Rabshakon's blasphemy. CHAP. XXXVII. Sennacherib's blasphemy. master sent me to by master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not rent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dong, and drink their own piss with you? over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, 3 And they said unto him,Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trou13 Then Rabshakeh stood,and cried ble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: with a loud voice in the Jews' lan-for the children are come to the birth, guage, and said, Hear ye the words of and there is not strength to bring forth. the great king, the king of Assyria. 4 It may be the LORD thy God will 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hez-hear the words of Rabshakeb, whom ekiah deceive you: for he shall not the king of Assyria his master hath be able to deliver you. sent to reproach the living God, and 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you will reprove the words which the trust in the Lond, saying, The Loan Loan thy God hath heard: wherefore will surely deliver us; this city sball] lift up thy prayer for the remnant that not be delivered into the hands of the is left. king of Assyria. 5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 16 Hearken not toHezekiah; for thus suith the king of Assyria, Make an 6¶AndIsaiah said unto them, Thus agreement with me by a present, and eball ye say unto your master, Thus come out to me: and eat ye every one saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the of his vine, and every one of his fig|words that thou hast heard, wherewith Tree and drink ye every one the waters the servants of the king of Assyria of his own cistern: have blasphemed me. 17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvain? and have they delivered Sainaria out of my hand? 20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ? 21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and returu to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. ST So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying,Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalein shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, thou bast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? 22 Then came Eliakim, the son of 12 Have the gods of the nations de Hilkiah, that was over the household,|livered them which my fathers have and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told hin the words of Rabsbakeli, CHAP. XXXVII. destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Resepb, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? AND it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent 14 ¶ And Hezekiah received the let his clothes, and covered himself with ter from the hand of the messengers, sackcloth, and went into the house of and read it: and Hezekiah went up junto the house of the LORD, and the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was spread it before the LORD, Hezekiah's prayer. LORD, saying, ISALAII. Assyrian's slain. 15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the and confounded; they wereas the graus of the held, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house-tops,and us corn blasted before it be grown up. 28 But I know thine abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubins, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou bast made heaven and earth. 17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and 0 see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. 29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my book in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and 1 will turn thee back by the way by 18 Of a truth, LORD,the kings of As-which thou camest. 30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. 19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands,wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. 20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his band, that all the 31 And the remnant that is escaped kingdoms of the earth may know that of the house of Judah shall again take thou art the LORD, even thou only. root downward,and bear fruit upward: 21 T Then Isaiah the son of Amoz 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth sent unto Hezekiab,saying, Thus saith a remnant, and they that escape out of the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hast prayed to me against Sennacherib hosts shall do this. king of Assyria: 33 Therefore thus saith the LORD 22 This is the word which the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, i hath spoken concerning him; The shall not come into this city,uor shoot virgin, the daughter of Zion, bath de-fan arrow there, nor come before it spised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem bath shaken her head at thee. 23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed; and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. with shields, nor cast a bank against it 34 By the way that he came, by the same shall be return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORU. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 36 Then the angel of the LORD went 24 By thy servants hast thou reproach-forth, and smote in the camp of the ed the LORD, and hast said, By the Assyrians a hundred andfourscore and multitude of my chariots am 1 come five thousand : and when they arose up to the height of the mountains, to early in the morning, behold, they the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut were all dead corpses. down the tall cedars thereof, and the 37 TT So Sennacherib king of Assyria choice fir-trees thereof; and I will endeparted, and went and returned, and ter into the height of his border, and dwelt at Ninevah. the forest of his Carmel. 38 And it came to pass, as he was 25 I have digged, and drunk water; worshipping in the house of Nishroch and with the sole of my feet have his god, that Adrammelech and Sharedried up all the rivers of the besieged zer his sou smote him with the sword; places. and they escaped into the land of Ar26 Hast thou not heard long ago, howmenia: and Esar-haddon his son reign I have done it; and of ancient times, ed in his stead. that I have formed it ? now have 1 brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into Nose And Isaiah the prophet ruinous heaps. CHAP. XXXVIII. days was Hezekiah sick un 27 Therefore their inhabitants were the son of Amoz came unto him, and of small power, they were dismayed said unto him, Thus saith the Lono, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, of thanksgiving 16 O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17 Behold, for peace I had great bit. 3 And said, Remember now,O LORD, terness; but thou hast in love to my I beseech thee, how I have walked be soul delivered it from the pit of corfore thee in truth, and with a perfect|ruption: for thou hast cast all my sina heart, and have done that which is behind thy back. good in thy sight. And Hezekiah 18 For the grave cannot praise thee; wept sore. death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 4 ¶ Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, 5 Go,and say to Hezekiah,Thus saith the Lono,the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the land of the king of Assyria: und I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the sun-dial of Abaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. 9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of bis sickness: 101 said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: am deprived of the residue of my years. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day; the fa ther to the children shall make known thy truth. 20 The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lond. 21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the bile, and he shall recover. 22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lond? CHAP. XXXIX. AT that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon sent letters and a present to Hezekial:: for he had heard that he had beeu sick, and was recovered. 2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his pre. cious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oint 11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, ment, and all the house of his armour, even the LORD, in the land of the livand all that was found in his treasures ing: 1 shall beliold man no more with there was nothing in his house, nor in the inhabitants of the world. all his dominion, that Hezekiah show. 12 Mine age is departed, and is re-ed them not. moved from me as a shepherd's tent: 3 1 Then came Isaial: the prophet I have cut off like a weaver my life; unto king Hezekiah, and said unto he will cut me off with pining sick-bim, What said these men ? and from ness: from day eneni to night wilt thou whence came they unto thee? And make an end of me. Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. 13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 4 Then said he, What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah answer14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did ed, All that is in my house have they 1 chatter: I did mourn as a dove: seen; there is nothing among my mine eyes fail with looking upward: treasures that I have not showed O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake them. for me. 15 What shall I say? he hath both epoken unto me, and himself hath done it 1 shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. 2 T 6 Then said Isaiali toHezekiah,Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Bebold, the days come, that all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have kuid up in store until this 657 John Baptist's preaching. ISAIAII. The people comforica. day, shall be carried to Babylon: no-Jout heaven with the span, and comthing shall be left, saith the LORD. prehended the dust of the earth in a 7 And of thy sous that shall issue measure, and weighed the mountains from thee, which thou shalt beget, in scales, and the hills in a balance ? shall they take away; and they shall 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of be eunuchs in the palace of the king the Lony, or being his counsellor hath of Babylon. taught him? 8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good| 14 With whom took he counsel, and is the word of the Loxo which thou who instructed him, and taught him hast spoken: he said moreover, For in the path of judgment, and taught there shall be peace and truth in my him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? lays. CHAP. XL. ¡OMFORT ye, comfort ye my pcople, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is par doned for she hath received of the Lond's hand double for all her sins. 3 ¶ The voice of hun that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a bighway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain : 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD inth spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: eurely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 9TO Zion,that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, he not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, be taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vauity. 18 T To whom then will ye likeu God? or what likeness will ye com pare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation, chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be inoved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard ? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; 23 That bringeth the princes to noth. ing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; 10 Behold, the Lord God will come yea, they shall not be sown; yea, with strong hand, and his arm shall their stock shall not take root in the rule for him behold, his reward is earth: and he shall also blow upon with him, and his work before him. them, and they sball wither, and the 11 He shall feed his flock like a shep-whirlwind shall take them away as herd; he shall gather the lambs with stubble. his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 12 ¶ Who bath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things God expostulateth CHAP. XLI. with his people that bringe out their host by num-Jends of the earth, and called thee from ber: he calleth them all by names by the chief men thereof, and said unto the greatness of his might, for that he thee, Thou art my servant; I have is strong in power; not one faileth. 27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10 ¶ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 23 ¶ Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of 11 Behold, all they that were in the earth, fainteth not, neither is wea-censed against thee shall be ashamed ry? there is no searching of his under-and confounded: they shall be as no standing. thing; and they that strive with thee 29 He giveth power to the faint; and shall perish. to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 12 Thou shalt seck them, and shalt not find them, even them that con30 Even the youth shall faint and tended with thee: they that war be weary, and the young men shall against thee shall be as nothing, and utterly fidl. as a thing of nought, 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they] shall walk, and not faint. CHAP. XLI. KEEP 2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over-kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. 3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. 4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the be gimming? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. 5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. 13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; 1 will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer,the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them,and the winds shalt carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shall rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water,and the dry land springs of water. 6 They helped every one his neigh- 19 1 will plant in the wilderness the bour; and every one said to his broth-cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, er, Be of good courage. and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together; 7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, 20 That they may see, and know, and saying, It is ready for the soddering: consider,and understand together,that and be fastened it with nails, that it the hand of the Lord hath done this, should not be moved. and the Holy One of Israel hath cre ated it. 8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the 21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strongreĄSONS saith the King of Jacob, |