1 2 CHAP. V. come into garden, sister, [my] spouse ; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 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 3 locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile 4 them? My beloved put in his hand by the hole [of the door,] 5 and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped [with] myrrh, and my fingers [with] sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, [and] was gone my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no an7 swer. The 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. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I [am] sick of love. What [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, () thou fairest among women? what [is] thy beloved more than [anoth 10 er] beloved, that thou dost so charge us? My beloved [is] white 11 and ruddy,. the chiefest among ten thousand. His head [is as] 9 the most fine gold, his locks [are] bushy, [and] black as a raven. 12 His eyes [are] as [the eyes] of doves by the rivers of waters, 13 washed with milk, [and] fitly set. His cheeks [are] as a bed of spices, [as] sweet flowers: his lips [like] lilies, dropping sweet 14 smelling myrrh. His hands [are as] gold rings set with the beryl his belly [is as] bright ivory overlaid [with] sapphires. 15 His legs [are as] pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold : 16 his countenance [is] as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth [is] most sweet: yea, he [is] altogether lovely. [is] my beloved, and this [is] my friend, O daughters of Jeru salem. This WE CHAP. VI. HITHER is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we 2 may seek him with thee. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices; to feed in the gardens, and to 3 gather lilies. I [am] my beloved's, and my beloved [is] mine; he feedeth among the lilies. 4 Thou [art] beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah; comely as Jeru5 salem, terrible as [an army] with banners. Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. Thy teeth [are] as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and [there is] not one barren among them. 7 As a piece of a pomegranate [are] thy temples within thy locks. 8 There are three score queens, and four score concubines, and 9 virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is [but] one: she [is] the [only] one of her mother, she [is] the choice [one] of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; [yea,] the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. 10 Who [is] she [that] looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, [and] terrible as an [army] with banIl ners? I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, [and] to see whether the vine flourished, [and] the 12 pomegranates budded. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me 13 [like] the chariots of Amminadib. Return, return, O Shula mite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. 1 H CHAP. VII. OW beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daugh ter! the joints of thy thighs [are] like jewels, the work 2 of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy navel [is like] a round goblet, [which] wanteth not liquor: thy belly [is 3 like] an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts 4 [are] like two young roes [that are] twins. Thy neck [is] as a tower of ivory; thine eyes [like] the fish pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose [is] as the tower of Leb5 anon, which looketh toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the 6 king [is] held in the galleries. How fair and how pleasant art 7 thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like to a palm 3 tree, and thy breasts to clusters [of grapes.] I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also, thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of 9 thy nose like apples; And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth [down] sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 10 11 I[am] my beloved's, and his desire [is] toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the 12 villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, [whether] the tender grape appear, [and] the 13 pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates [are] all manner of pleasant [fruits,] new and old, [which] I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. 1 CHAP. VIII. THAT thou wert) as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee with2 out. I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would lead thee, [and] bring thee into my mother's house, [who] would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the 3 juice of my pomegranate. His left hand [should be under my 4 head, and his right hand should embrace me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] 5 love until he please. Who [is] this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree there thy mother brought thee forth there she brought thee forth [that] bear thee. 6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm : for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the grave: the coals thereof [are] coals of fire, [which hath] a most ve7 hement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. 8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall 9 we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she [be] a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver and 10 if she [be] a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. I [am] a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes Il as one that found favour. Solomon had a vineyard at Baalha mon he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for 12 the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand [pieces] of silver. My vineyard, which [is] mine, [is] before me thou, O Solomon, [must have] a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof 13 two hundred. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear [it.] 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. THE Book of the Prophet ISAIAH. INTRODUCTION. ISAIAH began to prophesy about seven hundred and sixty years before Christ, and continued to exercise his office in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, by whom it is generally thought he was sawn asunder, after a faithful discharge of his office for more than sixty years. He was contemporary with the prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Micah. He is remarkable for loftiness of thought and style; his images are often borrowed from the appendages of royalty, (which were familiar to him, being one of the royal family;) and are elegant and noble. His prophecies, especially of the Messiah, are so clear, minute, and circumstantial, that they might often seem to be rather narratives of things past, than predictions of things to come; hence he is commonly called the Evangelical prophet ; and it is observed, that there are more passages cited in the New Testament out of this one prophet, than out of all the others. Of these prophecies, the five first chapters are generally supposed to have been delivered in the reign of Uzziah, the sixth in the reign of Jotham, the following chapters to the fifteenth, in the reign of Ahaz, and the remainder in that of Hezekiah, CHAP. I. This chapter contains a severe remonstrance against the ingratitude and corruptions of the Jews in that age; warm exhortations to repentance; heavy threatenings to the impenitent; and, after previous corrections, gracious promises of better times. 1 HE vision of Isaiah, or, the clear discovery that was made Taiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Ju dah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophet, with a boldness and majesty becoming the herald of the most High, begins with calling on 2 the whole creation to attend when Jehovah speaks. Hear, O ́heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled 3 against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know their relation to me, my people doth not consider the great things that I have done for 4 them. Ah sinful nation! an expression of wonder, anger, grief, and shame, a people laden with iniquity, guilty of great and heinous sins, a seed of evil doers, a generation treading in the steps of their forefathers, children that are corrupters, or destroyers, both of themselves and others: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward, grown worse and worse, and insolently turned 5 their backs upon me. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more; intimating that corrections were intended for their amendment, but that when found ineffectual God would cease to use them the whole head is sick, and the whole 6 heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment; the whole state is corrupt, and no at7 tempts are made for reformation. Therefore Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as over8 thrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion, that is, Jerusalem, is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city; it is contemptible, like a mean hut in a vineyard, which is not regarded when the vintage is over; or rather, like a besieged city, from which every one is glad to flee. 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, a few good men, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah, entirely swallowed up and destroyed. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah, ye who are 11 like them in wickedness. To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not 12 in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? who hath required such kind of attendance 13 without sincerity and a pious disposition? Bring no more vain ob lations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with ; 14 [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble 15 unto me; I am weary to bear [them.] And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear, nor regard your services: your hands are full of blood; cruelty, oppression, and murder are found among you. 16 Therefore, if you hope for acceptance, Wash ye, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; • This was probably uttered in the reign of Ahaz, or when Jerusalem was besieged by Sennacherib. |