_A.--First echo: Salvation of the Nations after
the Fall of the Imperial City._--CHAP. XXV. 1-8.
1. Jehovah, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy
name, that Thou hast wrought wonders, counsels from afar, sincerity,
truth. 2. For Thou hast turned it from a city into a heap of stones,
the steep castle into a ruin; the palace of the barbarians from being
a city, to be rebuilt no more for ever. 3. Therefore a wild people
will honour Thee, cities of violent nations fear Thee. 4. For Thou
provest Thyself a stronghold to the lowly, a stronghold to the poor
in his distress, as a shelter from the storm of rain, as a shadow
from the burning of the sun; for the blast of the terrible once was
as a storm against a wall. 5. Like the burning of the sun in a
parched land, Thou subduest the noise of the barbarians; (like) the
burning of the sun through the shadow of a cloud, the triumphal song
of the violent ones was brought low.
6. And Jehovah of hosts prepares for all nations upon this mountain a
feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things rich
in marrow, of wines on the lees thoroughly strained. 7. And He casts
away upon this mountain the veil that veiled over all peoples, and
the covering that covered over all nations. 8. He puts away death for
ever; and the Lord Jehovah wipes the tear from every face; and He
removes the shame of His people from the whole earth: for Jehovah
hath spoken it.
_B.--Second Echo: The Humiliation of Moab._--CHAP. XXV. 9-12
9. And they say in that day, Behold our God, for whom we waited to
help us: this is Jehovah, for whom we waited; let us be glad and
rejoice in His salvation. 10. For the hand of Jehovah will sink down
upon this mountain, and Moab is trodden down there where it is, as
straw is trodden down in the water of the dung-pit. 11. And he
spreadeth out his hands in the pool therein, as the swimmer spreadeth
them out to swim; but Jehovah forceth down the pride of Moab in spite
of the artifices of his hands. 12. Yes, thy steep, towering walls He
bows down, forces under, and casts earthwards into dust.
_C.--Third Echo: Israel Brought Back,
or Raised from the Dead._--CHAP. XXVI.
1. In that day will this song be sung in the land of Judah: A city of
defence is ours; salvation He sets for walls and bulwarks. 2. Open ye
the gates, that a righteous people may enter, one keeping
truthfulness. 3. Thou keepest the firmly-established mind in peace,
peace; for his confidence rests on Thee. 4. Hang confidently on
Jehovah for ever: for in Jah, Jehovah, is an everlasting rock. 5. For
He hath bent down them that dwell on high; the towering castle, He
tore it down, tore it down to the earth, cast it into dust. 6. The
foot treads it to pieces, feet of the poor, steps of the lowly.
7. The path that the righteous takes is smoothness; Thou makest the
course of the righteous smooth.
8. We also have waited for Thee, that Thou shouldest come in the path
of Thy judgments; the desire of the soul went after Thy name, and
after Thy remembrance. 9. With my soul I desired Thee in the night;
yea, with my spirit deep within me, I longed to have Thee here: for
when Thy judgments strike the earth, the inhabitants of the earth
learn righteousness.
10. If favour is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn
righteousness; in the most upright land he acts wickedly; and has no
eye for the majesty of Jehovah. 11. Jehovah, Thy hand has been
exalted, but they did not see: they will see the zeal for a people,
being put to shame; yea, fire will devour Thine adversaries.
12. Jehovah, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou hast
accomplished all our work for us. 13. Jehovah our God, lords besides
Thee had enslaved us; but through Thee we praise Thy name. 14. Dead
men live not again, shades do not rise again; so hast Thou visited
and destroyed them, and caused all their memory to perish. 15. Thou
hast added to the nation, O Jehovah, hast added to the nation;
glorified Thyself; moved out all the borders of the land.
16. Jehovah, in trouble they missed Thee, poured out light
supplication when Thy chastisement came upon them. 17. As a woman
with child, who draws near to her delivery, writhes and cries out in
her pangs, so were we in Thy sight, O Jehovah. 18. We went with
child, we writhed; it was as if we brought forth wind. We brought no
deliverance to the land, and the inhabitants of the world did not
come to the light.
19. Thy dead will live, my corpses rise again. Awake and rejoice, ye
that lie in the dust! For Thy dew is as the dew of the lights, and
the earth will bring shades to the day.
20. Go in, my people, into thy chambers, and shut the door behind
thee; hide thyself a little moment, till the judgment of wrath passes
by. 21. For, behold, Jehovah goeth out of His place to visit the
iniquity of the earth upon them; and the earth discloses the blood
that it has sucked up, and no more covers her slain.
XXVII.--1. In that day will Jehovah visit with His sword, with the
hard, and the great, and the strong; leviathan the fleet serpent, and
leviathan the twisted serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea.
_D.--The Fourth Echo: The Fruit-bearing Vineyard
under the Protection of Jehovah._--CHAP. XXVII. 2-6
2. In that day
A merry vineyard--sing it!
3. I, Jehovah, its keeper,
Every moment I water it.
That nothing may come near it,
I watch it night and day.
4. Wrath have I none;
Oh, had I thorns, thistles before Me!
I would make up to them in battle,
Burn them all together.
5. Men would then have to grasp at My protection,
Make peace with Me,
Make peace with Me.
6. In future will Jacob strike roots, Israel blossom and bud, and
fill the surface of the globe with fruits.
JEHOVAH'S CHASTENING AND SAVING
COURSE TOWARDS ISRAEL.--CHAP. XXVII. 7-13.
7. Hath He smitten it like the smiting of the smiter, or is it slain
like the slaying of those slain by Him? 8. Thou punishedst it with
measures, when Thou didst thrust it away, sifting with violent breath
in the day of the east wind. 9. Therefore will the guilt of Jacob be
purged thus; and this is all the fruit of the removal of his sin:
when He maketh all alter-stones like chalk-stones that are broken in
pieces, Astarte images and sun-pillars do not rise up again. 10. For
the strong city is solitary, a dwelling given up and forsaken like
the steppe: there calves feed, and there they lie down, and eat of
its branches. 11. When its branches become withered, they are broken;
women come, make fires with them; for it is not a people of
intelligence: therefore its Creator has no pity upon it, and its
Former doth not pardon it.
12. And it will come to pass on that day, Jehovah will appoint a
beating of corn from the water-flood of the Euphrates to the brook of
Egypt, and ye will be gathered one by one, O sons of Israel. 13. And
it will come to pass in that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and
the lost ones in the land of Asshur come, and the outcasts in the
land of Egypt, and cast themselves down before Jehovah on the holy
mountain in Jerusalem.
_PART V._
BOOK OF WOES: OR, HISTORICAL DISCOURSES RELATING
TO ASSHUR AND THE EGYPTIAN ALLIANCE.--CHAPS. XXVIII.-XXXIII.
_The First Woe.--Judgment upon Samaria and
Jerusalem, and Consolation for Both._--CHAP. XXVIII.
1. Woe to the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim, and to the
fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of the
luxuriant valley of those slain with wine.
2. Behold, the Lord holds a strong and mighty thing like a hailstorm,
a pestilent tempest; like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He
casts down to the earth with almighty hand. 3. With feet they tread
down the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim. 4. And it happens to
the fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of
the luxuriant valley, as to an early fig before it is harvest, which
whosoever sees it looks at, and it is no longer in his hand than he
swallows it.
5. In that day will Jehovah of hosts be the adorning crown and the
splendid diadem to the remnant of His people; 6. and the spirit of
justice to them that sit on the judgment-seat, and heroic strength to
them that drive back war at the gate.
7. And they also reel with wine, and are giddy with meth; priest and
prophet reel with meth, reel when seeking visions, stagger when
pronouncing judgment. 8. For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
without any more place.
9. Whom then would He teach knowledge? And to whom make preaching
intelligible? To those weaned from the milk. To those removed from
the breast. 10. For precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line
upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there?
11. For through men stammering in speech, and through a strange
tongue will He speak to this people. 12. He who said to them, There
is rest, give rest to weary ones, and there is refreshing! But they
would not hear. 13. Therefore the word of Jehovah becomes to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon
line, a little here, a little there, that they may go and stumble
backwards, and be wrecked to pieces, and be snared and taken.
14. Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful lords, rulers of
this people which is in Jerusalem! 15. For ye say, We have made a
covenant with death, and with Hades we have come to an agreement. The
swelling scourge, when it cometh hither, will do us no harm: for we
have made a lie our shelter, and in deceit have we hidden ourselves.
16. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am He who laid
in Zion a stone, a stone of trial, a precious corner-stone of
well-founded founding; whoever believes will not have to move.
17. And I make justice the line, and righteousness the level; and
hail sweeps away the refuge of lies, and the hiding-place is washed
away by waters.
18. And your covenant with death is struck out, and your agreement
with Hades will not stand; the swelling scourge when it comes, ye
will become a thing trodden down to it. 19. And as often as it passes
it takes you: for every morning it passes, by day and by night; and
it is nothing but shuddering to hear such preaching. 20. For the bed
is too short to stretch in, and the covering too tight when a man
wraps himself in it.
21. For Jehovah will rise up as in the mountain of Perazim, and be
wroth as in the valley at Gibeon to work His work; and to set His
act; strange is His act.
22. And now drive ye not mockeries, lest your fetters be
strengthened: for I have heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a
judgment of destruction, and an irrevocable one, upon the whole earth.
23. Lend me your ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my address!
24. Does the husbandman plough continually to sow? to furrow and to
harrow his land? 25. Is it not so: when he levels the surface
thereof, he scatters black poppy seed, and strews cummin, and puts in
wheat in rows, and barley in the appointed piece, and spelt on its
border? 26. And He has instructed him how to act rightly: his God
teaches him.
27. For the black poppy is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor
is a cart wheel rolled over cummin; but black poppy is knocked out
with a stick, and cummin with a staff. 28. Is bread-corn crushed? No;
he does not go on threshing for ever, and drive the wheel of his cart
and his horses over it: he does not crush it. 29. This also, it goeth
forth from Jehovah of hosts: He gives wonderful intelligence, high
understanding.
_The Second Woe.--The Oppression
and Deliverance of Ariel._--CHAP. XXIX.
1. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the castle where David pitched his tent!
Add year to year, let the feasts revolve: 2. then I distress Ariel,
and there is groaning and moaning; and so she proves herself to Me as
Ariel. 3. And I encamp in a circle round about thee, and surround
thee with watch-posts, and erect tortoises against thee. 4. And when
brought down thou wilt speak out of the ground, and thy speaking will
sound low out of the dust; and thy voice cometh up like that of a
demon from the ground, and thy speaking will whisper out of the dust.
5. And the multitude of thy foes will become like finely powdered
dust, and the multitude of tyrants like chaff flying away; and it
will take place suddenly, very suddenly. 6. For Jehovah of hosts
there comes a visitation with crash of thunder and earthquake and
great noise, whirlwind and tempest, and the blazing up of devouring
fire. 7. And the multitude of all the nations that gather together
against Ariel, and all those who storm and distress Ariel and her
stronghold, will be like a vision of the night in a dream. 8. And it
is just as a hungry man dreams, and behold he eats; and when he wakes
up his soul is empty: and just as a thirsty man dreams, and behold he
drinks; and when he wakes up, behold, he is faint, and his soul is
parched with thirst: so will it be to the multitude of nations which
gather together against the mountain of Zion.