# verses

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Better [is] a dry morsel, and quietness with it, than an house full of <n>For where there were many sacrifices, there were many portions given to the people, with which they feasted.</n> sacrifices [with] strife.


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A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the <n>That is, will be made governor over the children.</n> inheritance among the brethren.


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Hee that mocketh the poore, reprocheth him, that made him: and he that reioyceth at destruction, shall not be vnpunished.


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A bribe [is as] a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: wherever it <n>The reward has great force to gain the hearts of men.</n> turneth, it prospereth.


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He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth [very] <n>He that admonishes the prince of his fault makes him his enemy.</n> friends.


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An evil [man] seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel <n>By the messenger is meant such means as God uses to punish the rebels.</n> messenger shall be sent against him.


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Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than <n>By which he means the wicked in his rage, who has no fear of God.</n> a fool in his folly.


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The beginning of strife is as one that openeth the waters: therefore or the contention be medled with, leaue off.


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He that iustifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the iust, euen they both are abomination to the Lord.


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Why [is there] a <n>What good does it do the wicked to be rich, seeing he does not set his mind to wisdom?</n> price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing [he hath] no heart [to it]?


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A friend loveth at all times, and a <n>So that he is more than a friend, even a brother that helps in time of adversity.</n> brother is born for adversity.


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A man void of understanding <n>Read (Pro_6:1).</n> striketh hands, [and] becometh surety in the presence of his friend.


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He loveth transgression that loveth strife: [and] he that exalteth his <n>Lifts up himself above his degree.</n> gate seeketh destruction.


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A wicked [man] taketh a bribe out of the <n>That is, secretly and out of the bosom of the rich.</n> bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.


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Wisdom [is] before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool [are] in the <n>That is, wander to and fro, and seek not after wisdom.</n> ends of the earth.


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Also to punish the just [is] not good, [nor] to strike princes <n>For their well doing.</n> for equity.


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Through desire a man, having <n>He who loves wisdom will separate himself from all impediments, and give himself wholly to seek it.</n> separated himself, seeketh [and] intermeddleth with all wisdom.


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A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may <n>That is, that he may talk licentiously of whatever comes to mind.</n> reveal itself.


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When the wicked cometh, [then] cometh also <n>Meaning, such a one as condemns all others.</n> contempt, and with ignominy reproach.


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The words of a man's mouth [are as] deep <n>Which can never be drawn empty, but always bring profit.</n> waters, [and] the wellspring of wisdom [as] a flowing brook.


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[It is] not good to <n>That is, to favour him and support him.</n> accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.


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The words of a talebearer [are] as wounds, and they go down into the <n>They are soon believed and enter most deeply.</n> innermost parts of the belly.


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The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth <n>He shows the refuge of the godly against all trouble.</n> into it, and is safe.


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The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but <n>The mind can well bear the infirmity of the body, but when the spirit is wounded, it is hard to sustain.</n> a wounded spirit who can bear?


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A man's gift <n>Gets him liberty to speak, and the favour of them that are esteemed.</n> maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.


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<n>He who speaks first, is best heard from the wicked judge, but when his adversary enquires out the matter it turns to his shame.</n>[He that is] first in his own cause [seemeth] just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.


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The lot <n>If a controversy cannot otherwise be decided, it is best to cast lots to know whose the thing will be.</n> causeth contentions to cease, and <n>Appeases their controversy, who are so stout that they cannot otherwise be pacified.</n> parteth between the mighty.


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A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city: and [their] contentions [are] like the <n>Which for the strength of it will not bow or yield.</n> bars of a castle.


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With the fruite of a mans mouth shall his belly be satisfied, and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.


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Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that <n>By the using the tongue well or evil, comes the fruit of it either good or bad.</n> love it shall eat the fruit of it.


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[Whoever] findeth a <n>He who is joined with a virtuous woman in marriage is blessed by the Lord, as in (Pro_19:14).</n> wife findeth a good [thing], and obtaineth favour from the LORD.


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A man [that hath] friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend [that] sticketh closer <n>That is, often such are found who are more ready to do pleasure, than he that is more bound by duty.</n> than a brother.


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All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth [them <n>To have comfort from them.</n> with] words, [yet] they [are] lacking [to him].


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He that getteth wisdom <n>He that is upright in judgment finds favour from God.</n> loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.


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<n>The free use of things are not to be permitted to him who cannot use them correctly.</n>Delight is not proper for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.


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The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and [it is] his glory <n>That is, to cover it by charity, and to do in it as may most serve to God's glory.</n> to pass over a transgression.


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A foolish son [is] the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife [are] a continual <n>As rain that drops and rots the house.</n> dropping.


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He that keepeth the commandement, keepeth his owne soule: but hee that despiseth his wayes, shall dye.


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He that hath mercy vpon the poore, lendeth vnto the Lorde: and the Lorde will recompense him that which he hath giuen.


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A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou <n>Though for a time he gives place to counsel, yet soon after will he give place to his raging affections.</n> deliver [him], yet thou must do it again.


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[There are] many devices in a <n>Man's device will not have success, unless God governs it, whose purpose is unchangeable.</n> man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.


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The desire of a man [is] his <n>That is, that he be honest: for the poor man who is honest is to be esteemed above the rich who is not virtuous.</n> kindness: and a poor man [is] better than a liar.


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The feare of the Lord leadeth to life: and he that is filled therewith, shall continue, and shall not be visited with euill.


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Smite a scorner, and the <n>That is, the simple and ignorant men learn when they see the wicked punished.</n> simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, [and] he will understand knowledge.


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An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked <n>Takes a pleasure and delight in it, as gluttons and drunkards in delicate meats and drinks.</n> devoureth iniquity.


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<n>By wine here is meant him that is given to wine, and so by strong drink.</n>Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging: and whoever is deceived by it is not wise.


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The fear of a king [is] as the roaring of a lion: [whoever] provoketh him to anger <n>Puts his life in danger.</n> sinneth [against] his own soul.


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The slouthfull will not plowe, because of winter: therefore shal he beg in sommer, but haue nothing.


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Counsel in the heart of <n>It is hard to find out: for it is as deep waters, whose bottom cannot be found: yet the wise man will know a man either by his words or manners.</n> man [is like] deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.


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A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment <n>Where righteous judgment is executed, there sin ceases, and vice dare not appear.</n> scattereth away all evil with his eyes.


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Differing weights, [and] differing measures, both of <n>Read (Pro_16:11).</n> them [are] alike abomination to the LORD.


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Loue not sleepe least thou come vnto pouertie: open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.


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Take his <n>Teach him wit, that he cast not himself rashly into danger.</n> garment that is surety [for] a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.


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He that goeth about as a slanderer, discouereth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.


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[It is] a snare to the man [who] <n>That is, to apply or take for his own use, that which was appointed to God's and then ask how he may be exempted from the fault.</n> devoureth [that which is] holy, and after vows to make enquiry.


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A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the <n>Which was a kind of punishment then used.</n> wheel over them.


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The <n>The word of God gives life to man and causes us to see and try the secret of our dark hearts, (Heb_4:12).</n> spirit of man [is] the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.


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<n>Sharp punishment that pierces even the inward parts is profitable for the wicked to bring them to amendment.</n>The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so [do] stripes the inward parts of the belly.


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The <n>Though kings seem to have all things at commandment, they are not able to bring their own purposes to pass unless God has appointed: much less are the inferiors able.</n> king's heart [is] in the hand of the LORD, [as] the rivers of water: he turneth it wherever he will.


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An high look, and a proud heart, [and] the <n>That is, the thing by which he is guided or which he brings forth as the fruit of his work.</n> plowing of the wicked, [is] sin.


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The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness; but of <n>He who goes rashly about his business and without counsel.</n> every one [that is] hasty only to want.


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The gathering of treasures by a deceitfull tongue is vanitie tossed to and fro of them that seeke death.


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The <n>He means this chiefly of judges and princes who leave that calling, to which God has called them, and impoverish their subjects to maintain their lusts.</n> robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment.


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<n>Read (Pro_19:25).</n>When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.


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The righteous [man] wisely <n>Though the godly admonish them both by words and example of life, yet the wicked will not amend, till God destroys them.</n> considereth the house of the wicked: [but God] overthroweth the wicked for [their] wickedness.


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A <n>To do a pleasure to the angry man pacifies him.</n> gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.


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The <n>God will cause that to fall on their own heads, which they intended against the just by delivering the just, and putting the wicked in their places.</n> wicked [shall be] a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.


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[There is] a treasure to be desired and <n>Meaning, abundance of all things.</n> oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.


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A <n>Wisdom overcomes strength and confidence in worldly things.</n> wise [man] scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of its confidence.


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The desire of the slothful <n>He thinks to live by wishing and desiring all things, but will make no effort to get anything.</n> killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.


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The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked minde?


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A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth <n>He may boldly testify the truth that he has heard.</n> speaketh constantly.


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A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches, [and] <n>Which comes by well doing.</n> loving favour rather than silver and gold.


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The rich and poor <n>Live together, and have need the one of the other.</n> meet together: the LORD [is] the maker of them all.


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A prudent [man] <n>That is, the punishment, which is prepared for the wicked and flees to God for help.</n> foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.


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Thornes and snares are in the way of the frowarde: but he that regardeth his soule, will depart farre from them.


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Train up a child <n>Bring him up virtuously and he will continue so.</n> in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.


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He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the <n>His authority by which he oppressed others, will be taken from him.</n> rod of his anger shall fail.


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He that hath a bountiful <n>He that is merciful and liberal.</n> eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.


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He that loveth pureness of heart, [for] the grace of his lips the <n>He shows that princes should use their familiarity, whose conscience is good, and their talk wise and godly.</n> king [shall be] his friend.


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The eyes of the LORD preserve <n>Favour them that love knowledge.</n> knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.


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The slothful [man] saith, <n>He derides them that invent vain excuses, because they would not do their duty.</n> [There is] a lion outside, I shall be slain in the streets.


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The mouth of strange women [is] a deep pit: he that is abhorred by the LORD <n>So God punishes one sin by another, when he suffers the wicked to fall into the acquaintance of a harlot.</n> shall fall in it.


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Foolishness [is] bound <n>He is naturally given to it.</n> in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.


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Hee that oppresseth the poore to increase him selfe, and giueth vnto the riche, shall surely come to pouertie.


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For it shalbe pleasant, if thou keepe them in thy bellie, and if they be directed together in thy lippes.


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That thy trust may be in <n>He shows what the end of wisdom is: that is, to direct us to the Lord.</n> the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.


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Have not I written to thee <n>That is, various times.</n> excellent things in counsels and knowledge,


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That I might shewe thee the assurance of the wordes of trueth to answere the wordes of trueth to them that sende to thee?


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Make <n>Have nothing to do with him that is not able to rule his affections: for he would hurt you by his evil conversation.</n> no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:


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Be not thou [one] of them that <n>Who rashly put themselves in danger for others, as in (Pro_6:2).</n> strike hands, [or] of them that are sureties for debts.


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Thou seest that a diligent man in his businesse standeth before Kings, and standeth not before the base sort.


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When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, <n>Eat with sobriety.</n> consider diligently what [is] before thee:


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<n>Bridle your appetite, as if by force and violence.</n>And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [art] a man given to appetite.


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Be not desirous of his dainties: <n>For often the rich when they bid their inferiors to their tables, it is not for the love they bear them, but for their own secret purposes.</n> for they [are] deceitful food.


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Labour not to be rich: cease from thy own <n>Bestow not the gifts that God has given you, to get worldly riches.</n> wisdom.


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Wilt thou cast thine eyes vpon it, which is nothing? For riches taketh her to her wings, as an eagle, and flyeth into the heauen.


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Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an <n>That is, covetous, as contrary a good eye is taken for liberal as in (Pro_22:9).</n> evil eye, neither desire thou his delicacies:


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For as though he thought it in his heart, so will hee say vnto thee, Eate and drinke: but his heart is not with thee.


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The <n>He will not cease till he has done you some harm, and his flattering words will come to no use.</n> morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.


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Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from <n>That is, from destruction.</n> hell.


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Let not thine heart bee enuious against sinners: but let it bee in the feare of the Lorde continually.


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For surely there is an end; <n>The prosperity of the wicked will not continue.</n> and thy expectation shall not be cut off.


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Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the <n>In the observation of God's commandments.</n> way.


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Buy <n>Spare no cost for truths sake, neither depart from it for any gain.</n> the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.


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The father of the righteous shal greatly reioyce, and hee that begetteth a wise childe, shall haue ioy of him.


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She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, <n>She seduces many and causes them to offend God.</n> and increaseth the transgressors among men.


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To whome is woe? to whome is sorowe? to whom is strife? to whom is murmuring? to whom are woundes without cause? and to whome is the rednesse of the eyes?


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They that tarry long at the wine; they that go <n>Who by art make wine stronger and more pleasant.</n> to seek mixed wine.


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Looke not thou vpon the wine, when it is red, and when it sheweth his colour in the cup, or goeth downe pleasantly.


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Thy <n>That is, drunkenness will bring you to whoredom.</n> eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.


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And thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the <n>In such great danger will you be.</n> sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.


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They have stricken me, [shalt thou say, and] I was not sick; they have beaten me, [and] I felt [it] not: when shall I awake? I will <n>Though drunkenness makes them more insensible then beasts, yet they can not refrain.</n> seek it yet again.


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For with counsel thou shalt enterprise thy warre, and in the multitude of them that can giue counsell, is health.


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Wisdom [is] too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the <n>In the place where wisdom should be shown.</n> gate.


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[If] thou <n>Man has no trial of his strength till he is in trouble.</n> faintest in the day of adversity, thy strength [is] small.


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If thou refraineth to deliver [them that are] drawn to <n>No one can be excused, if he does not help the innocent when he is in danger.</n> death, and [those that are] ready to be slain;


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If thou say, Beholde, we knew not of it: he that pondereth the heartes, doeth not hee vnderstand it? And hee that keepeth thy soule, knoweth he it not? Will not he also recompense euery man according to his workes?


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My son, eat thou <n>As honey is sweet and pleasant to the taste, so wisdom is to the soul.</n> honey, because [it is] good; and the honeycomb, [which is] sweet to thy taste:


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So shall the knowledge of wisdome be vnto thy soule, if thou finde it, and there shall be an ende, and thine hope shall not be cut off.


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For a just [man] <n>He is subject to many perils, but God delivers him.</n> falleth seven times, and riseth again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.


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Lest the LORD see [it], and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath <n>To be avenged on you.</n> from him.


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For there shall bee none ende of plagues to the euill man: the light of the wicked shall bee put out.


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For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them <n>Meaning, either of the wicked and seditious, as in (Pro_24:19, Pro_24:21) or of them who do not fear God or obey their king.</n> both?


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He that saith to the wicked, Thou art righteous, him shall the people curse, and the multitude shall abhorre him.


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Prepare thy work outside, and make it fit for thyself in the field; <n>Be sure of the means how to compass it, before you take any enterprise in hand.</n> and afterwards build thy house.


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Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I <n>He shows what is the nature of the wicked, to revenge wrong for wrong.</n> will render to the man according to his work.


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I passed by the fielde of the slouthfull, and by the vineyarde of the man destitute of vnderstanding.


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And lo, it was al growen ouer with thornes, and nettles had couered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken downe.


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Then I saw, [and] considered [it] well: I looked upon [it, and] received <n>That I might learn by another man's fault.</n> instruction.


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[Yet] a little sleep, <n>{{See Pro_6:10}}</n> a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:


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These [are] also proverbs of Solomon, which the <n>Whom Hezekiah appointed for this purpose.</n> men of Hezekiah king of Judah <n>That is, gathered out of various books of Solomon.</n> copied out.


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[It is] the glory of God to <n>God does not reveal the cause of his judgments to man.</n> conceal a thing: but the honour of <n>Because the king rules by the revealed word of God, the cause of his doings must appear, and therefore he must use diligence in trying causes.</n> kings [is] to search out a matter.


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The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of <n>He shows that it is too hard for man to attain the reason of all the secret doings of the king, even when he is upright and does his duty.</n> kings [is] unsearchable.


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Take away the <n>When vice is removed from a king, he is a meet vessel for the Lord's use.</n> dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the refiner.


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Take <n>It is not enough that he is pure himself, but that he put away others who are corrupted.</n> away the wicked [from] before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.


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For it is better, that it be saide vnto thee, Come vp hither, then thou to be put lower in the presece of the prince whom thine eyes haue seene.


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Goe not foorth hastily to strife, least thou know not what to doe in the ende thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.


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Lest he that heareth [it] put thee to shame, and thy infamy <n>Lest while you think by this means to have an end of the matter, it put you to further trouble.</n> turn not away.


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He that reprooueth the wise, and the obedient eare, is as a golden earering and an ornament of fine golde.


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As the cold of snow <n>In the time of great heat, when men desire cold.</n> in the time of harvest, [so is] a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.


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Whoever boasteth himself of a false gift [is like] <n>Which have an outward appearance, and are nothing within.</n> clouds and wind without rain.


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By long <n>By not creating opportunity to provoke him further.</n> forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the <n>That is, the heart that is bent to anger, as in (Pro_15:1).</n> bone.


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Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is <n>Use moderately the pleasures of this world.</n> sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled with it, and vomit it.


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A man that beareth false witnes against his neighbour, is like an hammer and a sword, and a sharpe arrowe.


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[As] he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, [and as] vinegar upon <n>Which melts it, and consumes it.</n> soda, so [is] he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.


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If hee that hateth thee be hungry, giue him bread to eate, and if he be thirstie, giue him water to drinke.


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For thou shalt heap <n>You will, as if by force, overcome him, in so much that his own conscience will move him to acknowledge the benefits, and his heart will be inflamed.</n> coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.


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He that [hath] no rule over his own spirit [is like] a city [that is] <n>And so is in extreme danger.</n> broken down, [and] without walls.


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As the snowe in the sommer, and as the raine in the haruest are not meete, so is honour vnseemely for a foole.


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As the sparowe by flying, and the swallow by flying escape, so the curse that is causeles, shall not come.


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Answer not a fool <n>Consent not to him in his doings.</n> according to his folly, lest thou also be like him.


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Answer a fool <n>Reprove him as the matter requires.</n> according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.


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He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off <n>That is, of the messenger whom he sends.</n> the feet, <n>That is, receives damage by it.</n> [and] drinketh damage.


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[As] a thorn goeth <n>By which he hurts both himself and others.</n> up into the hand of a drunkard, so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools.


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<n>Meaning God.</n>The great [God] that formed all [things] both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.


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Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? [there is] <n>For the fool would rather be counselled than he: also the fool sins out of ignorance, and the other out of malice.</n> more hope of a fool than of him.


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The slothful [man] saith, <n>Read (Pro_22:13).</n> [There is] a lion in the way; a lion [is] in the streets.


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He that passeth by and medleth with the strife that belongeth not vnto him, is as one that taketh a dog by the eares.


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So [is] the man [that] deceiveth <n>Who disguises himself to be that which he is not.</n> his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?


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Burning lips and <n>They will soon break out and utter themselves.</n> a wicked heart [are like] a potsherd covered with silver dross.


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When he speaketh kindly, believe him not: for [there are] <n>Meaning many: he uses a certain number for the uncertain.</n> seven abominations in his heart.


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[Whose] hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be revealed before the [whole] <n>In the assembly of the godly.</n> congregation.


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Boast not thyself of to <n>Do not delay the time, but take the opportunity when it is offered.</n> morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.


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Wrath [is] cruel, and anger [is] outrageous; but who [is] able to stand before <n>For the envious are obstinate, and cannot be reconciled.</n> envy?


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Faithful [are] the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy [are] <n>They are flattering and seem friendly.</n> deceitful.


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The person that is full, despiseth an hony combe: but vnto the hungry soule euery bitter thing is sweete.


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As oyntment and perfume reioyce the heart, so doeth the sweetenes of a mans friend by hearty counsell.


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Thy own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's <n>Do not trust any worldly help in the day of your trouble.</n> house in the day of thy calamity: [for] better [is] a neighbour [that is] near than a brother far off.


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<n>{{See Pro_22:3}}</n>A prudent [man] foreseeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; [but] the simple pass on, [and] are punished.


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He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising <n>Hastily and without cause.</n> early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.


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He that hideth her, hideth the winde, &amp; she is as ye oyle in his right hand, that vttereth it selfe.


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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a <n>One hasty man provokes another to anger.</n> man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.


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He that keepeth the fig tree, shall eate the fruite thereof: so he that waiteth vpon his master, shall come to honour.


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As in water face [answereth] to face, <n>There is no difference between men by nature, only the grace of God makes the difference.</n> so the heart of man to man.


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[As] the refining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so [is] a man to his <n>That is, he is either known to be ambitious and glorious, or humble and modest.</n> praise.


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Though thou shouldest bray a foole in a morter among wheate brayed with a pestell, yet will not his foolishnes depart from him.


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The hey discouereth it selfe, and the grasse appeareth, and the herbes of the mountaines are gathered.


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The <n>This declares the great goodness of God towards man, and the diligence that he requires from him for the preservation of his gifts.</n> lambs [are] for thy clothing, and the goats [are] the price of the field.


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And let the milke of the goates be sufficient for thy foode, for the foode of thy familie, and for the sustenance of thy maydes.


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The wicked <n>Because their own conscience accuses them.</n> flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.


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For the transgression of a land <n>The state of the commonwealth is often changed.</n> many [are] its princes: but by a man of understanding [and] knowledge [its] state shall be prolonged.


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They that forsake the Law, prayse the wicked: but they that keepe the Law, set themselues against them.


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Better is the poore that walketh in his vprightnesse, then hee that peruerteth his wayes, though he be riche.


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He that keepeth the Law, is a childe of vnderstanding: but hee that feedeth the gluttons, shameth his father.


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He that by interest and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather <n>For God will take away the wicked usurer, and give his goods to him that will bestow them well.</n> it for him that will pity the poor.


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He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] <n>Because it is not of faith which is grounded on God's word or law which the wicked contemn.</n> abomination.


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He that causeth the righteous to go astray by an euill way, shal fall into his owne pit, and the vpright shall inherite good things.


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The rich man [is] wise in his own conceit; but the poor man that hath understanding searcheth <n>And judge that he is not wise.</n> him out.


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When righteous [men] rejoice, [there is] great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man <n>He is known by his doings to be wicked.</n> is hidden.


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He that hideth his sinnes, shall not prosper: but he that confesseth, and forsaketh them, shall haue mercy.


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Happy [is] the man that <n>Which stands in awe of God, and is afraid to offend him.</n> feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.


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[As] a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; [so is] <n>For he can never be satisfied but always oppresses and spoils.</n> a wicked ruler over the poor people.


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A prince destitute of vnderstanding, is also a great oppressour: but hee that hateth couetousnes, shall prolong his dayes.


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A man that doeth violence to the blood of [any] person shall flee to the pit; let no man <n>No one will be able to deliver him.</n> sustain him.


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He that tilleth his land, shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth the idle, shall be filled with pouertie.


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A faythfull man shall abound in blessings, and he that maketh haste to be riche, shall not be innocent.


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To have respect of persons [is] not good: for for a piece of <n>He will be abused for nothing.</n> bread [that] man will transgress.


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He that hasteneth to be rich [hath] an evil <n>Meaning, he that is covetous.</n> eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.


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Hee that robbeth his father and mother, and sayth, It is no transgression, is the companion of a man that destroyeth.


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He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made <n>Will have all things in abundance.</n> fat.


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Hee that trusteth in his owne heart, is a foole: but he that walketh in wisdome, shall be deliuered.


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He that giueth vnto the poore, shall not lacke: but he that hideth his eyes, shall haue many curses.


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A man that hardeneth his necke when he is rebuked, shall suddenly be destroyed and can not be cured.


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When the righteous are in authoritie, the people reioyce: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people sigh.


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A man that loueth wisdome, reioyceth his father: but he that feedeth harlots, wasteth his substance.


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A man that flattereth his neighbour <n>He who gives ear to the flatterer is in danger as the bird is before the fowler.</n> spreadeth a net for his feet.


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In the transgression of an evil man [there is] a <n>He is always ready to fall into the snare that he lays for others.</n> snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.


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[If] a wise man contendeth with <n>He can hear no admonition no matter how it is spoken.</n> a foolish man, whether he rageth or laugheth, [there is] no rest.


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<n>Where there are not faithful ministers of the word of God.</n>Where [there is] no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy [is] he.


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A <n>He who is of a servile and rebellious nature.</n> servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understandeth he will not answer.


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He that is partner with a thiefe, hateth his owne soule: he heareth cursing, &amp; declareth it not.


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The fear of man bringeth a <n>He who fears man more than God falls into a snare and is destroyed.</n> snare: but he who putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.


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Many seek the ruler's favour; but [every] man's <n>He does not need to flatter the ruler, for what God has appointed will come to him.</n> judgment [cometh] from the LORD.


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A wicked man is abomination to the iust, and he that is vpright in his way, is abomination to the wicked.


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The words of <n>Who was an excellent man in virtue and knowledge in the time of Solomon.</n> Agur the son of Jakeh, [even] the prophecy: the man spoke to Ithiel, even to <n>Who were Agur's scholars or friends.</n> Ithiel and Ucal,


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Surely I [am] more <n>In this he declares his great humility who would not attribute any wisdom to himself but all to God.</n> senseless than [any] man, and have not the understanding of a man.


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Who hath ascended into <n>Meaning, to know the secrets of God, as though he would say, «None».</n> heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what [is] his name, and what [is] his son's name, if thou canst tell?


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Two <n>He makes this request to God.</n> [things] have I required of thee; deny [them] not to me before I die:


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Remooue farre from me vanitie and lyes: giue me not pouertie, nor riches: feede me with foode conuenient for me,


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Lest I be full, and deny [thee], and say, <n>Meaning, that they who put their trust in their riches forget God and that by too much wealth men have an opportunity to the same.</n> Who [is] the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain].


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Accuse not a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, <n>In accusing him without cause.</n> and thou be found guilty.


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There is a generation that are pure in their owne conceite, and yet are not washed from their filthinesse.


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There is a generation, whose teeth are as swordes, and their chawes as kniues to eate vp the afflicted out of the earth, and the poore from among men.


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The horseleach hath two <n>The leach has two forks in her tongue, which here he calls her two daughters, by which she sucks the blood, and is never satisfied: even so, the covetous extortioners are insatiable.</n> daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three [things that] are never satisfied, [yea], four [things] say not, [It is] enough:


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The graue, and the barren wombe, the earth that cannot be satisfied with water, and the fire that sayeth not, It is ynough.


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The eye [that] mocketh at [its] father, and despiseth to obey [its] mother, the ravens <n>Which hunt in the valley for carrion.</n> of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.


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The way of an eagle in the aire, the way of a serpent vpon a stone, ye way of a ship in ye middes of the sea, and the way of a man with a maide.


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Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and <n>She has her desires, and later counterfeits as though she were an honest woman.</n> wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.


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For <n>These commonly abuse the state to which they are called.</n> a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with food;


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For an odious [woman] when she is married; and an handmaid that is <n>Who is married to her master after the death of her mistress.</n> heir to her mistress.


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There are four [things which are] little upon the earth, but they [are] very <n>They contain great doctrine and wisdom.</n> wise:


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The spider taketh hold <n>If man is not able to compass these common things by his wisdom, we cannot attribute wisdom to man, but folly.</n> with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.


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If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] thy hand <n>Make a stay and continue not in doing evil.</n> upon thy mouth.


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When one churneth milke, he bringeth foorth butter: and he that wringeth his nose, causeth blood to come out: so he that forceth wrath, bringeth foorth strife.


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The words of king <n>That is, of Solomon who was called Lemuel, that is, of God, because God had ordained him to be king over Israel.</n> Lemuel, the <n>The doctrine which his mother Bathsheba taught him.</n> prophecy that his mother taught him.


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What, my son? and what, the son of <n>By this often repetition of one thing, she declares her motherly affection.</n> my womb? and what, the son of my vows?


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Give not thy strength to women, <n>Meaning, that women are the destruction of kings, if they hunt them.</n> nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.


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[It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, [it is] not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes <n>That is, the king must not give himself to wantonness, and neglect of his office, which is to execute judgment.</n> strong drink:


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Giue ye strong drinke vnto him that is readie to perish, and wine vnto them that haue griefe of heart.


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Let him drink, and forget <n>For wine comforts the heart as in (Psa_104:15).</n> his poverty, and remember his misery no more.


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Open thy mouth for the <n>Defend their cause that are not able to help themselves.</n> dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.


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The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of <n>He will not need to use any unlawful means to gain his living.</n> spoil.


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She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth food to her household, and a <n>She prepares their food early.</n> portion to her maidens.


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She considereth a field, and <n>She purchases it with the gains of her travail.</n> buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.


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Her husband is known in the <n>In the assemblies and places of judgment.</n> gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.


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<n>After he had spoken of the apparel of the body, he now declares the apparel of the spirit.</n>Strength and honour [are] her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.


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She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and on her tongue [is] the <n>Her tongue is a book by which one might learn many good things: for she delights to talk of the word of God.</n> law of kindness.


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Her children rise up, and <n>That is, do her reverence.</n> call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her.


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Fauour is deceitfull, and beautie is vanitie: but a woman that feareth the Lorde, she shall be praysed.


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Give <n>Confess her diligent labours, and commend her therefore.</n> her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the <n>Forasmuch as the most honourable are clad in the apparel that she made.</n> gates.


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The words of the <n>Solomon is here called a preacher, or one who assembles the people, because he teaches the true knowledge of God, and how men ought to pass their life in this transitory world.</n> Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. <n>The Argument - Solomon as a preacher and one that desired to instruct all in the way of salvation, describes the deceivable vanities of this world: that man should not be addicted to anything under the sun, but rather inflamed with the desire of the heavenly life: therefore he confutes their opinions, which set their happiness either in knowledge or in pleasures, or in dignity and riches, wishing that man's true happiness consists in that he is united with God and will enjoy his presence: so that all other things must be rejected, save in as much as they further us to attain to this heavenly treasure, which is sure and permanent, and cannot be found in any other save in God alone.</n>


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<n>He condemns the opinions of all men who set happiness in anything but in God alone, seeing that in this world all things are as vanity and nothing.</n>Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all [is] vanity.


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What profit hath a man of all his <n>Solomon does not condemn man's labour or diligence, but shows that there is no full contentment in anything under the heavens, nor in any creature, as all things are transitory.</n> labour which he taketh under the sun?


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[One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for <n>One man dies after another, and the earth remains longest, even to the last day, which yet is subject to corruption.</n> ever.


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The <n>By the sun, wind and rivers, he shows that the greatest labour and longest has an end, and therefore there can be no happiness in this world.</n> wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about to the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to its circuits.


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All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; to the place from <n>The sea which compasses all the earth, fills the veins of it which pour out springs and rivers into the sea again.</n> which the rivers come, there they return again.


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All things are full of labour: man cannot vtter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the eare filled with hearing.


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<n>He speaks of times and seasons, and things done in them, which as they have been in times past, so come they to pass again.</n>The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.


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Is there any thing, whereof one may say, Beholde this, it is newe? It hath bene already in the olde time that was before vs.


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There is no memorie of the former, neither shall there be a remembrance of the latter that shalbe, with them that shall come after.


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<n>He proves that if any could have attained happiness in this world by labour and study, he should have obtained it, because he had gifts and aids from God to it above all others.</n>I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.


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And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things] that are done under heaven: this grievous labour hath God given to the sons of man <n>Man by nature has a desire to know, and yet is not able to come to the perfection of knowledge, which is the punishment of sin, to humble man, and to teach him to depend only on God.</n> to be exercised with it.


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I haue considered all the workes that are done vnder the sunne, and beholde, all is vanitie, and vexation of the spirit.


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[That which is] <n>Man is not able by all his diligence to cause things to go other than they do: neither can he number the faults that are committed, much less remedy them.</n> crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is lacking cannot be numbered.


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I thought in mine heart, and said, Behold, I am become great, and excell in wisdome all them that haue bene before me in Ierusalem: and mine heart hath seene much wisedome and knowledge.


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And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know <n>That is, vain things, which served to pleasure, in which was no convenience, but grief and trouble of conscience.</n> madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.


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For in much wisdom [is] much <n>Wisdom and knowledge cannot be come by without great pain of body and mind: for when a man has attained the highest, yet is his mind never fully content: therefore in this world is no true happiness.</n> grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.


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I said in my heart, Come now, I will tempt <n>Solomon makes this discourse with himself, as though he would try whether there was contentment in ease and pleasures.</n> thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity.


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I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with <n>Even though I gave myself to pleasures, yet I thought to keep wisdom and the fear of God in my heart, and govern my affairs by the same.</n> wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.


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I procured [me] male and female servants, and had servants born in my <n>Meaning, of the servants or slaves which he had bought, so the children born in their servitude, were the masters.</n> house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks above all that were in Jerusalem before me:


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I gathered me also silver and gold, and the special treasure of kings and of the provinces: I procured me male and female singers, and the <n>That is, whatever men take pleasure in.</n> delights of the sons of men, <n>Or, the most beautiful of the women that were taken in war, as in (Jdg_5:30).</n> [as] musical instruments, and of all sorts.


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So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom <n>For all this God did not take his gift of wisdom from me.</n> remained with me.


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And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my <n>This was the fruit of all my labour, a certain pleasure mixed with care, which he calls vanity in the next verse.</n> portion of all my labour.


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Then I looked on all my workes that mine hands had wrought, and on the trauaile that I had laboured to doe: and beholde, all is vanitie and vexation of the spirit: and there is no profite vnder the sunne.


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And I turned myself to behold <n>I thought to myself whether it was better to follow wisdom, or my own affections and pleasures, which he calls madness.</n> wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done.


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Then I saw that there is profite in wisdome, more then in follie: as the light is more excellent then darkenes.


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The wise man's <n>Meaning, in this world.</n> eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one <n>For both die and are forgotten as in (Ecc_2:16) or they both alike have prosperity or adversity.</n> event happeneth to them all.


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Then I thought in mine heart, It befalleth vnto me, as it befalleth to ye foole. Why therefore doe I then labour to be more wise? And I sayd in mine heart, that this also is vanitie.


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For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool <n>Meaning, in this world.</n> for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And <n>He wonders that men forget a wise man, being dead, as soon as they do a fool.</n> how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool.


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Therefore I hated life: for the worke that is wrought vnder the sunne is grieuous vnto me: for all is vanitie, and vexation of the spirit.


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I hated also all my labour, wherein I had trauailed vnder the sunne, which I shall leaue to the man that shalbe after me.


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And who knoweth whether he shalbe wise or foolish? yet shall hee haue rule ouer all my labour, wherein I haue trauailed, and wherein I haue shewed my selfe wise vnder the sunne. This is also vanitie.


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Therefore I went about to cause my heart <n>That I might seek the true happiness which is in God.</n> to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.


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For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured in it shall he <n>Among other griefs that was not the least, to leave that which he had gotten by great travail, to one who had taken no pain therefore and whom he know not whether he were a wise man or a fool.</n> leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil.


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For what hath man of all his trauaile and griefe of his heart, wherein he hath trauailed vnder the sunne?


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For all his dayes are sorowes, and his trauaile griefe: his heart also taketh not rest in the night: which also is vanitie.


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[There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should <n>When man has all laboured, he can get no more than food and refreshing, yet he confesses also that this comes from God's blessing, as in (Ecc_3:13).</n> make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.


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Surely to a man that is good in his sight, God giueth wisdome, and knowledge, and ioy: but to the sinner he giueth paine, to gather, and to heape to giue to him that is good before God: this is also vanitie, and vexation of the spirit.


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To every [thing there is] a <n>He speaks of this diversity of time for two causes first to declare that there is nothing in this world perpetual: next to teach us not to be grieved, if we have not all things at once according to our desires, neither enjoy them so long as we would wish.</n> season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:


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A time to bee borne, and a time to die: a time to plant, and a time to plucke vp that which is planted.


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A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones: a time to embrace, and a time to be farre from embracing.


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I have seen the labour, which God hath given to the sons of men <n>Read (Ecc_1:13).</n> to be exercised in it.


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He hath made every [thing] beautiful in its time: also he hath set the <n>God has given man a desire and affection to seek out the things of this world, and to labour in it.</n> world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.


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And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it [is] the <n>Read (Ecc_2:24) and these places declare that we should do all things with sobriety and in the fear of God, as he gives not his gifts to the intent that they should be abused.</n> gift of God.


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I know that, whatever God doeth, it shall be for <n>That is, man will never be able to prevent God's work, but as he has determined so it will come to pass.</n> ever: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.


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That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God <n>God only causes what which is past, to return.</n> requireth that which is past.


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And moreouer I haue seene vnder the sunne the place of iudgement, where was wickednesse, and the place of iustice where was iniquitie.


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I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is] a time <n>Meaning, with God, however man neglects his duty.</n> there for every purpose and for every work.


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I said in my heart concerning the state of the sons of men, that God might <n>And made them pure in their first creation.</n> tempt them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.


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For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing <n>Man is not able by his reason and judgment to put differences between man and beast, as concerning those things to which both are subject: for the eye cannot judge any otherwise of a man being dead than of a beast, which is dead: yet by the word of God and faith we easily know the diversity as in (Ecc_3:21).</n> befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity.


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Who <n>Meaning, that reason cannot comprehend that which faith believes in.</n> knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?


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Wherefore I perceive that [there is] nothing better, than that a man should <n>By the often repetition of this sentence as in (Ecc_2:24, Ecc_3:12, Ecc_3:22, Ecc_5:17, Ecc_8:15) he declares that man by reason can comprehend nothing better in this life than to use the gifts of God soberly and comfortably: for to know further, is a special gift of God revealed by his Spirit.</n> rejoice in his own works; for that [is] his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?


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So <n>He makes here another discourse with himself concerning the tyranny of them that oppressed the poor.</n> I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.


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Wherefore I praised the <n>Because they are no longer subject to these oppressions.</n> dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.


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Yea, <n>He speaks according to the judgment of the flesh which cannot abide to feel or see troubles.</n> better [is he] than both they, who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.


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Again, I considered all labour, and every <n>The more perfect that the work is, the more it is envied by the wicked.</n> right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.


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The fool foldeth his hands together, and <n>For idleness he is compelled to destroy himself.</n> eateth his own flesh.


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There is one alone, &amp; there is not a second, which hath neither sonne nor brother, yet is there none end of all his trauaile, neither can his eye be satisfied with riches: neither doeth he thinke, For whome doe I trauaile and defraude my soule of pleasure? this also is vanitie, and this is an euill trauaile.


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<n>As when man is alone, he can neither help himself nor others, he shows that men should live in mutual society to the intent that they may be profitable one to another, and that their things may increase.</n>Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.


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For if they fal, the one wil lift vp his felow: but wo vnto him that is alone: for he falleth, and there is not a second to lift him vp.


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And if one prevaileth against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold <n>By this proverb he declares how necessary it is, that men should live in society.</n> cord is not quickly broken.


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For out of <n>That is, from a poor and base estate or out of trouble and prison as Joseph did, (Gen_41:14).</n> prison he cometh to reign; though also [he that is] <n>Meaning, that is born a king.</n> born in his kingdom becometh poor.


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I considered all the living who walk under the sun, <n>Who follow and flatter the king's son, or him that will succeed to enter into credit with them in hope of gain.</n> with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.


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[There is] no <n>They never cease by all means to creep into favour, but when they do not obtain their greedy desires they think themselves abused, as others have been in times past, and so care no more for him.</n> end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.


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Keep thy <n>That is, with what affection you come to hear the word of God.</n> foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of <n>Meaning, of the wicked, who think to please God with common uses, and have neither faith nor repentance.</n> fools: for they consider not that they do evil.


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Be not <n>Either in vowing or in praying, meaning, that we should use all reverence toward God.</n> rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be <n>He hears you not for the sake of your many words or often repetitions, but considers your faith and servant's mind.</n> few.


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{\cf2 (5:2)} For as a dreame commeth by the multitude of businesse: so the voyce of a foole is in the multitude of wordes.


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When thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast <n>He speaks of vows which are approved by God's word and serve to his glory.</n> vowed.


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{\cf2 (5:4)} It is better that thou shouldest not vowe, then that thou shouldest vow and not pay it.


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Allow not thy mouth to cause thy <n>Do not cause yourself to sin by vowing rashly as they do who make a vow to live unmarried and such like.</n> flesh to sin; neither say thou before the <n>That is, before God's messenger when he will examine your doing, as though your ignorance should be a just excuse.</n> angel, that it [was] an error: why should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?


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{\cf2 (5:6)} For in the multitude of dreames, and vanities are also many wordes: but feare thou God.


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If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, wonder not at the matter: for [he that is] <n>Meaning, that God will address these things, and therefore we must depend on him.</n> higher than the highest regardeth; and [there are] higher than they.


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Moreover the <n>The earth is to be preferred above all things which belong to this life.</n> profit of the earth is for all: the king <n>Kings and princes cannot maintain their estate without tillage, which commends the excellency of tillage.</n> [himself] is served by the field.


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{\cf2 (5:9)} He that loueth siluer, shall not be satisfied with siluer, and he that loueth riches, shalbe without the fruite thereof: this also is vanitie.


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{\cf2 (5:10)} When goods increase, they are increased that eate them: and what good commeth to the owners thereof, but the beholding thereof with their eyes?


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The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eateth little or much: but the <n>That is, his great abundance of riches, or the surfeiting, which comes by his great feeding.</n> abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.


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There is a grievous evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches <n>When covetous men heap up riches, which turn to their destruction.</n> kept for the owners of them to their hurt.


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But those riches perish by evil labour: and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his <n>He does not enjoy his father's riches.</n> hand.


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{\cf2 (5:14)} As hee came foorth of his mothers belly, he shall returne naked to goe as he came, and shal beare away nothing of his labour, which hee hath caused to passe by his hand.


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And this also [is] a grievous evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the <n>Meaning, in vain and without profit.</n> wind?


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All his days also he eateth in <n>In affliction and grief of mind.</n> darkness, and [he hath] much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.


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Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and proper [for one] to <n>{{See Ecc_3:22}}</n> eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it [is] his portion.


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{\cf2 (5:18)} Also to euery man to whom God hath giuen riches and treasures, and giueth him power to eate thereof, and to take his part, and to enioy his labour: this is the gift of God.


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For he shall not much remember the days of his <n>He will take no great thought for the pains that he has endured in times past.</n> life; because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.


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A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet <n>He shows that it is the plague of God when the rich man does not have a liberal heart to use his riches.</n> God giveth him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eateth it: this [is] vanity, and it [is] an evil disease.


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If a man begetteth an hundred [children], and liveth many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not <n>If he can never have enough.</n> filled with good, and also [that] he hath no <n>As we see often that the covetous man either falls into crimes that deserve death, or is murdered or drowned or hangs himself or such like and so lacks the honour of burial, which is the last office of humanity.</n> burial; I say, [that] an untimely birth [is] better than he.


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For <n>Meaning, the untimely fruit whose life neither profited nor hurt any.</n> he cometh with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.


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And if he had liued a thousand yeeres twise tolde, and had seene no good, shall not all goe to one place?


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All the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the <n>His desire and affection.</n> appetite is not filled.


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For what hath the wise man more then the foole? what hath the poore that knoweth how to walke before the liuing?


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Better [is] the <n>To be content with that which God has given is better than to follow the desires that can never be satisfied.</n> sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.


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That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it [is] man: neither may he contend with him that is <n>Meaning, God who will make him feel that he is mortal.</n> mightier than he.


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For who knoweth what [is] <n>There is no state in which man can live to have perfect quietness in this life.</n> good for man in [this] life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?


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A good name [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of <n>He speaks thus after the judgment of the flesh, which thinks death is the end of all evils, or else because this corporal death is the entering into everlasting life.</n> death than the day of one's birth.


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[It is] better to go to the house of <n>Where we may see the hand of God and learn to examine our lives.</n> mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that [is] the end of all men; and the living will lay [it] to his heart.


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{\cf2 (7:6)} The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning: but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth.


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{\cf2 (7:7)} Better it is to heare ye rebuke of a wise man, then that a man should heare the song of fooles.


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For as the crackling of <n>Which crackle for a while and profit nothing.</n> thorns under a pot, so [is] the laughter of the fool: this also [is] vanity.


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Surely oppression maketh a wise man <n>A man that is esteemed wise, when he falls to oppression, becomes like a beast.</n> mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.


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Better [is] the <n>He notes their lightness who attempt a thing and suddenly leave it off again.</n> end of a thing than its beginning: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud in spirit.


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{\cf2 (7:11)} Be not thou of an hastie spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosome of fooles.


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Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire <n>Murmur not against God when he sends adversities for man's sins.</n> wisely concerning this.


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Wisdom [is] good with an <n>He answers to them who do not value wisdom unless riches are joined with it, showing that both are the gifts of God, but that wisdom is far more excellent and may be without riches.</n> inheritance: and [by it there is] profit to them that see the sun.


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{\cf2 (7:14)} For man shall rest in the shadowe of wisedome, and in the shadowe of siluer: but the excellencie of the knowledge of wisedome giueth life to the possessers thereof.


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In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity <n>Consider why God sends it and what may comfort you.</n> consider: God also hath appointed the one as well as the other, to the end that man should find <n>That man should be able to control nothing in his works.</n> nothing after him.


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All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just [man] that perisheth in his <n>Meaning that cruel tyrants put the godly to death and let the wicked go free.</n> righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his life] in his wickedness.


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Be not righteous <n>Do not boast too much of your own justice and wisdom.</n> over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?


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Be not <n>Do not tarry long when you are admonished to come out of the way of wickedness.</n> over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?


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[It is] good that thou shouldest take hold of <n>That is, on these admonitions that go before.</n> this; yea, also from <n>Consider what desolation and destruction will come, if you do not obey them.</n> this withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God shall escape from them all.


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{\cf2 (7:21)} Wisedome shall strengthen the wise man more then ten mightie princes that are in ye citie.


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Also take no <n>Credit them not, neither care for them.</n> heed to all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:


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{\cf2 (7:2)} All this haue I prooued by wisedome: I thought I will be wise, but it went farre from me.


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{\cf2 (7:27)} I haue compassed about, both I and mine heart to knowe and to enquire and to search wisedome, and reason, and to knowe the wickednesse of follie, and the foolishnesse of madnesse,


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{\cf2 (7:28)} And I finde more bitter then death the woman whose heart is as nettes and snares, and her handes, as bands: he that is good before God, shalbe deliuered from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.


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Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, [counting] one by one, to <n>That is, to come to a conclusion.</n> find out the account:


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{\cf2 (7:30)} And yet my soule seeketh, but I finde it not: I haue found one man of a thousand: but a woman among them all haue I not founde.


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Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many <n>And so are cause for their own destruction.</n> devices.


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Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face <n>That is, gets him favour and prosperity.</n> to shine, and <n>While before he was proud and arrogant, he will become humble and meek.</n> the boldness of his face shall be changed.


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I [counsel thee] to keep the king's <n>That is, that you obey the king and keep the oath that you have made for the same cause.</n> commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God.


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<n>Do not withdraw from yourself lightly from the obedience of your prince.</n>Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.


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He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both <n>That is, when time is to obey, and how far he should obey.</n> time and judgment.


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Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the <n>Man by himself is miserable, and therefore should do nothing to increase the same, but to work all things by wisdom and counsel.</n> misery of man [is] great upon him.


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[There is] no man that hath power <n>Man has no power to save his own life and therefore must not rashly cast himself into danger.</n> over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.


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All this have I seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time in which one man ruleth over another to his own <n>As comes often to tyrants and wicked rulers.</n> hurt.


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And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and <n>That is, others as wicked as they.</n> gone from the <n>They who feared God and worshipped him as he had appointed.</n> place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this [is] also vanity.


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Because sentence against an evil work is not <n>Where justice is delayed, there sin reigns.</n> executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.


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Though a sinner doe euill an hundreth times, and God prolongeth his dayes, yet I knowe that it shalbe well with them that feare the Lord, and doe reuerence before him.


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But it shall not be well to the wicked, neither shall he prolong his dayes: he shall be like a shadowe, because he feareth not before God.


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There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just [men], to whom it happeneth according to the <n>Who are punished as though they were wicked, as in (Ecc_7:17)</n> work of the wicked; again, there are wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity.


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Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than <n>{{See Ecc_3:22}}</n> to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.


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When I applied mine heart to knowe wisedome, and to behold the busines that is done on earth, that neither day nor night the eyes of man take sleepe,


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Then I behelde the whole worke of God, that man cannot finde out ye worke that is wrought vnder the sunne: for the which man laboureth to seeke it, and cannot finde it: yea, and though the wise man thinke to knowe it, he cannot finde it.


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For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or <n>Meaning, what things he ought to chose or refuse: or man knows not by these outward things that is, by prosperity or adversity, whom God favours or hates, for he sends them as well to the wicked as to the godly.</n> hatred [by] all [that is] before them.


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All things come alike to all: and the same condition is to the iust and to the wicked, to the good and to the pure, and to the polluted, and to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner, he that sweareth, as he that feareth an othe.


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This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that [there is] one <n>In outward things, as riches and poverty, sickness and health, there is no difference between the godly and the wicked but the difference is that the godly are assured by faith of God's favour and assistance.</n> event to all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness [is] in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead.


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For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a <n>He notes the Epicurean and carnal men, who made their body their god, and had no pleasure in this life, wishing rather to be an abased and vile person in this life, then a man of authority and so to die, which is meant by the dog and lion.</n> living dog is better than a dead lion.


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For the liuing knowe that they shall dye, but the dead knowe nothing at all: neither haue they any more a rewarde: for their remembrance is forgotten.


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Also their loue, and their hatred, and their enuie is now perished, and they haue no more portion for euer, in all that is done vnder the sunne.


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Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now <n>They flatter themselves to be in God's favour, because they have all things in abundance.</n> accepteth thy works.


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Let thy garments be always <n>Rejoice, be merry and spare for no cost, thus speak the wicked belly-gods.</n> white; and let thy head lack no ointment.


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Reioyce with the wife whom thou hast loued all the dayes of the life of thy vanitie, which God hath giuen thee vnder the sunne all the dayes of thy vanitie: for this is thy portion in the life, and in thy trauaile wherein thou labourest vnder the sunne.


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All that thine hand shall finde to doe, doe it with all thy power: for there is neither worke nor inuention, nor knowledge, nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest.


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I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and <n>Thus the worldlings say to prove that all things are lawful for them and attribute that to chance and fortune which is done by the providence of God.</n> chance happeneth to them all.


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For man also knoweth not his <n>That is, he does not foresee what will come.</n> time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so [are] the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.


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A litle citie and fewe men in it, and a great King came against it, and compassed it about, and builded fortes against it.


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And there was founde therein a poore and wise man, and he deliuered the citie by his wisedome: but none remembred this poore man.


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Then said I, Better is wisdome then stregth: yet the wisedome of the poore is despised, and his wordes are not heard.


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Dead flies cause to stinke, &amp; putrifie the ointment of the apoticarie: so doeth a litle follie him that is in estimation for wisedome, and for glorie.


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A <n>So that he does all things well and justly, where as the fool does the contrary.</n> wise man's heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool's heart [is] at his left.


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Also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth [him], and he <n>By his doings he betrays himself.</n> saith to every one [that] he [is] a fool.


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If the <n>If your superior is angry with you, be discrete and not moved.</n> spirit of the ruler riseth against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.


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There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun, as an <n>Meaning that it is an evil thing when they who are in authority fail and do not do their duty.</n> error [which] proceedeth from the ruler:


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Folly is set in great dignity, and the <n>They who are rich in wisdom and virtue.</n> rich sit in low place.


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He that remooueth stones, shall hurt himselfe thereby, and hee that cutteth wood, shall be in danger thereby.


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If the iron is blunt, and he doth not whet the edge, then must he use more <n>Without wisdom, whatever a man takes in hand, turns to his own hurt.</n> strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to direct.


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The beginning of the wordes of his mouth is foolishnesse, and the latter ende of his mouth is wicked madnesse.


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For the foole multiplieth woordes, saying, Man knoweth not what shall be: and who can tell him what shall be after him?


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The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the <n>The ignorance and beastliness of the wicked is such that they know not common things, and yet will discuss high matters.</n> city.


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Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a <n>That is, without wisdom and counsel.</n> child, and thy princes <n>Are given to their lusts and pleasures.</n> eat in the morning!


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Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son <n>Meaning, when he is noble for virtue and wisdom and with the gifts of God.</n> of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!


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By slouthfulnes the roofe of the house goeth to decaie, and by the ydlenesse of the handes the house droppeth through.


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Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a <n>You cannot work evil so secretly that it will not be known.</n> bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.


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Cast thy bread upon the <n>That is, be liberal to the poor, and though it seems to be as a thing ventured on the sea, yet it will bring you profit.</n> waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.


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If the <n>As the clouds that are full pour out rain, so the rich that have abundance must distribute it liberally.</n> clouds are full of rain, they empty [themselves] upon the earth: and if the <n>He exhorts to be liberal while we live: for after, there is no power.</n> tree falleth toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.


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He that observeth the <n>He who fears inconveniences when need requires will never do his duty.</n> wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.


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As thou knowest not which is ye way of the spirit, nor how the bones doe growe in the wombe of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the worke of God that worketh all.


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In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening <n>Be not weary of well doing.</n> withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not which shall prosper, either this or <n>That is, which of your works are most agreeable to God.</n> that, or whether they both [shall be] alike good.


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But if a man shall live many years, [and] rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of <n>That is, of affliction and trouble.</n> darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh [is] vanity.


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<n>He derides them who set their desire in worldly pleasures as though God would not call count.</n>Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.


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Therefore remove <n>That is, anger and envy.</n> sorrow from thy heart, and <n>Meaning, carnal lusts to which youth is given.</n> put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity.


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Remember nowe thy Creator in the daies of thy youth, whiles the euill daies come not, nor the yeeres approche, wherein thou shalt say, I haue no pleasure in them:


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While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not darkened, nor the <n>Before you come to a continual misery: for when the clouds remain after the rain, man's grief is increased.</n> clouds return after the rain:


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In the day when the <n>The hands which keep the body.</n> keepers of the house shall tremble, and the <n>The legs.</n> strong men shall bow themselves, and the <n>The teeth.</n> grinders cease because they are few, and those that <n>The eyes.</n> look out of the windows shall be darkened,


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And the <n>The lips or mouth.</n> doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the <n>When the jaws will scarce open and not be able to chew any more.</n> grinding shall be low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the <n>He will not be able to sleep.</n> bird, and all the <n>That is the wind pipes or the ears will be deaf and not able to hear singing.</n> daughters of music shall be brought low;


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Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] <n>To climb high because of their weakness, or they stoop down as though they were afraid lest anything should hide them.</n> high, and fears [shall be] in the <n>They will tremble as they go, as though they were afraid.</n> way, and the almond tree shall <n>Their head will be as white as the blossoms of an almond tree.</n> flourish, and the <n>They will be able to bear nothing.</n> grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:


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Or ever the <n>Meaning, the marrow of the backbone and the sinews.</n> silver cord shall be loosed, or the golden <n>The little skin that covers the brain, which is in colour like gold.</n> bowl be broken, or the <n>That is, the veins.</n> pitcher be broken at the <n>Meaning the liver.</n> fountain, or the <n>Which is the head.</n> wheel broken at the <n>That is, the heart out of which the head draws the powers of life.</n> cistern.


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Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the <n>The soul unconsciously goes either to joy or torment, and sleeps not as the wicked imagine.</n> spirit shall return to God who gave it.


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And the more wise the Preacher was, the more he taught the people knowledge, and caused them to heare, and searched foorth, and prepared many parables.


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The Preacher sought to finde out pleasant wordes, and an vpright writing, euen the wordes of trueth.


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The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails <n>Which are well applied by the ministers, whom he calls masters.</n> fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one <n>That is by God.</n> shepherd.


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And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many <n>These things cannot be comprehended in books or learned by study, but God must instruct your heart that you may only know that wisdom is the true happiness and the way to it is to fear God.</n> books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh.


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Let vs heare the end of all: feare God and keepe his commandements: for this is the whole duetie of man.


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For God will bring euery worke vnto iudgement, with euery secret thing, whether it be good or euill.


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Let <n>This is spoken in the person of the Church, or of the faithful soul inflamed with the desire of Christ, whom she loves.</n> him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love [is] better than wine.


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Because of the <n>The feeling of your great benefits.</n> savour of thy good ointments thy name [is as] ointment poured forth, therefore do the <n>They that are pure in heart and conversation.</n> virgins love thee.


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<n>The faithful confess that they cannot come to Christ, unless they are drawn.</n>Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his <n>Meaning the secret joy that is not known to the world.</n> chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.


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I [am] <n>The Church confesses her spots and sin, but has confidence in the favour of Christ.</n> black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of <n>Kedar was Ishmael's son, of whom came the Arabians that dwelt in tents.</n> Kedar, as the <n>Which within were all set with precious stones and jewels.</n> curtains of Solomon.


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Look not upon me, because I [am] <n>Consider not the Church by the outward appearance.</n> black, because the <n>The corruption of nature through sin and afflictions.</n> sun hath looked upon me: <n>My own brethren who should have most favoured me.</n> my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; [but] my own vineyard have I not <n>She confesses her own negligence.</n> kept.


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Tell me, <n>The spouse feeling her fault flees to her husband only for comfort.</n> O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest [thy flock] to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of <n>Whom you have called to the dignity of pastors, and they set forth their own dreams instead of your doctrine.</n> thy companions?


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<n>Christ speaks to his Church, bidding them that are ignorant to go to the pastors to learn.</n>If thou knowest not, O thou fairest among women, go forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.


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I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's <n>For your spiritual beauty and excellency there was no worldly treasure to be compared to you.</n> chariots.


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<n>The Church rejoices that she is admitted to the company of Christ.</n>While the king [sitteth] at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth its fragrance.


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A bundle of myrrh [is] my wellbeloved to me; he shall lie all night between my <n>He will be most dear to me.</n> breasts.


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Behold, thou [art] fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our <n>That is, the heart of the faithful, in which Christ dwells by his Spirit.</n> bed [is] green.


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As the lily among thorns, so [is] my <n>Thus Christ prefers his Church above all other things.</n> love among the daughters.


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<n>The spouse testifies her great desire toward her husband, but her strength fails her, and therefore she desires to be comforted, and felt it.</n>As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so [is] my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit [was] sweet to my taste.


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<n>Christ charges them who have to do in the Church as it were by a solemn oath, that they trouble not the quietness of it.</n>I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not, nor awake [my] love, till he please.


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<n>This is spoken of Christ who took on our nature to come to help his Church.</n>The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.


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My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he <n>For as his divinity was hidden under the cloak of our flesh.</n> standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, gazing himself through the <n>So that we cannot have full knowledge of him in this life.</n> lattice.


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For, lo, the <n>That is, sin and error is driven back by the coming of Christ, who is here described by the springtime, when all things flourish.</n> winter is past, the rain is over [and] gone;


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The flowers appeare in the earth: the time of the singing of birdes is come, and the voyce of the turtle is heard in our land.


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The figtree hath brought foorth her yong figges: and the vines with their small grapes haue cast a sauour: arise my loue, my faire one, and come away.


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O my dove, [that art] in the <n>You who are ashamed of your sins, come and show yourself to me.</n> clefts of the rock, in the secret [places] of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet [is] thy voice, and thy countenance [is] comely.


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Take for us the foxes, the <n>Suppress the heretics while they are young, that is, when they begin to show their malice, and destroy the vine of the Lord.</n> little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes.


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Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a <n>The church desires Christ to be most ready to help her in all dangers.</n> roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.


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By <n>The Church by night, that is, in troubles, seeks Christ, but is not incontinently heard.</n> night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.


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I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will <n>Showing that although we are not heard at first, yet we must still continue in prayer, till we feel comfort.</n> seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.


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The <n>Which declares that we must seek to all of whom we hope to have any help.</n> watchmen that go about the city found me: [to whom I said], Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?


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When I had past a litle from them, then I found him whom my soule loued: I tooke holde on him and left him not, till I had brought him vnto my mothers house into the chamber of her that conceiued me.


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<n>{{See Son_2:7}}</n>I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please.


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Who [is] this that cometh out of the <n>This refers to the Church of Israel which was led in the wilderness for forty years.</n> wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?


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Behold his <n>By the bed is meant the temple which Solomon made.</n> bed, which [is] Solomon's; sixty valiant men [are] about it, of the valiant of Israel.


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They all hold swords, [being] expert in war: every man [hath] his sword upon his thigh because of fear <n>He alludes to the watch which kept the temple.</n> in the night.


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Hee made the pillars thereof of siluer, and the pauement thereof of gold, the hangings thereof of purple, whose middes was paued with the loue of the daughters of Ierusalem.


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Go forth, O ye <n>All you that are of the number of the faithful.</n> daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the <n>Christ became man, was crowned by the love of God with the glorious crown of his divinity.</n> crown with which his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.


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Behold, thou [art] <n>Because Christ delights in his Church, he commends all that is in her.</n> fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair; thou [hast] doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair [is] as a <n>He has respect for the multitude of the faithful, which are many in number.</n> flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.


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Thy teeth are like a flocke of sheepe in good order, which go vp from the washing: which euery one bring out twinnes, and none is barren among them.


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Thy lippes are like a threede of scarlet, and thy talke is comely: thy temples are within thy lockes as a piece of a pomegranate.


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Thy necke is as the tower of Dauid builte for defence: a thousand shieldes hang therein, and all the targates of the strong men.


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Thy two <n>In which are knowledge and zeal two precious jewels.</n> breasts [are] like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.


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Vntill the day breake, and the shadowes flie away, I wil go into the mountaine of myrrhe and to the mountaine of incense.


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<n>Christ promises his Church to call his faithful from all the corners of the world.</n>Come with me from Lebanon, [my] spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.


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Thou hast ravished my heart, my <n>Christ calls his Church sister in respect that he had taken the flesh of man.</n> sister, [my] spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thy <n>In that he made his Church beautiful and rich, he loved his gifts in her.</n> eyes, with one chain of thy neck.


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My sister, my spouse, how faire is thy loue? howe much better is thy loue then wine? and the sauour of thine oyntments then all spices?


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Thy <n>Because of your confession and thanksgiving.</n> lips, O [my] spouse, drop [as] the honeycomb: honey and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the scent of thy garments [is] like the fragrance of Lebanon.


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Euen spikenarde, and saffran, calamus, and cynamon with all the trees of incense, myrrhe and aloes, with all the chiefe spices.


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<n>The Church confesses that all her glory and beauty comes from Christ who is the true fountain of all grace.</n>A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.


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Awake, O <n>She desires Christ to comfort her and to pour the graces of his Spirit on her, which is meant by the North and South wind.</n> north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.


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I have come into my <n>The garden signifies the kingdom of Christ, where he prepares the banquet for his elect.</n> garden, my sister, [my] spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drank my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.


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<n>The spouse says that she is troubled with the cares of worldly things, which is meant by sleeping.</n>I sleep, but my heart waketh: [it is] the voice of my beloved that knocketh, [saying], Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, [and] my locks with the drops of the <n>Declaring the long patience of the Lord toward sinners.</n> night.


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I have put off my <n>The spouse confesses her nakedness, and that of herself she has nothing, or seeing that she is once made clean she promises not to defile herself again.</n> coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?


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I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands flowed [with] myrrh, and my <n>The spouse who should be anointed by Christ will not find him if she thinks to anoint him with her good works.</n> fingers [with] sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.


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I opened to my welbeloued: but my welbeloued was gone, and past: mine heart was gone when hee did speake: I sought him, but I coulde not finde him: I called him, but hee answered mee not.


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The <n>These are the false teachers who wound the conscience with their traditions.</n> watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.


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I charge you, <n>She asks of them who are godly (as the law and salvation should come out of Zion and Jerusalem) that they would direct her to Christ.</n> O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I [am] sick with love.


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<n>Thus say they of Jerusalem.</n>What [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, O thou fairest among women? what [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, that thou dost so charge us?


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His <n>She describes Christ to be of perfect beauty and comeliness.</n> head [is as] the most fine gold, his locks [are] bushy, [and] black as a raven.


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His eyes are like doues vpon the riuers of waters, which are washt with milke, and remaine by the full vessels.


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His cheekes are as a bedde of spices, and as sweete flowres, and his lippes like lilies dropping downe pure myrrhe.


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His hands as rings of gold set with the chrysolite, his belly like white yuorie couered with saphirs.


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His legges are as pillars of marble, set vpon sockets of fine golde: his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.


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His mouth is as sweete thinges, and hee is wholy delectable: this is my welbeloued, and this is my louer, O daughters of Ierusalem.


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Where is thy beloved gone, <n>Hearing of the excellency of Christ, the faithful desire to know how to find him.</n> O thou fairest among women? where is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.


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My beloved is gone down into his <n>That is, is conversant here in earth among men.</n> garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.


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Thou [art] beautiful, O my love, as <n>Which was a fair and strong city, (1Ki_14:17).</n> Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as [an army] with banners.


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<n>This declares the exceeding love of Christ toward his Church.</n>Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.


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Thy teeth are like a flocke of sheepe, which goe vp from the washing, which euery one bring out twinnes, and none is barren among them.


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There are <n>Meaning that the gifts are infinite which Christ gives to his Church: or that his faithful are many in number.</n> sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.


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But my doue is alone, and my vndefiled, she is the onely daughter of her mother, and shee is deare to her that bare her: the daughters haue seene her &amp; counted her blessed: euen the Queenes and the concubines, and they haue praised her.


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<n>He shows that the beginning of the Church was small, but that it grew up to a great multitude.</n>Who [is] she [that] looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, [and] terrible as [an army] with banners?


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I went down into the <n>He went down into the synagogue to see what fruits came from the law, and the prophets.</n> garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, [and] to see whether the vine flourished, [and] the pomegranates budded.


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<n>I found nothing but rebellion.</n>Before I was aware, my soul made me <n>Or, Set me on the chariots of my willing people.</n> [like] the chariots of Amminadib.


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Return, return, O <n>O ye people of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem was called Shalem which signifies peace.</n> Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.


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How beautiful are thy <n>He describes the comely beauty of the Church in every part, which is to be understood spiritually.</n> feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs [are] like jewels, the work of the hands of a skilful workman.


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Thy nauel is as a round cuppe that wanteth not licour: thy belly is as an heape of wheat compassed about with lilies.


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Thy necke is like a towre of yuorie: thine eyes are like the fishe pooles in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the towre of Lebanon, that looketh toward Damascus.


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Thy head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thy head like purple; the king [is] <n>He delights to come near you, and to be in your company.</n> held captive by [its] locks of hair.


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I saide, I will goe vp into the palme tree, I will take holde of her boughes: thy breastes shall nowe be like the clusters of the vine: and the sauour of thy nose like apples,


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And the roufe of thy mouth like good wine, which goeth straight to my welbeloued, and causeth the lippes of the ancient to speake.


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Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the <n>If the people that are called to Christ bring forth any fruit.</n> vine flourisheth, [whether] the tender grape appeareth, [and] the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.


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The mandrakes haue giuen a smell, and in our gates are all sweete things, new and olde: my welbeloued, I haue kept them for thee.


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O <n>The Church called of the Gentiles speaks thus to the Church of Jerusalem.</n> that thou [wert] as my brother, that was nourished at the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee outside, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.


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I will leade thee and bring thee into my mothers house: there thou shalt teache me: and I will cause thee to drinke spiced wine, and newe wine of the pomegranate.


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<n>Read (Son_2:6).</n>His left hand [should be] under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.


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<n>Read (Son_3:5).</n>I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not, nor awake [my] love, until he please.


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(Who is this that commeth vp out of the wildernesse, leaning vpon her welbeloued?) I raysed thee vp vnder an apple tree: there thy mother conceiued thee: there she coceiued that bare thee.


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<n>The spouse desires Christ to be joined in perpetual love with him.</n>Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the grave: the coals of it [are] coals of fire, [which hath a] most vehement flame.


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Much water can not quench loue, neither can the floods drowne it: If a man should giue all the substance of his house for loue, they would greatly contemne it.


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<n>The Jewish Church speaks this of the Church of the Gentiles.</n>We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?


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<n>If she is sure and fast, she is fit for her husband to dwell in.</n>If she [is] a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she [is] a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.


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<n>The Church promises fidelity and constancy.</n>I [am] a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.


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<n>This is the vineyard of the Lord hired out, (Mat_21:33).</n>Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; every one for the fruit of it was to bring a thousand [pieces] of silver.


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But my vineyarde which is mine, is before me: to thee, O Salomon appertaineth a thousand pieces of siluer, and two hundreth to them that keepe the fruite thereof.


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Thou that dwellest in the <n>Christ dwells in his Church, whose voice the faithful hear.</n> gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear [it].


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<n>The Church desires Christ that if he depart from them, yet he would haste to help them in their troubles.</n>Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.


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The <n>That is, a revelation or prophecy, which was one of the two means by which God declared himself to his servants in old times, as in (Num_12:6) and therefore the prophets were called seers, (1Sa_9:9).</n> vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw <n>Isaiah was chiefly sent to Judah and Jerusalem, but not only: for in this book are prophecies concerning other nations also.</n> concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of <n>Called also Azariah, (2Ki_15:1) of these kings read (2Ki. 14:1-21:1; 2Ch. 25:1-33:1).</n> Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. <n>The Argument - God, according to his promise in (Deu_18:15) that he would never leave his Church destitute of a prophet, has from time to time accomplished the same: whose office was not only to declare to the people the things to come, of which they had a special revelation, but also to interpret and declare the law, and to apply particularly the doctrine contained briefly in it, for the use and profit of those to whom they thought it chiefly to belong, and as the time and state of things required. Principally in the declaration of the law, they had respect to three things which were the ground of their doctrine: first, to the doctrine contained briefly in the two tables: secondly to the promises and threatenings of the law: and thirdly to the covenant of grace and reconciliation grounded on our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law. To which they neither added nor diminished, but faithfully expounded the sense and meaning of it. As God gave them understanding of things, they applied the promises particularly for the comfort of the Church and the members of it, and also denounced the menaces against the enemies of the same: not for any care or regard to the enemies, but to assure the Church of their safeguard by the destruction of their enemies. Concerning the doctrine of reconciliation, they have more clearly entreated it than Moses, and set forth more lively Jesus Christ, in whom this covenant of reconciliation was made. In all these things Isaiah surpassed all the prophets, and was diligent to set out the same, with vehement admonitions, reprehensions, and consolations: ever applying the doctrine as he saw that the disease of the people required. He declares also many notable prophecies which he had received from God, concerning the promise of the Messiah, his office and kingdom, the favour of God toward his Church, the calling of the Gentiles and their union with the Jews. Which are principal points contained in this book, and a gathering of his sermons that he preached. Which after certain days that they had stood upon the temple door (for the manner of the prophets was to post the sum of their doctrine for certain days, that the people might the better mark it as in (Isa_8:1; Hab_2:2)) the priests took it down and reserved it among their registers. By God's providence these books were preserved as a monument to the Church forever. Concerning his person and time he was of the king's stock (for Amos his father was brother to Azariah king of Judah, as the best writers agree) and prophesied more than 64 years, from the time of Uzziah to the reign of Manasseh who was his son-in-law (as the Hebrews write) and by whom he was put to death. In reading of the prophets, this one thing among others is to be observed, that they speak of things to come as though they were now past because of the certainty of it, and that they could not but come to pass, because God had ordained them in his secret counsel and so revealed them to his prophets.</n>


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Hear, O <n>Because men were obstinate and insensible, he calls to the dumb creatures, who were more prompt to obey God's word, as in (Deu_32:1).</n> heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up <n>He declares his great mercy toward the Jews as he chose them above all other nations to be his people and children as in (Deu_10:15).</n> children, and they have rebelled against me.


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The <n>The most dull and brute beasts acknowledge their duty more toward their masters, than my people do toward me, of whom they have received benefits without comparison.</n> ox knoweth his owner, and the donkey his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.


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Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a <n>They were not only wicked as were their fathers, but utterly corrupt and by their evil example infected others.</n> seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the <n>That is, him that sanctifies Israel.</n> Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.


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Why should ye be <n>What good is it to seek to mend you by punishment, seeing that the more I correct you, the more you rebel?</n> stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole <n>By naming the chief parts of the body, he signifies that there was no part of the whole body of the Jews free from his rods.</n> head is sick, and the whole heart faint.


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From the <n>Every part of the body, the least as well as the chiefest was plagued.</n> sole of the foot even to the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, <n>Their plagues were so grievous that they were incurable, and yet they would not repent.</n> neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.


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Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, foreigners devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as overthrown by <n>Meaning, of them who dwell far off, who because they look for no advantage of that which remains destroy all before them.</n> foreigners.


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And the daughter of <n>That is, Jerusalem.</n> Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.


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Except the LORD of hosts <n>Because he will always have a Church to call on his Name.</n> had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been <n>That is, all destroyed.</n> as Sodom, we should have been like Gomorrah.


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Hear the word of the LORD, ye <n>You who for your vices deserved to be destroyed, as they of Sodom, save that God from his mercy reserved a little number, (Lam_3:22).</n> rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.


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To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I <n>Although God commanded these sacrifices for a time, as aids and exercises of their faith, yet because the people did not have faith or repentance, God detests them, (Psa_50:13; Jer_6:20; Amo_5:22; Mic_6:7).</n> delight not in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.


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<n>Without faith and repentance.</n>Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting.


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Your <n>Your sacrifices offered in the new moons and feasts: he condemns by this hypocrites who think to please God with ceremonies and they themselves are void of faith and mercy.</n> new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble to me; I am weary of bearing [them].


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And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full <n>He shows that where men are given to evil, deceit, cruelty and extortion, which is meant by blood, there God will show his anger and not accept them though they seem holy, as in (Isa_59:3).</n> of blood.


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<n>By this outward washing, he means the spiritual: exhorting the Jews to repent and amend their lives.</n>Wash ye, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil;


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Learn to <n>This kind of reasoning by the second table, the scriptures use in many places against the hypocrites who pretend holiness and religion in word, but when charity and love for their brethren should appear they declare that they have neither faith nor religion.</n> do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.


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Come now, <n>To know if I accuse you without cause.</n> and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be <n>Lest sinners should pretend any rigour on God's part, he only wills them to be pure in heart, and he will forgive all their sins, no matter how many or great.</n> white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.


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If ye <n>He shows that whatever adversity man endures, it ought to be attributed to his own incredulity and disobedience.</n> are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:


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But if ye refuse and be rebellious, ye shalbe deuoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.


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How is the <n>That is, Jerusalem, which had promised happiness to me, as a wife to her husband.</n> faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now <n>Given to covetousness and extortion, which he signified before by blood, (Isa_1:15).</n> murderers.


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Thy <n>Whatever was pure in you before, is now corrupt, though you have an outward show.</n> silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:


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Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of <n>That is, they maintain the wicked and the extortioners: and not only do not punish them, but are themselves such.</n> thieves: every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come to them.


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Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the <n>When God will show himself merciful to his Church, he calls himself the Holy one of Israel, but when he has to do with his enemies, he is called Mighty, as against whom no power is able to resist.</n> mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will <n>I will take vengeance of my adversaries the Jews and so satisfy my desire by punishing them.</n> rid myself of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies:


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And I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, <n>Lest the faithful among them should be overcome with his threatening he adds this consolation.</n> and take away all thy tin:


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<n>It is once the work of God to purify the heart of man, which he does because of his promise, made concerning the salvation of his Church.</n>And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.


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Zion shall be redeemed with <n>By justice is meant God's faithful promise, which is the reason for the deliverance of his Church.</n> judgment, and her converts with righteousness.


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And the <n>The wicked will not be partakers of God's promise, (Psa_92:9).</n> destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners [shall be] together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.


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For they shall be ashamed of the <n>That is, the trees and pleasant places where you commit idolatry which was forbidden (Deu_16:22).</n> oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.


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And the strong shall be as a <n>The false god's in which you put your confidence will be consumed as easily as a piece of wick.</n> wick, and its maker as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench [them].


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And it <n>The decree and ordinance of God, concerning the restoration of the Church, which is chiefly meant by the time of Christ.</n> shall come to pass in the last days, [that] the mount of the LORD'S house <n>In an evident place to be seen and discerned.</n> shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall <n>When the kingdom of Christ will be enlarged by the preaching of the doctrine. Here also is declared the zeal of the children of God when they are called.</n> flow to it.


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And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to <n>Alluding to mount Zion, where the visible Church then was.</n> the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the <n>Meaning, the whole doctrine of salvation.</n> law, and the word of the LORD from <n>This was accomplished when the gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, and from there went through all the world.</n> Jerusalem.


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And <n>The Lord, who is Christ, will have all power given to him.</n> he shall judge among the nations, and shall <n>That they may acknowledge their sins, and turn to him.</n> rebuke many people: and they shall <n>He shows the fruit of the peace which the gospel should bring, that is, that men should do good to one another, while before they were enemies.</n> beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn <n>He speaks not against the use of weapons and lawful war, but shows how the hearts of the godly will be affected one toward another, which peace and love begin and grow in this life, but will be perfected when we are joined with our head Jesus Christ.</n> war any more.


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O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us <n>Seeing the Gentiles will be ready, make haste, and show them the way to worship God.</n> walk in the light of the LORD.


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Therefore thou <n>The prophet seeing the small hope that the Jews would convert, complains to God as though he had utterly forsaken them for their sins.</n> hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are <n>Full of the corruptions that reigned chiefly in the east parts.</n> filled [with customs] from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, <n>They altogether gave themselves to the fashions of other nations.</n> and they please themselves in the children of foreigners.


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Their land also is full of <n>The prophet first condemned their superstition and idolatry next their covetousness and thirdly their vain trust in worldly means.</n> silver and gold, neither [is there any] end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither [is there any] end of their chariots:


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Their land also was full of idols: they worshipped the worke of their owne hands, which their owne fingers haue made.


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And the mean man boweth down, and the great man <n>He notes the nature of the idolaters who are never satisfied in their superstitions.</n> humbleth himself: therefore <n>Thus the prophet spoke being inflamed with the zeal of God's glory, and that he might fear them with God's judgment.</n> forgive them not.


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Enter into the rocke, and hide thee in the dust from before the feare of the Lord, and from the glory of his maiestie.


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The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be abased, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in <n>Meaning, as soon as God will begin to execute his judgments.</n> that day.


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For the day of the Lorde of hostes is vpon all the proude and hautie, and vpon all that is exalted: and it shalbe made lowe.


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And upon all the high <n>By high trees and mountains are he means the proud and lofty, who think themselves most strong in this world.</n> mountains, and upon all the hills [that are] lifted up,


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And upon <n>He condemns their vain confidence which they had in strongholds and in their rich merchandise which brought in vain pleasures with which men's minds became effeminate.</n> all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.


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And the hautinesse of men shalbe brought low, and the loftinesse of men shalbe abased, and the Lord shall onely be exalted in that day.


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Then they shall goe into the holes of the rockes, &amp; into the caues of the earth, from before the feare of the Lorde, and from the glory of his maiestie, when he shall arise to destroy the earth.


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In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made [each one] for himself to worship, <n>They will cast them into vile and filthy places when they perceive that they are not able to help them.</n> to the moles and to the bats;


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To goe into the holes of the rockes, and into the toppes of the ragged rockes from before the feare of the Lorde, and from the glory of his maiestie, when he shall rise to destroy the earth.


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Cease ye from man, whose <n>Cast off your vain confidence in man, whose life is so frail that if his nose is stopped he is dead and consider that you are dealing with God.</n> breath [is] in his nostrils: for why is he to be esteemed?


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For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the rod <n>Because they trusted in their abundance and prosperity he shows that they should be taken from them.</n> and the staff, the whole support of bread, and the whole support of water,


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The mighty man, and the man of war, <n>The temporal governor and the minister.</n> the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,


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The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the skilful craftsman, and the <n>By these he means that God would take away everything that was of any value, and which they had any opportunity to want in themselves.</n> eloquent orator.


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And I will give <n>Not only in age: but in manners, knowledge and strength.</n> children [to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.


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And the people shall be <n>For lack of good regiment and order.</n> oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honourable.


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When a man shall <n>He shows that this plague will be so horrible that contrary to the common manner of men, who by nature are ambitious, no one will be found able or willing to be their governor.</n> take hold of his brother of the house of his father, [saying], Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and [let] this ruin [be] under thy hand:


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In that day shall he <n>Fear will cause him to forswear himself, rather than to take such a dangerous charge upon himself.</n> swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.


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Doubtlesse Ierusalem is fallen, and Iudah is fallen downe, because their tongue &amp; workes are against the Lord, to prouoke the eyes of his glory.


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The <n>When God examines their deed on which they now set an impudent face, he will find the mark of their impiety in their forehead.</n> show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide [it] not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.


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<n>You that are godly be assured that God will defend you in the midst of these troubles.</n>Say ye to the righteous, that [it shall be] well [with him]: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.


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[As for] my people, <n>Because the wicked people were more addicted to their princes than to the commandments of God, he shows that he would give them such princes, by whom they would have no help, but that they would be manifest tokens of his wrath, because they would be fools and effeminate.</n> children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.


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The LORD will enter into judgment with the <n>Meaning that the rulers and governors had destroyed his Church and not preserved it, according to their duty.</n> elders of his people, and with their princes: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor [is] in your houses.


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What mean ye [that] ye beat my people to pieces, <n>That is, you show all cruelty against them.</n> and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.


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Moreover the LORD saith, <n>He means the people because of the arrogancy and pride of their women who gave themselves to all wantonness and dissolution.</n> Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with <n>Which declared their pride.</n> extended necks and <n>As a sign that they were not chaste.</n> wanton eyes, walking and <n>Which showed their wantonness.</n> mincing [as] they go, and making a <n>They delighted then in slippers that creaked or had little plates sewn on them which tinkled as they went.</n> tinkling with their feet:


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Therefore shall the Lord make the heades of the daughters of Zion balde, and the Lord shall discouer their secrete partes.


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In that day shall the Lorde take away the ornament of the slippers, and the calles, and the round tyres,


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The mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the <n>In rehearsing all these things particularly he shows the lightness and vanity of such as cannot be content with comely apparel according to their degree.</n> veils.


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And in steade of sweete sauour, there shall be stinke, and in steade of a girdle, a rent, and in steade of dressing of the heare, baldnesse, and in steade of a stomacher, a girding of sackecloth, and burning in steade of beautie.


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Thy men shall fall by the <n>Meaning that God will not only punish the women but their husbands who have permitted this dissoluteness and also the commonwealth which has not remedied it.</n> sword, and thy mighty in the war.


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And in that day <n>When God will executes this vengeance there will not be one man found to be the head to many women, and they contrary to womanly shamefacedness will seek men, and offer themselves under any condition.</n> seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only <n>He our husband and let us be called your wives.</n> let us be called by thy name, to take away our <n>For so they thought it to be without a head and husband.</n> reproach.


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In that day shall the <n>He comforts the Church in this desolation which will spring up like a bud signifying that God's graces should be as plentiful toward the faithful as though they sprang out of the earth, as in (Isa_45:8). Some by the bud of the Lord mean Christ.</n> branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] the pride and glory of them that have escaped of Israel.


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And it shall come to pass, [that he that is] left in Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, [even] every one that is <n>He alludes to the book of life, of which read (Exo_32:32) meaning God's secret counsel, in which his elect are predestinated to life everlasting.</n> written among the living in Jerusalem:


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When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the <n>That is, the cruelty, extortion, malice and all wickedness.</n> blood of Jerusalem from the midst of it by the spirit of <n>When things will be addressed that were amiss.</n> judgment, and by the spirit of burning.


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And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, <n>He alludes to the pillar of the cloud, (Exo_13:21), meaning that God's favour and protection should appear in every place.</n> a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the <n>The faithful are called the glory of God because his image and tokens of his grace shine in them.</n> glory [shall be] a defence.


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And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm <n>God promises to be the defence of his Church against all troubles and dangers.</n> and from rain.


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Now will <n>The prophet by this song sets before the people's eyes their ingratitude and God's mercy.</n> I sing to my <n>That is, to God.</n> wellbeloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a <n>Meaning that he had planted his Church in a place most plentiful and abundant.</n> vineyard in a very fruitful hill:


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And he dug it, and removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, <n>He spared no diligence or cost.</n> and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress in it: and he expected that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth <n>In (Isa_5:7) he declares what they were.</n> wild grapes.


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And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, <n>He makes them judges in their own cause, for as much as it was evident that they were the cause of their own ruin.</n> between me and my vineyard.


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What coulde I haue done any more to my vineyard that I haue not done vnto it? why haue I looked that it should bring foorth grapes, and it bringeth foorth wilde grapes?


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And now come; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I <n>I will take no more care for it: meaning, that he would take from them his word and ministers and all other comforts, and feed them contrary plagues.</n> will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall of it, and it shall be trodden down:


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And I will laye it waste: it shall not be cut, nor digged, but briers, and thornes shall growe vp: I will also commande the cloudes that they raine no raine vpon it.


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For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for <n>Judgment and righteousness are true fruit of the fear of God and therefore in the cruel oppression there is no religion.</n> judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold <n>Of them who are oppressed.</n> a cry.


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Woe to them that join house to house, [that] lay field to field, till [there is] no <n>That is, for the poor to dwell in.</n> place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!


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In my <n>I have heard the complaint and cry of the poor.</n> ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.


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Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one <n>Which contains about 5 gallons, so that every acre would yield only half a gallon.</n> bath, and the seed of an <n>Which contains 50 gallons.</n> homer shall yield an <n>An ephah contains 5 gallons and is in dry things as much as a bath is in liquids.</n> ephah.


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Woe to them that <n>Who spare no pain nor diligence to follow their lusts.</n> rise early in the morning, [that] they may follow strong drink; that continue until <n>Who are never weary of their rioting and excessive pleasures but use all means to provoke to the same.</n> night, [till] wine inflames them!


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And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the <n>They do not regard the provident care of God over them, nor for what end he has created them.</n> work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.


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Therefore my people <n>That is, will certainly go: for so the prophets use to speak as though the thing which will come to pass were done already.</n> have gone into captivity, because [they have] <n>Because they would not obey the word of God.</n> no knowledge: and their honourable men [are] famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.


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Therefore <n>Meaning, the grave will swallow up them who will die for hunger and thirst, and yet for all this great destruction it will never be satisfied.</n> hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.


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Then shall <n>God comforts the poor lambs of his Church, who had been strangers in other countries, promising that they would dwell in these places again, of which they had been deprived by the fat and cruel tyrants.</n> the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.


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Woe to them that draw iniquity with <n>Who use all allurements, opportunities and excuses to harden their conscience in sin.</n> cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:


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That say, <n>He shows what are the words of the wicked, when they are menaced by God's judgments, (2Pe_3:4).</n> Let him make speed, [and] hasten his work, that we may see [it]: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know [it]!


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Woe to them that call evil good, <n>Who are not ashamed of sin, nor care for honesty but are grown to a desperate impiety.</n> and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


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Woe to [them that are] <n>Who contemn all doctrine and admonition.</n> wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!


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Woe to [them that are] <n>Who are never weary, but show their strength, and brag in gluttony and drunkenness.</n> mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mix strong drink:


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Which iustifie the wicked for a rewarde, and take away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him.


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Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their <n>Both they and their posterity so that nothing will be left.</n> root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.


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Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his <n>He shows that God had so sore punished this people, that the dumb creatures if they had been so plagued would have been more sensible, and therefore his plagues must continue, till they begin to seal them.</n> hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills trembled, and their carcases [were] torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


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And he will lift up an ensign <n>He will make the Babylonians come against them at his beck, and to fight under his standard.</n> to the nations from afar, and will hiss to them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:


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None shall <n>They will be prompt and lusty to execute God's vengeance.</n> be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their loins be loosed, nor <n>The enemy will have no impediment.</n> the latchet of their shoes be broken:


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Whose arrowes shall be sharpe, and all his bowes bent: his horse hoofes shal be thought like flint, and his wheeles like a whirlewinde.


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Their roaring [shall be] like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall <n>By which is declared the cruelty of the enemy.</n> roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry [it] away safe, and none shall deliver [it].


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And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if <n>The Jews will find no comfort.</n> [one] looketh to the land, behold darkness [and] sorrow, and the light is darkened in its <n>In the land of Judah.</n> heavens.


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In the year that king Uzziah died <n>God does not show himself to man in his majesty but according as man's capacity to comprehend him, that is, by visible signs as John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.</n> I saw also the Lord sitting upon a <n>As a judge ready to give sentence.</n> throne, high and lifted up, and his <n>Of his garment, or of his throne.</n> train filled the temple.


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Above it stood the <n>They were angels so called because they were of a fiery colour, to signify that they burnt in the love of God, or were light as fire to execute his will.</n> seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his <n>Signifying that they were not able to endure the brightness of God's glory.</n> face, and with two he covered his <n>By which it was declared that man was not able to see the brightness of God in them.</n> feet, and with two he <n>Which declares the prompt obedience of the angels to execute God's commandment.</n> flew.


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And one cried to another, and said, <n>This often repetition signifies that the angels cannot satisfy themselves in praising God, to teach us that in all our lives we should give ourselves to the continual praise of God.</n> Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole <n>His glory not only appears in the heavens but through all the world, and therefore all creatures are bound to praise him.</n> earth [is] full of his glory.


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And the posts of the door <n>Which was to confirm the prophet, that it was not the voice of man: and by the smoke was signified the blindness that would come on the Jews.</n> moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.


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Then said I, <n>He speaks this for two reasons, the one because he who was a mortal creature and therefore had more need to glorify God than the angels, did not do it, and the other because the nearer that man approaches to God, the more he knows his own sin and corruption.</n> Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.


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Then one of the seraphims flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the <n>Of the burnt offerings where the fire never went out.</n> altar:


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And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy <n>This declares that man cannot render due obedience to God, till he has purged us.</n> sin purged.


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Also I heard the voyce of the Lord, saying, Whome shall I send? and who shall goe for vs? Then I sayd, Here am I, send me.


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And he said, Go, and tell this people, <n>By which is declared that for the malice of man God will not immediately take away his word, but he will cause it to be preached to their condemnation, when as they will not learn by it to obey his will, and be saved: by this he exhorts the ministers to do their duty, and answers to the wicked murmurers, that through their own malice their heart is hardened, (Mat_13:14; Act_28:26; Rom_11:8).</n> Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.


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Make the heart of this people fatte, make their eares heauie, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and heare with their eares, and vnderstand with their hearts, and conuert, and he heale them.


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Then said I, Lord, <n>As he was moved with the zeal of God's glory, so was he touched with a charitable affection toward the people.</n> how long? And he answered, Until the cities shall be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,


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But yet in it [shall be] <n>Meaning, the tenth part: or as some write, it was revealed to Isaiah for the confirmation of his prophecy that ten kings would come before their captivity, as were from Uzziah to Zedekiah.</n> a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, <n>For the fewness of them they will seem to be eaten up: yet they will later flourish as a tree, which in winter loses leaves, and seems to be dead, yet in summer is fresh and green.</n> and as an oak, whose substance [is] in them, when they cast [their leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance of it.


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And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, [that] Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, <n>That is, the second time: for in the first battle Ahaz was overcome.</n> went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.


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And it was told the house of <n>Meaning, the kings house.</n> David, saying, Syria is confederate with <n>That is, Israel, because that tribe was the greatest, (Gen_48:19).</n> Ephraim. And his heart was <n>For fear.</n> moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.


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Then said the LORD to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and <n>That is to say, the rest will return which name Isaiah gave his son, to signify that the rest of the people would return out of their captivity.</n> Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;


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And say to him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking <n>Which have but a little smoke and will quickly be quenched.</n> firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.


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Let us go up against Judah, and trouble it, and let us conquer it for ourselves and set a king in the midst of it, [even] the son of <n>Who was an Israelite, and as it seems, enemy to the house of David.</n> Tabeal:


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For the head of Syria [is] Damascus, and the head of Damascus [is] Rezin; and within <n>Counting from the 25 years of the reign of Uzziah, at which time Amos prophesied this thing, and now Isaiah confirms that the Israelites would be led into perpetual captivity, which came to pass 20 years after Isaiah gave this message.</n> sixty five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.


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And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne. If ye beleeue not, surely ye shall not be established.


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Ask thee <n>For the confirmation of this thing that your enemies will be destroyed and you preserved.</n> a sign from the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.


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But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I <n>Not to believe God's word without a sign, is to tempt God, but to refuse a sign when God offers it for the aid and help of our infirmity is to rebel against him.</n> tempt the LORD.


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And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; [Is it] a small thing for you to weary <n>You think you have to do with men when you contemn God's messengers but it is God against whom you bend yourselves.</n> men, but will ye weary my God also?


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Therefore the Lord <n>Forasmuch as you are unworthy, the Lord for his own promise sake will give a sign which will be that Christ the Saviour of his Church and the effect of all signs and miracles will be revealed.</n> himself shall give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.


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<n>Meaning that Christ is not only God, but man also, because he will be nourished as other men until the age of discretion.</n>Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.


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For before the <n>Not meaning Christ, but any child: for before a child can come to the years of discretion, the kings of Samaria and Syria will be destroyed.</n> child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken by both her kings.


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The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that <n>Since the time that the twelve tribes rebelled under Rehoboam.</n> Ephraim departed from Judah; [even] the king of <n>In whom you have put your trust.</n> Assyria.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall hiss for the <n>Meaning, the Egyptians: for since the country is hot and moist, it is full of flies, as Assyria is full of bees.</n> fly that [is] in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria.


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And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all <n>Signifying that no place will be free from them.</n> bushes.


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In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, [namely], by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the <n>That is, that which is from the belly downward meaning that he would destroy both great and small.</n> feet: and it shall also consume the beard.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall <n>He who before had a great number of cattle will be content with one cow and two sheep.</n> nourish a young cow, and two sheep;


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And it shall come to pass, for the <n>The number of men will be so small that a few beasts will be able to nourish all abundantly.</n> abundance of milk [that] they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.


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And at the same day euery place, wherein shalbe a thousand vines, shalbe at a thousand pieces of siluer: so it shalbe for the briers and for the thornes.


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With arrows and with <n>As they who go to seek wild beasts among the bushes.</n> bows shall [men] come there; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.


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And [on] <n>The mountains contrary to their will, will be tilled by such as shall flee to them for comfort.</n> all hills that shall be dug with the mattock, there shall not come there the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.


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Moreover the LORD said to me, Take thee a <n>That you may write in great letters to the intent that it may be more easily read.</n> great roll, and write in it <n>Meaning, after the common fashion, because all men might read it.</n> with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.


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And I took to me <n>Because the thing was of great importance, he took these two witnesses, who were of credit with the people, when he set this up upon the door of the temple, even though Uriah was a flattering hypocrite, (2Ki_16:11).</n> faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.


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And I went to the <n>Meaning, to his wife and this was done in a vision.</n> prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.


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For before the <n>Before any child is able to speak.</n> child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the <n>That is, the army of Assyria.</n> king of Assyria.


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Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of <n>Which was a fountain at the foot of mount Zion, out of which ran a small river through the city: meaning, that they of Judah distrusting their own power which was small desired such power and riches as they saw in Syria and Israel.</n> Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;


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Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of <n>That is, the Assyrians who dwell beyond Euphrates.</n> the river, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks:


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And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the <n>It will be ready to drown them.</n> neck; and the spread of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O <n>He speaks this to Messiah, or Christ, in whom the faithful were comforted and who would not suffer his Church to be destroyed utterly.</n> Immanuel.


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Associate yourselves, O ye <n>That is, you who are enemies to the Church, as the Assyrians, Egyptians, Syrians etc.</n> people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.


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Take counsell together, yet it shall be brought to nought: pronounce a decree, yet shall it not stand: for God is with vs.


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For the LORD spoke thus to me <n>To encourage me that I should not shrink for the infidelity of this people, and so neglect my office.</n> with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,


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Say ye not, A <n>Consent not you who are godly to the league and friendship that this people seek with strangers and idolaters.</n> confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye <n>Meaning, that they should not fear the thing that they who have no hope in God feared.</n> their fear, nor be afraid.


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<n>In putting your trust only in him, in calling on him in adversity, patiently looking for his help, and fearing to do anything contrary to his will.</n>Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.


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And he shall be for a <n>He will defend you who are his elect, and reject all the rest, meaning Christ against whom the Jews would stumble and fall, (Luk_2:23; Rom_9:33; 1Pe_2:7,8).</n> sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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And many among them shall stumble, and shal fall and shalbe broken and shalbe snared and shalbe taken.


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<n>Though all forsake me, yet you who are mine keep my word sure sealed in your hearts.</n>Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.


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Therefore I will waite vpon the Lord that hath hid his face from the house of Iaakob, and I wil looke for him.


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Behold, I and the <n>Meaning, them who were willing to hear and obey the word of God whom the world hated, as though they were monsters and not worthy to live.</n> children whom the LORD hath given me [are] for signs and for wonders in Israel <n>This was a consolation in their troubles, knowing that nothing could come to them, but by the will of the Lord.</n> from the LORD of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.


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And when they shall say to you, Seek to them that are mediums, and to wizards that peep, and that mutter: <n>Answer the wicked thus, should not God's people seek comfort only from him?</n> should not a people seek to their God? for the <n>That is, will they refuse to be taught by the prophet, who is the mouth of God, and seek help from the dead, which is the illusion of Satan?</n> living to the dead?


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To the <n>Seek remedy in the word of God, where his will is declared.</n> law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no <n>They have no knowledge but are blind leaders of the blind.</n> light in them.


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And they shall pass through it, distressed and hungry: and it shall come to <n>That is, in Judah, where they would have had rest, if they had not thus grievously offended God.</n> pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, <n>In whom before they put their trust.</n> and curse their king and their God, and look upward.


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And they shall look to the earth; and behold trouble and <n>They will think that heaven and earth and all creatures are bent against them to trouble them.</n> darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.


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Nevertheless <n>He comforts the Church again after these great threatenings promising to restore them to great glory in Messiah.</n> the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her distress, <n>With which Israel was punished, first by Tiglath-pilesar, which was a light scourge in respect to that which they suffered afterward by Shalmaneser, who carried the Israelites away captive.</n> when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of <n>While the Jews and Gentiles dwelt together by reason of those twenty cites, which Solomon gave to Hiram.</n> the nations.


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The people that <n>Which were in captivity in Babylon and the prophets speaks of that thing which would come to pass 60 years later as though it were now done.</n> walked in darkness have seen a great <n>Meaning, the comfort of their deliverance.</n> light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the <n>This captivity and deliverance were figures of our captivity by sin and of our deliverance by Christ through the preaching of the Gospel, (Mat_4:15-16).</n> light shined.


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Thou hast <n>Their number was greater when they went into captivity then when they returned but their joy was greater at their return, (Hag_2:9).</n> multiplied the nation, [and] increased the joy: they rejoice before thee according to the joy in harvest, [and] as [men] rejoice when they divide the spoil.


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For thou hast broken the <n>You gave them perfect joy by delivering them, and by destroying the tyrants, that had kept them in cruel bondage, as you delivered them by Gideon from the Midianites, (Jdg_7:21).</n> yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.


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For every battle of the warrior [is] with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but [this] shall be <n>He speaks of the deliverance of his Church, which he has delivered miraculously from his enemies, but especially by the coming of Christ of whom he prophecies in the next verse.</n> with burning [and] fuel of fire.


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For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting <n>The author of eternity, and by whom the Church and every member of it will be preserved forever, and have immortal life.</n> Father, The Prince of Peace.


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Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. <n>His singular love and care for his elect.</n> The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.


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The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon <n>This is another prophecy against them of Samaria who were mockers and contemners of God's promises and menaces.</n> Israel.


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And all the people shall knowe, euen Ephraim, and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and presumption of the heart,


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The <n>We were but weak, when the enemy overcame us, but we will make ourselves so strong, that we will neither care for our enemies, nor fear God's threatenings.</n> bricks have fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them into] cedars.


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Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of <n>Rezin king of Syria, who was in league with Israel, was slain by the Assyrians, after whose death, Aram that is, the Syrians were against Israel, who on the other side were assailed by the Philistines.</n> Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;


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Aram before and the Philistims behinde, and they shall deuoure Israel with open mouth: yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


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The ancient and the honorable man, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the taile.


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Therefore shall the Lord haue no pleasure in their yong men, neither will he haue compassion of their fatherlesse and of their widowes: for euery one is an hypocrite and wicked, and euery mouth speaketh follie: yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out stil.


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For wickedness <n>Wickedness as a bellows kindles the fire of God's wrath which consumes all his obstinate enemies.</n> burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up [like] the rising of smoke.


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Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall <n>Though there was no foreign enemy, yet they will destroy one another.</n> spare his brother.


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And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the <n>Their greediness will be insatiable, so that one brother will eat up another, as though he should eat his own flesh.</n> flesh of his own arm:


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Manasseh, Ephraim: and Ephraim Manasseh, and they both shall be against Iudah yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


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Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that <n>Who write and pronounce a wicked sentence to oppress the people: meaning, that the wicked magistrate, who were the chief cause of mischief, would be first punished.</n> write grievousness [which] they have prescribed;


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To keepe backe ye poore from iudgement, and to take away the iudgement of the poore of my people, that widowes may be their pray, and that they may spoyle the fatherlesse.


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And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation [which] shall come from <n>That is, from Assyria.</n> far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your <n>Your riches and authority, that they may be safe and that you may receive them again.</n> glory?


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<n>Because they have forsaken me, some will go into captivity and the rest will be slain.</n>Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


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O <n>God calls for the Assyrians to be the executioners of his vengeance.</n> Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.


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I will send <n>That is, the Assyrians against the Jews who are hypocrites. In the sixth and seventh verse is declared the difference of the work of God and of the wicked in one very thing and act: for God's intention is to chastise them for their amendment, and the Assyrians purpose is to destroy them to enrich themselves. Thus in respect to God's justice, it is God's work, but in respect to their own malice, it is the work of the devil.</n> him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I command him, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.


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But he thinketh not so, neither doeth his heart esteeme it so: but he imagineth to destroy and to cut off not a fewe nations.


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[Is] not Calno as <n>Seeing that I have overcome one city as well as another, so that none could resist, shall Jerusalem be able to escape my hands?</n> Carchemish? [is] not Hamath as Arpad? [is] not Samaria as Damascus?


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Like as mine hand hath founde the kingdomes of the idoles, seeing their idoles were aboue Ierusalem, and aboue Samaria:


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Shall not I, as I haue done to Samaria, and to the idoles thereof, so doe to Ierusalem and to the idoles thereof?


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Wherefore it shall come to pass, [that] when the Lord hath performed <n>When he has sufficiently chastised his people (for he begins at his own house) then will he burn the rods.</n> his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart <n>Meaning of Sennacherib.</n> of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.


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Because he said, By ye power of mine owne hand haue I done it, and by my wisdome, because I am wise: therefore I haue remooued the borders of the people, and haue spoyled their treasures, and haue pulled downe the inhabitants like a valiant man.


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And mine hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathereth egges that are left, so haue I gathered all the earth: and there was none to mooue the wing or to open the mouth, or to whisper.


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Shall the <n>Here we see that no creature is able to do anything, but as God appoints him, and that they are all his instruments to do his work though the intentions are diverse, as in (Isa_10:6).</n> axe boast itself against him that heweth with it? [or] shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if the rod should shake [itself] against them that lift it, [or] as if the staff should lift [itself, as if it were] no wood.


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Therefore shall the Lorde God of hostes send amog his fat men, leannes, &amp; vnder his glorie he shall kindle a burning, like the burning of fire.


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And the light of Israel shall be for a <n>Meaning that God is a light to comfort his people and a fire to burn his enemies.</n> fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour <n>That is, the Assyrians.</n> his thorns and his briers in one day;


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And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul <n>That is, body and soul utterly.</n> and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer <n>When the battle is lost and the standard taken.</n> fainteth.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them; but shall <n>This is the end of God's plagues toward his, to bring them to him, and to forsake all trust in others.</n> lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.


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For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the full end <n>This small number which seemed to be consumed and yet according to God's decree is saved, will be sufficient to fill all the world with righteousness.</n> decreed shall overflow with righteousness.


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For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a full end, even <n>God will destroy this land as he has determined and later save a small portion.</n> determined, in the midst of all the land.


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Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of <n>As the Egyptians punished you.</n> Egypt.


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And the LORD of hosts shall raise up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of <n>Read (Isa_9:4).</n> Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the <n>When the Israelites passed through by the lifting up of Moses' rod, and the enemies were drowned, (Exo_14:28).</n> sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of <n>Because of the promise made to that kingdom, by which Christ's kingdom was prefigured.</n> the anointing.


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He is come to <n>He describes by what way the Assyrians would come against Jerusalem, to confirm the faithful, when it would come to pass, that as their plague was come, so should they be delivered.</n> Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath attended to his carriages:


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They haue gone ouer the foorde: they lodged in the lodging at Geba: Ramah is afraide: Gibeah of Saul is fled away.


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Yet there is a time that he will stay at Nob: he shall lift vp his hand towarde the mount of the daughter Zion, the hill of Ierusalem.


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Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the <n>Fear and destruction will come on Judah for the princes and the people will all be led away captive.</n> bough with terror: and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.


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And he shall cut away the thicke places of the forest with yron, and Lebanon shall haue a mightie fall.


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And there shall come forth a <n>Because the captivity of Babylon was a figure of the spiritual captivity under sin, he shows that our true deliverance must come by Christ: for as David came out of Jesse, a man without dignity, so Christ would come of a poor carpenter's house as out of a dead stock, (Isa_53:2).</n> rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:


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And the Spirite of the Lord shall rest vpon him: the Spirite of wisedome and vnderstanding, the Spirite of counsell and strength, the Spirite of knowledge, and of the feare of the Lord,


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And shall make him prudent in the feare of the Lord: for he shall not iudge after the sight of his eies, neither reproue by ye hearing of his eares.


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But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall <n>All these properties can agree to no one, but only to Christ: for it is he who touches the hearts of the faithful and mortifies their concupiscence: and to the wicked he is the favour of death and to them who will perish, so that all the world will be smitten with his rod, which is his word.</n> smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.


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The <n>Men because of their wicked affections are named by the names of beasts, in which the same affections reign: but Christ by his Spirit will reform them, and work in them such mutual charity, that they will be like lambs, favouring and loving one another and cast off all their cruel affections, (Isa_65:25).</n> wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.


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And the kowe and the beare shall feede: their yong ones shall lie together: and the lyon shall eate strawe like the bullocke.


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And the sucking childe shall play vpon the hole of the aspe, and the wained childe shall put his hand vpon the cockatrice hole.


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They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as <n>It will be in as great abundance as the waters in the sea.</n> the waters cover the sea.


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And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the <n>He prophecies of the calling of the Gentiles.</n> people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his <n>That is, the Church which he also calls his rest, (Psa_132:14).</n> rest shall be glorious.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set his hand <n>For God first delivered his people out of Egypt and now promises to deliver them out of their enemies hands as from the Parthians, Persians, Chaldeans and them of Antioch among whom they were dispersed and this is chiefly meant of Christ, who calls his people being dispersed through all the world.</n> again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the isles of the sea.


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And he shall set vp a signe to the nations, and assemble the dispersed of Israel, and gather the scattered of Iudah from the foure corners of the worlde.


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The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of <n>Here he describes the consent that will be in his Church and their victory against their enemies.</n> Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not distress Ephraim.


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But they shall flee vpon the shoulders of the Philistims toward the West: they shall spoyle them of the East together: Edom and Moab shall be the stretching out of their hands, and the children of Ammon in their obedience.


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And the LORD shall utterly destroy the <n>Meaning a corner of the sea that enters into the land and has the form of a tongue.</n> tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand <n>That is, Nile, the great river of Egypt which enters into the sea with seven streams.</n> over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make [men] go over dryshod.


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And there shalbe a path to the remnant of his people, which are left of Asshur, like as it was vnto Israel in the day that he came vp out of the land of Egypt.


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And in that day thou <n>He shows how the Church will praise God, when they are delivered from their captivity.</n> shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thy anger is turned away, and thou didst comfort me.


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Behold, God [is] my <n>Our salvation stands only in God, who gives us an assured confidence, constancy and opportunity to praise him for the same.</n> salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.


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Therefore with joy shall ye <n>The graces of God will be so abundant that you may receive them in as great plenty as waters out of a fountain that is full.</n> draw water out of the wells of salvation.


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And ye shall say in that day, Prayse the Lord: call vpon his Name: declare his workes among the people: make mention of them, for his Name is exalted.


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Cry aloud and shout, <n>You who are of the Church.</n> thou inhabitant of Zion: for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.


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The <n>That is, the great calamity which was prophesied to come on Babel, a grievous burden which they were not able to bear. In these twelve chapters following he speaks of the plagues with which God would smite the strange nations (whom they knew) to declare that God chastised the Israelites as his children and these others as his enemies: and also that if God does not spare these who are ignorant, they must not think strange if he punishes them who have knowledge of his Law, and do not keep it.</n> burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.


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Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, shake the <n>That is, the Medes and Persians.</n> hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.


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I have commanded my <n>That is, prepared and appointed to execute my judgments.</n> sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, [even] them that rejoice in my <n>Who willingly go about to the work to which I appoint them, but how the wicked do this, read (Isa_10:6).</n> highness.


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The noyse of a multitude is in the mountaines, like a great people: a tumultuous voyce of the kingdomes of the nations gathered together: the Lorde of hostes nombreth the hoste of the battell.


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They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the <n>The army of the Medes and the Persians against Babylon.</n> weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.


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Wail <n>You Babylonians.</n> ye; for the day of the LORD [is] at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.


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And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be as] <n>The Babylonians anger and grief will be so much that their faces will burn as fire.</n> flames.


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Beholde, the day of the Lorde commeth, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land wast: and he shall destroy the sinners out of it.


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For the <n>They who are overcome will think that all the powers of heaven and earth are against them, (Eze_32:7; Joe_3:15; Mat_24:29).</n> stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.


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And I will punish the <n>He compares Babylon to the whole world because they so esteemed themselves by reason of their great empire.</n> world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the <n>He notes the principal vice, to which they are most given as are all that abound in wealth.</n> proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.


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I will make a <n>He notes the great slaughter that will be, seeing the enemy will neither for gold or silver spare a man's life as in (Isa_13:17).</n> man more rare than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.


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Therefore I will shake the heauen, and the earth shall remooue out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hostes, and in the day of his fierce anger.


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And <n>Meaning the power of Babylon with their hired soldiers.</n> it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one to his own land.


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Euery one that is founde, shall be striken through: and whosoeuer ioyneth himselfe, shal fal by the sworde.


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Their <n>This was not accomplished when Cyrus took Babylon, but after the death of Alexander the great.</n> children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.


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Beholde, I will stirre vp the Medes against them, which shall not regarde siluer, nor be desirous of golde.


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With bowes also shall they destroy ye children, and shall haue no compassion vpon the fruit of the wombe, and their eies shall not spare the children.


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And Babel the glorie of kingdomes, the beautie and pride of the Chaldeans, shall be as the destruction of God in Sodom and Gomorah.


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It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the <n>Who used to go from country to country to find pasture for their beasts, but they will find none.</n> Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.


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But <n>Who were either wild beasts or fools, or wicked spirits, by which Satan deluded man, as by the fairies, goblins, and such like fantasies.</n> wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.


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And Iim shall crie in their palaces, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and the time thereof is readie to come, and the daies thereof shall not be prolonged.


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For <n>He shows why God will haste to destroy his enemies, that is, because he will deliver his Church.</n> the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers <n>Meaning that the Gentiles will be joined with the Church and worship God.</n> shall be joined with them, and they shall unite with the house of Jacob.


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And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for <n>Signifying that the Jews would be superior to the Gentiles and that they would be brought under the service of Christ by the preaching of the Apostles, by which all are brought to the subjection of Christ, (2Co_10:5).</n> servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.


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And in that day when the Lord shal giue thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy feare, and from the sore bodage, wherein thou didest serue,


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Then shalt thou take vp this prouerbe against the King of Babel, and say, Howe hath the oppressor ceased? &amp; the gold thirsty Babel rested?


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He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, [and] <n>That is, he permitted all violence and injuries to be done.</n> none hindereth.


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The whole earth is at <n>Meaning that where tyrants reign, there can be no rest or quietness and also how detestable a thing tyranny is, seeing the insensible creatures have opportunity to rejoice at their destruction.</n> rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing.


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Also the firre trees reioyced of thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid downe, no hewer came vp against vs.


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Hell from beneath is moved for thee to <n>As though they feared, lest you should trouble the dead, as you did the living and here he derides the proud tyranny of the wicked, who know not that all creatures wish their destruction, that they may rejoice.</n> meet [thee] at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, [even] all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.


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All they shall crie, and saie vnto thee, Art thou become weake also as we? Art thou become like vnto vs?


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Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm <n>Instead of your costly carpets and coverings.</n> is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.


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How art thou fallen from heaven, O <n>You who thought yourself most glorious and as it were placed in the heaven for the morning star that goes before the sun, is called Lucifer, to whom Nebuchadnezzar is compared.</n> Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!


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For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the <n>Meaning, Jerusalem of which the temple was of the north side, (Psa_48:2).</n> north:


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They that see thee shall narrowly <n>In marvelling at you.</n> look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that shook kingdoms;


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[That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed its cities; [that] opened not <n>To set them free, noting his cruelty.</n> the house of his prisoners?


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But thou art <n>You were not buried in the sepulchre of your fathers, your tyranny was so abhorred.</n> cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.


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Thou shalt not be ioyned with them in the graue, because thou hast destroied thine owne lande, and slaine thy people: the seede of the wicked shall not be renoumed for euer.


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<n>He called to the Medes and Persians, and all those who would execute God's vengeance.</n>Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they may not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.


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For I wil rise vp against them (sayth the Lorde of hostes) and will cut off from Babel the name and the remnant and the sonne, and the nephew, sayth the Lord:


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And I wil make it a possession to ye hedgehogge, and pooles of water, and I will sweepe it with the besome of destruction, sayeth the Lorde of hostes.


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The Lorde of hostes hath sworne, saying, Surely like as I haue purposed, so shall it come to passe, and as I haue consulted, it shall stand:


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<n>As I have begun to destroy the Assyrians in Sennacherib: so will I continue and destroy them wholly, when I will deliver you from Babylon.</n>That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off <n>From the Jews.</n> them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.


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This is the counsell that is consulted vpon the whole worlde, and this is the hande stretched out ouer all the nations,


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Because the Lorde of hostes hath determined it, and who shall disanull it? and his hande is stretched out, and who shall turne it away?


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Rejoice not thou, all <n>He wills the Philistines not to rejoice because the Jews are diminished in their power, for their strength will be greater than it ever was.</n> Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit [shall be] a fiery flying serpent.


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And the <n>The Israelites who were brought to most extreme misery.</n> firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and <n>That is, my people.</n> he shall slay thy remnant.


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Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, all Palestina, [art] dissolved: for there shall come from the <n>That is, from the Jews or Assyrians: for they were brought to extreme misery.</n> north a smoke, and none [shall be] <n>But they shall all be ready and join together.</n> alone in his appointed times.


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What shall [one] then answer the <n>Who will come to enquire of the state of the Church.</n> messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded <n>They will answer that the Lord defends his Church and those that join themselves to it.</n> Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.


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The <n>{{See Isa_13:1}}</n> burden of Moab. Because in the night <n>The chief city by which the whole country was meant.</n> Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to silence;


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<n>The Moabites will flee to their idols for comfort but it will be too late.</n>He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall wail over <n>Which were cites of Moab.</n> Nebo, and over Medeba: on all <n>For as in the west parts the people used to let their hair grow long when they mourned, so in the East part they cut it off.</n> their heads [shall be] baldness, [and] every beard shorn.


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In their streetes shall they bee gilded with sackecloth: on the toppes of their houses, and in their streetes euery one shall howle, and come downe with weeping.


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And Heshbon shall crie, and Elealeh: their voyce shall bee heard vnto Iahaz: therefore the warriers of Moab shall showt: the soule of euery one shall lament in him selfe.


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My <n>The prophet speaks this in the person of the Moabites: or as one who felt the great judgment of God that God would come on them.</n> heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives [shall flee] to Zoar, <n>Meaning that it was a city that always lived in pleasure and never felt sorrow.</n> an heifer of three years old: for they shall go up the ascent of Luhith with weeping for in the way of Horonaim they <n>He describes the miserable dissipation and flight of the Moabites.</n> shall raise a cry of destruction.


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For the waters of Nimrim shal be dried vp: therefore the grasse is withered, the herbes consumed, and there was no greene herbe.


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Therefore the abundance they have gained, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the <n>To hide themselves and their goods there.</n> brook of the willows.


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For the crie went round about the borders of Moab: and the howling thereof vnto Eglaim, and the skriking thereof vnto Beer Elim,


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For the waters of Dimon shall be full <n>Of them who are slain.</n> of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions <n>So that by no means would they escape the hand of God: thus will God punish the enemies of his Church.</n> upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.


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Send <n>That is, offer a sacrifice, by which he derides their long delay, who would not repent when the Lord called them, showing them that it is now too late seeing the vengeance of God is on them.</n> ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.


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For it shall be, [that], as a <n>There is no remedy but that you must flee.</n> wandering bird cast out of the nest, [so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.


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Take counsel, execute judgment; <n>He shows what Moab would have done, when Israel their neighbour was in affliction, to whom because they would give no shadow or comfort, they are now left comfortless.</n> make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; discover not him that wandereth.


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Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner <n>The Assyrians will oppress the Israelites but for a while.</n> is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.


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And in mercy shall the throne be established: <n>Meaning, Christ.</n> and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and swiftly executing righteousness.


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We have heard of the pride of Moab; [he is] very proud: [even] of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: [but] his <n>Their vain confidence and proud bragging will deceive them, (Jer_48:2).</n> lies [shall] not [be] so.


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Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, every one shall wail: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely [they are] <n>For all your mourning, yet the city will be destroyed even to the foundation.</n> stricken.


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For the fields of Heshbon languish, [and] the vine of Sibmah: <n>That is, the Assyrians and other enemies.</n> the lords of the nations have broken down her principal plants, they have come [even] to <n>Meaning that the country of Moab was now destroyed, and all the precious things of it were carried into the borders yea into other countries and over the sea.</n> Jazer, they wandered [through] the wilderness: her branches are extended, they have gone over the sea.


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Therefore I will <n>He shows that their plague was so great that it would have moved any man to lament with them, as in (Psa_141:5).</n> bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy <n>The enemies are come upon you, and shout for joy when they carry your conveniences from you as in (Jer_48:33).</n> harvest is fallen.


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And gladnes is taken away, and ioy out of the plentifull fielde: and in the vineyardes shall be no singing nor shouting for ioy: the treader shall not tread wine in the wine presses: I haue caused the reioycing to cease.


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Wherefore my <n>For sorrow and compassion.</n> heart shall sound like an harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kirharesh.


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And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his <n>They will use all means to seek help for their idols, and all in vain: for Chemosh their great god will not be able to help them.</n> sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.


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But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, <n>He appointed a certain time to punish the enemies in.</n> Within three years, as the years of an <n>Who will observe justly the time for which he is hired and serve no longer but will ever long for it.</n> hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be despised, with all that great multitude; and the remnant [shall be] very small [and] feeble.


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The <n>{{See Isa_13:1}}</n> burden of <n>The chief city of Syria.</n> Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.


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The cities of <n>It was a country of Syria by the river Arnon.</n> Aroer [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.


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The fortress also shall cease from <n>It seems that the prophet would comfort the Church in declaring the destruction of these two kings of Syria and Israel, when as they had conspired the overthrow of Judah.</n> Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the <n>The ten tribes gloried in their multitude and alliance with other nations: therefore he says that they will be brought down and the Syrians also.</n> glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.


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And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of <n>Meaning, of the ten tribes who boasted themselves of their nobility, prosperity, strength and multitude.</n> Jacob shall be diminished, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.


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And it shall be as when the reaper gathereth <n>As the abundance of corn does not fear the harvest men that would cut it down: no more will the multitude of Israel make the enemies shrink, whom God will appoint to destroy them.</n> the grain, and reapeth the heads with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth heads in the valley of <n>A valley which was plentiful and fertile.</n> Rephaim.


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Yet gleaning grapes shall <n>Because God would have his covenant stable, he promises to reserve some of this people, and to bring them to repentance.</n> be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two [or] three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches of it, saith the LORD God of Israel.


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At that day shall a man look to his <n>He shows that God's corrections always bring fruit, and cause his to turn from their sins and to humble themselves to him.</n> Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.


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And hee shall not looke to the altars, the workes of his owne hands, neither shall he looke to those thinges, which his owne fingers haue made, as groues and images.


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In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which <n>As the Canaanites left their cities when God placed the Israelites there, so the cities of Israel will not be able to defend their inhabitants any more than bushes, when God will send the enemy to plague them.</n> they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.


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Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with foreign <n>Which are excellent and brought out of other countries.</n> slips:


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In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest [shall be] a heap in the day <n>As the Lord threatens the wicked in his law, (Lev_26:16).</n> of grief and of desperate sorrow.


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<n>The prophet laments, considering the horrible plague that was prepared against Israel by the Assyrians, who were infinite in number, and gathered from many nations.</n>Woe to the multitude of many people, [who] make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!


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The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but [God] shall <n>He adds this for the consolation of the faithful who were in Israel.</n> rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.


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And behold at the time of evening <n>He compares the Assyrians to a tempest which rises overnight and in the morning is gone.</n> trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that plunder us, and the lot of them that rob us.


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Woe to the <n>He means that part of Ethiopia which lies toward the sea, which was so full of ships that the sails (which he compares to wings) seemed to shadow the sea.</n> land shadowing with wings, which [is] beyond the rivers of Cush:


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That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of <n>Which is those countries were great, so much so that they made ships from them for swiftness.</n> bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], <n>This may be taken that they sent others to comfort the Jews and to promise them help against their enemies, and so the Lord threatened to take away their strength, that the Jews should not trust in it: or that they solicited the Egyptians and promised them aid to go against Judah.</n> Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and stripped, to a <n>That is, the Jews who because of God's plague made all other nations afraid of the same, as God threatened in (Deu_28:37).</n> people terrible from their beginning to this time; a nation measured by line and trodden down, whose land the <n>Meaning the Assyrians, (Isa_8:7).</n> rivers have laid waste!


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All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when <n>When the Lord prepared to fight against the Ethiopians.</n> he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.


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For so the LORD said to me, I will take my <n>I will stay a while from punishing the wicked.</n> rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a <n>Which two seasons are profitable for the ripening of fruit, by which he means that he will seem to favour them and give them abundance for a time, but he will suddenly cut them off.</n> clear heat upon herbs, [and] like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.


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For afore the haruest when the floure is finished, and the fruite is riping in the floure, then he shall cut downe the branches with hookes, and shall take away, and cut off the boughes:


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They shall be left together to the fowls of the mountains, and to the <n>Not only men will contemn them, but the brute beast.</n> beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.


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In that time shall the <n>Meaning that God will pity his Church, and receive that little remnant as an offering to himself.</n> present be brought to the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and stripped, and from a people terrible from their beginning to this time; a nation measured by line and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.


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The <n>Read (Isa_13:7).</n> burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD <n>Because the Egyptians trusted in the defence of their country, in the multitude of their idols and in the valiantness of their men the Lord shows that he will come over all their munitions in a swift cloud, and that their idols will tremble at his coming and that men's hearts will faint.</n> rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.


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And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall <n>As he caused the Ammonites, Moabites and Idumeans to kill one another, when they came to destroy the Church of God, (2Ch_20:22; Isa_49:26).</n> fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.


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And the <n>Meaning, their policy and wisdom.</n> spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of her; and I will destroy her counsel: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to the mediums, and to the wizards.


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And I will deliuer the Egyptians into the hand of the cruell Lordes, &amp; a mightie King shall rule ouer them, sayth the Lord God of hostes.


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And the waters shall <n>He shows that the sea and their great river Nile by which they thought themselves most sure, would not be able to defend them but that he would send the Assyrians among them, that would keep them under as slaves.</n> fail from the sea, and the rivers shall be wasted and dried up.


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And they shall turn the <n>For the Nile ran into the sea by seven streams, as though they were many rivers.</n> rivers far away; [and] the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.


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The paper reeds by the brooks, by the <n>The Hebrew word is mouth, by which they mean the spring out of which the water gushes as out of a mouth.</n> mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no [more].


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The fishermen also shall <n>The Scriptures describe the destruction of a country by the taking away of the conveniences of it, as by vines, flesh, fish and such other things by which countries are enriched.</n> mourn, and all they that cast hook into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.


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Moreouer, they that worke in flaxe of diuers sortes, shall be confounded, and they that weaue nettes.


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Surely the princes of <n>Called also Tanes, a famous city on the Nile.</n> Zoan [are] fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become senseless: how say ye to Pharaoh, I <n>He notes the flatterers of Pharaoh: who persuaded the king that he was wise and noble, and that his house was ancient and so he flatters himself, saying I am wise.</n> [am] the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?


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Where are nowe thy wise men, that they may tell thee, or may knowe what the Lorde of hostes hath determined against Egypt?


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The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of <n>Or Memphis, Alexandria, and now called the great Cairo.</n> Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the <n>The principal upholders of it are the main cause of their destruction.</n> support of its tribes.


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The LORD hath mingled a <n>For the spirit of wisdom he has made them drunken and giddy with the spirit of error.</n> perverse spirit in the midst of it: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work of it, as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit.


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Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may <n>Neither the great or the small, the strong or the weak.</n> perform.


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In that day shall Egypt be like vnto women: for it shall be afraide and feare because of the moouing of the hand of the Lorde of hostes, which he shaketh ouer it.


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And the land of Judah shall be a terror <n>Considering that through their opportunity the Jews did not make God their defence but put their trust in them, and were therefore now punished, they will fear least the same light on them.</n> to Egypt, every one that maketh mention of it shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.


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In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt <n>Will make one confession of faith with the people of God, by the speech of Canaan, meaning the language in which God was then served.</n> speak the language of Canaan, and <n>Will renounce their superstitions and protest to serve God correctly.</n> swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of <n>Meaning of six cities, five would serve God, and the sixth would remain in their wickedness: and so there would be but one lost.</n> destruction.


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In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and <n>There will be evident signs and tokens, that God's religion is there: which manner of speech is taken of the patriarchs and ancient time, when God has not as yet appointed the place, and full manner how he would be worshipped.</n> a pillar at its border to the LORD.


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And it shall be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them <n>This declares that this prophecy would be accomplished in the time of Christ.</n> a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.


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And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do <n>By these ceremonies he comprehends the spiritual service under Christ.</n> sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow to the LORD, and perform [it].


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So ye Lord shall smite Egypt, he shall smite and heale it: for he shall returne vnto ye Lord, and he shall be intreated of them and shall heale them.


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In that day shall there be a highway from <n>By these two nations, which were then chief enemies of the Church, he shows that the Gentiles and the Jews would be joined together in one faith and religion, and would all be one fold under Christ their shepherd.</n> Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.


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In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Asshur, euen a blessing in the middes of the land.


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For the Lorde of hostes shall blesse it, saying, Blessed be my people Egypt and Asshur, the worke of mine hands, and Israel mine inheritance.


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In the year that <n>Who was captain of Sennacherib, (2Ki_18:17).</n> Tartan came to <n>A city of the Philistines.</n> Ashdod, (when <n>The Hebrews write that Sennacherib was so called.</n> Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;


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At the same time spoke the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the <n>Which signifies that the prophet lamented the misery that he saw prepared before the three years that he went naked and barefooted.</n> sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.


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And the Lord said, Like as my seruant Isaiah hath walked naked, &amp; barefoote three yeeres, as a signe and wonder vpon Egypt, and Ethiopia,


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So shall the King of Asshur take away the captiuitie of Egypt, and the captiuitie of Ethiopia, both yong men and olde men, naked and barefoote, with their buttockes vncouered, to the shame of Egypt.


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And they shall be afraid and ashamed of <n>In whose aid they trusted.</n> Cush their expectation, and of Egypt their <n>Of whom they boasted and gloried.</n> glory.


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And the inhabitant of this <n>Meaning Judea which was encompassed by their enemies as an isle with waters.</n> isle shall say in that day, Behold, such [is] our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?


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The burden of the <n>On the seaside between Judea and Caldea was a wilderness, by which he means Caldea.</n> desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; [so] it cometh from the desert, <n>That is, the ruin of Babylon by the Medes and Persians.</n> from a terrible land.


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A grievous vision is declared to me; the <n>The Assyrians and Chaldeans who had destroyed other nations will be overcome by the Medes and Persians: and this he prophesied a hundred years before it came to pass.</n> treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O <n>By Elam he means the Persians.</n> Elam: besiege, O Media; all her sighing have I made <n>Because they will find no comfort, they will mourn no more, or I have caused them to cease mourning, whom Babylon had afflicted.</n> to cease.


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Therefore are my <n>This the prophet speaks in the person of the Babylonians.</n> loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing [of it]; I was dismayed at the seeing [of it].


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My heart panted, fearfulness terrified me: the night <n>He prophecies the death of Belshazzar as in (Dan_5:30) who in the midst of his pleasures was destroyed.</n> of my pleasure hath he turned into fear to me.


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Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: <n>While they are eating and drinking, they will be commanded to run to their weapons.</n> arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.


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For thus hath the <n>That is, in a vision by the spirit of prophecy.</n> Lord said to me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.


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And he saw a chariot [with] a couple of horsemen, a chariot of donkeys, [and] <n>Meaning, chariots of men of war, and others that carried the baggage.</n> a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:


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And he cried, A <n>Meaning, Darius who overcame Babylon.</n> lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my post whole nights:


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And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And <n>The watchman whom Isaiah set up, told him who came toward Babylon, and the angel declared that it would be destroyed: all this was done in a vision.</n> he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken to the ground.


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O <n>Meaning, Babylon.</n> my threshing, and the grain of my floor: that which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared to you.


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The burden of <n>Which was a city of the Ishmaelites and was so named by Dumah, (Gen_25:14).</n> Dumah. He calleth to me out of <n>A mountain of the Idumeans.</n> Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?


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The watchman said, The <n>He describes the unquietness of the people of Dumah, who were night and day in fear of their enemies, and ever ran to and fro to enquire news.</n> morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.


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The burden upon Arabia. In <n>For fear, the Arabians will flee into the woods and he appoints the way they will take.</n> the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.


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The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought <n>Signifying that for fear they will not tarry to eat or drink.</n> water to him that was thirsty, they met with their bread him that fled.


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For they flee from the drawen swords, euen from the drawen sword, &amp; from the bent bowe, and from the grieuousnesse of warre.


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For thus hath the Lord said to me, Within a year, <n>He appoints them respite for one year only, and then they would be destroyed.</n> according to the years of an <n>Read (Isa_16:14).</n> hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:


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And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of <n>Which was the name of a people of Arabia: and by the horrible destruction of all these nations, he teaches the Jews that there is no place for refuge or to escape God's wrath, but only to remain in his Church, and to live in his fear.</n> Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it].


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The burden of the <n>Meaning, Judea, which was compassed about with mountains, and was called the valley of visions, because of the prophets, who were always there, whom they named Seers.</n> valley of vision. What <n>He speaks to Jerusalem, whose inhabitants fled up to the housetops for fear of their enemies.</n> aileth thee now, that thou hast wholly gone up to the housetops?


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Thou that art full of <n>Which was wont to be full of people and joy.</n> shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain [men are] not slain <n>But for hunger.</n> with the sword, nor dead in battle.


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All thy rulers have fled together, they are <n>And led into captivity.</n> bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, [who] have fled from <n>Who have fled from other places to Jerusalem for comfort.</n> far.


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Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep <n>He shows what is the duty of the godly, when God's plagues hang over the Church, and especially of the ministers, (Jer_9:1).</n> bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.


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For [it is] a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of <n>That is, the shout of the enemies whom God had appointed to destroy the city.</n> crying to the mountains.


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And Elam <n>He reminds them how God delivered them once from Sennacherib, who brought the Persians and Syrians with him, that they might by returning to God avoid that great plague which they would suffer by Nebuchadnezzar.</n> bore the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.


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And thy chiefe valleis were full of charets, and the horsemen set themselues in aray against the gate.


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And he uncovered the <n>The secret place where the armour was: that is, in the house of the forest, (1Ki_7:2).</n> coverings of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.


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Ye have seen also <n>You forfeited the ruinous places which were neglected in times of peace: meaning, the whole City, and the City of David, which was within the compass of the other.</n> the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.


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And ye have numbered the houses <n>Either to pull down such as might hurt, or else to know what men they were able to make.</n> of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.


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Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the <n>To provide if need should be of water.</n> water of the old pool: but ye have not looked to <n>To God who made Jerusalem: that is, they trusted more in these worldly means than in God.</n> its maker, neither had respect to him that fashioned it long ago.


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And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call vnto weeping and mourning, and to baldnes and girding with sackecloth.


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And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us <n>Instead of repentance you were joyful and made great cheer, contemning the admonitions of the prophets saying Let us eat and drink for our prophets say that we will die tomorrow.</n> eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.


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And it was declared in ye eares of the Lorde of hostes. Surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you, til ye die, saith the Lord God of hostes.


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Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, repair to this <n>Because the Hebrew word also signifies one who nourishes and cherishes, there are those of the scholars who think that this wicked man nourished a secret friendship with the Assyrians and Egyptians to betray the Church and to provide for himself against all dangers: in the mean season he packed craftily, and got of the best offices into his hand under Hezekiah, ever aspiring to the highest.</n> treasurer, [even] to Shebna, who [is] over the house, [and say],


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What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre <n>Meaning, that he was a stranger, and came up of nothing.</n> here, [as] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that cut out an habitation <n>While he thought to make his name immortal by his famous sepulchre, he died most miserably among the Assyrians.</n> for himself in a rock?


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With violence he will surely turn and toss thee [like] a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory [shall be] the <n>Signifying that whatever dignity the wicked attain to, at length it will turn to the shame of those princes by whom they are preferred.</n> shame of thy lord's house.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will <n>To be steward again, out of which office he had been put, by the craft of Shebna.</n> call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:


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And with thy garments will I clothe him, and with thy girdle will I strengthen him: thy power also will I commit into his hande, and hee shalbe a father of the inhabitats of Ierusalem, and of the house of Iudah.


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And the <n>I will commit to him the full charge and government of the king's house.</n> key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.


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And I will fasten him [as] a <n>I will establish him, and confirm him in his office, of this phrase read (Ezr_9:9).</n> nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.


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And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, <n>Meaning that both small and great who will come from Eliakim, will have praise and glory by his faithful officer.</n> all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.


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In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the <n>He means Shebna, who in man's judgment should never have fallen.</n> nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that [was] upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken [it].


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The <n>{{See Isa_13:1}}</n> burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of <n>You of Cilicia that come here for merchandise.</n> Tarshish; for <n>Tyrus is destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.</n> it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of <n>By Chittim they meant all the isles and countries west of Palestine.</n> Chittim it is <n>All men know of this destruction.</n> revealed to them.


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Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have <n>Have hunted and enriched you.</n> replenished.


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And by great waters the <n>Meaning, the corn of Egypt which was fed by the overflowing of the Nile.</n> seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, [is] her revenue; and she is a merchandise of nations.


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Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the <n>That is, Tyrus, which was the chief part of the sea.</n> sea hath spoken, [even] the strength of the sea, saying, I <n>I have no people left in me, and am as a barren woman, that never had children.</n> travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish young men, [nor] bring up virgins.


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As at the report concerning Egypt, [so] shall they be <n>Because these two countries were joined in league together.</n> greatly pained at the report of Tyre.


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Pass ye over to <n>Tyrus wills other merchants to go to Cilicia, and to come no more there.</n> Tarshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the isle.


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Is not this that your glorious citie? her antiquitie is of ancient daies: her owne feete shall leade her afarre off to be a soiourner.


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Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the <n>Who makes her merchants like princes.</n> crowning [city], whose merchants [are] princes, whose traders [are] the honourable of the earth?


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The Lorde of hostes hath decreed this, to staine the pride of all glorie, and to bring to contempt all them that be glorious in the earth.


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Pass through thy land as a river, O <n>Your strength will no more serve you: therefore flee to other countries for comfort.</n> daughter of Tarshish: [there is] no more strength.


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He stretched out his hand vpon the sea: he shooke the kingdomes: the Lorde hath giuen a commaundement concerning the place of marchandise, to destroy the power thereof.


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And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed <n>For Tyre was never touched nor afflicted before.</n> virgin, <n>Because Tyrus was built by them of Zidon.</n> daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.


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Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, [till] the <n>The Chaldeans who dwelt in tents in the wilderness were gathered by the Assyrians into cities.</n> Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up its towers, they raised up its palaces; [and] he <n>The people of the Chaldeans destroyed the Assyrians: by which the prophet means that seeing the Chaldaeans were able to overcome the Assyrians who were so great a nation, much more will these two nations of Chaldea and Assyria be able to overthrow Tyrus.</n> brought it to ruin.


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Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your <n>That is, Tyrus by whom you are enriched.</n> strength is laid waste.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of <n>Tyrus will lie destroyed seventy years which he calls the reign of one king, or a man's age.</n> seventy years shall Tyre <n>Will use all craft and subtilty to entice men again to her.</n> sing as an harlot.


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Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; <n>She will labour by all means to recover her first credit, as a harlot when she is long forgotten, seeks by all means to entertain her lovers.</n> make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.


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And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her <n>Though she has been chastised by the Lord, yet she will return to her old wicked practises and for gain will give herself to all men's lusts like a harlot.</n> hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.


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And her merchandise and her hire shall be <n>He shows that God yet by the preaching of the gospel will call Tyre to repentance and turn her heart from evil and filthy gain, to the true worshipping of God, and liberality toward his saints.</n> holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, for sufficient food and for durable clothing.


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Behold, the LORD maketh the <n>This prophecy is as a conclusion of that which has been threatened to the Jews and other nations from the 13th chapter and therefore by the earth he means those lands which were named before.</n> earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants.


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And it shall be, as with the people, so with the <n>Because this was a name of dignity it was also applied to them who were not of Aaron's family, and so signifies also a man of dignity, as in (2Sa_8:18; 2Sa_20:25; 1Ch_18:17) and by these words the prophet signifies a horrible confusion, where there will be neither religion, order nor policy, (Hos_4:9).</n> priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.


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The earth lamenteth and fadeth away: the world is feeble and decaied: the proude people of the earth are weakened.


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The earth <n>That is, does not give her fruit for the sin of the people, whom the earth deceived of their nourishment because they deceived God of his honour.</n> also is defiled under its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.


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Therefore hath the <n>Written in the law, as in (Lev_26:14; Deu_28:16) thus the prophets used to apply particularly the menaces and promises which are general in the law.</n> curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell in it are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are <n>With heat and drought, or else that they were consumed with the fire of God's wrath.</n> burned, and few men left.


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The mirth of tabrets ceaseth: the noyse of them that reioyce, endeth: the ioye of the harpe ceaseth.


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The city of <n>Which as it was without order so now should it be brought to desolation and confusion: and this was not only meant of Jerusalem, but of all the other wicked cities.</n> confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may enter.


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[There is] a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the <n>Because they did not use God's benefits correctly their pleasures would fail, and they would fall to mourning.</n> mirth of the land is gone.


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When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] <n>He comforts the faithful, declaring that in this great desolation the Lord will assemble his Church which will praise his Name, as in (Isa_10:22).</n> as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.


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They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from <n>From the utmost coasts of the world, where the gospel will be preached as in (Isa_24:16).</n> the sea.


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Wherefore praise yee the Lord in the valleis, euen the Name of the Lorde God of Israel, in the yles of the sea.


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From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, [even] glory to the <n>Meaning to God, who will publish his gospel through all the world.</n> righteous. But I said, <n>I am consumed with care, considering the affliction of the Church, both by foreign enemies and domestic. Some read, My secret, my secret: that is, it was revealed to the prophet, that the good would be preserved and the wicked destroyed.</n> My leanness, my leanness, woe to me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.


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And it shall come to pass, [that] he who 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 <n>Meaning that God's wrath and vengeance would be over and under them, so that they would not escape no more than they did at Noah's flood.</n> windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.


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The earth shal reele to and fro like a drunken man, and shall be remooued like a tent, and the iniquitie thereof shall be heauie vpon it: so that it shall fall, and rise no more.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall <n>There is no power so high or mighty, but God will visit him with his rods.</n> punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.


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And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be <n>Not with his rods as in (Isa_24:21) but will be comforted.</n> visited.


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<n>When God restores his Church, the glory of it will so shine, and his ministers (who are called his ancient men) that the sun and the moon will be dark in comparison to it.</n>Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.


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O LORD, thou <n>Thus the prophet gives thanks to God because he will bring under subjection these nations by his corrections, and make them of his Church, who before were his enemies.</n> [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth.


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For thou hast made of a <n>Not only of Jerusalem, but also of these other cities which have been your enemies.</n> city an heap; [of] a fortified city a ruin: a palace <n>That is, a place where all vagabonds may live without danger and as it were at ease as in a palace.</n> of foreigners to be no city; it shall never be built.


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Therefore shall the <n>The arrogant and proud who before would not know you will by your corrections fear and glorify you.</n> strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.


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For thou hast been a defence to the poor, a defence to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast <n>The rage of the wicked is furious, till God breaks the force of it.</n> of the terrible ones [is] as a storm [against] the wall.


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Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the <n>Meaning, that as the heat is abated by the rain, so shall God bring down the rage of the wicked.</n> heat in a dry place; <n>As a cloud shades from the heat of the sun, so God will assuage the rejoicing of the wicked against the godly.</n> [even] the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.


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And on this <n>That is, in Zion, by which he means his Church, which would under Christ be assembled of the Jews and the Gentiles, and is here described under the figure of a costly banquet, as in (Mat_22:2).</n> mountain shall the LORD of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.


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And he will destroy on this mountain <n>Meaning, that ignorance and blindness, by which we are kept back from Christ.</n> the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.


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He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will <n>He will take away all opportunity for sorrow and fill his with perfect joy, (Rev_7:17, Rev_21:4).</n> wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he remove from all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it].


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And in that day shall men say, Loe, this is our God: we haue waited for him, and he wil saue vs. This is the Lorde, we haue waited for him: we will reioyce and be ioyfull in his saluation.


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For on this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and <n>By Moab are meant all the enemies of his Church.</n> Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the <n>There were two cities by this name: one in Judah, (1Ch_6:81) and another in the land of Moab, (Jer_48:2) which seems to have been a plentiful place of corn, (Isa_36:17).</n> dunghill.


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And he shall stretche out his hande in the middes of them (as he that swimmeth, stretcheth them out to swimme) and with the strength of his handes shall he bring downe their pride.


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The defence also of the height of thy walles shall he bring downe and lay lowe, and cast them to the ground, euen vnto the dust.


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In that day shall <n>This song was made to comfort the faithful when their captivity would come, assuring them also of their deliverance, for which they should sing this song.</n> this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; <n>God's protection and defence will be sufficient for us.</n> salvation will [God] appoint [for] walls and bulwarks.


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<n>He assures the godly to return after the captivity to Jerusalem.</n>Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.


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Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] <n>You have decreed so, and your purpose cannot be changed.</n> mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.


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For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; <n>There is no power so high that it can hinder God, when he will deliver his.</n> the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, [even] to the ground; he bringeth it [even] to the dust.


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The foot shall tread it down, [even] the feet of the <n>God will set the poor afflicted over the power of the wicked.</n> poor, [and] the steps of the needy.


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Yea, in the way of thy <n>We have constantly abode in the adversities with which you had afflicted us.</n> judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of [our] soul [is] to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.


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With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn <n>Meaning that by afflictions men will learn to fear God.</n> righteousness.


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Let favour <n>The wicked though God show them evident signs of his grace, will not be any better off.</n> be shown to the wicked, [yet] he will not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.


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LORD, [when] thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: [but] they shall see, and be ashamed for [their] <n>Through envy and indignation against your people.</n> envy at the people; yea, the fire of thy <n>The fire and vengeance with which you destroy your enemies.</n> enemies shall devour them.


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O LORD our God, [other] <n>The Babylonians, who have not governed according to your word.</n> lords beside thee have had dominion over us: [but] by thee only will we make mention of thy name.


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[They are] <n>Meaning that the reprobate even in this life will have the beginning of everlasting death.</n> dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.


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Thou hast increased <n>That is, the company of the faithful by the calling of the Gentiles.</n> the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed [it] far [to] all the ends of the earth.


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LORD, in trouble have they <n>That is, the faithful by the rods were moved to pray to you for deliverance.</n> visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them.


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As a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy <n>That is, in extreme sorrow.</n> sight, O LORD.


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We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth <n>Our sorrows had no end, neither did we enjoy the comfort that we looked for.</n> wind; we have not wrought any deliverance on the earth; neither have the inhabitants of <n>The wicked and men without religion were not destroyed.</n> the world fallen.


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<n>He comforts the faithful in their afflictions, showing them that even in death they will have life and that they would certainly rise to glory, the contrary would come to the wicked, as in (Isa_26:14).</n>Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy <n>As herbs dead in winter flourish again by the rain in the springtime, so they who lie in the dust will rise up to joy, when they feel the dew of God's grace.</n> dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.


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Come, my people, <n>He exhorts the faithful to be patient in their afflictions and to wait on God's work.</n> enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation shall be past.


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For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her <n>The earth will vomit and cast out the innocent blood, which it has drunk, that it may care for vengeance against the wicked.</n> blood, and shall no more cover her slain.


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In that <n>At the time appointed.</n> day the LORD with his severe and great and strong <n>That is, by his mighty power, and by his word. He prophecies here of the destruction of Satan and his kingdom under the name of Liviashan, Assur, and Egypt.</n> sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that [is] in the sea.


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In that day sing ye to her, A vineyard <n>Meaning, of the best wine, which this vineyard, that is, the Church would bring forth, as most agreeable to the Lord.</n> of red wine.


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I the Lorde doe keepe it: I will water it euery moment: least any assaile it, I will keepe it night and day.


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Fury <n>Therefore he will destroy the kingdom of Satan, because he loves his Church for his own mercies sake, and cannot be angry with it, but wishes that he may pour his anger on the wicked infidels, whom he means by briers and thorns.</n> [is] not in me: who would set the briers [and] thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.


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Or let him <n>He marvels that Israel will not come by gentleness, unless God make them to feel his rods, and so bring them to him.</n> take hold of my strength, [that] he may make peace with me; [and] he shall make peace with me.


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<n>Though I afflict and diminish my people for a time, yet will the root spring again and bring forth in great abundance.</n>He shall cause them that descend from Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.


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Hath he smitten <n>He shows that God punishes his in mercy, and his enemies in justice.</n> him, as he smote those that smote him? [or] is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?


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In <n>That is, you will not destroy the root of your Church, though the branches of it seem to perish by the sharp wind of affliction.</n> measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.


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By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this [is] all the <n>He shows that there is no true repentance nor full reconciliation to God, till the heart is purged from all idolatry and the monuments of it are destroyed.</n> fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten asunder, the idols and images shall not stand up.


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Yet the <n>Not withstanding his favour that he will show them later, yet Jerusalem will be destroyed, and grass for cattle will grow in it.</n> fortified city [shall be] desolate, [and] the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume its branches.


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When its boughs are withered, they shall be broken off: the <n>God will not have need of mighty enemies: for the very women will do it to their great shame.</n> women come, [and] set them on fire: for it [is] a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall gather from the channel of the <n>He will destroy all from the Euphrates to the Nile: for some fled toward Egypt, thinking to have escaped.</n> river to the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the great trumpet shall be <n>In the time of Cyrus, by whom they would be delivered: but this was chiefly accomplished under Christ.</n> blown, and they shall come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD on the holy mount at Jerusalem.


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Woe to the <n>Meaning, the proud kingdom of the Israelites, who were drunk with worldly prosperity.</n> crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty [is] a fading flower, who [are] on the head of the rich <n>Because the Israelites for the most part dwelt in plentiful valleys, he means by this the valley of them who had abundance of worldly prosperity and were as it were crowned with garlands.</n> valleys of them that are overcome with wine!


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Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and <n>He seems to mean the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were carried away.</n> strong one, [which] as a tempest of hail [and] a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.


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And the glorious beauty, which [is] on the head of the rich valley, shall be a fading flower, [and] as <n>Which is not of long continuance, but is soon ripe and first eaten.</n> the early fruit before the summer; which [when] he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.


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In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the <n>Signifying that the faithful who do not put their trust in any worldly prosperity but made God their glory, will be preserved.</n> remnant of his people,


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And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for <n>He will give counsel to the governor and strength to the captain to drive the enemies in at their own gates.</n> strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.


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But <n>Meaning, the hypocrites who were among them, and were altogether corrupt in life and doctrine, which is here meant by drunkenness and vomiting.</n> they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are overwhelmed with wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble [in] judgment.


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<n>For there was no one that was able to understand any good doctrine: but were foolish and as unfit as young babes.</n>Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.


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For <n>They must have one thing often repeated.</n> precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:


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For with stammering <n>Let one teach what he can, yet they will no more understand him, than if he spoke in a strange language.</n> lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.


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To whom <n>That is, the prophet, whom God would send.</n> he said, <n>This is the doctrine on which you ought to stay and rest.</n> This [is] the rest [with which] ye may <n>Show to them that are weary and have need of rest, what the true rest is.</n> cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not hear.


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But the word of the <n>Because they will not receive the word of God, when it is offered, it comes of their own malice, if after their hearts are so hardened, that they care not for it, as before, (Isa_6:9).</n> LORD was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.


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Wherefore, heare the worde of the Lorde, ye scornefull men that rule this people, which is at Ierusalem.


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Because ye have said, We have made a <n>They thought they had shifts to avoid God's judgments, and that they could escape though all others perished.</n> covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not reach us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under <n>Though the prophets condemned their idols and vain fruit of falsehood and vanity, yet the wicked thought in themselves that they would trust in these things.</n> falsehood have we hid ourselves:


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Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a <n>That is, Christ, by whom all the building must be tried and upheld, (Psa_118:22; Mat_21:42; Act_4:11; Rom_9:33; 1Pe_2:6).</n> tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth <n>He will be quiet, and seek no other remedies, but be content with Christ.</n> shall not make haste.


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Judgment also will I lay to the line, and <n>In the restitution of his Church, judgment and justice will reign.</n> righteousness to the plummet: and the <n>God's corrections and affliction.</n> hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow <n>Affliction will discover their vain confidence, which they kept secret to themselves.</n> the hiding place.


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And your couenant with death shalbe disanulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand: when a scourge shall runne ouer and passe through, then shall ye be trode downe by it.


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From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a <n>Terror and destruction will make you learn that which exhortations and gentleness could not bring you to.</n> vexation only [to] understand the report.


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For the bed is <n>Your affliction will be so sore, that you are not able to endure it.</n> shorter than that [a man] can stretch himself [on it]: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself [in it].


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For the LORD shall rise as [on] mount <n>When David overcame the Philistines, (2Sa_5:20; 1Ch_14:11).</n> Perazim, he shall be angry as [in] the valley <n>Where Joshua discomfited five kings of the Amorites, (Jos_10:12).</n> of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.


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Nowe therefore be no mockers, least your bondes increase: for I haue heard of the Lorde of hostes a consumption, euen determined vpon the whole earth.


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When he hath made <n>As the plowman has his appointed time, and various instruments for his labour, so has the Lord for his vengeance: for he punishes some at one time, and some at another, some after one sort, and some after another, so that his chosen seed is beaten and tried, but not broken as are the wicked.</n> even the face of it, doth he not cast abroad the black cummin, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the wheat in rows and the appointed barley and the rye in their place?


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For fitches shall not be threshed with a threshing instrument, neither shall a cart wheele be turned about vpon the cummin: but ye fitches are beaten out with a staffe, and cummin with a rod.


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Bread corne when it is threshed, hee doeth not alway thresh it, neither doeth the wheele of his cart still make a noyse, neither will he breake it with the teeth thereof.


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This also commeth from the Lorde of hostes, which is wonderfull in counsell, and excellent in workes.


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Woe to <n>Or Ariel: the Hebrew word Ariel signifies the Lion of God, and signifies the Altar, because the altar seemed to devour the sacrifice that was offered to God, as in (Eze_43:16).</n> Ariel, to Ariel, the city [where] David dwelt! add ye year to year; <n>Your vain confidence in your sacrifices will not last long.</n> let them kill sacrifices.


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Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be to me <n>Your city will be full of blood as an altar on which they sacrifice.</n> as Ariel.


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And I wil besiege thee as a circle, and fight against thee on a mount, and will cast vp ramparts against thee.


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And thou shalt be brought down, [and] shalt speak out of the <n>Your speech will be no longer be so lofty but abased and low as the very charmers who are in low places and whisper, so that their voice can scarcely by heard.</n> ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, like a medium, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.


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Moreover the multitude of thy <n>Your hired soldiers in whom you trusted, will be destroyed as dust or chaff in a whirlwind.</n> strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.


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Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hostes with thunder, and shaking, and a great noyse, a whirlewinde, and a tempest, and a flame of a deuouring fire.


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And the <n>The enemies that I will bring to destroy you, and that which you place your vain trust in will come at unawares even as a dream in the night. Some read as if this was a comfort to the Church for the destruction of their enemies.</n> multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her strong hold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.


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It shall even be as when an hungry [man] dreameth, and, behold, <n>That is, he thinks that he eats.</n> he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, [he is] faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.


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<n>Muse on this a long as ye like, yet you will find nothing but opportunity to be astonished for your prophets are blind, and therefore cannot direct you.</n>Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.


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For the Lord hath couered you with a spirite of slumber, and hath shut vp your eyes: the Prophets, &amp; your chiefe Seers hath he couered.


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And the vision of all is become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I <n>Meaning, that it is all alike, either to read, or not to read, unless God open the heart to understand.</n> cannot; for it [is] sealed:


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And the booke is giuen vnto him that can not reade, saying, Reade this, I pray thee; he shall say, I can not reade.


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Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people <n>Because they are hypocrites and not sincere in heart, as in (Mat_15:7-8).</n> draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their <n>That is, their religion was learned by man's doctrine, and not by my word.</n> fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:


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Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, [even] an wonderful work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall <n>Meaning, where God is not worshipped according to his word, both magistrates and ministers are fools and without understanding.</n> perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hid.


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Woe to them that <n>This is spoken of them who in heart despised God's word, and mocked at the admonitions but outwardly bore a good face.</n> seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?


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Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed <n>For all your craft says the Lord, you are not able to escape my hands any more than the clay that is in the potter's hands has power to deliver itself.</n> as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing formed say of him that formed it, He had no understanding?


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[Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be <n>Will there not be a change of all things? Carmel is a plentiful place in respect to what it will be then and may be taken for a forest, as in (Isa_32:15) and thus he speaks to comfort the faithful.</n> turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?


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And in that day shall the deafe heare the wordes of the booke, and the eyes of the blinde shall see out of obscuritie, and out of darkenesse.


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The meeke in the Lorde shall receiue ioye againe, and the poore men shall reioyce in the holy one of Israel.


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For the cruel man shal cease, &amp; the scornefull shalbe consumed: and all that hasted to iniquitie, shalbe cut off:


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That make a man an offender for a <n>They who went about to find fault with the prophets words, and would not abide admonitions, but would entangle them and bring them into danger.</n> word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing.


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Therefore thus sayth the Lorde vnto the house of Iaakob, euen hee that redeemed Abraham, Iaakob shall not now be confounded, neither now shal his face be pale.


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But when he seeth his children, the worke of mine hands, in the mids of him, they shal sanctifie my Name, and sanctifie the holy one of Iaakob, and shal feare the God of Israel.


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They also that erred in spirit <n>Signifying that unless God gives understanding and knowledge, man cannot but still err and murmur against him.</n> shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.


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Woe to the <n>Who contrary to their promise take not me for their protector and contrary to my commandment seek help from strangers.</n> rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not from me; and that <n>They seek shifts to cloak their doings and not godly means.</n> cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:


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Which walke forth to goe downe into Egypt (and haue not asked at my mouth) to strengthen them selues with the strength of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadowe of Egypt.


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For his <n>The chief of Israel went into Egypt as an ambassador to seek help and abode at these cities.</n> princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.


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They shalbe all ashamed of the people that cannot profite them, nor helpe nor doe them good, but shalbe a shame and also a reproche.


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The <n>That is, a heavy sentence or prophecy against the beasts that carried their treasures into Egypt, by the wilderness, which was south from Judah, signifying that if the beasts would not be spared, the men would be punished much more grievously.</n> burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from which [come] the young and the old lion, the viper and flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people [that] shall not profit [them].


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For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried <n>That is, to Jerusalem.</n> concerning this, Their strength <n>And not to come to and fro to seek help.</n> [is] to sit still.


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Now go, write <n>That is, this prophecy.</n> it before them in a tablet, and note it in a book, that it may be for the <n>That is may be a witness against them for all posterity.</n> time to come for ever and ever:


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That this [is] a rebellious people, lying children, children [that] will not <n>He shows what was the cause of their destruction and brings also all misery to man: that is, because they would not hear the word of God, but delighted to be flattered and led in error.</n> hear the law of the LORD:


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Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy <n>Threaten us not by the word of God, neither be so rigorous, nor talk to us in the Name of the Lord, as in (Jer_11:21).</n> deceits:


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Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in <n>Meaning, in their stubbornness against God and the admonitions of his prophets.</n> oppression and perverseness, and lean upon it:


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Therefore this iniquitie shalbe vnto you as a breach that falleth, or a swelling in an hie wall, whose breaking commeth suddenly in a moment.


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And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it <n>Signifying that the destruction of the wicked will be without recovery.</n> a piece to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit.


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For thus saith the <n>Often by his prophets he put you in remembrance of this, that you should only depend on him.</n> Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.


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But ye said, No; for we will flee upon <n>We will trust to escape by our horses.</n> horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.


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One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the <n>Whereas all the trees are cut down save two or three to make masts.</n> top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.


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And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be <n>He commends the great mercies of God, who with patience waits to call sinners to repentance.</n> gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD [is] a God of <n>Not only in punishing but in using moderation in the same, as in (Jer_10:24, Jer_30:11).</n> judgment: blessed [are] all they that wait for him.


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Surely a people shal dwell in Zion, and in Ierusalem: thou shalt weepe no more: he wil certainly haue mercy vpon thee at the voyce of thy crye: when he heareth thee, he wil answere thee.


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And when the Lorde hath giuen you the bread of aduersitie, and the water of affliction, thy raine shalbe no more kept backe, but thine eyes shall see thy raine.


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And thy ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, <n>God will direct all your ways and appoint you how to go either hither or thither.</n> walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.


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Ye shall <n>You will cast away your idols which you have made of gold and silver with all that belongs to them, as a most filthy thing and polluted.</n> defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a polluted cloth; thou shalt say to it, <n>Showing that there can be no true repentance, unless both in heart and deed we show ourselves enemies to idolatry.</n> Be gone from me.


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Then shall hee giue raine vnto thy seede, when thou shalt sowe the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shalbe fat and as oyle: in that day shall thy cattell be fed in large pastures.


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The oxen also and the yong asses, that till the ground, shall eate cleane prouender, which is winowed with the shoouel and with the fanne.


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And there shall be upon every high <n>By these various manners of speech he shows that the happiness of the Church will be so great, that no one is able sufficiently to express it.</n> mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers [and] streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.


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Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the <n>When the Church is restored, the glory of it will pass seven times the brightness of the sun: for by the sun and moon which are two excellent creations, he shows what will be the glory of the children of God in the kingdom of Christ.</n> sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.


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Behold, <n>This threatening is against the Assyrians the chief enemies of the people of God.</n> the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [of it is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:


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And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of <n>To drive you to nothing: and thus God consumes the wicked by that means, by which he cleanses his.</n> vanity: and [there shall be] a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing [them] to err.


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Ye shall have a song, as in the <n>You will rejoice at the destruction of your enemies, as they who sang for joy at the solemn feast, which began in the evening.</n> night [when] a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come upon the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.


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And the Lorde shall cause his glorious voyce to be heard, and shall declare the lighting downe of his arme with the anger of his countenance, and flame of a deuouring fire, with scattering and tempest, and hailestones.


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For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, [who] smote with a <n>God's plague.</n> rod.


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And [in] every place where the grounded staff shall pass, <n>It will destroy.</n> which the LORD shall lay upon him, [it] shall be with <n>With joy and assurance of the victory.</n> tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight <n>Against Babel, meaning the Assyrians and Babylonians.</n> with it.


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For <n>Here it is taken for hell, where the wicked are tormented, read (2Ki_23:10).</n> Tophet [is] ordained of old; yea, for the <n>So that their estate or degree cannot exempt the wicked.</n> king it is prepared; he hath made [it] <n>By these figurative speeches he declares the condition of he wicked after this life.</n> deep [and] large: the pile of it [is] fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.


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Woe to them that <n>There were two special reasons why the Israelites should not join with the Egyptians: first, because the Lord had commanded them never to return there, (Deu_17:16, Deu_28:68) lest they should forget the benefit of their redemption: and secondly, lest they should be corrupted with the superstition and idolatry of the Egyptians, and so forsake God, (Jer_2:18).</n> go down to Egypt for help; and rely on horses, and trust in chariots, because [they are] many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, neither <n>Meaning, that they forsake the Lord, if they put their trust in worldly things: for they cannot trust in both.</n> seek the LORD!


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Yet he also [is] <n>And knows their crafty enterprises, and will bring all to nought.</n> wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.


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Now the Egyptians [are] men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that <n>Meaning, both the Egyptians and the Israelites.</n> helpeth shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.


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For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, [he] will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come <n>He shows the Jews that if they would put their trust in him, he is so able, that no one can resist his power and so care over them, as a bird over her young, which ever flies about them for their defence: which similitude the scripture uses in various places, as in (Deu_32:11; Mat_23:37).</n> down to fight for mount Zion, and for its hill.


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As birds that flie, so shal the Lord of hostes defend Ierusalem by defending and deliuering, by passing through and preseruing it.


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Turn ye to [him from] whom the children of Israel have <n>He touches their conscience that they might earnestly feel their grievous sins, and so truly repent, for as much as now they are almost drowned and past recovery.</n> deeply revolted.


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For in that day every man shall <n>By these fruits your repentance will be known, as in (Isa_2:20).</n> cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made to you [for] a sin.


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<n>When your repentance appears.</n>Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be made vessels.


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And he shall pass over to his <n>This was accomplished soon after when Sennacherib's army was discomfited, and he fled to his castle in Nineveh for comfort.</n> strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose <n>To destroy his enemies.</n> fire [is] in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.


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Behold, <n>This prophecy is of Hezekiah, who was a figure of Christ, and therefore it should chiefly be referred to him.</n> a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall <n>By judgment and justice is meant an upright government, both in policy and religion.</n> rule in judgment.


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And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as streams of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in <n>Where men are weary with travelling for lack of water.</n> a weary land.


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And the eyes of <n>He promises to give the true light which is the pure doctrine of God's word, and understanding, and zeal of the same, are contrary to the threatenings against the wicked, (Isa_6:9, Isa_29:10).</n> them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.


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And the heart of the foolish shall vnderstand knowledge, and the tongue of the stutters shalbe ready to speake distinctly.


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The <n>Vice will no more be called virtue, nor virtue esteemed by power and riches.</n> vile person shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said [to be] bountiful.


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But the nigarde will speake of nigardnesse, and his heart will worke iniquitie, and do wickedly, and speake falsely against the Lorde, to make emptie the hungrie soule, and to cause the drinke of the thirstie to faile.


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For the weapons of the churle are wicked: hee deuiseth wicked counsels, to vndoe the poore with lying words: and to speake against the poore in iudgement.


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Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye <n>He prophecies of such calamity to come that they will not spare the women and children, and therefore wills them to take heed and provide.</n> careless daughters; give ear to my speech.


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Many days and years shall ye be troubled, <n>Meaning that the affliction would continue long and when one year was past, yet they should look for new plagues.</n> ye careless women: <n>God will take from you the means and opportunities, which made you contemn him: that is, abundance of worldly goods.</n> for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.


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Yee women, that are at ease, be astonied: feare, O yee carelesse women: put off the clothes: make bare, and girde sackcloth vpon the loynes.


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They shall lament for the <n>By the breasts he means the plentiful fields, by which men are nourished as children with the breast: or, the mothers for sorrow and heaviness will lack milk.</n> breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.


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Vpon the lande of my people shall growe thornes and briers: yea, vpon all the houses of ioye in the citie of reioysing,


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Because the palace shalbe forsaken, and the noise of the citie shalbe left: the towre and fortresse shalbe dennes for euer, &amp; the delite of wilde asses, and a pasture for flockes,


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Until the <n>That is, when the Church will be restored, thus the prophets after they have denounced God's judgments against the wicked, used to comfort the godly, lest they should faint.</n> spirit shall be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, and the <n>The field which is now fruitful, will be but as a barren forest in comparison to what it will be then as in (Isa_29:17) which will be fulfilled in Christ's time, for then they who were before as the barren wilderness, being regenerate will be fruitful and they who had some beginning of godliness, will bring forth fruit in such abundance, that their former life will seem but as a wilderness where no fruit was.</n> fruitful field shall be counted for a forest.


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And the worke of iustice shall bee peace, euen the worke of iustice and quietnesse, and assurance for euer.


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And my people shall dwell in the tabernacle of peace, and in sure dwellings, and in safe resting places.


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When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the <n>They will not need to build it in high places for fear of the enemy: for God will defend it, and turn away the storms from hurting their conveniences.</n> city shall be low in a low place.


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Blessed [are] ye <n>That is, upon fat ground and well watered, which brings forth in abundance, or in places which before were covered with waters, and now made dry for your uses.</n> that sow beside all waters, that <n>The fields will be so rank, that they will send out their cattle to eat up the first crop, which abundance will be signs of God's love and favour toward them.</n> send forth [there] the feet of the ox and the donkey.


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Woe to thee that <n>Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as were the Chaldeans and Assyrians, but chiefly of Sennacherib, but not only.</n> layest waste, and thou [wast] not laid waste; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt <n>When your appointed time will come that God will take away your power: and that which you have wrongfully gained, will be given to others, as in (Amo_5:11).</n> cease to lay waste, thou shalt be wasted; [and] when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, <n>The Chaldeans will do the same to the Assyrians, as the Assyrians did to Israel, and the Medes and Persians will do the same to the Chaldeans.</n> they shall deal treacherously with thee.


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<n>He declares by this what is the chief refuge of the faithful, when troubles come, to pray, and seek help from God.</n>O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for thee: be thou <n>Which helped our fathers as soon as they called on you.</n> their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.


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At the noise of the tumult the <n>That is, the Assyrians fled before the army of the Chaldeans, or the Chaldeans for fear of the Medes and Persians.</n> people fled; at the <n>When you, O Lord, lifted up your arm to punish your enemies.</n> lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.


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And your spoil shall be gathered [like] the gathering of the <n>You who as caterpillars destroyed with your number the whole world, will have no strength to resist your enemies the Chaldeans: but will be gathered on a heap and destroyed.</n> caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall <n>Meaning, the Medes and Persians against the Chaldeans.</n> he run upon them.


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And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of <n>That is, in the days of Hezekiah.</n> thy times, [and] strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD [is] his treasure.


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Behold, <n>Sent from Sennacherib.</n> their valiant ones shall cry outside: the <n>Whom they of Jerusalem sent to intreat of peace.</n> ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.


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The <n>These are the words of the ambassadors, when they returned from Sennacherib.</n> highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.


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The earth mourneth [and] languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed [and] hewn down: <n>Which was a plentiful country, meaning, that Sennacherib would destroy all.</n> Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off [their fruits].


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Now will I <n>To help and deliver my Church.</n> rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.


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<n>This is spoken against the enemies, who thought all was their own, but he shows that their enterprise will be in vain, and that the fire which they had kindled for others would consume them.</n>Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, [as] fire, shall devour you.


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And the people shall be as the burning of lime: and as the thornes cut vp, shall they be burnt in the fire.


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Ye [that are] <n>His vengeance will be so great that all the world will talk of it.</n> far off, hear what I have done; and, ye [that are] near, acknowledge my might.


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The <n>Which do not believe the words of the prophet, and the assurance of their deliverance.</n> sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?


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Hee that walketh in iustice, and speaketh righteous things, refusing gaine of oppression, shaking his handes from taking of gifts, stopping his eares from hearing of blood, and shutting his eyes from seeing euill.


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He shall dwell on <n>Meaning, that God will be a sure defence to all them that live according to his word.</n> high: his place of defence [shall be] the strong holds of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters [shall be] sure.


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Thy eyes shall <n>They will see Hezekiah delivered from his enemies and restored to honour and glory.</n> see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the <n>They will be no more shut in as they were by Sennacherib, but go where it pleases them.</n> land that is very far off.


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Thy heart <n>Before this liberty comes you will think that you are in great danger: for the enemy will so sharply assail you that one will cry «Where is the clerk that writes the names of them who are taxed?» another, «Where is the receiver?» another will cry for him that values the rich houses, but God will deliver you from this fear.</n> shall meditate terror. Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the towers?


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Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a darke speache, that thou canst not perceiue, and of a stammering tongue that thou canst not vnderstande.


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Looke vpon Zion the citie of our solemne feastes: thine eyes shall see Ierusalem a quiet habitation, a Tabernacle that can not be remooued: and the stakes thereof can neuer be taken away, neither shall any of the cordes thereof be broken.


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But there the glorious LORD [will be] to us a place <n>Let us be content with this small river of Shiloah and not desire the great streams and rivers, by which the enemies may bring in ships and destroy us.</n> of broad rivers [and] streams; in which shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass through it.


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Thy <n>He derides the Assyrians and enemies of the Church, declaring their destruction as they who perish by shipwreck.</n> tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the <n>He comforts the Church, and shows that they will be enriched with all benefits both of body and soul.</n> prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.


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And none inhabitant shall say, I am sicke: the people that dwell therein, shall haue their iniquitie forgiuen.


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Come near, ye <n>He prophecies of the destruction of the Edomites and other nations which were enemies to the Church.</n> nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that spring from it.


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For the indignation of the LORD [is] upon all nations, and [his] fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly <n>God has determined in his counsel and has given sentence for their destruction.</n> destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.


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And their slaine shalbe cast out, and their stincke shall come vp out of their bodies, and the mountaines shalbe melted with their blood.


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And all the host of heaven <n>He speaks this in respect to man's judgment, who in great fear and horrible troubles, think that heaven and earth perishes.</n> shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.


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For my sword shall be <n>I have determined in my secret counsel and in the heavens to destroy them till my sword is weary with shedding blood.</n> bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of <n>They had an opinion of holiness, because they came from the patriarch Isaac, but in effect were cursed by God, and enemies to his Church as the papists are.</n> my curse, to judgment.


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The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, [and] with the blood of <n>That is, both of young and old, poor and rich of his enemies.</n> lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in <n>That famous city will be consumed as a sacrifice burnt to ashes.</n> Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.


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And the <n>The mighty and rich will be as well destroyed as the inferiors.</n> unicorns shall come down with them, and the bulls with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.


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And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into <n>He alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen_19:24).</n> brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch.


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It shal not be quenched night nor day: the smoke thereof shall goe vp euermore: it shall be desolate from generation to generation: none shall passe through it for euer.


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But the cormorant <n>Read (Isa_13:21; Zep_2:14).</n> and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of <n>In vain will any man go about to build it again.</n> confusion, and the stones of emptiness.


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<n>Meaning, here will be neither order nor policy nor state of commonwealth.</n>They shall call her nobles to the kingdom, but none [shall be] there, and all her princes shall be nothing.


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And it shall bring foorth thornes in the palaces thereof, nettles and thistles in the strong holdes thereof, and it shall be an habitation for dragons, and a court for ostriches.


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The wild beasts of the desert shall also <n>Read (Isa_13:21).</n> meet with the wild beasts of the isle, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.


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There <n>Signifying that Idumea would be a horrible desolation and barren wilderness.</n> shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.


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Seek ye out of the <n>That is, in the law where such curses are threatened against the wicked.</n> book of the LORD, and read: no one of <n>That is, beasts and souls.</n> these shall fail, none shall lack her mate: for my <n>That is, the mouth of the Lord.</n> mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.


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And he hath cast the <n>He has given the beasts and souls Idumea for an inheritance.</n> lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell in it.


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The <n>He prophecies of the full restoration of the Church both of the Jews and Gentiles under Christ, which will be fully accomplished at the last day: although as yet it is compared to a desert and wilderness.</n> wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.


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It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of <n>The Church which was before compared to a barren wilderness will by Christ be made most plenteous and beautiful.</n> Carmel and Sharon, they shall <n>He shows that the presence of God is the reason that the Church brings forth fruit and flourishes.</n> see the glory of the LORD, [and] the excellence of our God.


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<n>He wills all to encourage one another, and especially the ministers to exhort and strengthen the weak, that they may patiently abide the coming of God, which is at hand.</n>Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.


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Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] <n>To destroy your enemies.</n> vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompence; he will come and save you.


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Then the eyes of the <n>When the knowledge of Christ is revealed.</n> blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.


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Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing: for in the <n>They who were barren and destitute of the graces of God, will have them given by Christ.</n> wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.


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And the dry ground shalbe as a poole, and the thirstie (as springs of water in the habitation of dragons: where they lay) shall be a place for reedes and rushes.


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And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of <n>It will be for the saints of God and not for the wicked.</n> holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it <n>God will lead and guide them, alluding to the bringing forth of Egypt.</n> [shall be] for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err [in it].


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No lion shall be there, nor [any] <n>As he threatens the wicked with destruction by this, (Isa_30:6).</n> ravenous beast shall go up on it, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]:


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And the <n>Whom the Lord will deliver from the captivity of Babylon.</n> ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.


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Now it came to pass <n>This history is rehearsed because it is as a seal and confirmation of the doctrine before, both for the threatenings and promises: that is, that God would permit his Church to be afflicted, but at length would send deliverance.</n> in the <n>When he had abolished superstition, and idolatry, and restored religion, yet God would exercise his Church to try their faith and patience.</n> fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, [that] Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.


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And the King of Asshur sent Rabshakeh from Lachish toward Ierusalem vnto King Hezekiah, with a great hoste, &amp; he stood by ye conduite of the vpper poole in the path of the fullers fielde.


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Then came forth to him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was <n>For he was now restored to his office, as Isaiah had prophesied in (Isa_22:20).</n> over the house, and Shebna <n>This declares that there were few godly to be found in the king's house, when he was driven to end this wicked man in such a weighty matter.</n> the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.


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And <n>Sennacherib's chief captain.</n> Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence [is] this in which thou trustest?


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I say, <n>He speaks this in the person of Hezekiah, falsely charging him that he put his trust in his wit and eloquence, while his only confidence was in the Lord.</n> [sayest thou], (but [they are but] vain words) [I have] counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?


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Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will enter his hand, and pierce it: so [is] <n>Satan laboured to pull the godly king from one vain confidence to another: that is, from trust in the Egyptians, whose power was weak and would deceive them, to yield himself to the Assyrians, and so not to hope for any help from God.</n> Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.


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But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God. Is not that he, whose hie places &amp; whose altars Hezekiah tooke downe, &amp; said to Iudah &amp; to Ierusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?


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Nowe therefore giue hostages to my lorde the King of Asshur, and I wil giue thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders vpon them.


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How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the <n>He reproaches Hezekiah's small power, which is not able to resist one of Sennacherib's least captains.</n> least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?


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And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said to me, <n>Thus the wicked to deceive us, will pretend the Name of the Lord: but we must try the spirits, whether they are of God or not.</n> Go up against this land, and destroy it.


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Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, <n>They were afraid, lest by his words, he should have stirred up the people against the king, and also pretended to grow to some appointment with him.</n> Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand [it]: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that [are] on the wall.


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Then said Rabshakeh, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee to speake these wordes, and not to the men that sit on the wall? that they may eate their owne doung, and drinke their owne pisse with you?


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So Rabshakeh stood, &amp; cryed with a loude voyce in the Iewes language, and sayd, Heare the wordes of the great King, of the King of Asshur.


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Neither let Hezekiah make you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lorde will surely deliuer vs: this citie shal not be giuen ouer into the hand of the King of Asshur.


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Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make <n>The Hebrew word signifies blessing, by which this wicked captain would have persuaded the people, that their condition would be better under Sennacherib than under Hezekiah.</n> [an agreement] with me [by] a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;


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Till I come and bring you to a land like your owne land, euen a land of wheate, and wine, a land of bread and vineyardes,


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Least Hezekiah deceiue you, saying, The Lord wil deliuer vs. Hath any of the gods of the nations deliuered his land out of the hand of the King of Asshur?


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Where [are] the gods of <n>That is, of Antioch in Syria, of which these two other cities also were: by which we see how every town had its peculiar idol, and how the wicked make God an idol because they do not understand that God makes them his scourge, and punishes cities for sin.</n> Hamath and Arphad? where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?


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Who is hee among all the gods of these lands, that hath deliuered their countrey out of mine hand, that the Lorde should deliuer Ierusalem out of mine hand?


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But they <n>Not that they did not show by evident signs that they detested his blasphemy: or they had now rent their clothes, but they knew it was in vain to use long reasoning with this infidel, whose reign they would have so much more provoked.</n> held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.


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Then came Eliakim the sonne of Hilkiah the steward of the house, and Shebna the chanceller, and Ioah the sonne of Asaph the recorder, vnto Hezekiah with rent clothes, and tolde him the wordes of Rabshakeh.


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And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard [it], that he <n>In sign of grief and repentance.</n> tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.


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And he sent Eliakim, who [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, to <n>To have comfort from him by the word of God, that his faith might be confirmed and so his prayer be more earnest: teaching by it that in all dangers these two are the only remedies to seek to God and his ministers.</n> Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.


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And they said to him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the <n>We are in as great sorrow as a woman in labour who cannot be delivered.</n> birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth.


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It may be the LORD thy God will <n>That is, will declare by effect that he has heard it: for when God defers to punish, it seems to the flesh, that he knows not the sin, or hears not the cause.</n> hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore <n>Declaring that the ministers office stands not only in comforting by the word, but also in praying for the people.</n> lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that is left.


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And Isaiah sayde vnto them, Thus say vnto your master, Thus saith the Lorde, Be not afrayd of the wordes that thou hast heard, wherewith the seruants of the king of Asshur haue blasphemed me.


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Behold, I will send a wind upon him, and he shall hear a <n>Of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, who will come and fight against him.</n> rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.


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So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against <n>Which was a city toward Egypt, thinking by it to have stayed the force of his enemies.</n> Libnah: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.


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He heard also men say of Tirhakah, King of Ethiopia, Beholde, he is come out to fight against thee: and when he heard it, he sent other messengers to Hezekiah, saying,


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Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, <n>Thus God would have him utter a most horrible blasphemy before his destruction: as to call the author of all truth a deceiver: some gather by this that Shebna had disclosed to Sennacherib the answer that Isaiah sent to the king.</n> deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.


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Beholde, thou hast heard what the Kings of Asshur haue done to all lands in destroying them, and shalt thou be deliuered?


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Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, [as] <n>Which was a city of the Medes.</n> Gozan, and <n>Called also Charre a city in Mesopotamia, from which Abraham came after his fathers death.</n> Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who [were] in Telassar?


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Where is the King of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the King of the citie of Sepharuaim, Hena and Iuah?


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So Hezekiah receiued the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went vp into the House of the Lorde, and Hezekiah spread it before the Lord.


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O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that <n>He grounds his prayer on God's promise, who promised to hear them from between the Cherubims.</n> dwellest [between] the cherubim, thou [art] the God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.


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Encline thine eare, O Lord, and heare: open thine eyes, O Lorde, and see, and heare all the wordes of Saneherib, who hath sent to blaspheme the liuing God.


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Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and <n>Meaning, the ten tribes.</n> their countries,


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And haue cast their gods in ye fire: for they were no gods, but the worke of mans hands, euen wood or stone: therefore they destroyed them.


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Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that <n>He declares for what cause he prayed, that they might be glorified by it through all the world.</n> all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD, [even] thou only.


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Then Isaiah the sonne of Amoz sent vnto Hezekiah, saying, Thus sayth the Lord God of Israel, Because thou hast prayed vnto me, concerning Saneherib king of Asshur,


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This [is] the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The <n>Whom God had chosen to himself as a chaste virgin, and over whom he had care to preserve her from the lusts of the tyrant, as a father would have over his daughter.</n> virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised, [and] derided thee; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.


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Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted thy eyes on high? [even] against the <n>Declaring by this that they who are enemies to God's Church fight against him whose quarrel his Church only maintains.</n> Holy One of Israel.


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By thy seruants hast thou railed on the Lord, and sayd, By the multitude of my charets I am come vp to the top of the mountaines to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut downe the hie cedars thereof, and the faire firre trees thereof, and I will goe vp to the heightes of his top and to the forest of his fruitfull places.


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I have dug, <n>He boasts of his policy in that he can find means to nourish his army: and of his power in that his army is so great, that it is able to dry up whole rivers, and to destroy the waters which the Jews had closed in.</n> and drank water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.


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Hast thou not heard long ago, [how] I have done it; [and] of ancient times, <n>Signifying that God did not make his Church to destroy it, but to preserve it: and therefore he says that he formed it of old, even in his eternal counsel which cannot be changed.</n> that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities [into] ruinous heaps.


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Therefore their inhabitants [were] of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as grain] blighted <n>He shows that the state and power of most flourishing cities endures but a moment in respect to the Church, which will remain forever, because God is the maintainer of it.</n> before it is grown up.


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But I know thy abode, and thy <n>Meaning, his counsels and enterprises.</n> going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.


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Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into my ears, therefore I will put my <n>Because Sennacherib showed himself as a devouring fish and furious beast, he uses these similarities to teach how he will take him and guide him.</n> hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou <n>You will lose your labour.</n> camest.


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And this [shall be] a <n>God gives signs after two sorts: some go before the thing as the signs that Moses worked in Egypt, which were for the confirmation of their faith, and some go after the thing, as the sacrifice, which they were commanded to make three days after their departure: and these latter are to keep the blessings of God in our remembrance, of which sort this here is.</n> sign to thee, Ye shall eat [this] year such as groweth of itself; and the <n>He promises that for two years the ground would feed them of itself.</n> second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.


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And <n>They whom God has delivered out of the hands of the Assyrians will prosper: and this properly belongs to the Church.</n> the remnant that hath escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:


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For out of Ierusalem shall goe a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeale of the Lord of hostes shall doe this.


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Therefore thus sayth the Lord, concerning the King of Asshur, He shall not enter into this citie, nor shoote an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a mount against it.


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For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant <n>For my promise sake made to David.</n> David's sake.


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Then the Angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the campe of Asshur an hundreth, fourescore, and fiue thousand: so when they arose early in the morning, beholde, they were all dead corpses.


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So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at <n>Which was the chiefest city of the Assyrians.</n> Nineveh.


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And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and <n>Who was also called Sardanapalus, in whose days ten years after Sennacherib's death the Chaldeans overcame the Assyrians by Merodach their king.</n> Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.


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In those <n>Soon after that the Assyrians were slain: so that God will have the exercise of his children continually, that they may learn only to depend on God and aspire to the heavens.</n> days was Hezekiah sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.


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Then Hezekiah <n>For his heart was touched with fear of God's judgment, seeing he had appointed him to die so quickly after his deliverance from so great calamity, as one unworthy to remain in that estate, and also foreseeing the great change that would come in the Church, as he left no son to reign after him: for as yet Manasseh was not born, and when he reigned, we see what a tyrant he was.</n> turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,


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And saide, I beseeche thee, Lord, remember nowe howe I haue walked before thee in trueth, and with a perfite heart, &amp; haue done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept sore.


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Goe, and say vnto Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of Dauid thy father, I haue heard thy prayer, and seene thy teares: behold, I will adde vnto thy dayes fifteene yeeres.


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And I will deliver thee and this city <n>He not only promises to prolong his life, but to give him rest and quietness from the Assyrians, who might have renewed their army to revenge their former defeat.</n> from the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.


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And <n>For Hezekiah had asked for a sign for the confirmation of his faith, as in (Isa_38:22; 2Ki_20:8), to which he was moved by the singular motion of God's spirit.</n> this [shall be] a sign to thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;


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Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which hath gone down on the <n>Read (2Ki_20:8).</n> sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it had gone down.


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<n>He left this song of his lamentation and thanksgiving to all posterity, as a monument of his own infirmity and thankful heart for God's benefits, as David did, (Psa_51:1).</n>The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness:


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I said in the <n>At which time it was told to me, that I would die.</n> cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the rest of my years.


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I said, <n>I will no more praise the Lord here in this temple among the faithful thus God permits his dearest children to want his consolation for a time that his grace afterward may appear when they feel their own weakness.</n> I shall not see the LORD, [even] the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.


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My age hath departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I <n>By my sin I have provoked God to take my life from me.</n> have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even] <n>That is, in one day, or shortly.</n> to night wilt thou make an end of me.


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I reckoned <n>Overnight I thought that I would live till morning, but my pangs in the night persuaded me the contrary: he shows the horror that the faithful have when they apprehend God's judgment against their sin.</n> till morning, [that], as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.


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Like a crane [or] a swallow, so I <n>I was so oppressed with sorrow, that I was not able to utter my words, but only to groan and sigh.</n> chattered: I mourned as a dove: my eyes fail [with looking] upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.


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What shall I say? <n>God has declared by his prophet that I will die and therefore I will yield to him.</n> he hath both spoken to me, and himself hath done [it]: I shall go <n>I will have no release, but continual sorrows while I live.</n> softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.


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O Lord, <n>They who will outlive the men that are now alive, and all they who are in these years will acknowledge this blessing.</n> by these [things men] live, and in all these [things is] the life of my spirit: so wilt thou <n>That after that you had condemned me to death you restored me to life.</n> restore me, and make me to live.


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Behold, for <n>While I thought to have lived in rest and ease being delivered from my enemy, I had grief upon grief.</n> peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my <n>He values more the remission of his sins, and God's favour than a thousand lives.</n> sins behind thy back.


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For <n>For as much as God has placed man in this world to glorify him, the godly take it as a sign of his wrath, when their days were shortened, either because they seemed unworthy for their sins to live longer in his service, or for their zeal to God's glory, seeing that there are so few in earth who regard it as in (Psa_6:5, Psa_115:17).</n> the grave cannot praise thee, death can [not] celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.


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The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I [do] this day: the father to the <n>All posterity will acknowledge and the fathers according to their duty toward their children will instruct them in your graces and mercies toward me.</n> children shall make known thy truth.


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The LORD [was ready] to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of <n>He shows what is the use of the Congregation and Church, that is, to give the Lord thanks for his benefits.</n> our life in the house of the LORD.


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For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and <n>Read (2Ki_20:7).</n> lay [it] for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.


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Hezekiah also <n>As in (Isa_38:7).</n> had said, What [is] the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?


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At that time <n>This was the first king of Babylon, who overcame the Assyrians in the tenth year of his reign.</n> Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent <n>Partly moved with the greatness of this miracle, partly because he showed himself an enemy to their enemies, but chiefly bacause he would join with them whom God favoured and have their help if needed.</n> letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.


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And Hezekiah was <n>Read (2Ki_20:13; 2Ch_32:25, 2Ch_32:31).</n> glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasuries: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them.


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Then came Isaiah the Prophet vnto King Hezekiah, &amp; said vnto him, What said these men? and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah saide, They are come from a farre countrey vnto me, from Babel.


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Then said he, What have <n>He asks him of the particulars, to make him understand the craft of the wicked, which he before being overcome with their flattery and blinded with ambition, could not see.</n> they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah answered, All that [is] in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.


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Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thy house, and [that] which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be <n>By the grievousness of the punishment is declared how greatly God detested ambition and vain glory.</n> carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.


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And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be <n>That is, officers and servants.</n> eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.


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<n>Read (2Ki_20:19).</n>Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good [is] the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.


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Comfort <n>This is a consolation for the Church, assuring them that they will never be destitute of prophets by which he exhorts the true ministers of God that then were, and those also that would come after him, to comfort the poor afflicted and to assure them of their deliverance both of body and soul.</n> ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.


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Speak ye kindly to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her <n>The time of her affliction.</n> warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received from the LORD'S hand <n>Meaning, sufficient as in (Isa_61:7) and full correction, or double grace, while she deserved double punishment.</n> double for all her sins.


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The <n>That is, of the prophets.</n> voice of him that crieth in the <n>That is, in Babylonia and other places, where they were kept in captivity and misery.</n> wilderness, <n>Meaning Cyrus and Darius who would deliver God's people out of captivity and make them a ready way to Jerusalem.</n> Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.


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Every valley shall be exalted, and every <n>Whatever may prevent or hinder this deliverance will be removed.</n> mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:


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And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all <n>This miracle will be so great, that it will be known through all the world.</n> flesh together shall see [it]: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].


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The <n>The voice of God which spoke to the prophet Isaiah.</n> voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh [is] grass, and all its <n>Meaning, all man's wisdom and natural powers, (Jam_1:10; 1Pe_1:24).</n> beauty [is] as the flower of the field:


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The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the <n>The spirit of God will discover the vanity in all that seems to have any excellency of themselves.</n> breath of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people [is] grass.


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The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the <n>Though considering the frailty of man's nature many of the Jews would perish, and so not be partakers of this deliverance, yet God's promise would be fulfilled, and they who remained, would feel the fruit of it.</n> word of our God shall stand for ever.


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O Zion, that bringest good tidings, go up upon the high <n>To publish this benefit through all the world.</n> mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it] up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold <n>He shows in one word the perfection of all man's happiness, which is to have God's presence.</n> your God!


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Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], and <n>His power will be sufficient without help of any other, and will have all means in himself to bring his will to pass.</n> his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.


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He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with <n>He will show his care and favour over them who are weak and tender.</n> young.


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Who hath comprehended the waters in the hollow of his <n>Declaring that as only God has all power, so does he use the same for the defence and maintenance of his Church.</n> hand, and measured heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?


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Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] <n>He shows God's infinite wisdom for the same.</n> his counsellor hath taught him?


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Of whom tooke he counsell, and who instructed him and taught him in the way of iudgement? or taught him knowledge, and shewed vnto him the way of vnderstanding?


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Beholde, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balance: beholde, he taketh away the yles as a litle dust.


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All nations before him [are] as <n>He speaks all this to the intent that they would neither fear man nor put their trust in any, save only in God.</n> nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.


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To whom then <n>By this he arms them against the idolatry with which they would be tempted in Babylon.</n> will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare to him?


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The workeman melteth an image, or the goldsmith beateth it out in golde, or the goldesmith maketh siluer plates.


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He that [is] so <n>He shows the rage of the idolaters, seeing that the poor who do not have enough to meet their own needs will defraud themselves to serve their idols.</n> impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree [that] will not rot; he seeketh for himself a skilful workman to prepare a graven image, [that] shall not be moved.


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Have ye not known? have ye not <n>Do you not have the word of God, which plainly condemns idolatry?</n> heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the <n>Can you not learn by the visible creatures whom God has made for your use, that you should not serve them or worship them?</n> foundations of the earth?


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He sitteth vpon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers, hee stretcheth out ye heauens, as a curtaine, and spreadeth them out, as a tent to dwell in.


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Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also <n>So that his power appears in every place we turn our eyes.</n> blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.


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Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these [things], that bringeth <n>Who has set in order the infinite number of the stars.</n> out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in power; not one faileth.


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Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, <n>He rebukes the Jews because they did not rest on the providence of God, but thought that he had forsaken them in their troubles.</n> My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over by my God?


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Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the <n>And therefore all power is in his hand to deliver when his time comes.</n> ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his <n>Showing that men must patiently abide, and not curiously seek out the cause of God's delay in our affliction.</n> understanding.


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But he giueth strength vnto him that fainteth, and vnto him that hath no strength, he encreaseth power.


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<n>They who trust in their own virtue, and do not acknowledge that all comes from God.</n>Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:


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But they that waite vpon the Lord, shall renue their strength: they shall lift vp the wings as the eagles: they shall runne, and not be wearie, and they shall walke and not faint.


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Keep <n>God as though he pleaded his cause with all nations requires silence, that he may be heard in his right.</n> silence before me, O isles; and let the people <n>That is, gather all their power and supports.</n> renew [their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.


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Who raised up the <n>Who called Abraham (who was the pattern of God's justice in delivering his Church) from the idolatry of the Chaldeans to go to and fro at his commandment and placed him in the land of Canaan.</n> righteous [man] from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made [him] rule over kings? he gave [them] as the dust to his sword, [and] as driven stubble to his bow.


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Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the <n>Who has created man and maintained his succession.</n> generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the <n>Though the world set up many gods, yet they diminish nothing of my glory: for I am all one, unchangeable, which have ever been and will be for ever.</n> first, and with the last; I [am] he.


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The isles saw [it], and <n>Considering my excellent works among my people.</n> feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and <n>They assembled themselves and conspired against me to maintain their idolatry.</n> came.


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They helped every one his neighbour; and [every one] said to his brother, <n>He notes the obstinacy of the idolaters to maintain their superstitions.</n> Be of good courage.


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So the workeman comforted the founder, and he that smote with ye hammer, him that smote by course, saying, It is ready for the sodering, and he fastened it with nayles that it shoulde not be mooued.


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But thou, Israel, [art] my <n>And therefore ought not to pollute yourself with the superstition of the Gentiles.</n> servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.


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For I haue taken thee from the endes of the earth, and called thee before the chiefe thereof, and saide vnto thee, Thou art my seruant: I haue chosen thee, and not cast thee away.


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Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the <n>That is, by the force of promise, in the performance of which I will show myself faithful and just.</n> right hand of my righteousness.


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Beholde, all they that prouoke thee, shalbe ashamed, and confounded: they shalbe as nothing, and they that striue with thee, shall perish.


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Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not <n>Because they will be destroyed.</n> find them, [even] them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.


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Fear not, thou <n>Thus he calls them because they were contemned of all the world, and that they considering their own poor estate should seek him for help.</n> worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.


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Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the <n>I will make you able to destroy all your enemies no matter how mighty, and this chiefly is referred to the kingdom of Christ.</n> mountains, and beat [them] small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.


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Thou shalt fanne them, and the winde shal carie them away, and the whirlewinde shal scatter them: and thou shalt reioyce in the Lord, &amp; shalt glory in the holy one of Israel.


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[When] <n>That is, they who will be afflicted in the captivity of Babylon.</n> the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.


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I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry <n>God would rather change the order of nature than that they should want anything, who cry to him by true faith in their miseries: declaring to them by this that they will lack nothing by the way, when they return from Babylon.</n> land springs of water.


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I will set in the wildernesse the cedar, the shittah tree, and the mirre tree, and the pine tree, and I will set in the wildernesse the firre tree, the elme and the boxe tree together.


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That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel <n>That is, has appointed and determined that it will come to pass.</n> hath created it.


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<n>He bids the idolaters to prove their religion and to bring forth their idols, that they may be tried whether they know all things, and can do all things, which if they cannot do, he concludes that they are not gods, but vile idols.</n>Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong [reasons], saith the King of Jacob.


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Let them bring foorth, and let them tell vs what shall come: let them shew the former things what they be, that wee may consider them, and knowe the latter ende of them: either declare vs things for to come.


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Shewe the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods: yea, doe good or doe euill, that we may declare it, and beholde it together.


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Behold, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination [is he that] <n>So that a man cannot make an idol, without doing that which God detests and abhors for he chooses his own devises and forsakes the Lords.</n> chooseth you.


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I have raised up [one] from the north, <n>Meaning, the Chaldeans.</n> and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he <n>That is, Cyrus, who will do all things in my name and by my direction: by which he means that both their captivity and deliverance will be ordered by God's providence and appointment.</n> call upon my name: and he shall come upon <n>Both of the Chaldeans and others.</n> princes as [upon] morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.


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Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and in times past, that we may say, [He is] righteous? verily, [there is] none that sheweth, verily, [there is] none that declareth, verily, [there is] none that heareth <n>Meaning, that none of the Gentile gods can work any of these things.</n> your words.


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The first [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold <n>That is, the Israelites who return from the captivity.</n> them: and I will give to Jerusalem <n>That is, a continual succession of prophets and ministers.</n> one that bringeth good tidings.


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For <n>When I looked whether the idols could do these things, I found that they had neither wisdom nor power to do anything: therefore he concludes that all are wicked that trust in such vanities.</n> I beheld, and [there was] no man; even among them, and [there was] no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.


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Behold <n>That is, Christ, who in respect to his manhood is called here servant. The prophets used to make mention of Christ after they declared any great promise, because he is the foundation on which all the promises are made and ratified.</n> my servant, <n>For I have committed all my power to him, as to a most faithful steward: some read, I will establish him: that is, in his office by giving him the fulness of my Spirit.</n> whom I uphold; my elect, [in whom] my soul <n>Only he is acceptable to me and they that come to me by him: for there is no other means of reconciliation, (Mat_12:18; Eph_4:1)</n> delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth <n>He will declare himself governor over the Gentiles and call them by his word, and rule them by his Spirit.</n> judgment to the Gentiles.


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He shall not <n>His coming will not be with pomp and noise, as earthly princes.</n> cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.


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A <n>He will not hurt the weak and feeble, but support and comfort them.</n> bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking <n>Meaning, the wick of a lamp or candle which is almost out, but he will cherish it and snuff it, that it may shine brighter.</n> flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment to <n>Although he favours the weak, yet will he not spare the wicked, but will judge them according to truth and equity.</n> truth.


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He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he hath <n>Till he has set all things in good order.</n> set judgment in the earth: and the <n>The Gentiles will desire to receive his doctrine.</n> isles shall wait for his law.


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Thus sayeth God the Lord (he that created the heauens and spred them abroad: he that stretched foorth the earth, and the buddes thereof: he that giueth breath vnto the people vpon it, and spirit to them that walke therein)


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I the LORD have called thee in <n>Meaning, to a lawful and just calling.</n> righteousness, and will hold <n>To assist and guide you.</n> thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a <n>As him, by whom the promise made to all nations in Abraham will be fulfilled.</n> covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;


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That thou maist open the eyes of the blind, and bring out the prisoners from the prison: and them that sitte in darkenesse, out of the prison house.


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I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my <n>I will not permit my glory to be diminished: which I would do if I were not faithful.</n> glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.


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Behold, the former things have <n>As in time past I have been true in my promises, so will I be in time to come.</n> come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.


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Sing vnto the Lorde a newe song, and his praise from the ende of the earth: yee that goe downe to the sea, and all that is therein: the yles and the inhabitants thereof.


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Let the wilderness and its cities lift up [their voice], the villages [that] <n>Meaning, the Arabians, under whom he comprehends all the people of the East.</n> Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.


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The LORD shall go forth as a <n>He shows the zeal of the Lord, and his power in the conservation of his Church.</n> mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.


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I have long time held my peace; I have been still, [and] restrained myself: [now] will I cry like a <n>I will haste to execute my vengeance, which I have so long deferred as a woman that desires to be delivered, when she is in labour.</n> travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.


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I will make waste mountaines, and hilles, and drie vp all their herbes, and I will make the floods ylands, and I will drie vp the pooles.


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And I will bring the <n>That is, my poor people, who are in perplexity and care.</n> blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do for them, and not forsake them.


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They shall be turned backe: they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in grauen images, and say to the molten images, Yee are our gods.


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Who [is] blind, but my <n>That is, Israel, which would have most light because of my Law.</n> servant? or deaf, as my <n>The priest to whom my word is committed, who would not only hear it himself but cause others to hear it.</n> messenger [that] I sent? who [is] blind as [he that is] <n>As the priests and prophets that would be lights to others?</n> perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?


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But this [is] a people <n>Because they will not acknowledge this blessing from the Lord, who is ready to deliver them, he permits them to be spoiled by their enemies through their own fault and incredulity.</n> robbed and plundered; [they are] all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, <n>There will be no one to comfort them, or to will the enemy to restore that which he has spoiled.</n> Restore.


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Who among you will give ear to this? [who] will hearken and hear for <n>Meaning, God's wrath.</n> the time to come?


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Who gaue Iaakob for a spoyle, and Israel to the robbers? Did not ye Lorde, because we haue sinned against him? for they woulde not walke in his waies, neither be obedient vnto his Lawe.


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Therefore hee hath powred vpon him his fierce wrath, and the strength of battell: and it set him on fire round about, and he knewe not, and it burned him vp, yet he considered not.


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But now thus saith the LORD <n>After these threatenings he promises deliverance to his Church, because he has regenerated them, adopted them, and called them.</n> that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, <n>When you see dangers and conspiracies on all sides, remember this benefit and the love of your God, and it will encourage you.</n> Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine.


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When thou passest through the <n>By water and fire he means all kinds of trouble and peril.</n> waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.


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For I [am] the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave <n>I turned Sennacherib's power against these countries, and made them suffer the affliction which you would have done, and so were as the payment of our ransom, (Isa_37:9).</n> Egypt [for] thy ransom, Cush and Seba for thee.


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Since thou hast been precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give <n>I will not spare any man, rather than you should perish, for God values one of his faithful more than all the wicked in the world.</n> men for thee, and people for thy life.


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Fear not: for I [am] with thee: I will bring thy seed from the <n>He prophecies of their deliverance from the captivity of Babylon, and so of the calling of the universal Church, alluding to that which is written in (Deu_30:3).</n> east, and gather thee from the west;


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I will say to the North, Giue: and to the South, Keepe not backe: bring my sonnes from farre, &amp; my daughters from the ends of the earth.


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[Even] every one that is called by my <n>Meaning that he could not be unmindful of them, unless he would neglect his own Name and glory.</n> name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; verily, I have made him.


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I will bring foorth the blinde people, and they shall haue eyes, and the deafe, and they shall haue eares.


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Let all the nations be gathered <n>Signifying that no power can resist him in doing this miraculous work, nor are all their idols able to do the same, as in (Isa_41:22).</n> together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forth their <n>To prove that the things which are spoken of them are true.</n> witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them <n>Showing that the malice of the wicked hinders them in the knowledge of the truth, because they will not hear when God speaks by his word.</n> hear, and say, [It is] truth.


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Ye <n>The prophets and people to whom I have given my law.</n> [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my <n>Meaning especially Christ, and by him all the faithful.</n> servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after me.


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I haue declared, and I haue saued, and I haue shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore you are my witnesses, sayeth the Lord, that I am God.


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Yea, before the day was, I am, and there is none that can deliuer out of mine hand: I will doe it, and who shall let it?


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Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have <n>By Darius and Cyrus.</n> brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry [is] in <n>They will cry when they would escape by my water, seeing that the course of the Euphrates is turned another way by the enemy.</n> the ships.


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Thus saith the LORD, who maketh a way in <n>When he delivered Israel from Pharaoh, (Exo_14:22).</n> the sea, and a path in the mighty <n>When the Israelites passed through Jordan, (Jos_3:17).</n> waters;


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Who bringeth <n>When he delivered his people out of Egypt.</n> forth the <n>Pharaoh and his mighty army.</n> chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick.


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Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the <n>Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon would be more famous than that from Egypt was, (Jer_23:7; Hag_2:10; 2Co_5:17; Rev_21:5, Rev_21:7).</n> wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.


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The <n>They will have such abundance of all things as they return home, even in the dry and barren places, that the very beasts will feel my blessings and will acknowledge them: much more men ought to be thankful for the same.</n> beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.


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But thou hast not <n>You have not worshipped me as you ought to have done.</n> called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been <n>Because you have not willingly received that which I commanded you, you grieved me. By which he shows that his mercies were the only reason for their deliverance, as they had deserved the contrary.</n> weary of me, O Israel.


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Thou <n>Meaning, in true faith and obedience.</n> hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.


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Thou hast bought me no sweet <n>Either for the composition of the sweet ointment (Exo_30:34), or for the sweet incense (Exo_30:7).</n> cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast <n>Whom God accept it as righteous or which at occasion because of the law and of thine holy calling.</n> burdened me with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thy iniquities.


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I, euen I am he that putteth away thine iniquities for mine owne sake, and will not remember thy sinnes.


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Put me in <n>If I forget anything that may make for your justification, put me in remembrance and speak for yourself.</n> remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.


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Thy <n>Your ancestors.</n> first father hath sinned, and thy <n>Your priests and your prophets.</n> teachers have transgressed against me.


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Therefore I have <n>That is, rejected, abhorred, and destroyed them in the wilderness and at other times.</n> profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.


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Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed <n>He treated and chose you from the beginning of his own mercy, and before you could merit anything.</n> thee from the womb, [who] will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, <n>Whom God accepts as righteous: or who had opportunity to it because of the law, and your holy calling.</n> whom I have chosen.


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For I will pour water upon him that is <n>Because man of himself is as the dry and barren land, he promises to moisten him with the waters of his Holy Spirit, (Joe_2:28; Joh_7:38; Act_2:17).</n> thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring:


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And they <n>That is, your children and posterity will increase wonderfully after their deliverance from Babylon.</n> shall spring up [as] among the grass, as willows by the water courses.


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One shall say, I [am] the LORD'S; and another <n>By this diversity of speech he means one thing, that is, that the people will be holy, and receive the true religion from God, as in (Psa_87:5).</n> shall call [himself] by the name of Jacob; and another shall write [with] his hand to the LORD, and surname [himself] by the name of Israel.


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Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; <n>I am always like myself, that is, merciful toward my Church, and most able to maintain it, as in (Isa_41:4, Isa_48:12; Rev_1:17, Rev_22:13).</n> I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and besides me [there is] no God.


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And who, as I, shall <n>And appoint them that will deliver the Church.</n> call, and shall declare it, and set <n>That is, tell me how I should proceed in this.</n> it in order for me, since I appointed the <n>God calls the Israelites ancient, because he preferred them to all others in his eternal election.</n> ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let <n>Meaning, their idols.</n> them show to them.


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Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? <n>Read (Isa_43:10).</n> ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? verily, [there is] no God; I know not [any].


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They that make a graven image [are] all of them vanity; and <n>Whatever they bestow on their idols, to make them seem glorious.</n> their delectable things shall not profit; and they [are] their own witnesses; <n>That is, the idolaters seeing that their idols are blind, are witnesses of their own blindness, and feeling that they are not able to help them, must confess that they have no power.</n> they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.


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Who hath formed a <n>Meaning that whatever is made by the hand of man, if it is valued as a god, is most detestable.</n> god, or cast a graven image [that] is <n>By which appears their blasphemy, who call images the books of the laity, seeing that they are not only here called unprofitable, but in (Isa_41:24) abominable. Jeremiah calls them the work of errors, (Jer_10:15), Habakkuk, a lying teacher (Hab_2:18).</n> profitable for nothing?


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Behold, all his <n>That is, who in any way consent either to the making or worshipping.</n> fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they [are] of men: let them all be gathered together, let them <n>Signifying, that the multitude will not then save the idolaters, when God will take vengeance, although they excuse themselves by it among men.</n> stand up; [yet] they shall fear, [and] they shall be ashamed together.


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The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is <n>He describes the raging affection of the idolaters, who forget their own necessities to set forth their devotion toward their idols.</n> hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.


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The carpenter stretcheth out [his] rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in <n>To place it in some Temple.</n> the house.


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He will hewe him downe cedars, and take the pine tree and the oke, and taketh courage among the trees of the forest: he planteth a firre tree, and the raine doeth nourish it.


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Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take of it, and <n>He sets forth the obstinacy and malice of the idolaters who though they see by daily experience that their idols are no better than the rest of the matter of which they are made, yet they refuse the one part, and make a god of the other, as the papists make their cake god, and the rest of their idols.</n> warm himself; indeed, he kindleth [it], and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth [it]; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down to it.


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He burneth part of it in the fire; with part of it he <n>That is, he either makes a table or trenchers.</n> eateth flesh; he roasteth meat, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth [himself], and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:


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And the residue thereof he maketh a god, euen his idole: he boweth vnto it, and worshippeth and prayeth vnto it, and sayeth, Deliuer me: for thou art my god.


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They have not known nor understood: <n>The prophet gives here an answer to all them who wonder how it is possible that any would be so blind as to commit such abomination, saying that God has blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts.</n> for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; [and] their hearts, that they cannot understand.


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And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor vnderstanding to say, I haue burnt halfe of it, euen in the fire, and haue baked bread also vpon the coles thereof: I haue rosted flesh, and eaten it, and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I bowe to the stocke of a tree?


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He feedeth <n>He is abused as one that would eat ashes, thinking to satisfy his hunger.</n> on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, [Is there] not a lie in my right hand?


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<n>Showing that man's heart is most inclined to idolatry, and therefore he warns his people by these examples, that they should not cleave to any but to the living God, when they should be among the idolaters.</n>Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou [art] my servant: I have formed thee; thou [art] my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten by me.


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I haue put away thy transgressions like a cloude, and thy sinnes, as a mist: turne vnto me, for I haue redeemed thee.


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<n>He shows that the work of the Lord toward his people will be so great, that the insensible creatures will be moved with it.</n>Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done [it]: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree in it: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.


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Thus sayeth the Lord thy redeemer and he that formed thee from the wombe, I am the Lord, that made all things, that spred out the heauens alone, and stretched out the earth by my selfe.


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That frustrateth the <n>He arms them against the soothsayers of Babylon, who would have said that they knew by the stars that God would not deliver Israel, and that Babylon would stand.</n> tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise [men] backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;


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That confirmeth the word of his <n>Of Isaiah and the rest of his prophets, who assured the Church of God's favour and deliverance.</n> servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up her decayed places:


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That saith to the <n>He shows that God's work would be no less notable in this their deliverance, than when he brought them out of Egypt, through the sea.</n> deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:


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That saith of <n>To assure them of their deliverance he names the person by whom it would be, more than a hundred years before he was born.</n> Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.


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Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to <n>To assure the Jews of their deliverance against the great temptations that they would abide, he names the person and the means.</n> Cyrus, whose <n>Because Cyrus would execute the office of a deliverer, God called him his anointed for a time, but after another sort than he called David.</n> right hand I have held, to <n>To guide him in the deliverance of my people.</n> subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;


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I will go before thee, and make the <n>I will take away all impediments and hindrances.</n> crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut asunder the bars of iron:


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And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest <n>Not that Cyrus knew God to worship him correctly, but he had a certain particular knowledge as profane men may have of his power, and so was compelled to deliver God's people.</n> know that I, the LORD, who call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel.


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For Jacob my servant's <n>Not for anything that is in you, or for your worthiness.</n> sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.


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I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God besides me: I <n>I have given you strength, power and authority.</n> girded thee, though thou hast not known me:


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That they may knowe from the rising of the sunne and from the West, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none other.


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I form the <n>I send peace and war, prosperity and adversity, as in (Amo_3:6).</n> light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].


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Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down <n>He comforts the Jews as if he would say, «Though when you look to the heavens and earth for comfort you see nothing now but signs of God's wrath, yet will cause them to bring forth certain tokens of your deliverance, and of the performance of my promise»: which is meant by righteousness.</n> righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have <n>I have appointed Cyrus to this use and purpose.</n> created it.


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<n>By this he bridles their impatience, who in adversity and trouble murmur against God, and will not tarry his pleasure: willing that man would match with his like, and not contend against God.</n>Woe to him that contendeth with his Maker! [Let] the potsherd [contend] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, <n>That is, it is not perfectly made.</n> He hath no hands?


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Woe vnto him that sayeth to his father, What hast thou begotten? or to his mother, What hast thou brought foorth?


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Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me <n>Instead of murmuring, humble yourselves and ask what you will for the consolation of my children, and you will be sure of it as you are of these things which are at your command. Some read it with an interrogation, and make it the application of the comparison.</n> of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.


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I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, [even] my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their <n>That is, the stars.</n> host have I commanded.


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I have raised <n>That is, Cyrus, that I may show by him the faithfulness of my promise in delivering my people.</n> him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for <n>Meaning, freely and without ransom, or any grievous condition.</n> price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.


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Thus saith the LORD, The labour <n>These people were tributaries to the Persians, and so king Artahshashte gave this money toward the building of the temple, (Ezr_7:27).</n> of Egypt, and merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to thee, and they shall be <n>While they were your enemies, they will now honour you and you will rule them: which was accomplished in the time of Christ.</n> thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down to thee, they shall make supplication to thee, [saying], Surely God [is] in thee; and [there is] none else, [there is] no God.


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Verily thou [art] a God that <n>By this he exhorts the Jews to patience, though their deliverance is deferred for a time: showing that they would not repent their long patience, but the wicked and idolaters will be destroyed.</n> hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.


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All they shalbe ashamed and also confounded: they shall goe to confusion together, that are the makers of images.


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But Israel shall be saued in the Lorde, with an euerlasting saluation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded worlde without ende.


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For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be <n>That is, of men, but chiefly of his Church.</n> inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else.


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I have not spoken in secret, <n>As do the false gods, who give uncertain answers.</n> in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.


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Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, <n>All you idolaters who though you seem to have worldly dignity yet in God's sight you are vile and abject.</n> ye [that have] escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god [that] cannot save.


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Tell ye and bring them, and let them take counsell together, who hath declared this from the beginning? or hath tolde it of olde? Haue not I the Lord? and there is none other God beside me, a iust God, and a Sauiour: there is none beside me.


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Look to me, and be ye saved, all <n>He calls the idolaters to repentance, willing them to look on him with the eye of faith.</n> the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else.


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I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] <n>That is, that the thing which I have promise will be faithfully performed.</n> righteousness, and shall not return, That to me every <n>The knowledge of God and the true worshipping will be through all the world, (Rom_14:11; Phi_2:10) by which he signifies that we must not only serve God in heart, but declare the same also by outward profession.</n> knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.


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Surely, <n>Meaning the faithful will feel and confess this.</n> shall [one] say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: [even] to him shall [men] come; and all that are <n>All the contemners of God.</n> incensed against him shall be ashamed.


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Bel boweth down, <n>These were the chief idols of Babylon.</n> Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the <n>Because they were of gold and silver, the Medes and Persians carried them away.</n> beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages [were] heavily loaded; [they were] a burden to the weary [beast].


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<n>The beasts that carried the idols fell down under their burden.</n>They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but <n>He derides the idols, who had neither soul nor sense.</n> themselves have gone into captivity.


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Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are <n>He shows the difference between the idols and the true God; for they must be carried by others, but God himself carries his, as in (Deu_32:11).</n> borne [by me] from the birth, which are carried from the womb:


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And [even] to [your] old age I [am] he; and [even] to gray hairs will I carry [you]: <n>Seeing I have begotten you, I will nourish and preserve you forever.</n> have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver [you].


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To whom will ye liken me, and make [me] equal, and <n>The people of God setting their own calamity, and the flourishing estate of the Babylonians, would be tempted to think that their God was not so mighty as the idols of their enemies: therefore he describes the original of all the idols to make them to be abhorred by all men: showing that the most that can be spoken in their commendation, is but to prove them vile.</n> compare me, that we may be like?


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They draw gold out of the bagge &amp; weigh siluer in the balance, and hire a goldsmith to make a god of it, and they bowe downe, and worship it.


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They beare it vpon the shoulders: they carie him and set him in his place: so doeth he stand, and cannot remoue from his place. Though one crie vnto him, yet can he not answere, nor deliuer him out of his tribulation.


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Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring [it] again to <n>Become wise, meaning, that all idolaters are without wit or sense, like mad men.</n> mind, O ye transgressors.


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Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none other God, and there is nothing like me,


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Which declare the last thing from the beginning: and from of olde, the things that were not done, saying, My counsell shall stand, and I will doe whatsoeuer I will.


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Calling a ravenous <n>That is, Cyrus, who will come as swift as a bird and fight against Babylon.</n> bird from the east, the man that executeth my <n>Him by whom I have appointed to execute that which I have determined.</n> counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken [it], I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed [it], I will also perform it.


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Hearken to me, ye stubborn in heart, that [are] far from <n>Who by your incredulity would prevent the performance of my promise.</n> righteousness:


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I bring <n>He shows that man's incredulity cannot abolish the promise of God, (Rom_3:3).</n> near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.


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Come down, and sit in the dust, O <n>Which has lived in wealth and wantonness and has not yet been overcome by any enemies.</n> virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: [there is] no <n>Your government will be taken from you.</n> throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.


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Take the millstones, and <n>You will be brought to most vile servitude: for to turn the mill was the office of slaves.</n> grind meal: uncover thy locks, <n>The things in which she sets her greatest pride, will be made vile, even from the head to the foot.</n> make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.


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Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet [thee as] a <n>I will use no humanity nor pity toward you.</n> man.


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<n>The Israelites will confess that the Lord does this for his Church's sake.</n>[As for] our redeemer, the LORD of hosts [is] his name, the Holy One of Israel.


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<n>For shame, and hide yourself.</n>Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.


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I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and given them into thy hand: thou didst show them no <n>They abused God's judgments, thinking that he punished the Israelites, because he would completely cast them off, and therefore instead of pitying their misery, you increased it.</n> mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.


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And thou saidest, I shal be a ladie for euer, so that thou diddest not set thy mind to these things, neither diddest thou remeber ye latter end therof.


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Therefore nowe heare, thou that art giuen to pleasures, and dwellest carelesse, Shee sayeth in her heart, I am and none els: I shall not sit as a widowe, neither shall knowe the losse of children.


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But these two [things] shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their <n>So that your punishment will be so great, as is possible to be imagined.</n> perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, [and] for the great abundance of thy enchantments.


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For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy <n>You thought that your own wisdom and policy would have saved you.</n> wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, I [am], and none else besides me.


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Therefore shall euill come vpon thee, and thou shalt not knowe the morning thereof: destruction shall fal vpon thee, which thou shalt not be able to put away: destruction shall come vpon thee suddenly, or thou beware.


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Stand now with thy enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast <n>He derides their vain confidence, who put their trust in anything but in God, condemning also such vain sciences, which serve no use, but to delude the people, and to bring them from depending only on God.</n> laboured from thy youth; if thou shalt be able to profit, if thou mayest prevail.


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Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the starre gasers, and prognosticatours stand vp, &amp; saue thee from these things, that shall come vpon thee.


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Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal <n>They will utterly perish, and no part of them remain.</n> to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it.


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Thus shall they be to thee with whom thou hast laboured, [even] thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his <n>They will flee everyone to that place, which he thought by his speculations to be most sure: but that will deceive them.</n> quarter; none shall save thee.


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Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are <n>He detects their hypocrisy who claimed to be Israelites, but were not so.</n> called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of <n>Meaning, the fountain and stock.</n> the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, [but] not in truth, nor in righteousness.


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For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves <n>They make a show, as though they would have no other God.</n> upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts [is] his name.


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I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth from my mouth, and I showed <n>He shows that they could not accuse him in anything, as he had performed whatever he had promised.</n> them; I did [them] suddenly, and they came to pass.


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Because I knew that <n>I have done for you more than I promised, that your stubbornness and impudency might have been overcome.</n> thou [art] obstinate, and thy neck [is] an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;


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I have even from the beginning declared [it] to thee; before it came to pass I showed <n>How you should be delivered out of Babylon.</n> [it] thee: lest thou shouldest say, My idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.


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Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye <n>Will you not acknowledge my blessing, and declare it to others?</n> declare [it]? I have showed ye new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.


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They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I <n>Showing that man's arrogancy is the reason God does not declare all things at once, lest they should attribute this knowledge to their own wisdom.</n> knew them.


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Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time [that] thy ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the <n>From the time that I brought you of Egypt: for that deliverance was as the birth of the Church.</n> womb.


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For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, <n>As it was my free mercy that I chose you: so it is my free mercy that must save you.</n> that I cut thee not off.


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Behold, I have refined thee, but <n>For I had respect to your weakness and infirmity: for in silver there is some pureness, but in us there is nothing but dross.</n> not with silver; I have <n>I took you out of the furnace where you would have been consumed.</n> chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.


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For my own sake, [even] for my own sake, will I do [it]: for how should [my name] <n>God joins the salvation of his with his own honour: so that they cannot perish, but his glory would be diminished, as in (Deu_32:27).</n> be profaned? <n>Read (Isa_42:8).</n> and I will not give my glory to another.


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Hearken to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; <n>Read (Isa_41:4).</n> I [am] he; I [am] the first, I also [am] the last.


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My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: [when] I call to them, <n>To obey me, and to do whatever I command them.</n> they stand up together.


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All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these [things]? The LORD hath loved <n>Meaning, Cyrus, whom he had chosen to destroy Babylon.</n> him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans.


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Come ye near to me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the <n>Since the time that I declared myself to your fathers.</n> beginning; from the time that it was, there [am] I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath <n>Thus the Prophet speaks for himself, and to assure them of these things.</n> sent me.


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Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I [am] the LORD thy God who teacheth thee <n>What things will do you good.</n> to profit, who leadeth thee by the way [that] thou shouldest go.


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Oh that thou haddest hearkened to my commaundements! then had thy prosperitie bene as the floude, and thy righteousnesse as the waues of the sea.


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Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy body like its gravel; his <n>That is, the prosperous estate of Israel.</n> name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.


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<n>After he had forewarned them of their captivity and of the reason for it, he shows them the great joy that will come of their deliverance.</n>Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it [even] to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.


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And they <n>He shows that it will be as easy to deliver them, as he did their fathers out of Egypt.</n> thirsted not [when] he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he broke the rock also, and the waters gushed out.


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[There is] no <n>Thus he speaks that the wicked hypocrites should not abuse God's promise, in whom was neither faith nor repentance, as in (Isa_57:21)</n> peace, saith the LORD, to the wicked.


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Listen, to me O isles; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called <n>This is spoken in the person of Christ, to assure the faithful that these promises should come to pass: for they were all made in him and in him would be performed.</n> me from <n>This is meant of the time that Christ would be manifested to the world, as in (Psa_2:7).</n> the womb; from the body of my mother hath he made mention of my name.


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And he hath made my mouth like a sharp <n>By the sword and shaft, he signifies the virtue and efficacy of Christ's doctrine.</n> sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he <n>God has taken me to his protection and defence: this chiefly is meant of Christ, and may also be applied to the ministers of his word.</n> hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;


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And said to me, Thou [art] my servant, O <n>By Israel is meant Christ, and all the body of the faithful, as the members and their head.</n> Israel, in whom I will be glorified.


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Then I said, I have <n>Thus Christ in his members complains that his labour and preaching take no effect, yet he is contented that his doings are approved by God.</n> laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: [yet] surely my judgment [is] with the LORD, and my work with my God.


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And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb [to be] his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, <n>Though the Jews refuse my doctrine, yet God will approve my ministry.</n> yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.


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And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give <n>To declare my gospel to the Gentiles, as in (Isa_42:6; Act_13:47; Luk_2:32).</n> thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth.


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Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a <n>Meaning, the Jews whom tyrants kept in bondage.</n> servant of rulers, Kings shall see and <n>The benefit of their deliverance will be so great, that great and small will acknowledge it, and revere God for it.</n> arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, [and] the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.


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Thus saith the LORD, <n>Thus he speaks of his Church when he would show his mercy toward it, (2Co_6:2).</n> In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give <n>Meaning, Christ alone.</n> thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the <n>Signifying that before Christ renewed the earth by his word, there is nothing but confusion and disorder.</n> earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;


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That thou mayest say to the <n>To them who are in the prison of sin and death.</n> prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their <n>Being in Christ's protection, they will be safe against all dangers, and free from fear of the enemies.</n> pastures [shall be] in all high places.


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They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy <n>Meaning, that there would be nothing in their way from Babylon that would hinder or hurt them: but this is accomplished spiritually.</n> on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.


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Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of <n>Meaning, the south country, so that Christ will deliver his from all the parts of the world.</n> Sinim.


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Sing, O <n>Read (Isa_44:23).</n> heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.


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But Zion said, The LORD hath <n>He objects what the faithful might say in their long affliction and answers to comfort them with a most proper comparison and full of consolation.</n> forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.


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Can a woman forget her childe, &amp; not haue compassion on the sonne of her wombe? Though they should forget, yet wil I not forget thee.


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Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] <n>Because I would not forget you.</n> hands; thy <n>Meaning, the good order of policy and discipline.</n> walls [are] continually before me.


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Thy children shall make <n>I have continual care to build you up again and to destroy your enemies.</n> haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee.


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Lift up thy eyes around, and behold: all these gather themselves together, [and] come to thee. [As] I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely <n>He shows what are the ornaments of the Church: to have many children, who are assembled by the word of God, and governed by his Spirit.</n> clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them [on thee], as a bride [doeth].


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For thy desolations, and thy waste places, and thy land destroied, shall surely be now narow for them that shall dwell in it, and they that did deuoure thee, shalbe farre away.


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The children of thy barennesse shall say againe in thine eares, The place is straict for mee: giue place to me that I may dwell.


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Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten mee these, seeing I am baren and desolate, a captiue and a wanderer to and fro? And who hath nourished them? Beholde, I was left alone: whence are these?


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Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the <n>He shows that Christ will not only gather this great number from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.</n> Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in [their] arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon [their] shoulders.


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And kings <n>Meaning, that kings will be converted to the gospel, and bestow their power and authority for the preservation of the Church.</n> shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow to thee with [their] face toward the earth, and lick up the <n>Being joined with the Church, they will humble themselves to Christ their head, and give him all honour.</n> dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.


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Shall the prey be <n>He makes this as an objection as though the Chaldeans were strong, and had them in just possession.</n> taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?


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But thus saith the LORD, <n>This is the answer to their objection, that no one is stronger than the Lord, neither has a more just title to them.</n> Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.


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And I will feed them that oppress thee with <n>I will cause them to destroy one another as in (Jdg_7:22; 2Ch_20:22; Isa_19:2).</n> their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.


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Thus saith the LORD, Where [is] the <n>Meaning, that he has not forsaken her, but through her own opportunity as in (Hos_2:2).</n> bill of your mother's divorcement, <n>Who would declare that I have cut her off: meaning, that they could show no one.</n> whom I have put away? or which of my creditors [is it] <n>Signifying, that he sold them not for any debt or poverty, but that they sold themselves to sins to buy their own lusts and pleasures.</n> to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.


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<n>He came by his prophets and ministers, but they would not believe their doctrine and convert.</n>Why, when I came, [was there] no man? when I called, [was there] none to answer? Is my hand <n>Am I not able to help you, as I have helped your fathers of old, when I dried up the Red sea, and killed the fish in the rivers, and also afterward in Jordan?</n> shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish smelleth rotten, because [there is] no water, and dieth for thirst.


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I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make <n>As I did in Egypt in token of my displeasure, (Exo_10:21).</n> sackcloth their covering.


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The Lord GOD hath given <n>The prophet represents here the person and charge of them that are justly called to the ministry by God's word.</n> me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him that is] <n>To him that is oppressed by affliction and misery.</n> weary: he awakeneth morning by morning, he awakeneth my ear to hear <n>As they who are taught, and made meet by him.</n> as the learned.


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I gave my back to the <n>I did not shrink from God for any persecution or calamity. By which he shows that the true ministers of God can look for no other recompense of the wicked, but after this sort, and also that is their comfort.</n> smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.


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For the Lord God will helpe me, therefore shall I not bee confounded: therefore haue I set my face like a flint, and I knowe that I shall not be ashamed.


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Hee is neere that iustifieth mee: who will contend with me? Let vs stande together: who is mine aduersarie? let him come neere to me.


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Beholde, the Lord God will helpe me: who is he that can condemne me? loe, they shall waxe olde as a garment: the mothe shall eate them vp.


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<n>Showing that it is a rare thing that any should obey correctly God's true ministers, though they labour to bring them from hell to heaven.</n>Who [is] among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh [in] darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God.


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Behold, all ye that kindle <n>You have sought consolation by your own devises, and have refused the light and consolation which God has offered: therefore you will remain in sorrow and not be comforted.</n> a fire, that surround [yourselves] with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.


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Hearken to me, <n>He comforts the Church, that they would not be discouraged for their small number.</n> ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look to the <n>That is, to Abraham, of whom you were begotten, and to Sarah of whom we were born.</n> rock [from which] ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit [from which] ye were dug.


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Consider Abraham your father, and Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.


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For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness <n>As plentiful as paradise, (Gen_2:8,9).</n> like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.


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Hearken to me, my people; and give ear to me, O my nation: for a <n>I will rule and govern my Church by my word and doctrine.</n> law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.


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My <n>The time that I will accomplish my promise.</n> righteousness [is] near; my salvation is gone forth, and my <n>My power and strength.</n> arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on my arm shall they trust.


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Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the <n>Forewarns them of the horrible changes and mutations of all things, and how he will preserve his church in the midst of all these dangers.</n> heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.


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Hearken vnto me, ye that know righteousnesse, the people in whose heart is my Lawe. Feare ye not the reproche of men, neither be ye afraide of their rebukes.


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For the mothe shall eate them vp like a garment, &amp; the worme shall eate them like wool: but my righteousnesse shalbe for euer, and my saluation from generation to generation.


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Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, <n>He puts them in remembrance of his great benefit for their deliverance out of Egypt, that by it they might learn to trust in him constantly.</n> in the generations of old. [Art] thou not that which hath cut <n>Meaning, Egypt, (Psa_87:4).</n> Rahab, [and] wounded the <n>That is, Pharaoh, (Eze_29:3).</n> dragon?


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Art not thou the same, which hath dried the Sea, euen the waters of the great deepe, making the depth of the Sea a way for the redeemed to passe ouer?


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Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall <n>From Babylon.</n> return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be] upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.


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I, euen I am he, that comfort you. Who art thou, that thou shouldest feare a mortall man, and the sonne of man, which shalbe made as grasse?


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And forgettest the Lorde thy maker, that hath spred out the heauens, and layde the foundations of the earth? and hast feared continually all the day, because of the rage of the oppressour, which is readie to destroy? Where is now the rage of the oppressour?


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The captive exile <n>He comforts them by the short time of their banishment: for in seventy years they were restored and the greatest empire of the world destroyed.</n> hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.


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And I am the Lorde thy God that deuided the Sea, when his waues roared: the Lord of hostes is his Name.


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And I have put my words in thy <n>Meaning, of Isaiah and of all true ministers who are defended by his protection.</n> mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the <n>That all things may be restored in heaven and earth, (Eph_1:10).</n> heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, Thou [art] my people.


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Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drank at the hand of the LORD the <n>You have been justly punished and sufficiently as (Isa_40:2) and this punishment in the elect is by measure, and according as God gives grace to hear it: but in the reprobate it is the just vengeance of God to drive them to an insensibleness and madness, as (Jer_25:15-16).</n> cup of his fury; thou hast drank the dregs of the cup of trembling, [and] wrung [them] out.


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There is none to guide her among all the sonnes, whome she hath brought foorth: there is none that taketh her by the hand of all the sonnes that she hath brought vp.


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These two <n>Of which the one is outward as of the things that come to the body, as war, and famine and the other is inward, and belongs to the mind: that is, to be without comfort: therefore he says «How will you be comforted?»</n> [things] have come to thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?


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Thy sonnes haue fainted, and lye at the head of all the streetes as a wilde bull in a nette, and are full of the wrath of the Lorde, and rebuke of thy God.


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Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunk, but <n>But with trouble and fear.</n> not with wine:


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Thus saith thy Lorde God, euen God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Beholde, I haue taken out of thine hande the cuppe of trembling, euen the dregges of the cuppe of my wrath: thou shalt drinke it no more.


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But I will put it into their hande that spoile thee: which haue said to thy soule, Bowe downe, that wee may goe ouer, and thou hast layde thy bodie as the grounde, and as the streete to them that went ouer.


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Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no <n>No wicked tyrant, who will subvert God's true religion and oppress the conscience.</n> more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.


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Shake thyself from the <n>Put off the garments of sorrow and heaviness and put on the apparel of joy and gladness.</n> dust; arise, [and] sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.


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For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for <n>The Babylonians paid nothing to me for you: therefore I will take you again without ransom.</n> nothing; and ye shall be redeemed without money.


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For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went <n>When Jacob went there in times of famine.</n> down in times past into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian <n>The Egyptians might pretend some reason to oppress my people because they went there and remained among them, but the Assyrians have no title to excuse their tyranny by, and therefore I will punish them more than I did the Egyptians.</n> oppressed them without cause.


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Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nothing? they that rule over them make them to wail, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is] <n>That is, by the wicked, who think that I have no power to deliver them.</n> blasphemed.


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Therefore my people shal know my Name: therefore they shall know in that day, that I am he that doe speake: beholde, it is I.


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How <n>Signifying that the joy and good tidings of their deliverance would make their affliction in the mean time more easy: but this is chiefly meant of the spiritual joy, as in (Nah_1:15; Rom_10:15).</n> beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that proclaimeth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that proclaimeth salvation; that saith to Zion, Thy God reigneth!


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<n>The prophets who are your watchmen will publish your deliverance: this was begun under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but was accomplished under Christ.</n>Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.


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O ye desolate places of Ierusalem, bee glad and reioyce together: for the Lorde hath comforted his people: he hath redeemed Ierusalem.


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The LORD hath made <n>As ready to smite his enemies and to deliver his people.</n> bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.


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<n>He warns the faithful not to pollute themselves with the superstitions of the Babylonians, as (Isa_48:20; 2Co_6:17).</n>Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from there, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that <n>For the time is at hand that the priests and Levites chiefly (and so by them all the people, who will be as the Levites in this office) will carry home vessels of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away.</n> bear the vessels of the LORD.


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For ye shall not go out <n>As your fathers did out of Egypt.</n> with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel [will be] your rear guard.


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Behold, my <n>Meaning Christ, by whom our spiritual deliverance would be wrought of which this was a sign.</n> servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.


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As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so <n>In the corrupt judgment of man, Christ in his person was not valued.</n> marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:


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So <n>He will spread his word through many nations.</n> shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their <n>In sign of reverence, and as being astonished at his excellency.</n> mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they <n>By the preaching of the gospel.</n> consider.


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Who <n>The prophet shows that very few will receive their preaching from Christ, and from their deliverance by him, (Joh_12:38; Rom_10:16).</n> hath believed our report? and to whom is the <n>Meaning, that no one can believe but whose hearts God touches with the virtue of his Holy Spirit.</n> arm of the LORD revealed?


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For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a <n>The beginning of Christ's kingdom will be small and contemptible in the sight of man, but it will grow wonderfully and flourish before God.</n> root out of a dry <n>Read (Isa_11:1).</n> ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him.


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He is despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with <n>Which was by God's singular providence for the comfort of sinners, (Heb_4:15).</n> grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.


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Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried <n>That is, the punishment due to our sins, for which he has both suffered and made satisfaction, (Mat_8:17; 1Pe_2:24).</n> our sorrows: yet we did esteem him <n>We judge evil, thinking that he was punished for his own sins, and not for ours.</n> stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.


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But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the <n>He was chastised for our reconciliation, (1Co_15:3).</n> chastisement for our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.


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All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the <n>Meaning, the punishment of our iniquity, and not the fault itself.</n> iniquity of us all.


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He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he <n>But willingly and patiently obeyed his father's appointment, (Mat_26:63; Act_8:32).</n> opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.


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He was taken from <n>From the cross and grave, after that he was condemned.</n> prison and from judgment: <n>Though he died for sin, yet after his resurrection he will live forever and this his death is to restore life to his members, (Rom_6:9).</n> and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.


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<n>God the Father delivered him into the hands of the wicked, and to the powers of the world to do with him what they would.</n>And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth.


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Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when <n>Christ by offering up himself will give life to his Church, and so cause them to live with him forever.</n> thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.


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He shall see of the <n>That is, the fruit and effect of his labour, which is the salvation of his Church.</n> travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my <n>Christ will justify by faith through his word, while Moses could not justify by the law.</n> righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.


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Therefore I will divide to him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because <n>Because he humbled himself, therefore he will be extolled to glory, (Phi_2:7-12).</n> he hath poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin <n>That is, of all that believe in him.</n> of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


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Sing, O <n>After he has declared the death of Christ, he speaks to the Church, because it would feel the fruit of the same, and calls her barren, because in the captivity she was a widow without hope to have any children.</n> barren, thou [that] didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou [that] didst not travail with child: for more [are] the children of the <n>The Church in this her affliction and captivity will bring forth more children, than when she was free, or this may be spoken by admiration, considering the great number that would come from her. Her deliverance under Cyrus was as her childhood, and therefore this was accomplished when she came of age, which was under the gospel.</n> desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.


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<n>Signifying that for the great number of children that God would give her, she would seem to lack room to lodge them.</n>Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them extend the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;


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For thou shalt increase on the right hande and on the left, and thy seede shall possesse the Gentiles, and dwell in the desolate cities.


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Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy <n>The afflictions which you suffered at the beginning.</n> youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy <n>When you were refused for your sins, (Isa_50:1).</n> widowhood any more.


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For thy <n>That regenerated you by his Holy Spirit.</n> Maker [is] thy husband; the LORD of hosts [is] his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole <n>His glory will shine through the whole world, which seemed before to be shut up in Judea.</n> earth shall he be called.


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For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a <n>As a wife who was forsaken in your youth.</n> wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.


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For a moment, in mine anger, I hid my face from thee for a litle season, but with euerlasting mercy haue I had compassion on thee, sayth the Lord thy redeemer.


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For this [is as] the <n>As sure as the promise that I made to Noah, that the waters would no longer overflow the earth.</n> waters of Noah to me: for [as] I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more overflow the earth; so have I sworn that I will not be angry with thee, nor rebuke thee.


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For the mountaines shall remoue and the hilles shall fall downe: but my mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall the couenant of my peace fall away, saith the Lord, that hath compassion on thee.


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O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, [and] not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with <n>By this he declares the excellent estate of the Church under Christ.</n> fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.


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And I will make thy windowes of emeraudes, and thy gates shining stones, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.


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And all thy children [shall be] <n>By the hearing of his word and inward moving of his spirit.</n> taught from the LORD; and great [shall be] the peace of thy children.


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In <n>In stability and sureness, so that it will stand forever.</n> righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.


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Behold, they shall surely assemble, [but] not by <n>And therefore will not prevail.</n> me: whoever shall assemble <n>Meaning, the domestic enemies of the Church, as are the hypocrites.</n> against thee shall fall for thy sake.


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Behold, I have created the <n>Signifying by this that man can do nothing, but so far as God gives power: for seeing that all are his creatures, he must govern and guide them.</n> smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.


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But all the weapons that are made against thee, shall not prosper: and euery tongue that shall rise against thee in iudgement, thou shalt condemne. This is the heritage of the Lords seruants, and their righteousnesse is of me, sayth the Lorde.


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Ho, every one that <n>Christ by proposing his graces and gifts to his Church, exempts the hypocrites who are full with their imagined works, and the Epicureans who are full with their worldly lusts, and so do not thirst after these waters.</n> thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath <n>Signifying that God's benefits cannot be bought for money.</n> no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy <n>By waters, wine, milk and bread, he means all things necessary to the spiritual life, as these are necessary to this corporal life.</n> wine and milk without money and without price.


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Why do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? <n>He reproves their ingratitude, who refuse those things that God offers willingly, and in the mean time spare neither cost nor labour to obtain those which are not profitable.</n> and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently to me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in <n>You will be fed abundantly.</n> fatness.


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Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the <n>The same covenant which through my mercy I ratified and confirmed to David, that it would be eternal, (2Sa_7:13; Act_13:34).</n> sure mercies of David.


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Behold, I have given <n>Meaning Christ, of whom David was a figure.</n> him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.


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Behold, thou shalt call a nation [that] thou knowest not, <n>That is, the Gentiles, who before you did not receive to be your people.</n> and nations [that] knew not thee shall run to thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.


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Seek ye the LORD while he may be <n>When he offers himself by the preaching of his word.</n> found, call ye upon him while he is near:


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Let the wicked <n>By this he shows that repentance must be joined with faith, and how we cannot call on God correctly, unless the fruits of our faith appear.</n> forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.


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For my <n>Although you are not soon reconciled one to another and judge me by yourselves, yet I am easy to be reconciled, yea, I offer my mercies to you.</n> thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD.


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For as ye heauens are higher then the earth, so are my wayes higher then your wayes, and my thoughtes aboue your thoughts.


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Surely as the raine commeth downe and the snow from heauen, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may giue seede to the sower, and bread vnto him that eateth,


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So shall my <n>If these small things have their effect, as daily experience shows much more will my promise which I have made and confirmed, bring to pass the things which I have spoken for your deliverance.</n> word be that proceedeth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] for which I sent it.


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For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the <n>Read (Isa_44:23, Isa_49:13)</n> mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands.


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Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD <n>To set forth his glory.</n> for a name, for an everlasting <n>Of God's deliverance, and that he will never forsake his Church.</n> sign [that] shall not be cut off.


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Thus saith the LORD, <n>God shows what he requires of them after he has delivered them: that is, the works of charity by which true faith is declared.</n> Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation [is] near to come, and my <n>Which I will declare toward you, and pour into your hearts by my Spirit.</n> righteousness to be revealed.


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Blessed [is] the man [that] doeth this, and the son of man [that] layeth hold on it; that keepeth the <n>Under the Sabbath he comprehends the whole service of God and true religion.</n> sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.


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Neither let the son of the foreigner, that <n>Let no one think himself unfit to receive the graces of the Lord: for the Lord will take away all impediments, and will forsake no one who will keep his true religion, and believe in him.</n> hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I [am] a dry tree.


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For thus saith the Lord vnto the Eunuches, that keepe my Sabbaths, and chuse the thing that pleaseth me, and take holde of my couenant,


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Even to them will I give in my <n>Meaning, in his Church.</n> house and within my walls a place and a <n>They will be called after my people, and be of the same religion: yea, under Christ the dignity of the faithful will be greater than the Jews were at that time.</n> name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.


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Also the strangers that cleaue vnto the Lord, to serue him, and to loue the Name of the Lord, and to be his seruants: euery one that keepeth the Sabbath, and polluteth it not and imbraceth my couenant,


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Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt <n>By this he means the spiritual service of God, to whom the faithful offer continual thanksgiving, yea themselves and all that they have, as a lively and acceptable sacrifice.</n> offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon my altar; for my house shall be called an house of prayer for <n>Not only for the Jews, but for all others, (Mat_21:13).</n> all people.


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The Lord God sayth, which gathereth the scattered of Israel, Yet wil I gather to them those that are to be gathered to them.


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All ye <n>Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as the Babylonians, Assyrians, etc thus he speaks to scare the hypocrites and to assure the faithful that when this comes they may know it was told to them before.</n> beasts of the field, come to devour, [yea], all ye beasts in the forest.


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His <n>He shows that this affliction will come through the fault of the governors, prophets and pastors, whose ignorance, negligence, greed and obstinacy provoked God's wrath against them.</n> watchmen [are] blind: they are all ignorant, they [are] all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.


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And these griedy dogs can neuer haue ynough: and these shepheards cannot vnderstand: for they all looke to their owne way, euery one for his aduantage, and for his owne purpose.


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Come ye, [say they], I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to <n>We are well yet, and to morrow will be better: therefore let us not fear the plagues before they come: thus the wicked contemned the admonition and exhortations which were made to them in the Name of God.</n> morrow shall be as this day, [and] much more abundant.


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The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth [it] to heart: and merciful men [are] taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away <n>From the plague that is at hand, and also because God will punish the wicked.</n> from the evil [to come].


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<n>The soul of the righteous will be in joy, and their body will rest in the grave to the time of the resurrection, because they walked before the Lord.</n>He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, [each one] walking [in] his uprightness.


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But draw near here, ye <n>He threatens the wicked hypocrites, who under the pretence of the name of God's people, derided God's word and his promises: boasting openly that they were the children of Abraham, but because they were not faithful and obedient as Abraham was, he calls them bastards and the children of sorcerers, who forsook God, and fled to wicked means for comfort.</n> sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.


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On whome haue ye iested? vpon whome haue ye gaped and thrust out your tongue? are not ye rebellious children, and a false seede?


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Inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the <n>Read (Lev_18:21; 2Ki_23:10).</n> children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?


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Among the smooth [stones] <n>Meaning every place was polluted with their idolatry: or every fair stone they found they made into an idol.</n> of the stream [is] thy portion; they, they [are] thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in <n>In the sacrifices which you offering before these idols thought you served God.</n> these?


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Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy <n>That is, your altars in an open place, like an impudent harlot, that cares not for the sight of her husband.</n> bed: even there thou wentest up to offer sacrifice.


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Behind the <n>Instead of setting up the word of God in the open places on the posts and doors to have it in remembrance, (Deu_6:9, Deu_27:1) you have set up signs and marks of your idolatry in every place.</n> doors also and the door posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast uncovered [thyself to another] than me, and hast gone up; thou hast <n>That is, increased your idolatry more and more.</n> enlarged thy bed, and made thee [a covenant] with them; thou didst love their bed where thou sawest [it].


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And thou wentest <n>You sought the favour of the Assyrians by gifts and presents to help you against the Egyptians and when they failed you sought the Babylonians, and more and more tormented yourself.</n> to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase [thyself even] to hell.


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Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; [yet] saidst thou not, <n>Although you saw all your labours to be in vain, yet would you never acknowledge your fault and leave off.</n> There is no hope: thou <n>He derides their unprofitable diligence, who thought to have made all sure, and yet were deceived.</n> hast found the life of thy hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.


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And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast <n>Broken promises with me.</n> lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid [it] to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of <n>Meaning, that the wicked abuse God's leniency, and grow to further wickedness.</n> old, and thou fearest me not?


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I will declare thy righteousness, <n>That is, your naughtiness, idolatry and impiety which the wicked call God's service: thus he derides their obstinacy.</n> and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.


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When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind <n>Meaning, the Assyrians and others, whose help they looked for.</n> shall carry them all away; vanity shall take [them]: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;


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<n>God will say to Darius and Cyrus.</n>And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.


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For thus sayth he that is hie and excellent, he that inhabiteth the eternitie, whose Name is the Holy one, I dwell in the high and holy place: with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirite to reuiue the spirite of the humble, and to giue life to them that are of a contrite heart.


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For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always angry: <n>I will not use my power against frail man, whose life is but a blast.</n> for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls [which] I have made.


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For the <n>That is, for the vices and faults of the people, which is here meant by covetousness.</n> iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and smote him: I hid myself, and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.


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I have seen his ways, and will <n>Though they were obstinate, yet I did not withdraw my mercy from them.</n> heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.


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I create the <n>That is, I frame the speech and words of my messengers who will bring peace.</n> fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to [him that is] <n>As well to him that is in captivity as to him that remains at home.</n> far off, and to [him that is] near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.


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But the wicked [are] like the troubled sea, when it <n>Their evil conscience always torments them and therefore they can never have rest, (Isa_48:22).</n> cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.


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Cry <n>The Lord thus speaks to the prophet willing him to use all diligence and severity to rebuke the hypocrites.</n> aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.


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Yet they <n>They will seem to worship me and have outward holiness.</n> seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.


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<n>He sets forth the malice and disdain of the hypocrites, who grudge against God, if their works are not accepted.</n>Why have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [why] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find <n>Thus he convinces the hypocrites by the second table and by their duty toward their neighbour, that they have neither faith nor religion.</n> pleasure, and exact all your labours.


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Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be <n>So long as you use contention and oppression, your fasting and prayers will not be heard.</n> heard on high.


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Is it such a fast that I haue chosen, that a man should afflict his soule for a day, and to bowe downe his head, as a bull rush, and to lie downe in sackecloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fasting, or an acceptable day to the Lord?


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[Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every <n>That you leave off all your extortions.</n> yoke?


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[Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou shouldest bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou shouldest cover him; and that thou shouldest not hide thyself from <n>For in him you see yourself as in a mirror.</n> thy own flesh?


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Then shall thy <n>That is, the prosperous estate with which God will bless you.</n> light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy <n>The testimony of your goodness will appear before God and man.</n> righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rear guard.


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Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I [am]. If thou shalt take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the <n>By which is meant all manner of injury.</n> finger, and speaking vanity;


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And [if] thou shalt <n>That is, have compassion on their miseries.</n> draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in <n>Your adversity will be turned into prosperity.</n> obscurity, and thy darkness [be] as the noonday:


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And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfie thy soule in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watred garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters faile not.


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And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old <n>Signifying that of the Jews would come such as would build again the ruins of Jerusalem and Judea: but chiefly this is meant of the spiritual Jerusalem, whose builders were the Apostles.</n> waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.


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If thou shalt <n>If you refrain yourself from your wicked works.</n> turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking [thy own] words:


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Then shalt thou delite in the Lord, &amp; I wil cause thee to mount vpon the hie places of the earth, and feede thee with the heritage of Iaakob thy father: for the mouth of ye Lord hath spoken it.


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Beholde, the Lordes hande is not shortened, that it can not saue: neither is his eare heauie, that it cannot heare.


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But your iniquities haue separated betweene you and your God, and your sinnes haue hidde his face from you, that he will not heare.


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For your hands are defiled with <n>Read (Isa_1:15).</n> blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath uttered perverseness.


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None calleth for justice, nor [any] <n>All men wink at the injuries and oppressions and none go about to remedy them.</n> pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and <n>According to their wicked devices, they hurt their neighbours.</n> bring forth iniquity.


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They hatch <n>Whatever comes from them is poison, and brings death.</n> eggs of an adder, and weave the spider's <n>They are profitable to no purpose.</n> web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.


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Their webbes shall be no garment, neither shall they couer themselues with their labours: for their workes are workes of iniquitie, &amp; the worke of crueltie is in their handes.


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Their feete runne to euill, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are wicked thoughts: desolation and destruction is in their paths.


