| BEAUTIFUL ZION |
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, And lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, And thy gates of carbuncles, And all thy borders of precious stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; And great shall be the peace of thy children: In righteousness shalt thou be established. Thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come nigh thee. Behold I have created the smith That bloweth the fire of coals, And bringeth forth a weapon for its work; And I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness which is of me, saith the Lord. |
| HO, EVERY ONE THAT THIRSTETH |
Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; Yea, come, buy wine and milk, Without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me; Hear, and your soul shall live: And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, Even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, And a leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, And a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee, Because of the Lord thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel; For he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: [{292}] And let him return unto the Lord, And he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, For he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, Saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, And be led forth with peace: The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, And all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. 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 for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. |
| ARISE, SHINE |
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, And gross darkness the peoples: But the Lord shall arise upon thee, And his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy light, And kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: They all gather themselves together, they come to thee: Thy sons shall come from far, And thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then thou shalt see and be lightened, And thine heart shall tremble and be enlarged; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; They all shall come from Sheba, they shall bring gold and frankincense, And shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. [{294}] All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered unto thee, The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee; They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, And I will beautify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, And as doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, And the ships of Tarshish first, To bring thy sons from far, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the Lord thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And strangers shall build up thy walls, And their kings shall minister unto thee: For in my wrath I smote thee, But in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Thy gates shall be open continually, They shall not be shut day nor night; That men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, And their kings led with them: For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 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. [{295}] And the sons of them that afflict thee Shall come bending unto thee; And all they that despised thee Shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet. 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 passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, A joy of many generations. For brass I will bring gold, And for iron I will bring silver, And for wood brass, 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; And thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, And thy gates Praise. 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 God thy glory. [{296}] 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. |
JEREMIAH
(The life of Jeremiah was a very sad one. He lived in those days just before the captivity when the nation with its splendid history was drifting to certain doom, as a ship drifts upon the rocks. The people were sunk in corruption; they had no ambition and no hope. Jeremiah could not save the nation from the fate which the selfishness and wickedness of the people had brought upon it, but he could cry out with all the strength of his strong soul against the evil. Politically he saw that submission to Egypt or to Babylon was inevitable, and he favored Babylon, because the northern kingdom was much stronger than the southern. The time of the activity of Jeremiah as a prophet was about forty years, from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah until after the beginning of the captivity. When the people of Judah were carried into captivity Jeremiah was allowed to remain behind. He hoped that the little remnant of people which was left in the land by the conquerors might be the seed of a new and better nation, but in this he was bitterly disappointed. The governor of the colony was assassinated, and Jeremiah was dragged off to Egypt by the frightened people. It is said that the prophet met his death by stoning, at the hands of his own countrymen. Jeremiah has been compared to Milton and to Savonarola. His life was one of those which seem to fail in their immediate purpose, but which have very great influence upon the progress of humanity.)
I
THE CALL OF JEREMIAH