[1] “Trophy.”—Cheyne. “Place.”—Arnold, Birks, Strachey.
ninth prophecy.—chap. lvi. 9–lvii. 21.
Neglect of Duty by the Leaders of Israel; and Errors of the People.
9. All ye beasts of the field, come near! To devour, all ye beasts of the forest! 10. His watchmen are blind; they (are) all ignorant,[2] they (are) all dumb dogs that cannot bark; raving, lying down, loving to slumber. 11. And the dogs are mightily greedy, they know no satiety; and such are shepherds! They know no understanding; they have all turned to their own ways, every one for his own gain throughout his border.
12. Come here, I will fetch wine, and let us drink meth; and to-morrow shall be like to-day, great, excessively abundant.
LVII.—1. The righteous perisheth, and no man taketh it to heart; and pious[1] men are swept away,[2] without any one considering that the righteous is swept away from misfortune.[3] 2. He entereth into peace: they rest upon their beds, whoever has walked straight before him.
3. And ye, draw near hither, children of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, and of her that committed whoredom! 4. Over whom do ye make yourselves merry? Over whom do ye open the mouth wide, and put the tongue out long? Are ye not the brood of apostasy, seed of lying? 5. Ye that inflame yourselves by the terabinths, under every green tree, ye slayers of children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks. 6. By the smooth ones of the brook was thy portion; they, they were thy lot: thou also pourest out libations to them, thou laidst meat-offerings upon them. Shall I be contented with this?[4] 7. Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set up thy bed; thou also ascendest thither to offer slain offerings. 8. And behind the door and the post thou didst place thy[5] reminder: for thou uncoveredst away from me, and ascendest; thou madest thy bed broad, and didst stipulate for thyself what they had to do: thou lovedst their lying with thee; thou sawest their manhood.[6]
9. And thou wentest to the king with oil, and didst measure copiously thy spices, and didst send thy messengers to a great distance, and didst deeply abase thyself, even to Hades. 10. Thou didst become wary of the greatness of thy way; yet thou saidst not, It is unattainable:[7] thou obtainedst the reward of thy strength: therefore thou wast not pained.[8]
11. And of whom hast thou been afraid, and (whom) didst thou fear, that thou becamest a liar, and didst not continue mindful of Me, and didst not take it to heart?
Am I not silent, and that for a long time, whereas thou wast not afraid of Me? 12. I, I will proclaim thy righteousness; and thy works, they will not profit thee. 13. When thou criest, let thy heaps of idols[9] save thee: but a wind carries them all away; a breath takes them off; and whoever putteth trust in Me will inherit the land, and take possession of My holy mountain.