them no favour. 
 
 And it comes to pass in that day, 
 
 That Yahveh will beat out corn, 
 
 From the flood * of Euphrates to the torrent of Egypt, 
 
 And ye, sons of Israel, shall be gleaned one by one ; 
 
 And it comes to pass in that day. 
 
 That a great trumpet shall be blown. 
 
 And they who were perishing in the land of Assyria 
 
 come, 
 And the outcasts in the land of Egypt, 
 And they worship Yahveh, 
 On the holy mount in Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXVIII. -XXXIII. 
 
 Denunciations delivered in the time of S argon, B.C. 722^ 
 against Ephraim and the ten tribes a?id Jerusahm, 
 The alliance with Egypt. The Assyrian i?ivaders. 
 A prosperous reign (of Hezekiah), and a new era, 
 xxxii. 1 — 8, with an address to women. Retribution 
 tipon Assyria (in the 26th year of Hezekiah, B.C. 101.) 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. i. 
 
 Woe to the proud crown of Ephraim's drunkards. 
 And the fading flower, his glorious beauty. 
 Which is on the head of the fat valley of the wine- 
 smitten ! 
 
68 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. 2 — 9. 
 
 See ! Adonai has a strong and a powerful one, 
 
 Like a storm of hail — a destroying tempest — 
 
 Like a storm of mighty waters, overwhelming, 
 
 ^\\h. force of hand He casts down to the earth ! 
 
 Under foot shall it be trampled, — 
 
 Proud crown of Ephraim's drunkards : — 
 
 And the fading flower, his glorious beauty 
 
 Which is on the head of the fat valley, 
 
 Shall be as an early fig before the fruit-season, 
 
 Which, whoso sees it, swallows as soon as it is in his 
 
 hand. 
 In that day Yahveh Sabaoth shall be a crown of beauty, 
 And a diadem of glory to the residue of his people ; 
 And a spirit of judgment to him who sits on the 
 
 judgment-seat. 
 And for strength to those who turn back the battle to 
 
 the foeman s gate. 
 
 Yet even these stagger through wine. 
 
 And reel through strong drink : 
 
 Priest and prophet stagger through strong drink, 
 
 They are swallowed up by wine. 
 
 Through strong drink they reel. 
 
 They reel in vision, they totter in judgment : 
 
 For all tables are full of filthy vomit — 
 
 No place is left. 
 
 ' Whom,' say they, ' would He teach knowledge ? 
 ' And whom make to understand the message .•* 
 ' Those weaned from milk ? 
 
TMn PROPHECIES OP ISAIAH. 69 
 
 Chapter XXVI II. 9—16. 
 
 ' Those taken from the breasts ? 
 
 ' For it is " precept on precept, precept on precept, 
 
 ' " Rule on rule, rule on rule, 
 
 ' " A little here, a little there." ' 
 
 But, with barbarous lip and a strange tongue, 
 
 Will He speak to this people : 
 
 For He said to them : ' This is the rest ; rest ye the 
 weary ; 
 ' And this is the tranquillity,' — 
 
 Yet they would not hearken : 
 
 Therefore shall the word of Yahveh be to them, 
 ' Precept on precept, precept on precept, 
 ' Rule on rule, rule on rule, 
 ' A little here, a little there,' 
 
 That they may go on, and stumble backward and be 
 broken, 
 
 And be snared and taken. 
 
 Hear therefore, ye men of scorn, the word of Yahveh, 
 Rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem ; 
 Because ye said, ' We have struck a covenant with 
 death, 
 
 ' And have made a league with Sheol ; 
 
 ' An overflowing scourge shall not reach us, as it passes 
 along, 
 
 * For we have made a lie our refuge, 
 
 ' And in falsehood have we hidden ourselves : " — 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord Yahveh, 
 Lo, 1 am He that hath founded a stone in Zion, 
 
70 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. 16—25. 
 
 A proved stone, a costly corner-stone, 
 
 A founded foundation — 
 
 He who confides i?i li shall not flee hastily. 
 
 And I appoint right for a measui ing-\\n&, 
 
 And justice for a plummet. 
 
 And hail shall sweep away i/ie refuge of a lie, 
 
 And waters shall overwhelm the hiding place, 
 
 And your covenant with death shall be cancelled, 
 
 And your league with Sheol shall not stand : 
 
 The overflowing scourge when it passes along — 
 
 — Then shall ye be to it for a trampling — 
 
 As oft as it passes along shall it take you away, 
 
 For it shall pass along every morning, 
 
 By day and by night ; 
 
 And it is even a terror to know the rumour of it ; 
 
 For the bed is too short to stretch in, 
 
 And too narrow the coverlet to wrap one's self in ; 
 
 For as on Mount Perazim will Yahveh uprise, 
 
 Will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, 
 
 To do his deed, his strange deed, 
 
 And work his work, his strange work. 
 
 Now then be ye not scoffers, 
 
 Lest your bonds be made strong ; 
 
 For I have heard of a final and decisive doom, 
 
 From Adonai Yahveh Sabaoth upon all the land. 
 
 Give ye ear and hear my voice, 
 
 Attend and hear my speech. 
 
 Does the plowman plough all day that he may sow ; 
 
 Open and harrow his ground ? 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 71 
 
 Chapters XXVI 1 1. 25— 29.— XXIX. 1—4. 
 
 Does he not, when he has levelled its surface, 
 
 Cast abroad dill and scatter cummin, 
 
 And set wheat in rows, 
 
 And iiarley in its appointed place. 
 
 And vetch in its border ? 
 
 For One instructs him aright. 
 
 His Elohim teaches him. 
 
 For not with sharp-sledge is dill threshed out, 
 
 Nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin. 
 
 But dill is beaten out with staff, 
 
 And cummin with rod. 
 
 Bread-corn is trodden out ; 
 
 Yet a man will not be always threshing it, 
 
 Nor urging the wheel of his wain and his horses — 
 
 He does not crush it. 
 
 This, too, proceeds from Yahveh Sabaoth, 
 
 He makes counsel wondrous, makes wisdom great. 
 
 Ah ! God's Lion, God's Lion, 
 
 City where David camped ! 
 
 Add year to year. 
 
 Let festivals go their round — 
 
 Then will I bring distress upon ' God's Lion,' 
 
 And there shall be moaning and bemoaning,* 
 
 Yet shall it be to me as a Lion-of-God. 
 
 For though I encamp against thee round about, 
 
 And lay siege to thee with a mound, 
 
 And set up forts against thee, 
 
 And, brought low, thou speakest from the ground, 
 
 And from the dust thy speech sighs forth, 
 
72 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXIX. 4 — 10. 
 
 And thy voice comes out of the ground like a necro- 
 mancer's, 
 
 And thy speech chirps from the dust, 
 
 Yet the multitude of thy foes shall become like small 
 dust, 
 
 And the multitude of the terrible like flitting chaff, 
 
 And suddenly in a mom.ent shall it take place. 
 
 By Yahveh Sabaoth will she be visited, 
 
 With thunder and with earthquake and a great shout, ■^" 
 
 With storm and tempest and flame of devouring fire ; 
 
 And the multitude of all the nations that war against 
 the Lion-of-God, 
 
 And all that go to war against her and her ramparts 
 and who beleaguer her. 
 
 Shall be like a dream, a vision of night ; 
 
 And it shall be as when the hungry dreams, and see, he 
 eats, — 
 
 But he wakes and his soul is empty : 
 
 And as when the thirsty dreams, and see, he drinks, — 
 
 But he wakes, and see, he is faint, and his soul is 
 craving ; 
 
 So shall be the multitude of all the nations 
 
 Which go to war against Mount Zion. 
 
 Wait ye and be astonished ! * 
 Blind yourselves, and be blind ! 
 They are drunken, but not with wine ; 
 They reel, but not with strong drink ! 
 For Yahveh has poured out upon you a spirit of 
 slumber, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 73 
 
 Chapter XXIX. 10 — 16. 
 
 And has closed up your eyes, the prophets, 
 And your heads, the seers, has he covered over. 
 So that the whole vision has become to you 
 Like words of a sealed writing, 
 
 Which they deliver to one versed in writing, saying 
 ' Read now this,' 
 
 And he answers, ' I cannot, for it is sealed : ' 
 And if the writing is delivered to one who is not versed 
 in writing, saying, ' Read thou this,' 
 
 And he answers, ' I am not versed in writing ; ' 
 Therefore saith Adonai, 
 Because this people draw near to me. 
 And with their mouth and lips honour me while their 
 heart is far from me. 
 
 And their fear of me is a men-taught precept ; 
 Therefore, behold, I deal yet further with this people 
 in marvellous sort, 
 
 Dealing marvellously and zvii/i marvel. 
 
 And the wisdom of their wise perishes, 
 
 And the skill of their skilful hides itself ! 
 
 Woe to those who hide deep their purpose from Yahveh, 
 
 So that their works are in the dark, 
 
 And they say, ' Who sees us ? ' and ' Who notices us ? ' 
 
 Perverse that ye are ! Shall the potter be regarded as 
 
 clay. 
 So that a thing made shall say of its maker, ' He made 
 
 me not ? ' 
 And a thing fashioned say of its fashioner, ' He has no 
 
 skill ? ' 
 
74 THE PROPHECIES OF IS-AIAH 
 
 Chapters XXIX. 18—24.— XXX. i, 2. 
 
 Is it not yet a very little while, 
 
 Before Lebanon shall be changed into fruitful-land, 
 
 And the fruitful land be accounted a thicket ? 
 
 And in that day the deaf hear the words of a writing, 
 
 And out of gloom and darkness the eyes of ike blind see, 
 
 And the meek increase their joy in Yahveh, 
 
 And the poor among men exult in Israel's Holy One. 
 
 For a terrible one is no more, 
 
 A scoffer is destroyed, 
 
 And all watchers for iniquity are cut off, 
 
 Who condemn a man for a single word. 
 
 And lay snares for him that pleads in the gate. 
 
 And turn aside the just for nought. 
 
 Therefore thus saith Yahveh of the house of Jacob, 
 
 He Who delivered Abraham — 
 
 Now shall Jacob not be ashamed. 
 
 And his face shall not now grow pale ; 
 
 For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, 
 
 in his midst : 
 They shall hallow my name. 
 And hallow Jacob's Holy One, 
 And tremble at the Elohim of Israel, 
 And they who erred in spirit shall know prudence. 
 And murmurers shall learn instruction. 
 
 Ah ! perverse sons ! — it is an oracle of Yahveh, 
 
 To execute a purpose which is not of me. 
 
 To sanction a league by libation, but without my spirit, 
 
 That they may add sin to sin ! 
 
 Who set forth to go down to Egypt, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 75 
 
 Chapter XXX. 2 — 9. 
 
 But enquire not at my mouth ; 
 
 To flee for refuge to the fortress of Pharaoh, 
 
 And to take refuge in Egypt's shadow ! 
 
 Therefore will the fortress of PharRoh become your 
 
 disgrace, 
 And your refuge in Egypt's shadow, confusion. 
 For when his princes are at Zoan, 
 And his ambassadors arrive at Hanes, 
 Everyone will be ashamed of a people that cannot profit 
 
 them, 
 Who are neither for help nor for profit. 
 But for shame and also for reproach. 
 
 The oracle concerning the beasts of the South. 
 
 Through a land of distress and difficulty, 
 
 Whence lioness and lion do come, 
 
 Viper and flying serpent : 
 
 They carry their wealth on shoulder of young asses. 
 
 And their treasures on hump of camels. 
 
 To a people that cannot profit. 
 
 Yea, the Egyptians — vapour and emptiness is their 
 
 help — 
 Therefore I name it — ' Arrogance, the inactive.' 
 
 Now go, write it on a tablet before them, 
 
 And record it on a scroll. 
 
 That it may be for a future day — 
 
 For a witness for ever. 
 
 For it is a rebellious people, lying sons, 
 
 Sons who refuse to hear the teaching of Yahveh, 
 
^6 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXX. lo — 17. 
 
 Who say to seers, ' See not ; ' 
 
 And to beholders of visions, ' Behold not right things 
 for us, 
 ' Speak to us smooth things — Behold delusions — 
 ' Withdraw from the way — Turn aside from the path — 
 ' Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 
 
 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel ; 
 
 Because ye reject this word, 
 
 And trust in oppression and perverseness, and lean 
 thereon. 
 
 Therefore shall this offence be to you 
 
 Like a falling breach, bulging in a lofty wall, 
 
 Whose breaking comes suddenly in a moment ; 
 
 And he breaks it as one breaks a potter's vessel, 
 
 Dashing in pieces without sparing. 
 
 So that among its fragments not a sherd is found, 
 
 For taking fire from hearth, or for drawing water from 
 cistern. 
 
 For thus said Adonai Yahveh, Israel's Holy One, 
 ' In returning and quietness shall be your safety, 
 ' In quietness and confidence shall be your strength ; * 
 
 But ye would not, and said, 
 ' No, for on horse will we flee ; * 
 
 — Therefore shall ye flee — 
 ' And on the swift will we ride ! ' 
 
 — Swift therefore shall be your pursuers. 
 
 One thousand at rebuke of one, 
 
 At rebuke of five shall ye flee. 
 
 Till ye be left like signal pole on the mountain top, 
 
 And like banner on the hill. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 77 
 
 Chapter XXX. 17 — 25. 
 
 And yet will Yahveh long to shew you favour, 
 And yet will He be on high to take pity on you, 
 For an Elohim of Justice is Yahveh, 
 Blessed all who long for Him ! 
 For, O people who dwellest in Zion, in Jerusalem, 
 Thou shalt weep no more ; 
 
 At voice of your outcry He will shew you favour ; 
 When He hears it, He answers you. 
 And though Adonai give you distress as bread. 
 And oppression as water. 
 
 Yet shall thy teacher no more have to hide himself, 
 But your eyes constantly behold your teacher ; 
 And your ears hear a word from behind you, saying, 
 ' This is the way, walk ye therein,' 
 When ye turn to the right, and when ye turn to the 
 
 left. 
 Then ye defile the overlaying of your images of silver, 
 And the plating of your golden idols ; 
 Thou shalt scatter them as a loathsome thing, 
 Thou wilt say to it, ' Begone.' 
 Then gives He rain upon thy seed^ 
 With which thou sowest the ground, 
 And bread, the produce of the ground — 
 It shall be nourishing and rich : 
 In that day thy cattle will feed in a broad pasture, 
 The oxen also, and the young asses that till the ground, 
 Will eat fermented provender 
 Which has been winnowed with fork and fan. 
 And on every high mountain and on every lofty hill 
 Are streams that run with water, — 
 
78 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXX. 25 — 32. 
 In the day of a great slaughter, when towers fall. 
 And the light of the moon is as sun-light, 
 And the sun-light is sevenfold. 
 As light of seven days, 
 In the day when Yahveh binds up the breach of his 
 
 people, 
 And heals the wound of their stroke. 
 
 Lo ! the name of Yahveh comes from far ! 
 
 His wrath burning, — 
 
 And mighty the towering flame ; 
 
 His lips are full of indignation, 
 
 And his tongue like a devouring fire, 
 
 And his breath like an overflowing torrent, 
 
 Which divides at the neck. 
 
 To sift nations in a sieve of destruction, 
 
 And on the cheeks of nations is a misguiding bridle. 
 
 But ye shall have the song, as in a night when a Feast is 
 
 celebrated, 
 And joy of heart, like one who walks to a pipe. 
 To come to Yahveh's Mount, to Israel's Rock. 
 Then Yahveh causes his glorious voice to be heard, 
 And a lighting down of his arm to be seen. 
 With fury of anger and flame of devouring fire. 
 With storm of flood and hailstone. 
 For at Yahveh's voice shall Asshur be broken down. 
 When with rod He smites him : 
 And every overpassing of destined scourge 
 Which Yahveh shall bring down upon him. 
 Is with tabrets and with harps — 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 79 
 
 Chapter XXX. 33.— XXXI. 1—4. 
 
 And with battles swaying to and fro, He fights against 
 
 them. 
 For a place of burning has been prepared beforehand, 
 Even for the King is it made ready ; 
 He has deepened, has widened z/,* 
 Its pile is fire and wood in abundance : 
 Breath of Yahveh, like a stream of sulphur, kindles it. 
 
 Ah ! the goers down to Egypt for help ! 
 
 And on horses will they rely, 
 
 And trust in chariots, because they are many. 
 
 And in horsemen, because they are very strong, 
 
 But look not to the Holy One of Israel, 
 
 And enquire not of Yahveh ! 
 
 Yet He, too, is wise. 
 
 And will bring on evil and withdraws not his words. 
 
 But arises against the house of evil doers. 
 
 And against helpers of those who work iniquity. 
 
 For Egyptians are men and not God, 
 
 And their horses flesh and not spirit : 
 
 And when Yahveh shall stretch out his hand 
 
 The helper stumbles and the holpen falls. 
 
 And all come to an end together. 
 
 For thus saith Yahveh to me . 
 
 As the lion and the young lion growls over his prey. 
 
 Against whom a band of shepherds is summoned, 
 
 — At their shout he is not dismayed, 
 
 Nor is he daunted at their crowd — 
 
 So Yahveh Sabaoth comes down to fight 
 
 Upon Mount Sion and upon her hill : — 
 
8o THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXI. 5—9. XXXII. 1—4. 
 
 Like birds hovering ove7' their young. 
 So will Yahveh Sabaoth defend Jerusalem, 
 Sheltering and delivering, passing over and rescuing. 
 Return to Him from whom ye have deeply revolted, 
 O Sons of Israel. 
 
 For in that day they will reject with scorn 
 
 Every man his vain-gods of silver and his vain-gods of 
 
 gold, 
 Which your hands have made to jowfor a sin. 
 And Asshur falls by no human sword, 
 And a sword of no earth-born-man devours him ; 
 And he betakes him to flight from before the sword, 
 And his youths become tribute-payers. 
 And his rock will pass away through terror, 
 And his princes are dismayed at a signal : — 
 An oracle of Yahveh, who has his fire in Sion 
 And his furnace in Jerusalem. 
 
 Behold a king shall reign for justice, 
 And as for princes, they shall rule for right, 
 And each is as a hiding-place from wind, 
 And like a covert from rain-storm ; 
 Like streams of water in a parched ground, 
 Like the shadow of a great rock in a fainting land. 
 And the eyes of those that see shall not be dimmed, 
 And the ears of those who hear shall hearken. 
 And the heart of the hasty shall learn knowledge, 
 And the tongue of stammerers be prompt to speak 
 clearly. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 81 
 
 Chapter XXXII. 5 — 14. 
 
 A fool shall no longer be called noble, 
 
 And a knave shall no longer be called gentle in rank, 
 
 For a fool will speak folly, 
 
 And his heart work wickedness, 
 
 Acting profanely and speaking error concerning Yahveh ; 
 
 Emptying the soul of the hungry 
 
 And he causes the drink oi the thirsty to fail. 
 
 And as for a mean man, his means are evil i"^^ 
 
 He devises mischiefs, 
 
 To ruin tt'c humble with words of falsehood, 
 
 Even when the plea of the poor is just ; 
 
 But a generous man devises generous things, 
 
 And in generous things will he persist. 
 
 Rise up, ye women who are at ease ! hear my voice ! 
 
 Ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech ! 
 
 Let a year pass, and ye shall quake ye confident ones, 
 
 For vintage fails, ingathering comes not. 
 
 Tremble, ye that are at ease ! 
 
 Quake, ye confident ones ! 
 
 Strip, and make you bare. 
 
 And gird sackcloth on loins ! 
 
 The men are smiting their bosom for the pleasant fields,* 
 
 For the fruitful vine ! 
 
 On the land of my people thorns and briers come up. 
 
 Yea on all houses of joy /;/ the exulting city. 
 
 For the palace will be deserted, 
 
 The tumult of the city be gone ; 
 
 Ophel and watchtower become as caverns for aye, 
 
82 THE PROPHECIES OP tSAlAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXII. 14—20. XXXIII. 1—3. 
 
 A joy of wild asses, a pasturage of flocks, 
 
 Till a spirit from on high be poured out upon us, 
 
 And a desert become a fruitful land, 
 
 And a fruitful land be counted for a forest ; 
 
 Then Right abides in the wilderness 
 
 And Justice inhabits the fruitful field ; 
 
 And the result of the justice is peace, 
 
 And the effect of the justice, quietness and assurance 
 
 for ever ; 
 And my people will dwell in an abode of peace, 
 And in dwellings of confidence and in quiet resting 
 
 places. 
 Yet the7^e is a hail-fall at the falling of a forest,* 
 And in a low place will the city sink down low. 
 Blessed ye who sow by all waters, 
 Who set loose the foot of the ox and of the ass ! 
 
 Woe to thee despoiler, and thou not desfoikd ! 
 
 And a plunderer, and thou not plundered ! 
 
 When thou hast ceased from despoiling, thou shalt be 
 
 despoiled, 
 When thou hast made an end of plundering, they shall 
 
 plunder thee. 
 
 Yahveh ! be gracious to us : on Thee we wait : 
 Be Thou their arm every morning, — 
 Our safety also in time of distress. 
 
 At sound of tumult, the peoples flee : 
 
 When Thou upliftest Thyself, nations are scattered ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 83 
 
 Chapter XXXIII. 4 — 14. 
 
 And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar-locust 
 
 gathers, 
 As winged locusts run, they run upon it. 
 
 Exalted is Yahveh, for He dwells on high. 
 
 He fills Sion with judgment and justice ; 
 
 And the security of thy times is wealth of deliverances, 
 
 And of wisdom and knowledge ; 
 
 Fear of Yahveh, this his treasure. 
 
 See, the warriors raise a cry without — 
 
 Ambassadors of peace are weeping bitterly — ■ 
 
 Highways lie desolate, 
 
 The wayfarer ceases — 
 
 He violates covenant, despises cities. 
 
 Regards not man :. 
 
 I he land wails, languishes, 
 
 Lebanon is shamed, withers, 
 
 The Sharon is become like a desert, 
 
 And Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. 
 
 Now will I arise, saith Yahveh, 
 
 Now will I exalt, now uplift myself; 
 
 Ye conceive chaff, ye bring forth stubble, — 
 
 Your own breath a fire which devours you ; 
 
 So that nations become as burnings of lime, 
 
 Thorns cut up which are burned in fire ! 
 
 Hear, jj'd? tJiat are far off, what I have wrought, 
 
 And j^ that are near, acknowledge my might. 
 
 Sinners in Sion quake : 
 Trembling seizes on the impious ; 
 
84 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXIII. 14 — 24. 
 
 — " Who can sojourn with devouring fire ? 
 " Who can sojourn with perpetual burnings ? " 
 He who wallvs justly, and speaks aright, 
 Scorning lucre of oppression, 
 Shaking his hands from grasp of bribes, 
 Stopping his ears from hearing of bloodshed, 
 And shutting his eyes from beholding evil — 
 He dwells on high, 
 Strongholds of rocks his fortress, 
 His bread is given him, his waters are sure. 
 Thine eyes will behold a king in his splendour. 
 Will see the land to its full extent. 
 
 Thy heart will muse upon the alarm ; — 
 " Where is he who counted ? where he who weiirhed the 
 
 tribute ? 
 " Where he who counted the towers ?" 
 
 The fierce people thou shalt see no more, 
 
 A people of speech too dark for hearing. 
 
 Of barbarous tongue, not to be understood. 
 
 Look upon Sion, city of our festivals ; 
 
 Thine eyes shall behold Jerusalem, a quiet dwelling, 
 
 A tent that will not remove. 
 
 Its tent-pegs never will be plucked up, 
 
 Nor any of its cords be broken. 
 
 But there Yahveh is in splendour for us — 
 
 A place of rivers, streams of ample breadth : 
 
 No oared galley shall pass upon it. 
 
 Nor splendid ship shall traverse it ; 
 
 For Yahveh our judge, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 85 
 
 Chapter XXXI II. 22 — 24. 
 
 Yahveh our lawgiver, 
 Yahveh our king — 
 He will deliver us. 
 
 Thy tacklings have been slackened ; 
 
 The foot of their mast they cannot strengthen ; — 
 
 They spread not out a signal ; 
 
 Yet even then is spoil shared in abundance, 
 
 Even the lame prey a prey, 
 
 And no inhabitant says, " I am sick : 
 
 The people that dwell therein has its iniquity forgiven. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXXIY. XXXV. 
 
 Chapter XXXIV. 1—3. 
 
 The downfall of enemies, especially of Edom. The return 
 of Israel, and their joy. Probably luritten ea) ly in 
 the Captivity. 
 
 Draw nigh ye nations to hear, 
 
 And attend, ye peoples : 
 
 Let the earth and her fulness hear. 
 
 The world and all its offspring. 
 
 For Yahveh has indignation against all the nations, 
 
 And wrath against all their armies ; 
 
 He has laid a ban upon them, has given them up to 
 
 slaughter. 
 And their slain are cast forth — 
 
86 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXIV. 3— ii. 
 
 And as for their carcases— a stench from them goes up, 
 
 And the mountains flow down with their blood, 
 
 And all the host of the Heavens melts away, 
 
 And the Heavens roll together like a scroll, 
 
 And all their host fades, as fades leaf from vine, 
 
 And like fading leaf from fig-tree. 
 
 P^or my sword has been made drunk in Heaven — 
 
 See ! it descends on Edom, 
 
 And for judgment, on a people of my ban ! 
 
 The sword of Yahveh is glutted with blood. 
 
 It is besmeared with fat, 
 
 With blood of lambs and he goats, 
 
 With fat of kidneys of rams : 
 
 For Yahveh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, 
 
 And a great slaughter in the land of Edom : 
 
 And with them will fall the buffaloes, 
 
 And bullocks with bulls ; 
 
 And their land is drunken with blood. 
 
 And their soil is soaked with fat. 
 
 r^or Yahveh has a day of vengeance, 
 
 A year oi requitals for Sion's quarrel. 
 
 And Edcmi s rivers are turned into pitch, 
 
 And her dust into brimstone ; 
 
 And her land becomes burning pitch, 
 
 — Night and day it is unquenched — 
 
 Her smoke ascends for ever. 
 
 From generation to generation it lies waste. 
 
 None pass through it for ever and ever. 
 
 And pelican and hedgehog possess it, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. ^-j 
 
 Chapters XXXIV. ii — 17. XXXV. i. 
 
 And owl and raven dwell therein, 
 
 And one stretches over it a line of ruin, 
 
 And a plummet of emptiness. 
 
 As for her nobles — none is there whom they can call to 
 
 the rule, 
 And all her princes come to noug-ht, 
 And thorns spring up in her palaces, 
 Nettle and thistle in her fortresses, 
 And she is become a dwelling-place of jackals. 
 An enclosure for daughters of the ostrich, 
 And jackals meet wolves. 
 And Satyr will call to his fellow : 
 There too rests Lilith, 
 And finds for herself a place of repose : 
 There nestles arrow-snake and lays. 
 And hatches, and gathers under her shadow : 
 There too are kites assembled, 
 Each with her mate : 
 
 Search out from Yahveh's scroll and read — 
 Not one of these is missing. 
 None lacks its mate. 
 
 For Vahveh's mouth — it has commanded. 
 And His breath — it has mustered them ; 
 And He has cast a lot for them. 
 And His hand has measured it out to them by line. 
 They will occupy it for ever. 
 From generation to generation will they dwell therein. 
 
 At this a wilderness and a dry land rejoices, 
 
 And a desert exults and blossoms like the narcissus, 
 
88 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXV. 2 — 10, 
 
 It blossoms and exults even ivitk ]oy and shouting. 
 
 The Lebanon's glory is given to it, 
 
 The Carmel's and the Sharon's splendour ; 
 
 They will see f/ie glory of Yahveh, l/ie splendour of 
 
 our Elohim. 
 Strengthen ye the feeble hands, 
 And tottering knees make firm. ; 
 Say to t/ie timid of heart, ' Be strong, fear ye not ; 
 ' Behold vour Elohim — venijeance will come— retribution 
 of Elohim — • 
 ' He will come and deliver you.' 
 Then opened will be the blind men's eyes, 
 And ears of ike deaf unstopped ; 
 Then will tke lame man bound like a hart, 
 And t/ie tongue of t/ie dumb shout aloud ; 
 For waters have broken out in a wilderness, 
 And rivers in a desert ; 
 And the mirage becomes' a lake. 
 And a thirsty land springs of water : 
 In the haunt of jackals, where they crouch^ 
 Is a bed for reed and bulrush. 
 And a high-road and a way is there. 
 And it will be called ' the holy way ; ' 
 The unclean pass not over it, since it is for them — His 
 
 people, 
 And wayfarers, though fools, will not go astray. 
 No lion will be there, nor ravenous beasts mount it, 
 It will not be found there. 
 But //^^A'^ journey the redeemed, 
 And Yahveh's ransomed ones will return, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 89 
 
 Chapters XXXV. 10. XXXVI. 1—7. 
 
 And they come to Zion with shouting 
 And perpetual joy on their heads : 
 They will obtain gladness and joy, 
 And sorrow and sighing flee away. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXXVI. XXXIX. 
 
 Compare 2 Kings xviii. 13 — xx. 19. 
 Chapter XXXVI. i — 7. 
 
 And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king 
 Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against 
 all the fortified towns of Judah and took them. And the 
 king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jeru- 
 salem, with a great force, to the king Hezekiah ; and he 
 halted at the conduit of the upper pool, on ///^ highway of 
 the fuller's field. Then there went out to him Eliakim, 
 son of Hilkiah, the house steward, and Shebna the scribe, 
 and Joah, son of Asaph, the recorder. 
 
 And Rabshakeh said to them : Say now to Hezekiah, 
 thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What con- 
 fidence is this in which you confide ? I say that your 
 counsel and might for war is a mere thing of the lips. 
 On whom now do you rely that you rebel against me } 
 Behold ! you confide in this staff of a broken reed, on 
 Egypt ; which, if a man lean on it, will go into his hand 
 and pierce it : such is Pharoah king of Egypt to all who 
 confide on him. But if you say to me, We rely on Yahveh 
 our Elohim : is it not He, whose high places and whose 
 
90 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXVI. 7—16. 
 
 altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and 
 Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye worship ? But now, 
 engage with my master the king of Assyria : and I will 
 give you two thousand horses, if you are able to furnish 
 for yourself riders on them. How then will you turn 
 away the face of one commander of the least of my 
 master's servants ? And yet you rely for yourself on 
 Egypt for chariots and horsemen ! But now, is it with- 
 out Yahveh that I have come up against this land to 
 destroy it ? Yahveh said to me. Go up against this land, 
 and destroy it. 
 
 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rab- 
 shakeh, Speak, we pray you, to your servants in Aramean, 
 for we understand it, but speak to us not in Jewish, in the 
 hearing of the people who are on the wall. But 
 Rabshakeh said : Has my master sent me to your master 
 and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who 
 are sitting on the wall, that they may eat their own filth, 
 and drink their own urine with you } 
 
 And Rabshakeh stood up, and called out in a loud 
 voice in Jewish, and said : Hear the words of the great 
 king, king of Assyria. Thus .says the king : Let not 
 Hezekiah deceive you, for he is not alole to deliver you ; 
 and let not Hezekiah cause you to confide in Yahveh, 
 saying, Yahveh will certainly deliver us ; this city will not 
 be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Listen not 
 to Hezekiah : for thus says the king of Assyria : Make 
 a treaty with me, and come out to me ; and eat ye, each 
 of his vine and each of his fig-tree ; and drink ye each, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 91 
 
 Chapters XXXVI. 16—22. XXXVII. 1—4. 
 
 waters of his cistern, until I come and take you to a land 
 like your own land, a land of corn and of new wine, a 
 land of bread and of vineyards. Let not Hezekiah urge 
 you, saying, Yahveh will deliver us. Have the Elohim of 
 the nations delivered each his own land from the hand of 
 the king of Assyria ? Where are the Elohim of Hamath 
 and of Arpad ? Where are the Elohim of Sepharvaim ? 
 And did its gods deliver Samaria from my hand ? Who 
 among all the Elohim of these lands has delivered their 
 land from my hand, that Yahveh should deliver Jerusalem 
 from my hand } But they kept silent, and answered him 
 not a word : for the king's order was, Answer him not. 
 
 Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the house steward, and 
 Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the 
 recorder, came to Hezekiah with rent clothes, and told 
 him the words of Rabshakeh. x^nd it came to pass, 
 when king Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes and 
 covered himself with sackcloth, and went to the house of 
 Yahveh. And he sent Eliakim, the house steward, and 
 Shebna the scribe, and elders of the priests, covered with 
 sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet. And they 
 said to him, Thus says Hezekiah : A day of distress and 
 reproof and insult is this day ; for children are come to 
 birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. Yahveh 
 thy Elohim will perhaps hear the words of Rabshakeh 
 whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to 
 blaspheme the living Elohim, and will smite for ///^ words 
 which Yahveh thy Elohim has heard : Wherefore lift up 
 a prayer for the remnant which remains.'' And the 
 
92 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXVII. 5—16. 
 
 servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah ; and Isaiah said 
 to them, * Say thus to your master, Thus says Yahveh : 
 Fear not on account of the words which you have heard, 
 with which the servants of the king of Assyria have 
 blasphemed me. Behold, I suggest a purpose to him, 
 and he hears a rumour, and returns to his own land, and 
 in his own land I cause him to fall by the sword.' And 
 Rabshakeh went back, and found the king of Assyria 
 besiep-ine Libnah, for he had heard that he had broken 
 up Lachish. And he heard of Tirhakah, king of y^thiopia, 
 ' He is come forth to fight against you :' and when he 
 heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying : Thus 
 say to Hezekiah king of Judah, Let not your Elohim in 
 whom you confide deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall 
 not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 
 Behold you have heard what the kings of Assyria have 
 done to all the lands, so as utterly to destroy them ; and 
 shall you be delivered ? Have the Elohim of the nations 
 delivered those whom my father destroyed ? Gozan, and 
 Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were 
 in Telassar ? Where is the king of Hamath, and the 
 king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, 
 of Henah and of Ivah ? " 
 
 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the 
 messengers, and read it ; and he went up to the house of 
 Yahveh ; and Hezekiah spread it out before Yahveh : and 
 Hezekiah prayed to Yahveh, saying, '\ahveh of Hosts, 
 Elohim of Israel, enthroned on cherubim. Thou art the 
 very God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 93 
 
 Chapter XXXVII. 16—24. 
 
 earth ; Thou hast made the Heavens and the Earth ! 
 Yahveh, bow down thine ear and hear ; open, Yahveh, 
 Thine eye and see ; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, 
 which he hath sent to reproach the living Elohim. In 
 truth, Yahveh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all 
 the nations, and their lands, and their Elohim have they 
 consigned to the fire, for no Elohim were they, but work 
 of the hands of man, wood and stone, and destroyed 
 them. And now, Yahveh our Elohim, save us from his 
 hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that 
 Thou art Yahveh, Thou alone.' 
 
 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent toHezekiah, saying : 
 Yahveh, the Elohim of Israel, says thus : ' That which 
 thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of 
 Assyria, I have heard : This is the Word which Yahveh 
 speaks against him : 
 
 The viro^in-dauofhter of Zion scorns thee, lauo^hs at thee ; 
 
 Jerusalem's daughter shakes her head after thee. 
 
 Whom hast thou reproached and reviled, 
 
 And against whom hast thou uplifted voice, 
 
 And raised thine eyes on high .^ 
 
 — Against the Holy One of Israel. 
 
 By thy servants hast thou reproached Adonai and said ; 
 ' With a multitude of my chariots I have gone up 
 ' To the mountain height, recesses of Lebanon, 
 ' And have cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest 
 
 cypresses, 
 d I coi 
 forest : 
 
 ' And I come into its utmost height, its garden-like 
 
94 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXVII. 25— 3r. 
 
 * I have diofgred and drunk its waters, 
 ' And with sole of my foot I dry up all the canals of 
 Egypt; 
 
 Hast thou not heard that I ordained it long ago, 
 
 In ancient days, and planned it ? 
 
 I have now brought it about 
 
 That thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities into 
 
 ruined heaps ; 
 And their inhabitants beawie short of power, 
 Were broken down and confounded ; 
 They became like grass of a field and green herbage. 
 Like blades on roofs, 
 And plants blasted ere grown. 
 But thy downsitting and thy outgoing and thy incoming 
 
 I know. 
 And thy rage again^rt me : 
 Because thy rage against me 
 And thy insolence is come up into my ears. 
 In thy nose will I put my hook, and in thy lips my 
 
 bridle, 
 And will turn thee back in ///i' way by which thou camest. 
 
 And to thee O Prophet is this the sign : — 
 
 One eateth this year the aftergrowth, 
 
 And in the second year what is self-sown, 
 
 And in a third year sow ye and reap. 
 
 And plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 
 
 And the escaped of //i!^ house of Judah who are left, 
 
 Root downward, and make fruit upward ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 95 
 
 Chapter XXXVII. 32—38. 
 
 For from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, 
 
 And from Mount Zion the escaped : 
 
 The zeal of Yahveh Sabaoth will effect this. 
 
 Therefore thus saith Yahveh of Assyria's king, 
 
 Into this city he shall not come, 
 
 Nor shoot arrow there, 
 
 Nor present shield before it, 
 
 Nor cast up mound against it. 
 
 By the way that he comes, by it shall he return. 
 
 And into this city he shall not come, 
 
 — It is the utterance of Yahveh- — 
 
 And I protect this city to deliver it, 
 
 For my own sake and David my servant's sake.' 
 
 And an angel of Yahveh went forth and smote in 
 the camp of Assyria 185,000 ; and when men arose 
 early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses. 
 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria broke up and departed 
 and returned, and abode in Nineveh : and it came to 
 pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch 
 his Elohim, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote 
 him with the sword : and they escaped into the land 
 of Ararat : and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his 
 stead. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. i, 
 
 In those days Hezekiah was sick unto dcEth. 
 And Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, came to him 
 and said to him ; Thus saith Yahveh : Give charge to 
 
96 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXVIII. 2—10. 
 thy household, for thou shalt die and not hve,' Then 
 Hezekfah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to 
 Yahveh ; and he said, ' Ah, Yahveh, remember now, I 
 ' beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth 
 ' and with a devoted heart, and have done what was 
 ' good in thine eyes ; ' and Hezekiah wept a great 
 weeping. Then a word from Yahveh came to Isaiah, 
 saying, ' Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Yahveh, 
 ' the Elohim of David thy father : I have heard thy 
 ' prayer ; I have seen thy tears : Behold, I add to thy 
 ' days fifteen years : And out of the palm of the king 
 ' of Assyria will I deliver thee and this city, and I will 
 
 * protect this city. And Isaiah said: Let them bring a 
 ' cake of figs, and let them bind to the boil, that he may 
 ' live. And Hezekiah said : What is the sign that I 
 
 * shall go up to the house of Yahveh ^ And this the 
 ' sign to thee from Yahveh, that Yahveh will effect this 
 
 * word which he has spoken : Behold, I will turn 
 ' the shadow of the degree-steps over which it has gone 
 ' down by the sun on the degree-steps of Ahaz. ten 
 
 * degrees backward.' And the sun turned ten degrees 
 backward, on the degree-steps over which it had gone 
 down. 
 
 A luriting of Hezekiah, Kiii^ of JudaJi, when he had been 
 sick, and zuas recovered from his sickness : 
 
 I said : ' In the noon-tide stillness of my days 
 ' I must go within the gates of Sheol, 
 ' I am amerced of the remnant of my years." 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 97 
 
 Chapter XXXVIII. 11 — 17. 
 
 I said : ' No more shall I see J ah, 
 ' Jah in tJie land of the living ; 
 ' Man shall I behold no more, 
 * Whe7t with them that have ceased to be : 
 ' My life-time is plucked up and carried off from me like 
 
 a shepherd's tent, 
 ' I roll up my life like a weaver, 
 ' From the warp he will cut me off — 
 
 ' Within a day and night wilt thou bring me to an end. 
 ' I cry for help till morn — 
 ' As a lion, so will He break all my bones : 
 'Within a day and night wilt thou bring me to an end. 
 ' Like a circling swallow, so will I shrill ; 
 ' Like a dove will I moan — 
 ' My eyes languish luith looking upwards : — 
 ' O Yahveh ! I am hard-pressed : undertake for me.' 
 
 What shall I say } 
 
 He both promised me and Himself has performed it ! 
 
 All my years shall I walk at ease, 
 
 After the past bitterness of my soul. 
 
 Adonai ! By these tilings men can live, 
 
 And there is in them for all, that wJuch is the life of 
 
 my spirit 
 For Thou hast restored me, and made me live. 
 Lo ! for my welfare it was bitter to me, bitter ! 
 But Thou hast lovingly drawn my soul from the pit of 
 
 destruction, 
 For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back. 
 
98 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XXXVIII. i8— XXXIX. 4. 
 
 For Sheol cannot praise thee — 
 
 Death cajtnot celebrate thee, 
 
 They that go down into (he pit cannot hope for thy 
 
 faithfulness : 
 The living, the living, he can praise Thee, 
 As \ do this day : — : 
 
 Father to child can make known thy faithfulness ! 
 Yahveh rescued me : — 
 Therefore will we strike our harps, 
 All the days of our life in Yahveh's house. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 1—4, 
 
 At that time Merodach Baladan, son of Baladan, 
 king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah, 
 for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered. 
 And Hezekiah was glad because of them, and shewed 
 them his treasure house, the silver and the gold, and the 
 spices and the precious ointment, and all the house of his 
 armour and all that was found in his treasures : there 
 was not any thing in his house and in all his dominion 
 which Hezekiah did not shew them. Then came Isaiah 
 the prophet to the king Hezekiah and said to him : 
 ' What said these men ? and whence come they to thee .'* ' 
 And Hezekiah said : ' They have come to me from a 
 ' far country — from Babylon.' Then said he : ' What 
 saw they in thy house ? ' And Hezekiah said, ' They 
 ' have seen everything in my house ; there is nothing 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE IS At AH. 99 
 
 Chapter XXXIX. 4— XL. 2. 
 
 ' among my treasures which I have not shewn them.' 
 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, ' Hear the word of Yah- 
 ' veh of Hosts : Behold, the days are coming when 
 ' all that is thine house, and all that thy fathers have 
 ' treasured up to this day, shall be carried off to P)aby]on : 
 ' not a thing, saith Yah veh, shall be left. And of thy sons 
 ' which shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall 
 
 * they take, that they may become eunuchs in the palace 
 ' o{ the king of Babylon.' And Hezekiah said to Isaiah : 
 
 * Good is the word of Yahveh which thou hast spoken.' 
 He said also : ' There will be peace and security in my 
 
 ' days.' 
 
 CHAPTERS XL.--XLVL 
 
 Revelations of the Return from Captivity, ivhich all JJesh 
 ill the great zvorld-evipires, especially Assyria and 
 Babylon, shall witness. Ccntrasts betzveen Yahveh 
 a?id his people, and the palse gods and their people : 
 Cyrus the servant and aiioiiited of Yahveh. Encoiir- 
 agemeiits adctressed to Israel, and to Cyrus. Idolatry 
 rebuked. 
 
 ' Comfort ye, comfort my people,' 
 
 Saith your Elohim. 
 ' Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem and proclaim to her, 
 
 That her warfare is fulfilled, 
 
 ' That her iniquity is expiated, 
 
 ' That she has received at Yahveh's hand double for all 
 her misdeeds.' 
 
loo THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XL. 3 — 11. 
 
 A voice proclaims — 
 ' Prepare ye in the wilderness Yahveh's way, 
 ' Level in the desert a highway for our Elohim ! 
 ' Let every valley be uplifted, 
 ' And every mountain and hill be made low ; 
 ' And let the steep become a level, 
 ' And the rough places a plain ; 
 ' And the glory of Yahveh shall be revealed, 
 
 • And all flesh behold together 
 
 ' That Yahveh's mouth has spoken.' 
 
 A voice saith ' Proclaim : ' 
 
 And the prophet said, 'What shall I proclaim ? ' 
 ' All the flesh is grass, 
 ' And all its grace as a flower of the field : 
 ' Withered the grass, faded the flower, 
 ' For the breath of Yahveh has blown upon it ; 
 ' Surely the people is grass ! 
 
 * Withered the grass, faded the flower, 
 
 ' But the word of our Elohim shall stand for ever.' 
 
 Zion, heraldess of joy, get thee up into a high mountain ; 
 
 Jerusalem, heraldess of joy, uplift thy voice with 
 strength ; 
 
 Uplift it, be not afraid ; 
 
 Say to the cities of Judah, ' Behold your Elohim ! 
 ' Lo ! Adonai Yahveh will come like a valiant one, 
 ' And his arm ruling- for Him : 
 ' Lo ! His reward with Him, 
 'And His recompence before Him! 
 ' Like a shepherd will He shepherd His flock, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. loi 
 
 Chapter XL. ii — 20. 
 
 * The lambs will He gather in His arm, 
 
 'And in His bosom carry thejn, 
 
 ' And those that give suck will He lead.' 
 
 Who measured the waters in His palm, 
 
 And meted the heavens with a span. 
 
 And held the dust of the earth in a measure, 
 
 And weighed mountains in scales 
 
 And hills in a blance ? 
 
 Who has measured out the spirit of Yahveh, 
 
 And, as man of his counsel, taught Him .-* 
 
 With whom took He counsel that he might instruct Him 
 
 And teach Him as to a path of right, 
 
 And teach Him knowledge. 
 
 And inform Him of a way of understanding ? 
 
 L.o ! nations as a drop from a bucket, 
 
 And as dust on a balance are reckoned : 
 
 Lo ! He lifts up countries as fine dust, 
 
 And Lebanon suffices not for fuel, 
 
 And its beasts suffice not for burnt offering ; 
 
 All the nations are before Him, as though they were not, 
 
 Are accounted by Him as nought and nothingness. 
 
 To what then can ye liken God [EL] ? 
 
 And what likeness will ye place beside Him ? 
 
 As to the image, a workman moulds it^ 
 
 And a goldsmith overlays it with gold, 
 
 And casts for it chains of silver : — 
 
 Even a poor offerer chooses wood that will not rot, 
 
 He seeks him a skillful workman, 
 
I02 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters XL. 20 — 28. 
 
 To set up an image which shall not stir. 
 
 Can ye not perceive ? can ye not hearken ? 
 
 From the beginning has it not been told you ? 
 
 Have ye not understood from earth's foundations ? 
 
 He who sits above tJie vault of the earth, 
 
 And its inhabitants are as locusts ; 
 
 Who stretches out the Heavens as fine cloth, 
 
 And spreads them out as a tent for dwelling ; 
 
 He who turns princes to nothing, 
 
 He makes ///c judges of the earth nothingness : 
 
 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, 
 
 Scarcely has their stem rooted in earth, 
 
 When He blasts them and they wither, 
 
 And a whirlwind bears them, away as a stubble ! 
 
 To whom then will ye liken Me, that I should resemble 
 
 him .-^ saith the Holy One. 
 Lift up your eyes on high and behold : 
 Who created these ? 
 
 He who brings forth their host in number, 
 — He calls them all by name — 
 
 Through His great might, and being firm in prowess, 
 Not one is missing ! 
 
 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, 
 
 My way is hidden from Yahveh, 
 
 And my cause is passed over by my Elohim 'i 
 
 Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard ? 
 
 Yahveh is an everlasting Elohim } 
 
 Creator of the ends of the earth ; 
 
 He faints not, neither is He weary ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 103 
 
 Chapter XL. 28— XLI. 6. 
 
 Unsearchable is His understanding; 
 
 Giving;- vig-our to the faint, 
 
 And to the powerless He increases strength : 
 
 And though youths may faint and be weary 
 
 And youthful warriors stumble ; 
 
 Yet they who wait on Yahveh will renew their vigour 
 
 Uplift pinion like eagles, 
 
 Run and not weary, 
 
 Go on and not faint. 
 
 Keep silence towards me, O countries, 
 And let the nations take fresh strength : 
 Let them approach ; then let them speak ; 
 Let us draw near for judgment together. 
 
 Who has stirred up from the sun-rise 
 
 Him whose steps God's righteous dealing attends — 
 
 Gives up nations before him and subdues kings — 
 
 Makes their sword as dust. 
 
 Their bow as driven chaff ? 
 
 He pursues them, passes on safely — 
 
 By a way his feet had never trodden : — 
 
 Who has wrouofht and done this ? 
 
 He that called the generations from the beginning ; 
 
 I, Yahveh, the first ; and, with the last, am I the same. 
 
 The countries saw it, and are afraid * 
 The ends of the earth tremble ; 
 They draw near and are come. 
 Each helps his fellow. 
 
I04 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLI. 6 — 14. 
 
 And saith to his brother, ' Be strong ! ' 
 
 And the graver encourages the smith, 
 
 He that smoothes with hammer, him that strikes on 
 
 anvil, 
 Saying of the soldering, ' \\. is good : ' 
 So he fastens it with nails that it stir not ! 
 
 But thou, Israel, My servant, 
 
 Jacob whom I have chosen, 
 
 Seed of Abraham, My friend ; 
 
 Thou whom I have supported from the ends of the 
 
 earth, 
 And called from its borders. 
 And said to thee ' My servant, thou, 
 ' I have chosen thee and not rejected thee ; ' 
 Fear not for I am with thee, 
 Look not around for help, for I am thy Elohim ; 
 I strengthen thee, I also help thee, 
 I also uphold thee with my right hand of deliverance. 
 Lo ! all that were enraged at thee, shall be ashamed and 
 
 confounded ; 
 Men that contended with thee, shall be as nought and 
 
 perish : 
 Thou shalt seek them and not find them, — the men that 
 
 strove with thee — 
 They shall become as nothing and as nought — the men 
 
 that warred with thee. 
 For I, Yahveh thy Elohim, hold fast thy right hand, 
 I, who say to thee, Fear not ; I help thee. 
 Fear not. worm Jacob, feeble folk of Israel, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 105 
 
 Chapter XLI. 14 — 21. 
 
 — // is the utterance of Yahveh, — I help thee, 
 
 And thy Vindicator is the Holy One of Israel. 
 
 See ! I make thee a threshing sledge, 
 
 Sharp, new, furnished with teeth ; 
 
 Thou shalt thresh mountains and crush them, 
 
 And hills shalt thou make as chaff, 
 
 — Winnow them — and a blast carry them away. 
 
 And a tempest scatter them ; 
 
 But thou shalt rejoice in Yahveh, 
 
 And in Israel's Holy One shalt glory. 
 
 The afflicted and the needy are seeking water and there 
 
 is none. 
 Their tongue is parched with thirst ! 
 I, Yahveh, will answer them, 
 I. Elohim of Israel, will not forsake them ; 
 On bare hills will I open rivers. 
 And fountains in the midst of valleys ; 
 I will make a wilderness a pool of waters. 
 And a dry ground springs ot water, 
 In the wilderness will I plant cedar, acacia, 
 And myrtle and wild olive; 
 I will plant the cypress in the desert, 
 Pine and sherbin together, 
 That men may see and know. 
 And consider and understand at once. 
 That Yahveh's hand has done this. 
 And the Holy One of Israel has wrought it. 
 
 Bring near your cause, saith Yahveh ; 
 
io6 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLI. 21 — 28. 
 
 Produce your strong-proofs, saith the king of Jacob : 
 Let them produce them and announce to us what shall 
 
 happen ; 
 Let them announce the former things, what they be. 
 That we may lay them to heart and mark their issue : 
 Or, cause us to hear of the things to come. 
 Tell what will come hereafter, 
 That we may know that ye are Elohim : 
 Yea, do good and do evil, 
 
 That we may gaze around and behold it together. 
 Lo, ye are of nothing. 
 And your work is of nought : 
 An abomination he that chooses you ! 
 
 I have stirred up one from the north, and he is come — 
 
 From the rising oi the sun, he proclaims My name : 
 
 And tramples on princes as on mortar, 
 
 And as a potter treads on clay ; 
 
 Who announced tliis from the beginning that we might 
 
 know itf 
 And, from aforetime, that we might say ' Right ? ' 
 Yea, no one announced it. 
 Yea, no one caused it to be heard, 
 Yea, no one heard your words ; 
 I ^Ysi proclaimed to Zion — Behold, Behold them — 
 And I give to Jerusalem a messenger of joy ! 
 
 For I look, but there is no one ; 
 
 And out of these was no counsellor. 
 
 That I might ask them, and they give an answer. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 107 
 
 Chapter XLI. 29— XL! I. 8. 
 
 Lo ! they are all vanity, 
 
 Their works, nothingness. 
 
 Their images, wind and emptiness. 
 
 Behold ! My servant whom I uphold, 
 
 My chosen, in whom My soul is well pleased ! 
 
 I have put My spirit upon him. 
 
 He will cause law to go forth to ///(? nations ; 
 
 He will not clamour nor uplift a cry, 
 
 Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street ; 
 
 He will not break a bruised reed. 
 
 Nor quench a faintly-burning wick. 
 
 He will brinof forth a law in truth. 
 
 He shall not burn-dimly nor be broken down. 
 
 Till He have established a law in the earth, 
 
 And countries await His teaching. 
 
 Thus saith the El, Yahveh, 
 
 He who created the heavens and stretched them forth 
 
 Who spread out the earth and its produce. 
 
 Giving breath to the people upon it. 
 
 And spirit to those who walk therein : 
 
 I, Yahveh, have called thee in righteous dealing. 
 
 And will hold thy hand and keep thee. 
 
 And appoint thee for a covenant of the people, 
 
 For a light of nations ; 
 
 To open blind eyes, 
 
 To bring forth captives from a dungeon. 
 
 And those who sit in darkness from a prison house. 
 
 I am Yahveh — this is My name — 
 
io8 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLII. 8 — 16. 
 
 And Hy glory I will not give to another, 
 
 Nor My praise to idols. 
 
 The former events, behold ! are come to pass, 
 
 And new things do I announce. 
 
 Ere yet they spring up, I cause you to hear of them. 
 
 Sing ye to Yahveh a new song, 
 
 His praise from the ends of the earth. 
 
 Ye that go down to the sea, and its fulness ; 
 
 Countries and their inhabitants. 
 
 Let the desert and its cities uplift the st^-ain, 
 
 Villaofes where Kedar dwells : 
 
 Let the inhabitants of Sela shout. 
 
 Let them cry aloud from top of mountains. 
 
 Let them ascribe glory to Yahveh, 
 
 And declare his praise among the countries. 
 
 Yahveh goes forth like a champion, 
 
 Stirs up his jealousy like a man of wars. 
 
 Sounds an alarm, yea, raises a war-cry. 
 
 Shews himself mighty over His foes. 
 
 Long have I been silent, been still, and refrained Me, 
 
 But flow I groan like a travailing woman, 
 
 Gasp and pant at once ! 
 
 I lay waste mountains and hills, 
 
 And dry up all their herbage, 
 
 And I will turn rivers into mainlands. 
 
 And pools I dry up ; 
 
 And I lead the blind by a way they knew not, 
 
 By paths they knew not I guide them, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 109 
 
 Chapters XLII. 16 — 24, 
 
 I make darkness into light before them, 
 
 And rough places into a level plain — 
 
 These the things I have done and have not left them 
 
 undone. 
 They are driven back — they are utterly ashamed 
 Who trust in graven-images, 
 
 Who say to molten-images, ' Ye are our Elohim.' 
 Hear ye, deaf! 
 
 And look ye blind, that jk<^ may see ! 
 Who, but My servant, is blind ? 
 And deaf, as My messenger whom I send ? 
 Who is so blind as the devoted one. 
 And blind, as Yahveh's servant ? 
 Many things hast thou seen, but thou heedest not ! 
 Having ears open, but he hears not ! 
 Fain would Yahveh for His righteous-dealing sake 
 Make His teaching great and glorious ; 
 Yet this is a people spoiled and plundered, 
 They are all snared in holes, 
 And hidden in prison houses ! 
 
 They have become a prey and there is no deliverer, 
 A plunder, and no one saith '' Restore ! ' 
 
 Who among you will give ear to this, 
 
 Attend and hear for after-time ? 
 
 Who gave up Jacob for a prey 
 
 And Israel to plunderers ? 
 
 Did not Yahveh ? He against whom we had sinned, 
 
 And in whose ways they would not walk, 
 
 Nor hearken to His teaching ? 
 
1 TO TH^ prophecies of ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLII. 25— XLIII. 6. 
 
 So he poured out upon him the hotness of his ire, 
 
 And violence of war ; 
 
 And it kindled a flame around him, and he would not 
 
 heed it, 
 And it set him on fire, and he would not lay it to heart. 
 
 But now. thus saith Yahveh, thy creator, O Jacob, 
 
 And He that formed thee, O Israel, 
 
 Fear not for I redeem thee, 
 
 I have called thee by thy name — thou art Mine — - 
 
 When thou passest through waters I am with thee, 
 
 And through rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; 
 
 When thou walkest through fire thou shalt not be 
 
 scorched, 
 Nor shall flame set thee on fire. 
 For I, Yahveh, am thine Elohim, 
 Israel's Holy One, thy deliverer ; 
 I give Egypt for thy ransom, 
 Cush and Seba in thy stead. 
 Since thou art precious in Mine eyes, 
 Honoured, and I love thee. 
 Therefore I give men in thy stead, 
 And peoples for thy life. 
 Fear not, for I am with thee, 
 From the sun-rise I bring thy seed 
 And gather you from the sunset : 
 To the north I say ' Give up,' 
 And to the south, ' Withhold not : ' 
 Bring My sons from far. 
 And My daughters from the ends of the earth. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF IS At AM. iii 
 
 Chapter XLIII. 7 — 14. 
 
 Every one who is called by My name, 
 And whom I have created for My glory, 
 WJwm I have formed, yea have made. 
 
 Bring forth a blind people who yet have eyes, 
 
 And deaf, who yet have ears ! 
 
 Let all the nations be gathered together, 
 
 And let peoples be assembled : 
 
 Who amonsf them could announce this ! 
 
 And let them cause us to hear former things, 
 
 Let them produce their witnesses that they may be proved 
 
 right. 
 That they may hearken, and say, ' Truth.' 
 Ye are My witnesses — it is the utterance of Yahveh — 
 And My Servant whom I have chosen, 
 That ye may acknowledge and believe Me, 
 And understand that I am He ; 
 Before Me was no God [EL] formed, 
 Neither shall be after Me. 
 I, I am Yahveh, 
 
 And beside Me thei-e is no deliverer ; 
 I have announced and delivered and made it known, 
 And no strange God among you : 
 And ye are My witnesses — it is the utterance of Yahveh, 
 
 and I am El : [the Strong One] 
 Yea from this day forth I am He, 
 And none can rescue from My hand : 
 I work, and who can reverse it ? 
 Thus saith Yahveh, your Vindicator, 
 
112 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters XLIII. 14 — 23. 
 
 The Holy One of Israel ; 
 
 For your sakes have I sent to Babylon, 
 
 And I have broug^ht down the barriers, all of them, 
 
 And Chaldees with the ships of their shouting, 
 
 I Yahveh, your Holy One, 
 
 Creator of Israel, your king. 
 
 Thus said Yahveh, He who makes a way in M^sea 
 
 A path in mighty waters, 
 
 Who brings forth chariot and horse. 
 
 Army and might : — 
 
 They lie down together — they cannot arise — 
 
 Are extinguished — are quenched as a wick ! 
 
 Remember not former things, 
 
 Nor consider things of old : 
 
 See I effect a new thing, 
 
 Even now it springs up : will ye not regard it ? 
 
 Yea in a wilderness I make a road, 
 
 In a desert, streams : 
 
 Wild beasts of the field shall honour Me, 
 
 Jackals and ostriches 
 
 Because in a wilderness I give waters 
 
 And streams in a desert. 
 
 To give drink to My people, my chosen. 
 
 The people whom I have formed for Myself, 
 
 They shall recount My praise. 
 
 But upon Me thou hast not called, O Jacob ! 
 Yea, O Israel, of Me thou hast been weary ! 
 No sheep of thy burnt offerings hast thou brought Me, 
 
The prophecies of isaiah. 113 
 
 Chapters XLIII. 24 — XLIV. 5. 
 
 Yet thou has boucjht Me with silver* no scented reed 
 Nor sated Me with fat of thy sacrifices, 
 But thou hast made Me toil with thy sins 
 And wearied Me with thine iniquities. 
 
 I, I am He who for My own sake blot out thy rebellions, 
 
 And will not remember thy sins. 
 
 Remind me : let us plead together : 
 
 Speak on, that thou mayest be cleared. 
 
 Thy chief i^Aki^x Jacob sinned, 
 
 And they who interceded for thee have rebelled against 
 
 Me:— 
 I therefore profaned the princes of the sanctuary 
 And gave up Jacob to a ban, 
 And Israel to reproaches. 
 
 Yet now hearken, Jacob My servant, 
 
 And Israel, whom I have chosen : 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh who created thee, 
 
 And fashioned thee from the womb, and will help thee ; 
 
 Fear not, My servaiat Jacob, 
 
 And thou, O upright-folk, whom I have chosen : 
 
 For I will pour waters on the thirsty. 
 
 And floods upon a dry ground ; 
 
 I will pour My spirit on thy seed, 
 
 And My blessing on thy offspring : 
 
 Then spring they up as amid grass, 
 
 As willows by brooks of water ; 
 
 This one shall say, ' I am Yahveh's,' 
 
 And this one shall call himself by the name (?/ Jacob, 
 
114 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLIV. 5 — 12. 
 
 And this one shall inscribe on his hand, ' For Yahveh,' 
 And surname himself by the name of Israel. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh, Israel's king. 
 
 And Yahveh Sabaoth his vindicator : 
 
 I am First, and I Last, 
 
 And beside Me there is no Elohim ! 
 
 For who can announce like Me, 
 
 — Let him declare it and set it out to Me — 
 
 Since I founded the people of old ? 
 
 And future things and coming events let them announce. 
 
 Fear ye not, neither be afraid : 
 
 Have I not long since caused thee to hear, and declared 
 
 it ? 
 Ye are therefore my witnesses — 
 Is there an Eloah beside Me ? 
 And there is no rock, I know not any. 
 Fashioners of idols are vanity, all of them. 
 The images in which they delight cannot profit, 
 And their witnesses have no vision. 
 Nor understand, that they may be ashamed. 
 
 Who has formed a god, or molten a profitless image ? 
 See, all his associates are ashamed ; 
 And /?/^(? artificers who are but men. 
 Assemble themselves, take their stand, 
 Tremble, are ashamed at once ! 
 
 A smith sharpens an axe. 
 
 And works it in charcoal and fashions it with hammers, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 115 
 
 Chapter XLIV. 12 — -18. 
 
 And labours it with his strong arm : 
 
 He is hungry too, and has no strength, 
 
 He drinlvs no water, and is faint. 
 
 A carpenter stretches out a hnt. 
 
 He sketches it with a graver, 
 
 He works it with carving tools, 
 
 And with compass he marks it out. 
 
 And makes it like the figure of a man. 
 
 Like the beauty of a human-being, 
 
 To dwell in a shrine. 
 
 He sets him to hew down cedars for himself, 
 
 And takes holm-oak and oak. 
 
 And grows them for himself among forest trees ; 
 
 He plants a pine, and rain nourishes it. 
 
 And it serves men for fuel, 
 
 And he takes thereof and warms himself, 
 
 And he kindles it and bakes bread ; 
 
 Yea, he forms a god [an EL] and bows down. 
 
 He makes it an image and adores it. 
 
 Half of it he burns in fire, 
 
 With half of it he eats flesh ; 
 
 He roasts roast and is satisfied ; 
 
 He warms himself too, and says, ' Aha ! 
 
 I am warm, I see a fire.' 
 
 But — M^ rest of it he makes into a god [an EL] into 
 
 his image. 
 Adores it and bows down and prays to it. 
 And exclaims, ' Deliver me ; for thou art my EL ! ' 
 
 They have no knowledge and understand not ; 
 
ii6 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLIV. i8 — 24. 
 
 For their eyes are smeared so that they cannot see, 
 
 Their hearts, that they cannot consider ; 
 
 Neither does he take it to his heart, 
 
 Nor has he knowledge or sense to say, 
 
 Half of it have I burned in fire. 
 
 On its charcoal too have I baked bread, 
 
 Have roasted flesh and eaten : — 
 
 And shall I make its remnant an abomination ? 
 
 Shall I bow in worship to a tree-stock ? 
 
 He follows after ashes ; 
 
 A deceived heart has turned him aside, 
 
 So that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say. 
 
 Is there not a lie in my right hand ? 
 
 Remember these things, O Jacob, 
 
 And Israel, for thou art My servant : 
 
 I formed thee, thou art a servant to Me ; 
 
 Israel, thou canst not be forgotten of Me. 
 
 1 blot out thy rebellions as a cloud. 
 And as a mist thy sins : 
 
 Return to me, for I vindicate thee. 
 
 Rejoice, O Heavens, for Yahveh hath done it ; 
 
 Shout, ye depths of earth ! 
 
 Ye mountains, break forth into song. 
 
 Forest and every tree therein ; 
 
 For Yahveh liberates Jacob, 
 
 And will glorify himself in Israel ! 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh, your liberator, 
 And He that formed thee from the womb 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 1 1 7 
 
 Chapters XLIV. 24.— XLV. 3. 
 
 I am Yahveh who make all tJiirtgs ; 
 Stretching out the Heavens, alone, 
 Spreading forth the earth— who with Me ?— ■ 
 Frustrating the signs of impostors, 
 And He makes diviners fools, — 
 Who turns wise men backwards, 
 And makes their knowledge folly ; 
 Who stablishes His servant's word. 
 And makes good the counsel of His messengers, 
 Who saith of Jerusalem, ' Let her be inhabited,' 
 And of Judah's cities, ' Let them be built, 
 And her wastes will I restore ' — 
 Who saith of the Flood, ' Be thou wasted, 
 And thy streams will I dry up ' — 
 Who saith of Cyrus, ' My shepherd ! 
 And all My pleasures shall he accomplish ' — 
 Who saith of Jerusalem, ' Let her be built,' 
 And of the temple, ' Let it be founded.' 
 Thus saith Yahveh, to his Anointed one, to Cyrus, 
 Whom I have held by his right hand, 
 To bring down nations before him. 
 And to ungird loins of kings, 
 To open folding-doors before him, 
 And that gateways may not be shut — 
 ' I will go before thee, and will level heights ; 
 Folding-doors of brass will I break, and cleave bars of 
 
 iron : 
 And I give thee treasures of darkness, 
 And hidden things of secret places, 
 That thou mayest know that I am Yahveh, 
 
ii8 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLV. 3 — 10. 
 
 The God of Israel, who call thee by name. 
 
 // is for the sake of My servant Jacob and Israel Mine 
 
 elect : 
 And I called unto thee by thy name, 
 I called thee by a title, though thou didst not know Me. 
 I am Yahveh and there is none else ; 
 Beside Me there is no Elohim. 
 I girded thee when thou hadst not known Me ; 
 That meft may know from the rising of the sun 
 And from its setting, that there is none beside Me. 
 I am Yahveh and there is none else, 
 Forming light and creating darkness. 
 Making peace and creating evil ; 
 I, Yahveh, effect all these things.' 
 
 Shower, ye heavens, from above. 
 
 And let the skies pour down God's [EL] righteous 
 
 dealing. 
 Let earth open, and tJie heavens bear fruit of deliverance. 
 And let righteous dealing spring up at once : 
 I, Yahveh, have created it. 
 
 Woe to him who strives with Him that formed him, 
 
 A potsherd of earth's potsherds ! 
 
 Shall clay say to him who fashions it. What makest 
 
 thou ? 
 Or thy work, ' He has no hands .'^ ' 
 Woe to him who saith to a father, ' What begettest 
 
 thou ? ' 
 And to a woman, ' With what dost thou travail ? ' 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 119 
 
 Chapter XLV. ii — 17. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh, Israel's Holy One, and his fashioner, 
 Enquire ye of Me as to things to come — 
 Command ye Me concerning My sons and My handy 
 work ? 
 
 It was I who made the earth, 
 
 And created man upon it ; 
 
 My hands stretched out the heavens, 
 
 And I rave charsre to all their hosts : 
 
 It was I who raised him [Cyrus] up in righteous dealing, 
 
 And will make all his ways level : 
 
 He shall build My city and send forth My exiles, 
 
 Not for a price, and not for a reward ; 
 
 Saith Yahveh Sabaoth. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh : 
 Egypt's wealth and ^Elthiopia's gains. 
 And Sabeans, men of stature, 
 Shall pass over to thee and be thine. 
 Shall follow thee, pass over in chains, 
 And bow down to thee, supplicate thee : 
 'Surely,' say they, 'in thee is God, [EL, the Strong 
 One], 
 
 And there is none beside — no Elohim ! 
 Truly Thou art a mysterious God [EL], 
 Elohim of Israel, a deliverer.' 
 
 They are ashamed and confounded, all of them, — 
 Makers of idols go into confusion together : 
 Through Yahveh Israel is delivered with a lasting 
 deliverance, — 
 
I20 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLV. 17 — 23. 
 
 Ye shall not blush nor come to shame for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 For thus saith Yahveh who created the Heavens : 
 
 He is the Elohim who formed the earth and made it, 
 
 He established it — He did not create it to be a waste, 
 
 He formed it to be inhabited : 
 
 I am Yahveh, and there is none beside : 
 
 I have not spoken in secret, 
 
 In a place of a land of darkness : 
 
 I said not to the seed of Jacob, ' Seek ye 'Me in vain ;' 
 
 I am Yahveh who promise truly rt;;?^^ announce uprightly. 
 
 Assemble yourselves, and come ; 
 
 Approach together, ye escaped of the nations : 
 
 No knowledge have they who bear' about their wooden 
 
 idol. 
 And pray to a god who cannot deliver. 
 Declare ye, and bring it forth, 
 Yea, let them take counsel together : — 
 Who published this from ancient time — proclaimed it 
 
 of old ? 
 Was it not I, Yahveh, beside whom there is no Elohim } 
 A righteous EL and a Deliverer, 
 There is none beside Me ! 
 Turn to Me and find deliverance. 
 All ye ends of earth, 
 For I am EL, and there is none else ! 
 By Myself have I sworn, 
 From My mouth has a truth gone forth, 
 A word, and it shall not return, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 121 
 
 Chapters XLV. 23. XLVI. 6. 
 
 That to Me every knee shall bend, 
 
 Every tongue shall swear. 
 'Only in Yahveh' — one saith of Me — 
 ' Have I righteous dealings and strength ; ' 
 
 To him shall each one come, and ashamed shall they be. 
 
 All that were incensed against him ; 
 
 In Yahveh shall all the seed of Israel find rigfhteous 
 dealing and boast themselves. 
 
 Already Bel bows down — Nebo sinks — 
 
 Their images are laid on beast and cattle ! 
 
 They whom ye carried are a load, 
 
 A burden to the weary beast ! 
 
 They sink — they bow down together — 
 
 No power have they to rescue the burden 
 
 And they themselves go into captivity ! 
 
 Hearken to Me, house of Jacob, 
 
 And all the remnant of the house of Israel ! 
 
 The borne as a load from the belly, 
 
 The carried from the womb : 
 
 Even to old age am I the same. 
 
 And even to grey hairs will I carry : 
 
 I have made and I will bear. 
 
 And I will carry and will set free. 
 
 To whom will ye liken Me, and equal Me 
 And compare Me, that we may be like ? 
 They who pour out gold from the bag. 
 And weigh out silver in a balance, — 
 
122 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLVI. 6. 
 
 They hire a metal-founder and he makes it a god [EL], 
 
 They fall down — aye, prostrate themselves : 
 
 They take it on shoulder and carry it, 
 
 And rest it in its place that it may stand, 
 
 That it remove not from its place : 
 
 Yea, one may cry to it, but it answers not, 
 
 Out of his trouble it saves not. 
 
 Remember this, and demean yourselves like men, 
 
 Take it to heart, ye rebellious ones : 
 
 Remember former things of old. 
 
 For I am EL, and there is none else, 
 
 — Elohim — and there is none like Me ; 
 
 Announcing the future from the first, 
 
 And from olden time, things yet undone, 
 
 Saying, My counsel shall stand. 
 
 And all My pleasure will I perform ; 
 
 Calline an eaMe from the sunrise, 
 
 A man of My counsel from a distant land : 
 
 Yea, I said it, yea I will bring it to pass, 
 
 I purposed, yea I will accomplish it. 
 
 Hearken unto me, ye stubborn heart — 
 
 Ye that are far from righteous-dealing ivith Me — 
 
 I bring near My righteous-dealing — it is not distant, 
 
 And My deliverance shall tarry not ; 
 
 And in Zion do I appoint deliverance 
 
 And to Israel, My glory. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 123 
 
 CHAPTERS XLVII. XLVIII. 
 
 The Doom of Babylon. Warnings to Israel. 
 Pro7nises of deliverance. 
 
 CiiArxER XLVII. I — 7, 
 
 Down, and sit on dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon ! 
 Sit upon the ground without a throne, O daughter of 
 
 Chaldea : 
 For not again shalt thou be called ' Tender and 
 
 Delicate ! ' 
 Take millstones and grind meal : 
 Withdraw thy veil, uplift tJie skirt. 
 Bare the leg, wade the streams ; 
 Let thy nakedness be laid bare, 
 Yea, let thy shame be seen. 
 * Revenge will I take,' saith God [EL], 'and spare no 
 
 man : ' 
 It is our Liberator ; Yahveh Sabaoth His name. 
 Holy One of Israel ! 
 
 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter 
 
 of Chaldea, 
 For not again shalt thou be called ' Mistress of King- 
 doms.' 
 I was wroth with My people, 
 
 I profaned My heritage and gave them into thy hands : 
 Thou didst shew them no compassion. 
 Thou madest thy yoke press heavily on the aged, — 
 And thou saidst, I shall ever be a mistress ; 
 So that thou didst not lay these thi7igs to thy heart, 
 Thou rememberedst not the latter end thereof. 
 
124 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 CiiAPrER XLVII. 8—13. 
 
 And now hear this, O voluptuous one, 
 
 Who sittest in security ; 
 
 Who sayest in thy heart, ' I, and none beside ; 
 
 I shall not sit a widow. 
 
 Nor know the loss of children ; ' 
 
 Yet in a moment, in one day, shall these two things 
 
 befall thee. 
 Loss of children and widowhood ; 
 They shall come on thee in their completeness, 
 Amid thy many sorceries. 
 Amid the great multitude of thy spells. 
 For thou didst trust in thy wickedness — thou saidst, 
 
 ' No one sees me ' — 
 Thy wisdom and thy science, this perverted thee, 
 And thou saidst in thy heart, ' I, and none beside ! ' 
 Therefore an evil comes upon thee. 
 Which thou hast not skill to charm away ;* 
 And a mischief shall fall upon thee, 
 Which thou shalt not be able to appease. 
 And ruin, of which thou wast unaware, 
 Shall come suddenly upon thee ! 
 
 Abide now in thy enchantments, 
 
 And in the multitude of thy sorceries, 
 
 In which thou has wearied thyself from thy youth 
 
 up, — 
 Haply thou mayest profit by them. 
 Haply thou mayest strike terror ! 
 Thou art self-wearied by thy many counsellings : 
 Let them now stand forth and rescue thee. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 125 
 
 Chapter XLVII. 13— XLVIII. 5. 
 
 [The dividers of the Heavens, the star gazers, 
 
 Prognosticators at new moons), 
 
 From things which shall come upon thee. 
 
 See — they are become as stubble, 
 
 A fire has burned them up. 
 
 They cannot rescue their life from hand of flame : — 
 
 It is not a coal to warm them. 
 
 Nor a fire to sit before ! 
 
 Such are they become to thee about whom thou hast 
 
 wearied thyself. 
 Traffickers with thee from thy youth : — 
 They have wandered off, every one to his quarter — 
 There is none to save thee ! 
 
 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, 
 
 The called by the name of Israel, 
 
 And who are come forth from Judah's fount. 
 
 Who swear by the name of Yahveh, 
 
 And confess the Elohim of Israel, 
 
 Bid not in truth, and not in sincerity. 
 
 Though they call themselves of the Holy City, 
 
 And stay themselves on the Elohim of Israel — 
 
 Yahveh Sabaoth His name! 
 
 I proclaimed the former things of old, 
 
 And from My mouth went they forth and I shewed them ; 
 
 I wrought Ihem suddenly, and they came to pass. 
 
 Because I knew that thou a7't stubborn. 
 
 And thy neck a sinew of iron, and thy forehead brass, 
 
 Therefore I proclaimed it to thee of old, 
 
126 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAM. 
 
 CHArxERs XLVIII. 5 — 13. 
 
 Ere yet it came to pass, I made thee hear it ; 
 
 Lest thou shouldest say, ' my idol hath done these 
 
 tilings, 
 And my graven and my molten image commanded 
 
 them.' 
 Thou hast heard — review it all : 
 And ye, will ye not declare it ? 
 Henceforth I make thee hear new things, 
 Even hidden things, which thou knewest not ; 
 Now are they created and not of old. 
 And before this day, and thou heardest not of them, 
 Lest thou shouldest say, ' Behold I knew them.' 
 Also thou heardest not, also thou knewest not, 
 Thine ear too was not opened of old ; 
 For I knew that deceiving thou wouldest deceive, 
 And from the womb wast called ' Rebel ': — 
 For My name's sake I defer Mine anger, 
 Andyi?rMy praise I bridle myself toward thee. 
 That I might not cut thee off. 
 See ! I refined thee — but not with gain of silver ; 
 I tested thee in a furnace of distress ; 
 For My own sake, for My own sake will I do this : 
 For how should My name be profaned ! 
 And My glory I will not give to another. 
 
 Hearken to Me, O Jacob, 
 
 And Israel, My called one ! 
 
 I am He : I first, I also last! 
 
 My hand also founded the earth. 
 
 And My right hand spread out the heavens 
 
The prophecies of isAiAh. 127 
 
 Chapter XLVIII. 13 — 21. 
 
 When I call to them, they stand forth together, 
 Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hearken : 
 Who amongst them has announced these things ? 
 * He whom Yahveh loves will accomplish his pleasure 
 on Babylon, 
 And his arm shall be tipon the Chaldeans ? * 
 I, I have spoken ; I also have summoned him, 
 I have brought him, and his way shall prosper. 
 
 Draw near to Me — hear ye this. 
 Not in secret spake I from the first, 
 From the time that the purpose was, there was I, 
 And now Adonai Yahveh hath sent me, and His Spirit. 
 Thus saith Yahveh thy Liberator, Israel's Holy One : 
 I am Yahveh, thine Elohim, who teach thee to prosper, 
 Leading thee by the way thou shouldest go : — 
 If thou heedest My bidding. 
 Then shall thy welfare be as a stream. 
 And thy prosperity as waves of the sea, 
 And thy seed shall be as the sea-sand, 
 And issue of thy bowels as its bowels : '" 
 His name shall not be cut off nor destroyed from before 
 Me. 
 
 Go ye forth from Babel : ilee from Chaldea : 
 With voice of joy declare it and make it heard, 
 Cause it to eo forth to the end of the earth : 
 Say ye, * Yahveh hath set free his servant Jacob, 
 And they thirsted not in deserts through which he led 
 them, 
 
128 THE PROPHECIES OP ISA/AM. 
 
 Chapter XLVIII. 21.— XLIX. 5. 
 
 He caused waters to flow for them from a rock, 
 
 He clave a rock also, and waters burst forth : ' — 
 
 But there is no welfare, saith Yahveh, for ike unrighteous. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 An Address by the Prophet as " Servant of God'' (zuho in 
 V. J is called Israel, as the representative of the 
 people), to the faithful remnant in Israel. 
 
 Hearken to me. ye countries, 
 
 And attend, ye far off peoples ! 
 
 From the womb has Yahveh called me. 
 
 From my mother's bowels has He mentioned my name : 
 
 And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword, 
 
 In the shadow of His hand has He hidden me ; 
 
 And He has made me a polished arrow, 
 
 In His quiver has He covered me : 
 
 And He said to me, ' My servant thou, O Israel, 
 
 By whom I will glorify myself.' 
 
 Then said I, ' I have toiled in vain. 
 
 For nought and vanity have I spent my strength ; 
 
 Yet with Yahveh is my cause, 
 
 And my recompence with my Elohim.' 
 
 And now Yahveh saith, 
 
 He who formed me from the womb to be a servant to Him, 
 
 To restore Jacob unto Him, 
 
 And that Israel may be gathered to Him ; 
 
 — For in the eyes of Yahveh am I honoured, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 129 
 
 Chapter XL IX. 5 — 10. 
 
 And my Elohim is become my strength — 
 
 And he said, Too light a thing is it that thou shouldest be 
 
 My servant, 
 To restore the tribes of Jacob, 
 And to bring back the preserved of Israel ; 
 I also appoint thee as a light of nations, 
 That My deliverance may be to the end of the earth. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh, 
 
 The Liberator of Israel, his Holy One, 
 
 To him whose life is despised, 
 
 To the abhorred of the nation. 
 
 To a servant of tyrants : 
 
 Kings shall behold and they arise, 
 
 Princes, and they shall make obeisance. 
 
 Because of Yahveh who is faithful, 
 
 Israel's Holy One, for He chose thee. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 In a time of favour do I answer thee, 
 
 And in a day of deliverance I help thee ; 
 
 And I preserve thee and appoint thee for a covenant of 
 
 the people, 
 To set up the land, 
 
 To cause waste heritages to be inherited, 
 Saying to captives, ' Go forth ; ' 
 To those in darkness, ' Shew yourselves : ' — 
 On pathways shall they feed, 
 And on all bare-hills shall be their pasturage : 
 They shall not hunger and they shall not thirst. 
 And mirage and sun shall not smite them, 
 
I30 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLIX. io — 19. 
 
 For He that compassionates them will lead them, 
 
 And to water-springs will guide them. 
 
 And I make all My mountains a road, 
 
 And My highways shall be raised. 
 
 See ! these come from afar ; 
 
 And see ! those from North and from West, 
 
 And those from the land of the Sinim ! 
 
 Shout O heavens, and rejoice O earth ! 
 
 Break forth into song, O mountains ! 
 
 For Yahveh comtorts His people. 
 
 And has compassion upon His afflicted. 
 
 Yet, saith Zion, ' Yahveh has forsaken me. 
 And Adonai has forgotten me : ' — 
 But will a woman so forget her suckling. 
 As to have no tenderness for the son of her womb ? 
 Even these may forget, 
 But I will not forget thee ! 
 
 See ! on the palms of My hands have I graven thee — 
 Thy walls a7'e ever before Me, — 
 . Thy children are hastening forth to thee* — 
 
 And thy destroyers and thy wasters depart from thee ! 
 
 Lift up thine eyes around, and look : 
 
 They are all assembled — are come to thee. 
 
 As I live — it is Yahveh's utterance — 
 
 Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an 
 
 ornament, 
 And bind them on thee, like a bride. 
 Surely, as for thy wastes and thy desolations and thy 
 
 ruined land — 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 131 
 
 Chapter XLIX. 19 — 25. 
 
 Yea, now wilt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, 
 
 And they who swallowed thee up shall be far away ! 
 
 The sons of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, 
 * The place is narrow for me ; 
 
 Move away for me that I may dwell ; ' 
 
 So that thou sayest in thine heart, 
 ' Who hath begotten me these, 
 
 For I was bereaved and barren, 
 
 Exiled and outcast ? 
 
 And these, who reared them ? 
 
 Behold I was left alone, 
 
 These — where have they been ! ' 
 
 Thus saith Adonai Yahveh : 
 
 See ! I will lift up my hand to nations. 
 
 And hoist my banner to peoples. 
 
 And they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, 
 
 And thy daughters shall be borne on shoulder. 
 
 And kings will be thy foster-fathers. 
 
 And their princesses thy nursing-mothers : 
 
 Face on ground shall they do thee homage, 
 
 And lick the dust of thy feet, 
 
 And thou shalt know that I am Yahveh, 
 
 I, in whom they that hope shall not be ashamed. 
 
 Is booty to be snatched away from a hero ? 
 Or, can righteous captives be rescued ? 
 For thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 Even a hero's captives can be snatched away, 
 And a terrible man's booty be rescued : 
 
132 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter XLIX. 25 — L. 3. 
 
 For I will contend with him who contends with thee, 
 And thy children will I deliver ; 
 
 And I will feed their oppressors with their own flesh, 
 And with their own blood, as ivith new wine, shall they 
 
 be drunken, 
 And all flesh shall know, 
 That I am Yahveh thy Deliverer, 
 And thy Liberator, Jacob's Mighty One. 
 
 CHAPTERS L. 
 
 The bond betivcen Yahveh and Israel not broken by divorce 
 or sale. Their sole trust must be in Ilini. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which 
 
 1 put her away ? 
 Or, which of my creditors is it to whom I sold you ? 
 Lo ! for your iniquities were ye sold. 
 And for your transgressions was your mother put away ! 
 Wherefore when I came, was there no man — 
 When I called was there none to answer ? 
 Is My hand too short to redeem, 
 And is there no power in Me to deliver ? 
 Lo ! with My rebuke I dry up a sea, 
 I make rivers a desert — 
 Their lish stink for lack of water. 
 And die for thirst — 
 I clothe the heavens in mourning. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAlA/l. 
 
 Chapter L. 3 — 10. 
 And sackcloth I make their mantle. 
 
 Adonai Yahveh has given me ike tongue of His taught 
 
 ones, 
 That I might know how to refresh the weary with 
 
 counsel : 
 He wakens morn by morn, wakens Mine ear. 
 To hearken as taught ones hearken : 
 Adonai Yahveh hath opened Mine ear, 
 And I have not been rebellious, 
 I have not turned backward. 
 My back I gave to smiters, 
 And My cheeks to pluckers of the beard — 
 My face I hid not from shame and spitting. 
 But Adonai Yahveh will help Me, 
 Therefore am I not confounded : 
 Therefore have I set My face like a flint, 
 And I know that I shall not be ashamed. 
 My justifier is near : — ■ 
 
 Who will contend with Me .-^ let us stand forth together : 
 Who is My opponent ? let him draw near to Me. 
 Lo, Adonai Yahveh will help Me ; 
 Who is he that can worst Me } 
 Lo, they will all decay like a garment — 
 The moth will devour them. 
 
 Who among you fears Yahveh, 
 Hearkening to the voice of his servant, 
 ^\\o yet walks in darknesses and has no light ? 
 Let him trust in the name of Yahveh, 
 
134 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter L. io — LI. 3. 
 And lean upon his Elohirn. 
 See, all of ye, kindlers of a fire, girt round with fire 
 
 brands, — 
 Begone unto the flame of your own fire, 
 And unto the firebrands ye have lighted ! 
 From my hand this befalls 7^^^ ; 
 Ye shall lie down in torment. 
 
 CHAPTERS LI. LII. 
 
 Promises of a near deliverance to the nation, prostrate 
 beneath the Babylonia7i yoke. 
 
 Chapters LI. i. 
 
 Hear me, ye followers of righteous dealing, 
 
 Ye that seek Yahveh : 
 
 Look to the rock whence ye were hewn, 
 
 And to the pit-quarry whence ye were digged : 
 
 Look to Abraham your father. 
 
 And to Sarah who bare you, 
 
 How I called him when but one. 
 
 And blessed him and multiplied him ! 
 
 For Yahveh comforts Zion, 
 
 Comforts all her ruins, 
 
 And makes her wilderness like Eden, 
 
 And her desert like a garden of Yahveh : 
 
 Joy and gladness shall be found in her, 
 
 Praise and voice of song. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OP ISAIAH. 135 
 
 Chapter LI. 4 — 9. 
 
 Attend to Me, My people ! 
 
 And give ear to Me, My nation ! 
 
 For instruction shall proceed from Me, 
 
 And my law will I stablish 
 
 For a light of peoples. 
 
 Near is My righteous-dealing — My deliverance is gone 
 
 forth — 
 And My arms will judge peoples ; 
 And for Me the countries shall long, 
 And for My arm shall wait. 
 
 Lift up your eyes to the heavens. 
 
 And look upon the earth beneath ; 
 
 For the heavens shall pass away like smoke, 
 
 And the earth fall to pieces like a garment, 
 
 And its inhabitants die like a gnat ; 
 
 But My deliverance shall be for ever, 
 
 And My righteous-dealing shall not be broken down. 
 
 Hearken to Me, ye who know My righteous-dealing. 
 
 The people in whose heart is My teaching ; 
 
 Fear ye not frail-man's reproach, 
 
 Nor be broken down at their rcvilincrs ; 
 
 For the moth will eat them like a garment, 
 
 And the worm will eat them like wool, 
 
 But My just-dealing will be for ever, 
 
 And My deliverance to all generations. 
 
 Awake, awake, arm of Yahveh ! clothe thee with might ! 
 Awake as iti ancient days, in generations of old ! 
 Art not thou it that didst cleave Rahab 
 
136 777^ PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LI. 9 — 16. 
 
 And pierce the sea-monster ? 
 
 Art thou not it that driedst up a sea, 
 
 Waters of a mighty deep — 
 
 That made sea-deeps a way 
 
 For the Hberated to pass over ? 
 
 And the freed-men of Yahveh shall return, 
 
 And with shouting come to Zion, 
 
 With everlasting joy upon their head ; 
 
 Joy and gladness shall they obtain — 
 
 Sorrow and sighing fiee away. 
 
 I, I am He, your comforter : 
 
 Who art thou, that thou fearest a frail-man that dieth. 
 
 And a son of man who is given up to the mower as 
 
 grass ; 
 And didst forget Yahveh thy maker, 
 Who stretched forth heaven and founded earth, 
 And fearedst alway all the day, 
 Because of the oppressor's fury, 
 When ready to destroy ? 
 Yet where is the oppressor's fury ? 
 He that is bowed down will soon be freed, 
 And will not die for the pit. 
 Neither will his bread fail : 
 For I am Yahveh thine Elohim, 
 Who stir the sea so that its billows roar, 
 Yahveh Sabaoth His name! 
 And I put My words in thy mouth, 
 And in the shadow of My hand I cover thee. 
 That I may plant the heavens and found the earth, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 137 
 
 Chapter LI. 16 — 23. 
 And say to Zion, ' My people Thou.' 
 
 Arouse thee ! arouse thee ! stand up, O Jerusalem ! 
 
 Thou who hast drunk from . Yahveh's hand the cup of 
 His wrath, 
 
 Hast drunk — hast drained — the goblet-cup of stagger- 
 ing ! 
 
 None was there to guide her of all the sons she had 
 borne, 
 
 And none, of all the sons she had reared, to grasp her 
 by the hand. 
 
 These two things befell thee — 
 
 Who is there to condole with thee ? — 
 
 The desolation and the destruction, 
 
 And the famine and the sword ! 
 
 In what guise shall I comfort thee ? 
 
 Thy sons faint — they lie at tJie head of all streets, 
 
 Like a netted antelope ; 
 
 Full of Yahveh's fury, of the rebuke of thine Elohim. 
 
 Therefore hear now this, O afflicted one, 
 
 And drunken, but not with wine : 
 
 Thus saith thy Lord Yahveh, 
 
 And thine Elohim who pleadeth for his people, 
 
 Lo, I take out of thy hand the cup of staggering. 
 
 The goblet-cup of My wrath — 
 
 Not again shalt thou drink it — 
 
 And I place it in the hand of those who oppressed thee, 
 
 Who said to thy soul, Bow down that we may pass 
 over ; 
 
 And thou madest thy back as the ground, 
 
138 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters LI. 23. — LI I. 7. 
 And as a street for passengers.' 
 
 Awake, awake ! put on thy strength, O Zion ! 
 
 Put on thy splendid garments, Jerusalem, the holy city ! 
 
 For the uncircumcised and unclean shall enter thee no 
 
 more. 
 Shake thyself from the dust, arise, take thy seat, O 
 
 Jerusalem ; 
 Loose thyself from the bonds of thy neck, 
 O captive daughter of Zion ! 
 For thus saith Yahveh : 
 For nought were ye sold, 
 But not with money shall ye be bought back. 
 Thus saith Adonai Yahveh : 
 My people went down into Egypt at the beginning 
 
 there to sojurn, 
 And Asshur, without cause, oppressed him ; 
 And now what have I here ^ — it is an utterance of 
 
 Yahveh — 
 For My people has been taken away for nought } 
 His rulers shout ove7' thevi — it is an utterance of 
 
 Yahveh — 
 And ever, all the day, is My name reviled. 
 Therefore shall My people know My name — 
 Therefore in that day they shall knoiv 
 That I am He who said, ' Here am I.' 
 
 How beautiful upon the mountains a herald's feet ! 
 Announcer of peace — herald of good — announcer of 
 deliverance — 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 139 
 
 Chapter LI I. 7 — 14. 
 
 Who saith to Zion, ' Thine Elohim reigns ! ' 
 
 It is thy watchmen's voice ! theii' voice they uplift ; 
 
 With accord they shout, 
 
 For they behold eye to eye 
 
 The return of Yahveh to Zion ! 
 
 Break forth and shout together, ye ruins of Jerusalem, 
 
 For Yahveh comforts His people, redeems Jerusalem! 
 
 Yahveh lays bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the 
 
 nations, 
 And all ends of earth behold the deliverance of our 
 
 Elohim, 
 * Depart ye — depart ye — go out thence — 
 Touch not an unclean thing- 
 Go ye out from her midst, 
 
 Keep yourselves pure, ye bearers of Yahveh's vessels': 
 For not in haste shall ye go forth. 
 Nor proceed in flight, 
 For at your front proceeds Yahveh, 
 And Israel's Elohim brings up your rear, 
 
 CHAPTERS LII. 13. LIII. 
 
 Vicarioiis atonement. The servant of Yahveh vidorioiis 
 througJi stiffering endured for others. 
 
 Behold, my servant shall prosper. 
 
 Shall be high, and uplifted, and very lofty ! 
 
 As, many were amazed at thee 
 
I40 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters LI I. 14 — LI 1 1. 6. 
 
 — So marred His aspect beyond that of man, 
 And His form beyond that of sons of men — 
 So shall He cause many nations to start up : 
 Kings will shut their mouths because of Him, 
 Because they see what had not been told them, 
 And perceive what they had not heard. 
 
 Who believed our tidings ? 
 
 And Yahveh's arm — to whom was it made manifest ? 
 
 For as a tender shoot He grew up before Him, 
 
 And as a root out of a parched ground : 
 
 He had no grace nor splendour that we should regard 
 
 Him, 
 Nor aspect that we should delight in Him : — 
 Despised and forsaken of men, 
 A man of pains and acquainted with sickness, 
 ' And like one from whom men hide tJicir face ! 
 Despised, and we esteemed Him not ! 
 
 But surely He bore our sicknesses. 
 
 And our sufferings — He carried them ; 
 
 Whilst we esteemed Him smitten, 
 
 Stricken of Elohim, and afflicted. 
 
 Yet was He pierced through our rebellions, 
 
 Bruised through our misdeeds : 
 
 A chastisement, to our welfare, was upon Him. 
 
 And we, by His stripes, are healed. 
 
 Like sheep we all had gone astray. 
 
 We turned every one to his own way, 
 
 And Yahveh made the guilt of us all to light on Him. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 141 
 
 Chapter LI 1 1. 7. 
 
 He was oppressed, yet He submitted himself, 
 
 And opened not His mouth ; 
 
 As a sheep that is led to slaughter, 
 
 And as an ewe that is dumb before her shearers ; 
 
 And opened not His mouth. 
 
 Through oppression and through a judgment was He 
 
 taken off — 
 Yet, of his generation who considered 
 That He was cut off out of the land of the living, 
 That for the rebellion of my people He was stricken ? 
 And His sepulchre was appointed with the wicked,* 
 And His grave-mound with the oppressor, 
 Although He had done no injustice, 
 Neither was deceit in His mouth. 
 Yet did it please Yahveh to bruise Him — He made Him 
 
 sick: — 
 If Thou make His soul a sin-offering. 
 He would see a seed, would prolong His days, 
 And Yahveh's purpose would prosper in His hand : 
 Free from travail of His soul He would see <7;/<^ be satisfied; 
 By His knowledge would My righteous servant make 
 
 many righteous, 
 And of their iniquities He would bear the burden. 
 Therefore will I assign Him a portion among the great, 
 And with the strong shall He divide spoil, 
 Because He poured out His soul unto death, 
 And was numbered with transgressors, 
 Though it was He who had borne the sin of many. 
 And had interceded for the rebellious. 
 
142 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 CHAPTERS LIV.— LVII. 
 
 E ncouragements to ret7i7'-nmg Israel. Warnmgs against 
 
 religious, defection. 
 
 Chapter LIV. i — 7. 
 
 Shout, O barren one, wJio hast not borne ! 
 
 Break forth into shouting and exult, thou that travailedst 
 
 not ! 
 For more are the children of the desolate, 
 Than the children of the married woman, saith Yahveh. 
 Widen the place of thy tent, 
 
 And let them stretch forth the curtains of thy dwelling : 
 Piold not back — lengthen thy tent-cords, 
 And firmly fix thy tent-pins. 
 For, right and left, shalt thou burst forth, 
 And thy seed will inherit nations, 
 And ruined cities will they people. 
 Fear not, for thou shall not be shamed ; 
 And be not confounded, for thou wilt not be brought to 
 
 reproach : 
 Yea, the shame of thy maidenhood shalt thou forget. 
 And no more remember the reproach of thy widowhood ; 
 For thy maker is thy husband, 
 Yahveh Sabaoth His name. 
 And thy Vindicator Israel's Holy One, 
 Elohim of the whole earth is He called. 
 For as a woman rejected and dejected* did Yahveh call 
 
 thee, 
 And as a wife of youth : — that she should be despised! — 
 Saith thine Elohim. 
 For a little moment did I reject thee, 
 But with great compassions will I gather thee : 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 143 
 
 Chapter LIV. 8 — 16. 
 
 In an outpouring of wrath, ^ I hid my face from thee a 
 
 moment, 
 But with lasting kindness I compassionate thee, 
 Saith Yahveh, thy Vindicator. 
 
 For with Me, this is as the waters of Noah : 
 
 As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no 
 
 more overpass the earth, 
 So have I sworn not to be wroth with thee, nor rebuke 
 
 thee : 
 Though the mountains should depart and the hills 
 
 remove. 
 Yet from thee My kindness shall not depart. 
 And the covenant of My peace shall not remove, 
 Saith He who hath compassion on thee, Yahveh. 
 O afflicted one, storm-tossed, unconsoled ! 
 Behold, I set thy stones in paint-cement. 
 And with sapphires lay thy foundations ; 
 And I make thy battlements into rubies, 
 And thy gates into carbuncle-stones, 
 And all thy boundaries into stones of price ; 
 And all thy sons are disciples of Yahveh ; 
 And great the welfare of thy children : 
 By My righteous dealing with thee shah thoubestablished. 
 Be far from thought of oppression, for thou needest not 
 
 fear, 
 And from alarm, for it shall not approach thee : — 
 See ! if any gather together, it is not of Me : 
 Whoso musters against thee, shall fall away unto thee ! 
 See ! it was I who made the smith, 
 
144 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters LIV. i6. — LV. 6. 
 
 Who blows upon a fire of charcoal, 
 
 And brings forth a weapon as his work, 
 
 And it was I who made a spoiler to lay waste 
 
 But no weapon formed against thee shall succeed, 
 
 And every tongue that rises for judgment against thee 
 
 shalt thou worst. 
 This is a heritage of Yahveh's servants, 
 And their justification that is from Me : 
 It is an utterance of Yahveh. 
 Hah ! every thirsty one ! come ye to waters, 
 And he who has no money — come ye, buy and eat : 
 And come, buy wine and milk, 
 Without money and without price. 
 Why weigh out money for that which is not bread ? 
 And your gains for that which is not unto satiety ? 
 Hearken ye, hearken to me and eat the good. 
 And let your soul revel in fatness : 
 Incline your ear and come to me. 
 Hearken, and your soul shall revive, 
 And I will make with you a lasting covenant. 
 Mercies like those of David, — the unfailing ones. 
 See ! I have made him a witness to peoples — 
 A leader and commander of peoples ! 
 Lo ! thou wilt call a nation thou knewest not. 
 And nations which knew thee not will run to thee, 
 Because of Yahveh your Elohim, 
 And for Israel's Holy One, for He hath made thee 
 
 glorious. 
 
 Seek ye Yahveh while He may be found, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 145 
 
 Chapter LV. 6. 
 
 Call ye on Him while He is near ; 
 
 Let the wicked man forsake his way, 
 
 And a man of sin his thoughts, 
 
 And let him return to Yahveh, and He will have mercy 
 
 upon him, 
 And to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon. 
 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 Neither are your ways My ways : — an oracle of Yahveh ; 
 For Heaven is higher than earth ; 
 So are My ways higher than your ways, 
 And My thoughts than your thoughts. 
 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from the 
 
 heavens, 
 And returns not thither, except it hath watered the earth, 
 And made it bring forth and bud. 
 And given seed to sower and bread to eater : 
 So shall My word which goes forth from My mouth, 
 It shall not return to Me void. 
 Except it hath effected what I please. 
 And prospered that for which I sent it. 
 For with joy shall ye go forth, 
 And with peace be led along : 
 The mountains and hills shall break forth before you 
 
 into shouting, 
 And all trees of the field shall clap the hand : 
 Instead of the thorn shall come up cypress, 
 And instead of the nettle shall come up myrtle. 
 And it shall be to Yahveh for a name. 
 For a lasting sign : — it shall not be cut off. 
 
146 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters LVI. i — 7. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 Keep to justice, and practise righteous-dealing, 
 For My deliverance is near to come, 
 And My righteous-dealing to be made manifest, 
 Happy a mortal-man who does this, 
 And a son of man who lays hold thereon ; 
 Keeping Sabbath that he profane it not, 
 And keeping his hand that it do no evil. 
 And let not a son of the alien speak — 
 He that has joined himself to Yahveh — saying, 
 ' Yahveh will surely sever me from his people.' 
 Nor let the eunuch say, ' Lo, I am a dry tree.' 
 For thus saith Yahveh of eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, 
 And choose what I delight in and lay hold on My 
 
 covenant, 
 ' To them give I within My house and within My walls, 
 A memorial and a name better than of sons and 
 
 daughters ; 
 A lasting name will I give them which shall not be cut off, 
 And sons of the alien who join themselves to Yahveh, 
 To minister to Him — to love the name of Yahveh, — 
 To become His servants — 
 
 Every one keeping Sabbath so that he profane it not, 
 And those who lay hold on My covenant : — 
 Them bring I to My holy hill, 
 And gladden them in My house of prayer : 
 Their burnt offerings and sacrifices 
 Shall be for acceptance upon My altar. 
 For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all 
 
 the peoples — ' 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 147 
 
 Chapter LVI. 8.— LVII. 4. 
 
 An oracle of Adonai Yahveh, 
 Who gathers the outcasts of Israel 
 ' To his gathered ones I yet will gather unto him.' 
 
 Come, all ye beasts of the field, 
 
 All ye beasts in the forest, to devour ! 
 
 His watchmen are blind, all of them without knowledge ! 
 
 Dumb dogs, all of them — they have no power to bark — 
 
 Seers that lie down, loving to slumber — 
 
 And the dogs are mighty of appetite, — 
 
 They know not how to be satisfied ! 
 
 And these are shepherds who know not discretion ; 
 
 They turn all of them to their own way, 
 
 Each one, without exception, after his gain. 
 
 Come,' say they, ' let me fetch wine, 
 
 And let us quaff strong drink ; 
 
 And to-morrow shall be as this day, 
 
 Great — far surpassing.' 
 
 The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart ; 
 And pious men are taken away, while no one considers 
 That the righteous is taken away because of the evil : — 
 He enters into peace ! 
 They rest upon their beds — 
 Whoso walked in his ozi/71 straight /(2M / 
 But ye ! draw nigh hither ye sons of a sorceress, 
 Seed of an adulterer, and thyself a harlot ! 
 Against whom do ye disport yourselves ? 
 Against whom do ye widen mouth and stretch out 
 tongue ? 
 
t48 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LVII. 4 — 11. 
 
 Are ye not a rebel offspring, a seed of falsehood — 
 
 The enflamed with gods under every green tree, 
 
 Slaughterers of the children in torrent-beds, 
 
 Beneath clefts of the rocks ? 
 
 Thy portion is with smooth stones of a torrent-bed * — 
 
 These, these are thy lot — 
 
 Even to these hast thou poured drink-offerings, 
 
 Presented meal-offerings ! 
 
 With these things can I quiet Myself ? 
 
 On a lofty and upraised mountain hast thou placed thy 
 
 bed ; 
 And thither hast thou gone up to offer sacrifice. 
 And hast placed thy memorial behind the door and the 
 
 post 
 For to other than Me thou uncoveredst and wentest up, 
 Didst enlarge thy bed, and madest thy terms with them ; 
 Lovedst their bed — lookedst out a place — 
 Didst wander also to Moloch with unguent. 
 And didst multiply thy perfumes, 
 And didst send thy messengers afar, 
 And didst debase thyself to Sheol : — 
 Thou wast wearied by the length of thy way, 
 But saidst not, ' It is hopeless ' : 
 Thou didst find vigour to thy hand, 
 Wherefore thou wast not exhausted. 
 But of whom hast thou been fearful — 
 And afraid — that thou hast dealt falsely 
 And hast not remembered Me, hast not taken it to thy 
 
 heart ? 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISA/AH. 149 
 
 Chapter LVII. ii — 18. 
 
 Is it not that I have been silent, even from of old ? 
 
 Therefore thou fearedst Me not. 
 
 I announce My righteous dealing with thee ; 
 
 But as for your workmanship — they will not avail thee ; 
 
 When thou criest for help, let thy throng of deities 
 
 deliver thee ! 
 But a blast shall take all of them away, 
 A breath shall bear them off : 
 But he that trusteth in Me shall inherit the land, 
 And take possession of My holy hill. 
 
 And a voice said, ' Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare a way ; 
 Remove stumbling blocks from My people's way.' 
 For thus saith He who is high and exalted, 
 Abiding eternally, and whose name is Holy One ; 
 O71 high and in the sanctuary I dwell, 
 With him also who is crushed and lowly of spirit, 
 To revive the spirit of the lowly. 
 And to revive the heart of the crushed. 
 For not alway will I contend. 
 Nor will 1 be for ever wroth, 
 Else would the spirit faint before Me, 
 And souls which I have made. 
 
 For the guilt of his greed was I wroth and smote him, 
 — Hiding Myself — and I was wroth, — 
 But turning aside, he went on in the way of his own 
 heart. 
 
 * I saw his ways ; but I will heal him, and lead him. 
 And him and his mourners will I requite with comforts, 
 
150 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LVII. 19.— LVIII. 4. 
 
 Creating the fruit of i/ie lips ; 
 Peace, peace, to the distant and to the near,' 
 — Saith Yahveh — ' And I will hccd him,' 
 But the wicked are like a troubled sea, 
 For it cannot rest. 
 
 And its waters toss up mire and dirt. 
 ' No peace,' saith mine Elohim, ' for the wickrd.' 
 
 CHAPTERS LVIII. LIX. 
 
 Exhortations to sincerity, true Easts, Sabbath observance : 
 iiotwith'standino the sins oj the people, Yahveh will 
 effect deliverance. 
 
 ' Cry with deep throat — refrain not — 
 
 Like a trumpet uplift thy voice. 
 
 And proclaim to My people their rebellion, 
 
 And to the house of Jacob their sins.' 
 
 And yet they enquire of Me daily, 
 
 And desire a knowledge of My ways. 
 
 As a nation that had done righteousness, 
 
 And had not forsaken the ordinance of its Elohim : 
 
 They ask of Me ordanances of A/y righteous-dealing. 
 
 They desire an approach of Elohim: — 
 'Why have we fasted, and Thou regardest not — 
 
 Humbled our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge ?' 
 
 Ah ! on your fast day ye follow business 
 
 And enforce all your tasks ! 
 
 Ah ! ye fast for strife and contention, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 151 
 
 Chapter LVIII. 4 — 11. 
 
 And to smite with fist of wickedness ! 
 
 Ye fast not now so as to make your voice be heard on 
 
 high. 
 Is this such a fast as I would choose, 
 A day when a man should humble his soul ? 
 Is it to hang- his head like a bulrush, 
 And to make sackcloth and ashes his couch ? 
 Callest thou this a fast and a day acceptable to Yahveh? 
 Is not this the fast that I choose — 
 To loosen bands of wickedness. 
 To untie fastenings of the yoke, 
 And send forth the oppressed free, 
 And that ye burst asunder every yoke ? 
 Is it not to break thy bread to the famishing. 
 And to bring home miserable outcasts, — 
 When thou seest a naked man, that thou clothe him. 
 And not hide thyself from thine own flesh ? 
 Then as the dawn shall thy light break forth, 
 And thy healing shall spring up speedily ; 
 My rightous-dealing with thee shall go before thee, 
 Yahveh's glory will bring up thy rear. 
 Then shalt thou call and Yahveh answer. 
 Thou shalt cry, and ' Here am I ' will He say. 
 If from thy midst thou remoke the yoke. 
 Pointed finger and evil speech ; 
 And if thou lavish thy self on tJie famishing 
 And satisfy the afflicted soul, 
 Then thy light beams forth in darkness, 
 And thy darkness is as mid-day ; 
 And Yahveh always leads thee, 
 
152 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 ClIAPTICK LVIII. I[— LIX. 3. 
 
 And satisfies thy soul in droughts. 
 
 And will streno-then thy bones ; 
 
 And thou becomest like a richly watered garden, 
 
 And like a spring of waters, whose waters will not deceive, 
 
 And they that are. of thee, rebuild the ancient ruins. 
 
 Foundations of past generations — thou rearest them 
 
 again — 
 And men shall call thee, Repairer of a Breach, 
 Restorer of paths, to dwell in. 
 
 ]f thou turn back thy foot from tJie Sabbath, 
 
 From doing thy business on My holy day, 
 
 And call tJie Sabbath a delight, 
 
 The holy of Yahveh, honourable ; 
 
 And if thou honour it, so as to refrain from thy ways. 
 
 Not pursuing thy business and talking idle talk, 
 
 Then shalt thou delight thyself in Yahveh, 
 
 And I will make thee ride over the heights oi the land, 
 
 And feed thee with the inheritance of thy father Jacob : 
 
 For the mouth of Yahveh has spoken it. 
 
 Behold ! the hand of Yahveh is not too short to deliver. 
 
 Nor His ear too heavy to hearken ; 
 
 But your iniquities have separated between you and 
 
 your Elohim, 
 And your sins have hidden His face from you that He 
 
 hears not. 
 For with blood are your hands defiled 
 And your fingers with iniquity ; 
 Your lips speak falsehood, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 15, 
 
 Chapter LIX. 3 — 10. 
 Your tongue mutters perverseness. 
 No one pleads with uprightness, 
 And no one judges in faithfulness, 
 — Trusting in vanity and speaking f;dsehood, 
 Conceiving mischief and bringing forth iniquity. 
 Eggs of basilisk do they hatch, 
 And webs of spider do they weave ; 
 He who eats of their eggs will die, 
 And the crushed one breaks out a viper : 
 Not for clothinor serve their webs. 
 Nor can men cover themselves with their works : 
 Their works are works of mischief, 
 And in their hands is the deed of violence. 
 1 heir feet run to wickedness, 
 And hasten to shed innocent blood : 
 Their thoughts, thoughts of mischief, 
 Ruin and destruction in their highways :* 
 Way of peace they know not 
 And in their tracks is no judgment 
 Their paths have they made crooked for themselves, 
 Everyone walking thereon knows not peace. 
 
 Therefore has judgment been far from us, 
 And God's faithful dealinpf reaches us not : 
 We wait for light, but behold darkness, 
 For sunshine, dui we walk in glooms : 
 Like h\md persons, we grope along a wall, 
 And like ike eyeless we grope — 
 We stumble at midday as in twilight, 
 IVe are like dead men among the healthy : 
 
154 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LIX. ii — 18. 
 
 We murmur, all of us, like bears. 
 
 And like doves moaning we moan : 
 
 We wait for judgment but there is none, 
 
 For deliverance, but it is far from us. 
 
 Yea, our rebellions are many before Thee, 
 
 And our misdoings witness against us ; 
 
 Yea, our rebellions are with us, 
 
 And as for our iniquities^ we are conscious of them ;- - 
 
 Rebellion and denial of Yahveh, 
 
 And drawing back from after our Elohim ; — 
 
 Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of 
 
 falsehood. 
 Therefore was judgment turned back 
 And God's faithful dealing stood afar off; 
 For truth has stumbled in tJie street, 
 And uprightness cannot enter ; 
 And the truth is lacking, 
 
 And he that shuns evil makes himself a prey. 
 And Yahveh beheld : — 
 
 And ill seemed it in His eyes that there was no judgment ; 
 And He saw that there was no one, 
 And was astonished that there was none to interpose ; 
 So His own arm wrought out deliverance for Him, 
 And His riohteous-dealinof sustained Him : 
 And He put on righteous-dealing as mail. 
 And a helm of deliverance on His head ; 
 And for clothing He clothed himself in garments of 
 
 revenge. 
 And clad Himself with jealousy as with a war-cloke : — 
 According to their deserts, so will He repay, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 155 
 
 Chapter LIX. 18.— LX 2. 
 
 Wrath to His foes, requital to His enemies, 
 
 To the countries will He render requital : 
 
 And from the sunset shall they fear the name of Yahveh, 
 
 And from the sunrise His glory ; 
 
 For it will come like a pent up river, 
 
 Which Yahveh's breath drives on ; 
 
 But to Zion He comes a Vindicator, 
 
 And to those in Jacob who turn from rebellion : — 
 
 An utterance of Yahveh. 
 
 And as for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith 
 
 Yahveh ; 
 My spirit which is upon thee, 
 And My words which I have put in thy mouth, 
 From thy mouth shall not depart, 
 Nor from tJie mouth of thy seed. 
 
 Nor from tJie mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Yahveh, — 
 From henceforth and lor ever. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 1—7. 
 
 Address to the prostrate few ish Church and nation, with 
 promises oj return to the exiles : The rebuilding of the 
 Temple a7id the splendour of the restored fertisalem. 
 
 Arise — give forth light — for thy light has come — 
 And Yahveh's glory has dawned upon thee ! 
 For lo ! darkness covers the earth, 
 And cloud-gloom the peoples ; 
 
156 THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LX. 2 — 9. 
 
 But Yahveh dawns on thee ; 
 
 And His glory is seen upon thee ; 
 
 And nations come to thy Hght, 
 
 And kings to the brightness of thy dawning. 
 
 Lift up thine eyes around and see : 
 
 All of them are gathered together — to thee they come 
 
 From afar thy sons come, 
 
 And at the side are thy daughters borne. 
 
 Then shall thou see and brighten up ; 
 
 And thy heart shall throb and swell, 
 
 For to thee shall turn the riches of the sea, 
 
 And the wealth of nations come to thee 
 
 An abundance of camels shall cover thee — 
 
 Young camels of Midian and Ephah ; 
 
 From Sheba shall they come, all of them, 
 
 Shall bear gold and incense. 
 
 And proclaim the praises of Yahveh. 
 
 To thee shall gather all the flocks of Kedar, 
 
 Nebaioth's rams shall serve thee ; 
 
 With acceptance shall they mount My altar, 
 
 And the house of My glory will I glorify, 
 
 Who are these that fly like a cloud. 
 
 And like doves to their cotes } 
 
 Yea, the countries await Me, 
 
 And ships of Tarshish, foremost, 
 
 To bring thy sons from far. 
 
 Their silver and their gold with them. 
 
 For the name of Yahveh your Elohim, 
 
 And for Israel's Holy One, because He glorifies thee. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OP ISAIAH. 157 
 
 Chapter LX. 10 — 17. 
 
 And sons of the alien shall build up thy walls * 
 
 And their kings do thee service : 
 
 For in My wroth I smote thee, 
 
 But in My favour I have compassion on thee : 
 
 And thy gates shall be always open, 
 
 Day and night shall they be unshut, 
 
 That men may bring the wealth of nations to thee, 
 
 And their kings led as captives. 
 
 For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve 
 
 thee shall perish. 
 Yea, the nations shall be utterly desolated. 
 The glory of the Lebanon shall come to thee. 
 Cypress, plane and cedar together, 
 To adorn the place of My sanctuary, 
 And the place of My feet will I make glorious : 
 Sons also of thine oppressors go crouching to thee, 
 And all that scorned thee do homage at the soles of thy 
 
 feet, 
 And they call thee ' City of Yahveh, 
 Zion oi the Holy One of Israel.' 
 Instead of thy being forsaken and hated, 
 And none passing through thee, 
 I even make thee a lasting pride, 
 A delight of generation and generation ; 
 And thou shalt suck the milk of nations, 
 And suck the breast of kings, 
 And know that I Yahveh am thy Deliverer, 
 And that thy Vindicator is the Strong one of Jacob. 
 Instead of copper will I bring gold, 
 And instead of the iron will I bring silver, 
 
15^ THE PROPHECIES OE ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LX I'j. 
 
 And copper instead of the wood, 
 
 And instead of the stones, iron ; 
 
 And I make thy peace thy government, 
 
 And thy rulers righteousness : 
 
 No more shall violence be heard of in thy land, 
 
 Ruin and destruction in thy borders. 
 
 But thou shalt call thy walls, ' Deliverance,' 
 
 And thy gates ' Praise.' 
 
 No more shall the sun be thy light by day, 
 
 Nor the moon shine on thee for brightness, 
 
 But Yahveh shall be to thee for a lasting light. 
 
 And thine Elohim thy glory. 
 
 Thy sun shall set no more, 
 
 And thy moon shall not wane, 
 
 For Yahveh shall be to thee for a lasting light. 
 
 And the days of thy mourning come to an end. 
 
 And thy people, all of them, are righteous. 
 
 They shall ever possess the land ; 
 
 A branch of My planting, 
 
 A work of My hand, to get Me glory. 
 
 The little one shall become a thousand, 
 
 And the small, a mighty nation : 
 
 I, Yahveh, will hasten it in its time. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 159 
 
 CHAPTERS LXI. LXII. 
 
 The * servant * 0/ Yahveh (who is the speaker throughout these 
 chapter s)y describes the message of favour, and of 
 consequent prosperity , eutrusted to him for Israel. 
 
 Chapters LXI. i — 6. 
 
 The spirit of Adonai Yahveh is upon me ; 
 
 For Yahveh has anointed me, 
 
 To announce good tidings to the afflicted ; 
 
 To bind up the broken of heart hath he sent me, 
 
 To proclaim freedom to captives. 
 
 And opening of prison to bondsmen ; 
 
 To proclaim a year of grace for Yahveh, 
 
 And a day of vengeance for our Elohim ; 
 
 To comfort all mourners^ 
 
 To appoint to Zion's mourners, 
 
 Instead of ashes to give them a coronal,* 
 
 Oil of joy instead of mourning, 
 
 Instead of a fainting spirit a garment of praise, 
 
 That men may call them ' Terebinths of God's 
 
 righteous dealings,' 
 The planting of Yahveh that He may get Him glory. 
 
 Then build they up the ancient ruins, 
 They uprear desolations of the forefathers, 
 And they renew ruined cities. 
 Desolations of many generations : 
 And strangers stand and feed your flocks, 
 And aliens are your plowmen and vinedressers, 
 But ye — priests of Yahveh shall ye be called ; 
 Ministers of our Elohim shall ye be named. 
 
i6o THE PROPHECIES OF IS At AH. 
 
 Chapter LXI. 6— LXII. i. 
 
 Riches of nations shall ye consume, 
 
 And to their splendour will ye succeed ; 
 
 In place of your shame shall ye receive twofold, 
 
 And ill place of contumely they shall exalt in their lot ; 
 
 Therefore in their oivn land will they inherit twofold, — 
 
 Theirs shall be a lasting joy. 
 
 For I, Yahveh, love judgment, 
 
 Rapine with wrong I hate, 
 
 Therefore I give them their reward in faithfulness, 
 
 And make with them a lasting covenant, 
 
 So that their seed shall be famous among the nations, 
 
 And their offspring in the midst of the peoples ; 
 
 All that see them shall own of them, 
 
 That they are a seed whom Yahveh has blessed. 
 
 With joy will I rejoice in Yahveh : 
 
 Let my soul rejoice in my Elohim, 
 
 For He has clothed me with garments of deliverance, 
 
 In a mmtle of righteous-^^^/zW^ He has wrapped me ; 
 
 Like a bridegroom who wears a priest-like coronal, 
 
 And like a bride who decks herself with her jewels. 
 
 For as earth puts forth her growth, 
 
 And as a garden makes its sowing to spring forth. 
 
 So will Adonai Yahveh cause His righteous-dealing to 
 
 spring forth. 
 And renown before all the nations. 
 
 P'or Zion's sake I will not be silent. 
 And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, 
 Till her prosperity go forth as brightness, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. i6i 
 
 Chapter LXII. i — 8. 
 
 And her deliverance like a torch that burns : 
 
 And ^/le nations shall behold thy prosperity, 
 
 And all kings thy glory, 
 
 And men shall call thee by a new name, 
 
 Which Yahveh's mouth will appoint ; 
 
 And thou shalt become in Yahveh's hand a crown of 
 
 adornment, 
 And a tiara of royalty in ///<? hand of thine Elohim. 
 No more shalt thou be called ' Forsaken,' 
 And no more shall thy land be called ' Desolation,' 
 But thou shall be named ' My-delight-is-in-her ' 
 And thy land " T/ie Married ; " 
 For Yahveh delighteth in thee 
 And thy land will be married. 
 For as a youth marries a virgin, 
 Thy sons will marry thee ; 
 And wz^A joy of bridegroom over bride, 
 Thine Elohim will joy over thee. 
 
 O Jerusalem ! I have stationed watchmen on thy walls ; 
 All the day and all the night they are never silent : 
 Rest not, ye remembrancers of Yahveh, nor give him 
 
 rest, 
 Until he stablish and until he make Jerusalem a praise 
 
 in ^/le earth. 
 By his right hand, by arm of his strength hath Yahveh 
 
 sworn, 
 Not again will I give thy corn /<? de food for thy foes, 
 Neither shall aliens drink thy new wine for which thou 
 
 hast laboured : 
 
1 62 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LXII. 9 — 12. 
 
 But they who have harvested it shall eat it, and praise 
 
 Yahveh, 
 And they who gather it in, shall drink It in my sacred 
 
 courts, 
 
 Go through — go through the gates — 
 
 Prepare ye a way for the people : 
 
 Make high, make high the highway, 
 
 Clear it of stone — uplift a standard over the peoples. 
 
 Behold ! Yahveh has proclaimed unto the ends of the 
 
 heart — 
 ' Say ye to Zion's daughter, Behold thy deliverance 
 
 comes ; 
 See ! his wage is with him and his recompense before 
 
 him.' — 
 Then men call them ' The holy people^ the released of 
 
 Yahveh : ' 
 And thou shalt be called ' Sought out ' — ' Unforsaken 
 
 city.' 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. i. 
 
 The Downfall of Edom ; a dialogue betzueen the Prophet 
 and Yahveh returning frorn IdumcBa as a conqueror. 
 
 ' Who is this that comes from Edom, 
 In red attire from Bozrah ? 
 This that is splendid in his raiment. 
 With lofty bearing, in fulness of his strength .'* ' 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 163 
 
 Chapter LXIII. i — 6. 
 
 ' I who announce 7ny righteous-dealing, 
 
 Mighty to effect a rescue.' 
 ' Why the redness on thy raiment, 
 
 And thy garments like his who treads in wine-press ? ' 
 * Alone have I trodden the wine-trough, 
 
 And of peoples was no man with me : 
 
 So I trod them in my wrath 
 
 And trampled them in my fury. 
 
 And their life -juice besprinkled my garments, 
 
 And all my raiment have I soiled ; 
 
 For a day of vengance was in my heart. 
 
 And the year of my release had come, 
 
 And I looked — but no helper ; 
 
 And I was astounded — but no upholder. 
 
 My arm therefore wrought out a deliverance for me, 
 
 And my fury, — it upheld me ; 
 
 And I trod the peoples in my wrath 
 
 And broke them to pieces in my fury, 
 
 And poured their life-juice en the ground !' 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 7— LXIV. i— 12. 
 
 Thanksgivings, acknowledgments of divine fnercy in the 
 restoration, with confessions of sin. 
 
 Chapter LXIII. 7. 
 
 The kindness of Yahveh, Yahveh's praises will I 
 celebrate. 
 According to all that Yahveh has bestowed upon us, 
 
t64 the prophecies OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LXIII. 7. — 14. 
 
 And, great goodness toward the house of Israel, 
 Which he bestowed on them according to his mercies. 
 And according to the greatness of his kindnesses. 
 ' For,' said He, * surely they are my people, 
 Sons who will not be faithless ' — 
 And he became their deliverer. 
 In all their straits he was straitened,* 
 And an angel of his presence rescued them : 
 In his love and in his pity he himself released them. 
 And he lifted them up and carried them all the days of 
 
 old. 
 Yet did they rebel and grieve his spirit of holiness, 
 So that he was changed to be their foe : — 
 Himself fought against them ! 
 
 Then did his people remember the ancient days of 
 
 Moses : 
 ' Where,' say they, ' is He that brought them up out of 
 
 the sea with the shepherds of his flock — 
 Where is He that put within him his Spirit of holiness ? 
 He that made his glorious arm go forth at the right hand 
 
 of Moses, 
 Cleaving waters before them. 
 To make himself a lasting name ? 
 He that caused them to pass through deeps, 
 Like horses in the desert, without stumbling ? 
 Like cattle which go down into a valley, 
 The spirit of Yahveh guided them ; 
 Thus didst thou lead thy people 
 To make for thyself a name of glory.' 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 165 
 
 Chapters LXIII. 15 — 19. — LXV. i — 2. 
 
 Look from Heaven and behold, 
 
 From the abode of thy hoHness and thy glory : 
 
 Where is thy jealousy and thy prowess ? 
 
 The yearning of thy bowels and thy compassions they 
 
 have restrained themselves towards me ! 
 For thou art our Father, 
 For Abraham takes no knowledge of us, 
 And Israel doth not own us ! 
 Thou, Yahveh, art our Father, 
 Thy name from of old, ' our Vindicator,' 
 Why, Yahveh, cause us to err from thy ways- 
 Harden our heart from fearing thee ? 
 Return for thy servants' sake, 
 The tribes of thine inheritance : — 
 
 But a short time did thy holy people have possession ; 
 Our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary ; 
 We have been as those over whom thou didst never 
 
 rule, 
 Upon whom thy Name has not been called. 
 
 Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, — wouldest 
 
 descend — 
 That the mountains might quake before thee — 
 (As when fire kindles brushwood, 
 As when fire makes water to boil) 
 To make known thy name to thine enemies. 
 So that nations might tremble before thee, 
 When thou doest terrible things which we expected not, 
 When thou comest down a d mountains quake at thy 
 
 presence ! 
 
1 66 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LXIV. 2 — 11. 
 
 Even of old men had not heard, had not perceived by 
 
 ear, 
 And eye had not seen, an Elohim beside thee, 
 Who would work for him that waiteth for him ! 
 Thou meetest him who rejoices to do aright, 
 Who remember thee in thy ways. 
 
 Lo ! Thou wast wroth, and we had committed sins ; 
 
 We were of old in them, and can we be delivered ? 
 
 We all became as a thing unclean, 
 
 And all our righteous deeds like a menstruous garment ; 
 
 And we all withered like leaves, 
 
 And our sins like a blast, carried us away : 
 
 And there is none that calls on thy name, 
 
 That bestirs himself to lay hold on thee ; 
 
 For thou hidest thy face from us, 
 
 And causest us to pine away through our sins. 
 
 Yet now, Yahveh, our Father Thou ! 
 
 We the clay, and thou our potter. 
 
 And we are all the work of thy hands : 
 
 O Yahveh, be not exceeding wroth, nor remember 
 
 iniquity for ever ; 
 Lo ! see now, we are all thy people ! 
 Thy Holy cities have become a wilderness — 
 Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation : 
 Our house of holiness and splendour where our fathers 
 
 praised thee, 
 Has become a burning of fire, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 167 
 
 Chapter LXIV. 12. 
 
 And all our much loved places have come to ruin. 
 Yahveh, wilt thou refrain thyself at these things ? 
 Wilt thou keep silence, and afflict us very sore ? 
 
 CHAPTERS LXV. LXVI. 
 
 The return of relapsed Israelites, with ^ninglcd caiitions 
 against idolatry, and promises of spiritual prosperity : 
 The diffusion of the Faith and its perpetuity. . . . 
 \_These conchcding chapters have 710 connection with 
 what precedes, and refer to a state of Palestinia7i 
 life subsequent to the Exile. ^ 
 
 Chapter LXV. i — 4. 
 
 I have been sought out by those who asked not of me. 
 
 By them that inquired not of me, am I found : 
 
 I said, ' I am here, I am here,' 
 
 To a nation that called not on my name. 
 
 All the day did I spread out my hands to a revolting 
 
 people, 
 Who walk in the way that is not good, after their own 
 
 devices ; 
 The people that ever provoke me to my face, 
 Sacrificing in gardens, 
 
 And burning incense upon the altar bricks ; 
 Who sit in tombs and lodge in secret places, 
 
168 THE PROPHECIES 01^ ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LXV. 4 — 11. 
 
 Who eat flesh of the swine 
 
 And broth of unclean meats is in their vessels ; 
 
 Who say, ' Keep to thyself, come not near me, 
 
 For I am holy unto thee.' 
 
 A smoke in my nostrils, these, 
 
 A ftre that smoulders all the day ! 
 
 Behold ! it is written before me, ' I will not be silent, 
 
 Except I requite, even requite into their bosom. 
 
 Your sins and the sins of your fathers together, saith 
 
 Yahveh, 
 Who burned incense upon the mountains. 
 And put me to scorn upon the hills ! ' 
 Therefore I mete out their former demerit into their 
 
 bosom. 
 
 Thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 As when the grape-juice is found in a cluster, 
 
 And one saith, ' Destroy it not, for a blessing is therein,' 
 
 So will I act for my servants' sake that I destroy not the 
 
 whole : 
 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, 
 And from Judah an inheritor of my mountains, 
 And my chosen shall inherit them, and my servants 
 
 dwell there ; 
 And the Sharon will be a fold for sheep. 
 And the valley of Achor a resting-place for cattle, 
 For my people who sought me. 
 
 But as for you who forsake Yahveh, 
 Who forget my holy mountain — 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 169 
 
 Chapter LXV. ii — 18. 
 
 Who prepare a table for Fortune, 
 
 And who fill a libation to Destiny, 
 
 You I destine to the sword ; ''' 
 
 And ye shall all bow down to slaughter, 
 
 Because I called and ye answered not, 
 
 I spoke but ye did not hear, 
 
 But did what was evil in mine eyes. 
 
 And chose that wherein I had no pleasure. 
 
 Therefore thus saith Adonai Yahveh : 
 
 Lo, my servants shall eat, but ye shall hunger ; 
 
 Lo, my servants shall drink, but ye shall thirst ; 
 
 Lo, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed ; 
 
 Lo, my servants shall shout for joy of heart, 
 
 But ye shall cry aloud for grief of heart. 
 
 And ye shall wail for brokenness of spirit. 
 
 And ye shall leave your name for an imprecation to my 
 
 chosen, 
 — ' So may Adonai Yahveh slay thee ' — 
 But he will call his servants by another name, 
 So that he in the land who blesses himself, 
 Will bless himself by the Elohim of faithfulness, 
 And he in the land who swears, 
 Will swear by the Elohim of faithfulness. 
 Because the former troubles are forgotten, 
 And because they are hidden from mine eyes. 
 
 For lo ! I create new heavens and a new earth, 
 
 And the former things shall be forgotten, 
 
 And shall not come up to mind. 
 
 Rejoice ye rather, and exult for ever at what I create ; 
 
170 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapters LXV. i8.— LXVI. i. 
 
 For lo, I create Jerusalem an exultation and her people 
 
 a joy, 
 And I exult in Jerusalem and rejoice in my people : 
 No more shall be heard therein voice of wailing and 
 
 voice of outcry : 
 No more shall there be thence an infant ois^few days, 
 Or old man who cannot fill up his days ; 
 For the youth shall die the son of a hundred years, 
 But the sinner, son of a hundred years, shall be accursed. 
 And they shall build houses and inhabit tJmn, 
 And plant vineyards and eat their fruit : 
 They shall not build and another inhabit ; 
 They shall not plant and another eat ; 
 For the days of my people shall be as the days of a tree, 
 And my chosen shall wear out the work of their hands. 
 Not for vanity shall they labour 
 Nor bring forth children for calamity, 
 For they are a seed of the blessed of Yahveh, 
 And their offspring with them. 
 And it shall come to pass that ere yet they call, I will 
 
 anwser, 
 While they are yet speaking, I will hear : 
 Wolf and lamb will pasture together, 
 And a lion eat straw like an ox, 
 And as fo7' a serpent — dust shall be his food ! 
 They will not harm nor destroy, has Yahveh said, 
 In all my holy mountain. 
 Thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 The heavens are my throne and the earth my footstool : 
 What manner of house will ye build for me .-^ 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF IS AT AH. 17 1 
 
 Chapter LXVI. i — 6. 
 
 And what manner of place for my rest ? 
 For all these things my hand hath made, 
 And all these ^/ms came to be ; — an utterance of 
 
 Yahveh ; — 
 But on this man will I look, 
 On ^Ae sufferer and bruised in spirit, 
 And who trembles at my word. 
 
 He who slaughters the ox — kills a man 1 
 
 He who sacrifices the lamb — breaks a dog's neck ! 
 
 He who offers up a minchah — // is swine's blood ! 
 
 He who makes a memorial of incense — blesses evil ! 
 
 Even as they have chosen their ways, 
 
 And their soul delights in their abominations, 
 
 I too will choose their misfortunes. 
 
 And I will bring their fears upon them. 
 
 Because I called and no one answered. 
 
 I spoke and they would not hear, 
 
 But did that which was evil in mine eyes 
 
 And chose that in which I delighted not. 
 
 Hear i/ie word of Yahveh, 
 Ye who tremble at his word : 
 Your brethren that hate you. 
 That cast you out on account of my name, say, 
 ' Let Yahveh glorify himself, that we may look upon your 
 
 joy.' 
 
 But they shall be ashamed. 
 
 A voice of roaring from ^/le city — 
 
172 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LXVI. 6 — 14. 
 
 A voice from the Temple ! 
 
 A voice of Yahveh rendering recompense to his foes ! 
 
 * Ere she travailed she brought forth ; 
 
 Ere her throes came on her, she was delivered of a man- 
 child ! 
 
 Who has heard the like ? who has seen such things ? 
 
 Can a land be brought forth in a single day ? 
 
 Can a nation be born at once ? 
 
 For Zion travailed — also brought forth her sons ! ' 
 
 Should I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, 
 saith Yahveh ? 
 
 Should I who beget, hinder ? saith thine Elohim. 
 
 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and exult in her all ye that love 
 
 her ; 
 
 Joy with her joyously, all ye who mourned over her ; 
 
 That ye may suck and be satisfied from the breast of her 
 
 consolations ; 
 That ye may press out with delight from the fulness of 
 
 her glory : 
 
 For thus saith Yahveh : 
 
 Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, 
 
 And the glory of the nations like a swelling torrent. 
 
 And ye shall suck therefrom and be borne upon tJie side. 
 
 And on the knees shall ye be fondled ; 
 
 As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you, 
 
 And in Jerusalem shall ye be comforted. 
 
 And when ye see it your heart rejoices, 
 
 And your bones flourish like young grass, 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 173 
 
 Chapter LXVI. 14 — 20. 
 
 And Yahveh's hand becomes known to his servants, 
 
 But with his enemies he is wrathful. 
 
 For see ! Yahveh comes in fire, 
 
 And his chariots are hke a whirlwind, 
 
 Causing his anger to return with fury, 
 
 And his rebuke with flames of fire : 
 
 For by fire will Yahveh judge, 
 
 And by his sword, with all flesh, 
 
 And many shall be the slain of Yahveh. 
 
 They who consecrate and cleanse themselves 
 
 For the gardens, after one standing in the midst, 
 
 Who eat swine's flesh and the abomination and the 
 
 mouse — 
 Together shall they perish. It is the utterance of Yahveh. 
 
 But / know their deeds and their thoughts : 
 
 The time is come to gather all the nations and the 
 
 tongues. 
 And they shall come and behold my glory. 
 For I will set up a sign among them ; 
 And the escaped of them will I send to the nations ; 
 To Tarshish and Pul who draw the bow, 
 To Tubal and Javan, to the far off countries. 
 That have not heard the report of me or seen my glory ; 
 And they shall declare my glory among the nations, 
 And shall bring all your brethren. 
 From all the nations for an oblation to Yahveh, 
 On horses and in chariots and in litters. 
 On mules and on dromedaries. 
 To my holy hill, to Jerusalem, saith Yahveh, 
 
174 THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 
 
 Chapter LXVI. 20 — 24. 
 
 Even as the sons of Israel bring the oblation, 
 
 In a pure vessel to Yahveh's house ; 
 
 And of them will I also take for priests, for Levites, 
 
 saith Yahveh. 
 For as the new heavens and the new earth which I make, 
 Stand before me — it is the utterance of Yahveh — 
 So shall your seed and your name stand : 
 And it comes to pass that from new moon to new moon, 
 And from Sabbath to Sabbath, 
 
 All flesh will come to worship before me, saith Yahveh, 
 And they will go forth and gaze upon the carcases of the 
 
 men who rebelled against me : 
 For their worm shall not die, 
 And their fire shall not be quenched. 
 And to all flesh shall they be an abhorrence. 
 
 THE END.