2 ing Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the House of Jehovah shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the 3 nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go, and say, 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain ' of Jehovah, to the House of the God of Jacob; and 'he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the 4' word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.' And he will judge among the nations, and will rebuke many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any

XL.

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more.

COMFORT YE, COMFORT YE my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is

4 Beat their swords into plowshares.] Thus reversing the figure of speech used in Joel iii. 10. Joel's grand thoughts were a storehouse from which the later prophets often borrowed.

No. 28. [Chap. xl.-lv.]

The author of this valuable portion of the Book of Isaiah has been called the Great Unknown, and sometimes the Later Isaiah, by critics who give to him the authorship of all the latter part of the Book. But as we give to him only these sixteen chapters, it is as well to call him the Isaiah of the return home. He breathes nothing but spiritual religion and good feeling.

1 Comfort ye my people.] The Son of Sirach, in Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 22-25, written within three hundred years of this time, describes Isaiah as comforting those that mourn in Zion. By thus referring to the opening words of this chapter, he tells us that at this early time these writings had already been classed with those of Isaiah.

pardoned; for she hath received from Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.

The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the desert 3 'the way of Jehovah, make straight in the barren valley 'a highway for our God.' Every valley shall be exalted, 4 and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.

5

> 6

A voice said, Cry.' And I said, 'What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower 7 fadeth, when the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it. Surely the people are grass; the grass withereth, the 3 flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for

ever.

Get thee up into the high mountain, O thou that 9 bringest good tidings to Zion; lift up thy voice with strength, O thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!' Behold, the Lord Jehovah will 10 come with might, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense for work is before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that give suck.

11

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his 12 hand, and meted out the heavens with the span, and

2 Double for all her sins.] Full punishment. Such is the meaning of doubling a thought or word. In Hebrew good-good means very good. In Gen. xli. 32, the doubling of Pharaoh's dream is explained as proving its certainty.

3 The way of Jehovah.] By which the captives were to return from Babylon.

Thou that bringest good tidings.] The news that permission has been given to the captives to return home.

gathered up the dust of the earth within a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in a 13 pair of scales? Who hath directed the spirit of Jehovah, 14 or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, 15 and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balances. Behold he taketh up the 16 isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor the wild beasts thereof sufficient for a 17 burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before

him; and they are counted by him as less than nothing, 18 and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what 19 likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth an image and the metal-founder spreadeth it 20 over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is poor in respect to his heave offering chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that will not fall down.

21

Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not 22 understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the earth's arch, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; He that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; He that bringeth the princes to nothing; He that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they are not planted; yea, they are not sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth; and he will also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as chaff.

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25

To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? 26 saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things. When he bringeth out their host by number, he calleth them all by names;

22 The earth's arch.] The vault of the heavens. 26 He calleth them all by names.] It was in Babylon that the Jews learnt the names of the constellations.

H

by the greatness of his might, and his strong power; not one is lacking.

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31

Why speakest thou, O Jacob, and sayest, O Israel, 27 'My way is hidden from Jehovah, and my rights are 'passed away from my God '? Dost thou not know, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching out his reasons. He 29 giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even youths may faint 30 and be weary, and young men may utterly fall; but31 they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shail run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.KEEP SILENCE BEFORE ME, O islands; and let the 1 peoples renew their strength; let them come near; then let them speak; let us draw near together to judgment. Who hath raised up the righteous man [Cyrus] from 2 the East, hath called him to be his follower, hath given up the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He hath given them as the dust to his sword, and as driven chaff to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who hath worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I Jehovah, who am the first, and with the last; I am He. The isles 5 saw it, and were afraid; the ends of the earth trembled; they drew near and came.

3

4

(Every one helpeth his neighbour, and saith to his "

In chap. xlvii. 13 this writer speaks of this astronomical knowledge as peculiar to the Babylonians.

27 Hidden from Jehovah.] Some may have faltered in their trust in God during their misfortunes, when "the fool said in his heart, There is no God." (Psalm liii. 1.)

XLI. The righteous man.] Cyrus king of Persia, who is now known to the Jews as the leader of the armies to which they owe their deliverance.

6

Every one helpeth his neighbour.] These two

7 brother, Be of good courage.' So the carpenter encourageth the metal-founder, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, saying, 'It is ready for the soldering;' and he fasteneth it with nails, that it should not fall down.)

8

But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have 9 chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend; thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the extremities thereof, and said to thee, 'Thou 'art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away;' fear thou not, for I am with thee; look not away, 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.

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11

Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; 12 the men that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even the men that contended with thee. The men that war against thee 13 shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I Jehovah thy God will hold thy right hand, saying to thee, 'Fear not; I will help thee.'

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye men of Israel; I will help thee; Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One 15 of Israel bath said it. Behold, I will make thee to be a new threshing instrument, cutting and having rows of teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and shalt 16 beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

17

Thou

shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and needy are seeking for water, and there

verses, describing the work of making an idol, are out of place. They may belong to xl. 20, or to xliv. 13.

11 Shall be ashamed.] This is very different language towards the Jews' enemies from what we read in some other parts of this book. Here we have no bitter threats of revenge.