16

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard the song, Glory be to the righteous.' But I said, ‘I am wretched, I am wretched, woe unto me! The rob'bers [the Babylonians] have robbed; yea, the robbers 17 have robbed treacherously.' Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the land. 18 And it shall come to pass, that he that fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and 19 the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean shattered to 20 pieces, the earth is disturbed exceedingly. The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunkard, and is shaken about like a hut; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

21

And it shall come to pass in that day [B.C. 538] that Jehovah will punish the host of the High Ones [or angels] that are on high, and the kings of the earth 22 that are upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered into the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be punished. Then the pale moon shall blush, and the sun's heat shall be ashamed, when Jehovah of hosts shall reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before -his elders gloriously.

23

1 O Jehovah, thou art my God, I will exalt thee;
I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonders;
Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

16 The Robbers have robbed.] The Babylonians are the robbers. We have these words in chap. xxi. 2, and

xxxiii. 1.

21 In that day.] B.C. 538, when Cyrus conquers the Babylonians.

High Ones that are on high.] It was an opinion learnt from Babylon, that as every nation had its king upon earth, so it had its High One, or Prince in heaven. When the one was overthrown, so was the other. See Dan. x. 13 and 20.

For thou hast made of the city [Babylon] a heap of 2

stones;

Of the fenced city a ruin, a palace of strangers;

Of a city for ever, one not to be built up.
Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee,

The city of the nations that terrify shall fear thee.
For thou hast been a stronghold to the weak,
A stronghold to the needy in his distress,

A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat,
When the blast of the terrible was as a storm against a
wall.

Thou wilt humble the noise of the strangers,

As heat on a dry place, as heat by the shade of a cloud; The song of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

3

4

5

And on this Mountain shall Jehovah of hosts make 6 unto all the peoples a drinking feast of fat things, a drinking feast of old wines, of fat things full of marrow, of old wines well refined. And he will destroy on this 7 mountain the face of the covering that covereth over all the peoples, and the veil that is spread over all the nations. He will wholly swallow up death; and the 8 Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces and the reproach against his people will he take away from off all the earth; for Jehovah hath spoken it.

And it shall be said in that day, 'Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for him, we will be glad ' and will rejoice in his salvation.' For on this mountain shall the hand of Jehovah rest, and Moab shall be

XXV.

2 The city, a heap of stones.] Jews in their misfortunes had learnt not name their oppressors.

Babylon. The caution, and do

On this mountain.] Perhaps near Babylon, where there were several mounds, one of which was the Tower of Babel.

10 Moab shall be trodden down.] The Jews were very angry with their neighbours who did not help them in their distress, but whose goodwill they could hardly have hoped for.

;

9

10

trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down 11 for the dunghill. And he will spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth them forth to swim; and he will bring down their 12 pride together with the snares of their hands. And Mibzar [or Petra] the fortress of thy walls will he bring down, lay low, and strike to the ground, even to the -dust.

1

In that day shall this song be sung in the land of
Judah;

Our city is strong; salvation setteth walls and ramparts. 2 Open ye the gates, that a nation may enter, Which is righteous and keepeth the truth.

3A steadfast frame of mind thou wilt keep in peace, In peace, because it trusteth in thee.

4

Trust in Jehovah for ever and ever;
ye

For in Jah-Jehovah is the Rock of ages.

5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; The lofty city he layeth low, he layeth low to the ground;

He striketh it even to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down,

Even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. 7 The way of the just is uprightness;

Thou, most upright, maketh smooth the path of the just; 8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, We wait for thee; to thy Name,

And to the remembrance of thee, is our soul's desire. 9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; Yea, with my spirit within me I seek thee at daybreak; For when thy judgments are on the earth,

The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

12 Mibzar the fortress of thy walls.] Perhaps Petra. It is mentioned in Gen. xxxvi. 43, among the cities of Edom.

XXVI. 2 That a nation may enter.] That the captives may return.

4 Jah-Jehovah.] In chap. xxxviii. 11, we have the name Jah-Jah.

If favour be showed to the wicked man,

Yet will he not learn righteousness;

In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly,
And will not fear the majesty of Jehovah.

O Jehovah, thine uplifted hand they will not see;
But they shall see, and be ashamed of envying the
people;

Yea, fire upon thine enemies shall devour them.

O Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us;

For thou also hast wrought all our works for us.

O Jehovah our God, other lords beside thee rule over

us;

But only of thee, of thy name, will we make mention.
They are dead beings, they shall not live;
They are departed spirits, they shall not rise;
Therefore hast thou punished and wilt destroy them,
And thou wilt make all memory of them to perish.
Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah,
Thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified;
Thou hast widened all the ends of the land.

O Jehovah, in trouble have they sought thee,
Whispering a prayer when thy chastening was on them.
As a woman with child, that is near to bringing forth,
Is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs;

So have we been in thy sight, O Jehovah.

We have been with child, we have been in pain,

We have as it were brought forth wind;

So that we have not wrought deliverance to the land,
Neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Thy dead ones shall live, my people's corpses shall arise. 19 Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust;

For thy dew is as the dew of herbs,

And the earth shall cast forth the departed spirits.

14

They are departed spirits.] Ghosts living in Hell, according to the mythology learnt in Babylon.

19 Thy dead ones shall live.] According to the vision in Ezek. xxxvii., which was written at this time or later, of the dry bones in the valley coming to life, to people the desolate land.

20

21

1

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also shall disclose her bloodshed, and shall no more -cover her slain.

In that day Jehovah with his sore and great and strong sword will punish the crocodile [or Egypt], the cowardly serpent, even the crocodile that crooked serpent; and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. 2 In that day sing ye of the Pleasant Vineyard. 3I Jehovah do keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 4 Fury is nothing against me.

Who would set a brier or a thorn against me in battle? I would rush against it, I would burn them together. 5 Or let him hold to my strength, and make peace with me; Let him make peace with me.

6 In days that are to come, Jacob shall take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face "of the world with fruit. Hath He smitten him [the Babylonian], according to the smiting of him that he smote? or is he slain according to the slaughter of 8 them that he slew ? In moderation by casting it [Babylon] forth thou dost chide it. He driveth it away 9by his strong breath in the day of the east wind. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit for taking away his sin. When He

20 As it were for a little moment.] Thus this was written in the moment of doubt, before the fall of Babylon was certainly known; or at least before the Jews had felt full relief from Cyrus's victories.

XXVII. Will punish the crocodile.] Or Egypt, for not helping the Jews against Nebuchadnezzar.

7 Hath he smitten him?] Hath Babylon as yet suffered as it made others suffer?

8 In moderation.] Thus the overthrow of Babylon was not yet completed.