_Appendix to the Fourth Woe._
9. Ye contented women, rise up, hear my voice, ye confident
daughters, hearken to my speech! 10. Days to the year: then will ye
tremble, confident ones! for it is all over with the vintage, the
fruit harvest comes to nought. 11. Tremble, contented ones! Quake, ye
confident ones! Strip, make yourselves bare, and gird your loins with
sackcloth! 12. They smite upon their breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine. 13. On the land of my people there come up
weeds, briers; yes, upon all joyous houses of the rejoicing city.
14. For the palace is made solitary: the crowd of the city is left
desolate; the ophel and watch-tower serve as caves for ever, for the
delight of wild asses, for the tending of flocks.
15. Until the Spirit is poured out over us from on high, and the
wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is
counted as the forest. 16. And justice makes its abode in the desert,
and righteousness settles down upon the fruit-field. 17. And the
effect of righteousness will be peace, and the reward of
righteousness rest and security for ever. 18. And my people dwells in
a place of peace, and in trustworthy, safe dwellings, and in cheerful
resting-places. 19. And it hails with the overthrow of the forest,
and into lowliness must the city be brought low.
20. Blessed are ye that sow by all waters, and let the foot of the
oxen and asses rove in freedom.
_The Fifth Woe.--Woe Concerning Asshur;
Deliverance and Glory of Jerusalem._--CHAP. XXXIII.
1. Woe, devastator, and thyself not devastated; and thou spoiler, and
still not spoiled! Hast thou not done with devastating? thou shalt be
devastated. Hast thou attained to rob? men rob thee.
2. Jehovah, be gracious to us; we wait for Thee: be their arm every
morning, yea, our salvation in time of need!
3. At the sound of a noise peoples pass away: at Thy rising nations
are scattered. 4. And your booty is swept away as a swarm of locusts
sweeps away; as beetles run, they run upon it.
5. Jehovah is exalted; for dwelling on high, He has filled Zion with
justice and righteousness. 6. And there will be security of thy
times, riches of salvation, of wisdom, and knowledge. Fear of Jehovah
is then the treasure of Judah.
7. Behold, their heroes weep without; the messengers of peace weep
bitterly. 8. Desolate are roads, disappeared are travellers; he has
broken covenant, insulted cities, despised men. 9. The land mourns,
languishes; Lebanon stands ashamed, parched; the meadow of Sharon has
become like a steppe, and Bashan and Carmel shake their leaves.
10. Now will I arise, saith Jehovah, now exalt Myself, now lift up
Myself.
11. Ye are pregnant with hay, ye bring forth stubble! Your snorting
is the fire that will devour you. 12. And nations become as lime
burnings, thorns cut off, which are kindled with fire.
13. Hear, ye distant ones, what I have accomplished; and perceive, ye
near ones, my omnipotence! 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling seizes the hypocrites: who of us can dwell with devouring
fire? who of us abide with everlasting burnings?
15. He that walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightness; he
that despiseth gain of oppressions, whose hand keepeth from grasping
bribes; he that stoppeth his ear from hearing murderous counsel, and
shutteth his eyes from looking at evil; 16. he will dwell upon high
places; rocky fastnesses are his castle; his bread is abundant, his
waters inexhaustible.
17. Thine eyes will see the King in His beauty, will see a land that
is very far off.
18. Thy heart meditates upon the shuddering. Where is the valuer?
where is the weigher? where he who counted the towers? 19. The rough
people thou seest no more, a people of deep inaudible lip, of
stammering unintelligible tongue.
20. Look upon Zion, the castle of our festal meeting. Thine eyes will
see Jerusalem, a pleasant place, a tent that does not wander about,
whose pegs are never drawn, and none of whose cords are ever broken.
21. No, there dwells for us a glorious One, Jehovah; a place of
streams, canals of wide extent, into which no fleet of rowing vessels
ventures, and which no strong man of war shall cross. 22. For Jehovah
is our Judge; Jehovah is our war-Prince; Jehovah is our King; He will
bring us salvation.
23. Thy ropes hang loose; they do not hold fast the support of thy
mast; they do not hold the flag extended: then is the booty of
plunder divided in abundance; even lame men share the prey. 24. And
not an inhabitant will say, I am weak: the people settled there have
their sins forgiven.
_PART VI._
FINALE OF THE JUDGMENT UPON ALL THE WORLD (MORE ESPECIALLY UPON
EDOM) AND REDEMPTION OF THE PEOPLE OF JEHOVAH.--CHAPS. XXXIV., XXXV.
1. Come near, ye peoples, to hear; and ye nations, attend. Let the
earth hear, and that which fills it, the world, and everything that
springs from it. 2. For the indignation of Jehovah will fall upon all
nations, and burning wrath upon all their host; He has laid the ban
upon them, delivered them to the slaughter. 3. And their slain are
cast away, and their corpses--their stench will arise, and mountains
melt with their blood. 4. And all the host of the heavens are rolled
up like a scroll, and all their heat withers as a leaf withers away
from the vine, and like withered leaves from the fig-tree.
5. For My sword has become intoxicated in the heaven; behold, it
comes down upon Edom, and upon the people of My ban to judgment.
6. The sword of Jehovah fills itself with blood, is fattened with
fat, with blood of lambs and he-goats, with kidney-fat of rams; for
Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land
of Edom. 7. And buffaloes fall with them, and bullocks together with
bulls; and their land becomes intoxicated with blood, and their dust
fattened with fat.
8. For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense, to
contend for Zion. 9. And the brooks of Edom are turned into pitch,
and its dust into brimstone, and its land becomes burning pitch.
10. Day and night it is not quenched; the smoke of Edom goes up for
ever: it lies waste from generation to generation; no one passes
through it for ever and ever. 11. And pelican and hedgehog take
possession of it, and eared-owl and raven dwell there; and He
stretched over it the measure of Tohu and the level of Bohu. 12. Its
nobles--there is no longer a monarchy which they elected; nettles and
thistles in the castles; and it and all its princes come to nought.
13. And the palaces of Edom break out into thorns, nettles and
thistles in the castles; and it becomes the abode of wild dogs,
pasture for ostriches. 14. And martens meet with jackals, and a
wood-devil runs upon its fellow; yea, Līlīth dwells there, and finds
rest for itself. 15. There the arrow-snake makes its nest, and breeds
and lays eggs, and broods in the shadow there; yea, there vultures
gather one to another. 16. Search in the book of Jehovah, and read!
Not one of the creatures falls, not one misses the other: for My
mouth--it has commanded it; and His breath--it has brought them
together. 17. And He has cast the lots for them, and His hand has
assigned it (this land) to them by measure; they will possess it for
ever; to generation and generation they will dwell therein.
XXXV.--1. Gladness fills the desert and the heath; and the steppe
rejoices, and flowers like the crocus. 2. It flowers abundantly, and
rejoices; yea, rejoicing and singing: the glory of Lebanon is given
to it, the splendour of Carmel and the plain of Sharon; they will see
the glory of Jehovah, the splendour of our God.
3. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and make the trembling knees strong.
4. Say to those of a terrified heart, Be strong, Fear ye not! Behold,
your God will come for vengeance, for a Divine retribution: He will
come, and bring you salvation. 5. Then the eyes of the blind will be
opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6. Then will the lame man
leap as the stag, and the tongue of the dumb man shout; for waters
break out in the desert, and brooks in the steppe. 7. And the mirage
becomes a fish-pond, and the thirsty ground gushing water-springs; in
the place of jackals, where it lies, there springs up grass with
reeds and rushes.
8. And a highway rises there, and a road, and it will be called the
Holy Road; no unclean man will pass along it, as it is appointed for
them: whoever walks the road, even simple ones do not go astray.
9. There will be no lion there, and the most ravenous beast of prey
will not approach it, will not be met with there; and redeemed ones
walk. 10. And the ransomed of Jehovah will return, and come to Zion
with shouting, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they lay hold of
gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing flee away.
_PART VII._
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY; AND PROPHECIES BELONGING
TO THE FOURTEENTH YEAR OF HEZEKIAH'S REIGN, AND
THE TIMES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING.--CHAPS. XXXVI.-XXXIX.
_A.--First Assyrian Attempt to Compel the
Surrender of Jerusalem._--CHAPS. XXXVI.-XXXVII. 7.
XXXVI.--1. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king
Hizikiyahu, Sancherîb, king of Asshur, came up against all the
fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 2. Then the king of Asshur
sent Rabshakeh from Lachish towards Jerusalem to king Hizkiyahu with
a great army, and he advanced to the conduit of the upper pool by the
road of the fuller's field; 3. and there went out to him Eliakim, son
of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and Shebna the chancellor, and
Joah, son of Asaph the recorder.
4. And Rabshakeh said to them, Say now to Hizkiyahu, Thus saith the
great king, the king of Asshur, What sort of confidence is this that
thou hast got? 5. I say, Vain talk is counsel and strength for war:
now, then, in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against
me? 6. Behold, thou trustest in this broken reed-staff there, in
Egypt, on which one leans, and it runs into his hand and pierces it;
so does Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7. But if thou
sayest to me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is it not He whose high
places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, and has said to Judah and
Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before the altar? 8. And not take a wager
with my lord the king of Asshur; I will deliver thee two thousand
horses, if thou art able for thy part to give horsemen upon them.
9. And how couldst thou repel the advance of a single satrap among
the least of the servants of my lord? Thou puttest thy trust then in
Egypt for chariots and riders! 10. And now have I come up without
Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up to
this land, and destroy it.
11. Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, to Rabshakeh, Pray,
speak to thy servants in Aramæan, for we understand it; and do not
speak to us in Jewish, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12. Then Rabshakeh said to them, Has my lord sent me to thy lord and
to thee, not rather to the men who sit upon the wall, to eat their
dung, and to drink their urine together with you?
13. Then Rabshakeh went near, and cried with a loud voice in the
Jewish language, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king
of Asshur. 14. Thus saith the king, Let not Hizkiyahu practise
deception upon you; for he cannot deliver you. 15. And let not
Hizkiyahu feed you with hope in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will
deliver, yea, deliver us: this city will not be delivered into the
hand of the king of Asshur. 16. Hearken not to Hizkiyahu; for thus
saith the king of Asshur, Enter into a connection of mutual good
wishes with me, and come out to me: and enjoy every one his vine, and
every one his fig-tree, and drink every one the water of his cistern:
17. till I come and take you away into a land like your own land, a
land of corn and wine, a land of bread-corn and vineyards; 18. that
Hizkiyahu do not befool you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Have
the gods of the nations delivered every one his land out of the hand
of the king of Asshur? 19. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?
Where the gods of Sepharvayim? and how much less have they delivered
that Samaria out of my hand? 20. Who were they among all the gods of
these lands who delivered their land out of my hand? how much less
will Jehovah deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21. But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for it
was the king's commandment, Ye shall not answer him.
22. Then came Eliakim, son of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and
Shebna that chancellor, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, to
Hizkiyahu, with torn clothes, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
XXXVII.--1. And it came to pass, when king Hizkiyahu had heard, he
rent his clothes, and wrapped himself in mourning linen, and went
into the house of Jehovah. 2. And sent Eliakim the house-minister,
and Shebna the chancellor, and the eldest of the priests, wrapped in
mourning linen, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet. 3. And they say
to him, Thus saith Hizkiyahu, A day of affliction, and punishment,
and blasphemy is this day; for children are come to the matrix, and
there is no strength to bring them forth. 4. Perhaps Jehovah thy God
will hear the words of Rabshakeh, with which the king of Asshur his
lord has sent him to revile the living God; and Jehovah thy God will
punish for the words He hath heard, and thou wilt make intercession
for the remnant that still exists.
5. And the servants of king Hizkiyahu came to Isaiah. 6. And Isaiah
said to them, Speak thus to your lord, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not
afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of
the king of Asshur have blasphemed Me. 7. Behold, I will bring a
spirit upon him, and he will hear a hearsay, and return to his own
land; and I will cut him down with the sword in his own land.
_B.--Second Attempt of the Assyrians to Force the Surrender
of Jerusalem. Its Miraculous Deliverance._--CHAP. XXXVII. 8-38.
8. Rabshakeh thereupon returned, and found the king of Asshur warring
against Libnah; for he had heard that he had withdrawn from Lachish.
9. And he had heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, he has
come out to make war against thee; and heard, and sent messengers to
Hiskiyahu, saying, 10. Thus shall ye say to Hizkiyahu king of Judah,
saying, Let not the God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying,
Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
11. Behold, thou hast surely heard what the kings of Asshur have done
to all lands, to lay the ban upon them; and thou, thou shouldest be
delivered? 12. Have the gods of the nations, which my fathers
destroyed, delivered them? Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the
B•nē-'Eden, which are in Telassar? 13. Where is the king of Hamath,
and the king of Arpad, and the king of 'Ir-Sepharvayim, Hen'a, and
'Ivah?
14. And Hizkiyahu took the letter out of the hand of the messengers,
and read it, and went up to the house of Jehovah; and Hizkiyahu
spread it before Jehovah. 15. And Hizkiyahu prayed to Jehovah,
saying, 16. Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned upon the
cherubim, Thou, yea Thou alone, art God of all the kingdoms of the
earth; Thou, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth. 17. Incline
Thine ear, Jehovah, and hear! Open Thine eyes, Jehovah, and see; and
hear the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to despise the
living God! 18. Truly, O Jehovah, the kings of Asshur have laid waste
all lands, and their land, 19. and have put their gods into the fire:
for they were not gods, only the work of men's hands, wood and stone;
therefore they have destroyed them. 20. And now, Jehovah our God,
help us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that Thou Jehovah art it alone.
21. And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hizkiyahu, saying, Thus saith
Jehovah the God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me
concerning Sennacherib the king of Asshur: 22. This is the utterance
which Jehovah utters concerning him:--The virgin daughter of Zion
despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem
shaketh her head after thee. 23. Whom hast thou reviled and
blasphemed, and over whom hast thou spoken loftily, that thou hast
lifted up thine eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. 24. By
thy servants hast thou reviled the Lord, in that thou sayest, "With
the multitude of my chariots have I climbed the height of the
mountains, the inner side of Lebanon; and I shall fell the lofty
growth of its cedars, the choice of its cypresses; and I shall
penetrate to the height of its uttermost border, the grove of its
orchard. 25. I, I have digged and drank waters, and will make dry
with the sole of my feet all the Nile-arms." 26. Hast thou not heard?
I have done it long ago, from the days of ancient time have I formed
it, and now brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste
fortified cities into desolate stone heaps; 27. and their
inhabitants, powerless, were terrified, and were put to shame: became
herb of the field and green of the turf, herb of the house-tops, and
a cornfield before the blades. 28. And thy sitting down, and thy
going out, and thy entering in, I know; and thy heating thyself
against Me. 29. On account of thy heating thyself against Me, and
because thy self-confidence has risen up into Mine ears, I put My
ring into thy nose, and My muzzle into thy lips, and lead thee back
by the way by which thou hast come.
30. And let this be a sign to thee, Men eat this year what is
self-sown; and in the second year what springs from the roots; and in
the third year they sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their
fruit. 31. And that which is escaped of the house of Judah, that
which remains will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32. For from Jerusalem will a remnant go forth, and a fugitive from
Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah of hosts will carry this out.
33. Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Asshur, He
will not enter into this city, nor shoot off an arrow there; nor do
they assault it with a shield, nor cast up earthworks against it.
34. By the way by which he came will he return; and he will not enter
into this city, saith Jehovah. 35. And I shield this city, to help,
for Mine own sake, and for the sake of David My servant.
36. Then the angel of Jehovah went forth and smote in the camp of
Asshur a hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when men rose up in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 37. Then Sennacherib
king of Asshur decamped, and went forth and returned, and settled
down in Nineveh. 38. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in
the temple of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharazer his sons
smote him with the sword; and when they escaped to the land of
Ararat, Esar-haddon reigned in his stead.
_C.--Hezekiah's Illness. Isaiah
Assures Him of His Recovery._--CHAP. XXXVIII.
1. In those days Hizkiyahu became dangerously ill. And Isaiah son of
Amoz, the prophet, came to him, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah,
Set thine house in order; for thou wilt die, and not recover. 2. Then
Hizkiyahu turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah, 3. and
said, O Jehovah, remember this, I pray, that I have walked before
Thee in truth, and with the whole heart, and have done what was good
in Thine eyes. And Hizkiyahu wept with loud weeping.
4. And it came to pass the word of Jehovah came to Isaiah as follows:
5. Go and say to Hizkiyahu, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David
thine ancestor, I have heard thy prayer, seen thy tears; behold, I
add to thy days fifteen years. 6. And I will deliver thee and this
city out of the hand of the king of Asshur, and defend this city.
[21. Then Isaiah said they were to bring a fig-cake; and they
plastered the boil, and he recovered. 22. And Hizkiyahu said, What
sign is there that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?]
7. And let this be the sign to thee on the part of Jehovah, that
Jehovah will perform the word which He has spoken: 8. Behold, I will
make the shadow retrace the steps, which it has gone down upon the
sun-dial of Ahaz through the sun, ten steps backward. And the sun
went back ten steps upon the dial, which it had gone down.
9. Writing of Hizkiyahu king of Judah, when he was sick, and
recovered from his sickness.
10, 11, 12:--
I said, in quiet of my days shall I depart into
the gates of Hades:
I am mulcted of the rest of my years.
I said, I shall not see Jah, Jah, in the land of
the living:
I shall behold man no more, with the inhabitants
of the regions of the dead.
My home is broken up, and is carried off from me
like a shepherd's tent:
I rolled up my life like a weaver: He would have
cut me loose from the roll:
From day to night Thou makest an end of me.
13, 14:--
I waited patiently till the morning; like the lion,
So will He break in pieces all my bones:
From day to night Thou makest it all over with me.
Like a swallow, a crane, so I chirped;
I cooed like the dove:
Mine eyes pined for the height.
O Lord, men assault me! Be bail for me.
15-17:--
What shall I say, That He promised me,
and He hath carried it out:
I should walk quietly all my years,
on the trouble of my soul?
Oh Lord, by such things men revive, and the life
of my spirit is always therein:
And so wilt Thou restore me, and make me
to live!
Behold, bitterness became salvation to me,
bitterness;
And Thou, Thou hast delivered my soul in
love out of the pit of corruption:
For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.
18-20:--
For Hades does not praise Thee; death does not sing
praises to Thee:
They that sink into the grave do not hope for
Thy truth.
The living, the living, he praises Thee,
as I do to-day;
The father to the children makes known Thy truth,
Jehovah is ready to give me salvation;
Therefore will we play my stringed instruments
all the days of my life
In the house of Jehovah.
_D.--Threatening of the Babylonish
Captivity Occasioned by Hezekiah._--CHAP. XXXIX.
1. At that time Merodach Bal'adan, son of Bal'adan king of Babel,
sent writings and a present to Hizkiyahu, and heard that he had been
sick, and was restored again.
2. And Hizkiyahu rejoiced concerning them, and showed them all his
storehouses: the silver, and the gold and the spices, and the fine
oil, and all his arsenal, and all that was in his treasures: there
was nothing that Hizkiyahu had now shown them in all his house or in
all his kingdom.
3. Then came Isaiah the prophet to king Hizkiyahu, and said to him,
What have these men said, and whence came they to thee? Hizkiyahu
said, They came to me from a far country, out of Babel. 4. He said
further, What have they seen in thy house? Hizkiyahu said, All that
is in my house have they seen; there was nothing in my treasures that
I had not shown them. 5. Then Isaiah said to Hizkiyahu, Hear the word
of Jehovah of hosts; 6. Behold, days come, that all that is in thy
house, and all that thy fathers have laid up unto this day, will be
carried away to Babel: nothing will be left behind, saith Jehovah.
7. And of thy children that proceed from thee, whom thou shalt beget,
will they take; and they will be courtiers in the palace of the king
of Babel. 8. Then said Hizkiyahu to Isaiah, Good is the word of
Jehovah which thou hast spoken. And he said further, Yea, there shall
be peace and steadfastness in my days.