1. IV. The equity of God's dealings.-Repentance delivereth from death. THE word of the LORD came to me again, saying: What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 2. saying, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?" As I live, saith the Lord Eternal, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 3. Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son, is mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 4. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right; if 5. he has not lifted up his eyes to vanity; if he oppress not any, if he restore to the debtor his pledge, spoil none by violence, give his bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment; if 6. he give not forth upon usury, and take not increase; if he withdraw his hand from iniquity, and give true judgment between 7. man and man; if he walk in my statute and keep my commandments, to deal uprightly, he is just; he shall surely live, saith the LORD. 8. But if he have a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth to his brother any of these things, and doeth not all 9. those duties, shall he live? No! he shall not live. He hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. 10. Yet lo, if he have a son that seeth all the sins which his father committed, that seeth them and doeth not such like, he shall not 11. die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, he shall die for his iniquity. 12. Yet say ye, "Why? Doth not the son bear the iniquity of 13. the father?" When the son doeth that which is lawful and right, keepeth all my statutes and doeth them, he shall surely 14. live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the 15. iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 16. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and 17. right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions which he hath committed shall be remembered unto him; for his righteousness, which he hath done, he shall live. 18. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord Eternal, and not that he should turn from his ways and 19. live? But when the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abomi20. nations which the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; for his trespass which he hath trespassed, and for his sin which he hath sinned, for them shall he die. 21. And when the wicked man turneth from his iniquity which he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he 22 shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth and turneth from all his trangressions which he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 23 Yet saith the house of Israel, "The way of the LORD is not right." O house of Israel, are not my ways right? Is it 24. not your ways that are not right? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith 25 the Lord Eternal. Turn ye, turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not be your ruin. Cast 26. away from you all your transgressions which ye have committed, and make you a new heart, and a new spirit! For why will ye 27. die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Eternal. Wherefore turn your selves and live? སྐ>>>་ད€ 1ཤད་ྗ← སྒ ISAIAH OF BABYLON. About 550 538, B. C. E. I. Consolations and encouragement to the Hebrew nation in exile. They shall trust in the infinite power and wisdom of the LORD, who 1. will strengthen them in their trials. COMFORT ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. 2. Speak ye encouragement to Jerusalem, and declare to her, 3. That her hard service is ended; that her iniquity is expiated; Double for all her sins. A voice crieth : 'Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! 4. Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill be made low; And the rough places plain. 5. For the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 6. A voice said, Proclaim ! And I said, What shall I proclaim? All flesh is grass, and all its comeliness as the flower of the field. 7. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, When the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it. Truly the people is grass. 8. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, 9. But the word of our God shall stand forever. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, And meted out the heavens with his span, And gathered the dust of the earth into a measure, And weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance? 10. Who hath searched out the spirit of the LORD Or, being his counsellor, hath taught him? 11. With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, And taught him the path of justice, And taught him knowledge, And showed him the way of understanding? 12. Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket, They are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity. And to whom shall I be compared ? saith the Holy One. 14. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and behold! 15. Who hath created these? He draweth forth their host by number, He calleth them all by name; Through the greatness of his strength and the mightiness of his power, Not one of them faileth to appear. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hidden from the LORD, My cause passeth by before my God?" 16. Do ye not know? have ye not heard? The LORD is an everlasting God. 17. The creator of the ends of the earth; He fainteth not, nor is he weary; His understanding is unsearchable. 18. He giveth power to the faint; To the feeble abundant strength. 19. The youths shall faint and be weary, And the young warriors shall utterly fall. 20. But they that trust in the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles; They shall run and not be weary ; They shall walk and not faint. (Ch. XL; 1-8, 12-17, 25-31. II. Israel, the Servant of the Lord shall not be afraid, his God will not forsake him. He appointed the deliverer in the person of Cyrus, who 1. is conquering the nations of East. WHO hath raised up from the region of the East Who hath subdued nations before him, And given him dominion over kings? Who made their swords like dust, 2. He persued them, and passed in safety, By a path which his foot had never trodden. 3. Who hath wrought and done it? 4. I, who have called the generations from the beginning, Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Offspring of Abraham, my friend! Thou, whom I have led by the hand from the ends of the earth, And said to thee, "Thou art my servant, 5. I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away!" Fear not, for I am with thee; Faint not, for I, thy God, will strengthen thee; I will help thee, and sustain thee, with my right hand of salvation! 6. Behold, all who are enraged against thee Shall be ashamed and confounded; All that contend with thee shall come to nothing and perish. 7. Thou shalt seek and not find them that contend with thee; They shall come to nothing, and be no more, Who make war against thee. 8. For I, the LORD, am thy God, that holdeth thee by the right hand, That saith to thee," Fear not, I am thy helper !" 9. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, thou feeble people of Israel, 10. I am thy helper, saith the LORD; Thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 11. That they may see, and know, 12. And consider, and understand together, And that the Holy One of Israel hath created it. (Chap. XI; 2-4, 8-14, 17-20.) Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, [Messiah] To Cyrus, whom I hold by his right hand, To subdue nations before him, and ungird the loins of kings; open before him the two-leaved gates, To And the doors shall not be shut. 13. For the sake of Jacob, my servant, And Israel, my chosen, |