Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature Part 15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

X

ISAIAH'S

DOOM OF BABYLON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; And their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; And ostriches shall dwell there, And satyrs shall dance there.

And wolves shall cry in their castles, And jackals in the pleasant palaces: And her time is near to come, And her days shall not be prolonged.

For the LORD will have compa.s.sion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the stranger shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and for handmaids; and they shall take them captive, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pa.s.s in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say:

How hath the oppressor ceased!

The golden city ceased!

The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, The sceptre of the rulers; He that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, That ruled the nations in anger, Is persecuted, And none hindereth!

The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: They break forth into singing: Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, And the cedars of Lebanon: 'Since thou art laid down, No feller is come up against us.'

h.e.l.l from beneath is moved for thee, To 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, All they shall answer and say unto thee: 'Art thou also become weak as we?

Art thou become like unto us?'

Thy pomp is brought down to h.e.l.l, And the noise of thy viols: The worm is spread under thee, And worms cover thee.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of the morning How art thou cut down to the ground, Which didst lay low the nations!

And thou saidst in thine heart, 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of G.o.d; And I will sit upon the mount of congregation, In the uttermost parts of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.'

Yet thou shalt be brought down to h.e.l.l, To the uttermost parts of the pit.

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, They shall consider thee: 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, That did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof, That let not loose his prisoners to their home?'

All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, Every one in his own house: But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre, Like an abominable branch, As the raiment of those that are slain, That are thrust through with the sword, That go down to the stones of the pit; As a carcase trodden under foot.

Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever. Prepare ye slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. And I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, saith the LORD. I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

XI

NAHUM'S DOOM OF NINEVEH

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The LORD is a jealous G.o.d and avengeth; the LORD avengeth and is full of wrath; the LORD taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.

The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that put their trust in him.

But with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of the place thereof, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

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What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make a full end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For though they be like tangled thorns, and be drenched as it were in their drink, they shall be devoured utterly as dry stubble. There is one gone forth out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, that counselleth wickedness. Thus saith the LORD: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pa.s.s away.