_Come and Take the Sure Salvation of Jehovah._
1. Alas, all ye thirsty ones, come ye to the water; and ye that have
no silver, come ye, buy and eat! Yea, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without payment! 2. Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that
which is not bread, and the result of your labour for that which
satisfieth not? Oh, hearken ye to Me, and eat the good, and let your
soul delight itself in fat.
3. Incline your ear, and come to Me! hear, and let your soul revive;
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the true mercies of
David. 4. Behold, I have set him as a witness[1] for nations, a
prince and commander of nations. 5. Behold, thou wilt call a mass of
people that thou knowest not; and a mass of people that knoweth thee
not will hasten to thee, for the sake of Jehovah thy God, and for the
Holy One of Israel that He hath made thee glorious.
6. Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He
is near. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts: and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have
compassion upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
8. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My
ways, saith Jehovah: 9. as heaven is high above the earth; so high
are My ways above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts.
10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, till it has moistened the earth, and
fertilised it, and made it green, and offered seed to the sower and
bread to the eater; 11. so will My word be which goeth forth out of
My mouth: it will not return to Me fruitless, till it has
accomplished that which I willed, and prosperously carried out that
for which I sent it. 12. For ye will go out with joy, and be led
forth[2] in peace: the mountains and the hills will break out before
you into shouting, and all the trees of the field will clap their
hands. 13. Instead of the thorn will cypresses shoot up, and instead
of the fleabane[3] will myrtles spring up: and it will be to Jehovah
for a name, for an everlasting memorial that will not be swept away.