Part 15 (1/2)

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, The fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together; To beautify the place of my sanctuary, And I will make the place of my feet glorious.

And the sons of them that afflicted thee Shall come bending unto thee; And all they that despised thee Shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.

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And they shall call thee the City of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, So that no man pa.s.sed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, A joy of many generations.

Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations, And shalt suck the breast of kings: And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy saviour, And thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

For bra.s.s I will bring gold, And for iron I will bring silver, And for wood bra.s.s, And for stones iron.

I will also make thy officers peace, And thine exactors righteousness; Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, Desolation nor destruction within thy borders; But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, And thy gates Praise.

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The sun shall be no more thy light by day, Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: But the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, And thy G.o.d thy glory.

Thy sun shall no more go down, Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: For the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

Thy people also shall be all righteous, They shall inherit the land for ever; The branch of my planting, The work of my hands, That I may be glorified.

The little one shall become a thousand, And the small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in its time.

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ISAIAH'S

DOOM OF BABYLON

Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the n.o.bles. I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even them that exult in my majesty.

The noise of a mult.i.tude in the mountains, Like as of a great people!

The noise of a tumult Of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together!

The LORD of HOSTS Mustereth the HOST for the battle; They come from a far country, From the uttermost part of heaven:

Even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, To destroy the whole land.

Howl ye, for the Day of the LORD is at hand: As destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt: and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail; they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.

Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh, Cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; To make the land a desolation, And to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to s.h.i.+ne. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

And BABYLON, The glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, Shall be as when G.o.d overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

It shall never be inhabited, Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; Neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.