BOOK:Ecclesiastes
1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king
in Jerusalem.
1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of
vanities; all is vanity.
1:3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he
taketh under the sun?
1:4 One generation passeth away, and another generation
cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
1:5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and
hasteth to his place where he arose.
1:6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about
unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again
according to his circuits.
1:7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not
full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it:
the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
1:9 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.
1:10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See,
this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
1:11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither
shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that
shall come after.
1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath
God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the
sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
1:15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and
that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
1:16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am
come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have
been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom
and knowledge.
1:17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know
madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow.
2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee
with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
2:2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What
doeth it?
2:3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine,
yet acquainting mine heart with 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.
2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted
me vineyards:
2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees
in them of all kind of fruits:
2:6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the
wood that bringeth forth trees:
2:7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born
in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above
all that were in Jerusalem before me:
2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar
treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women
singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and
that of all sorts.
2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that
were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
2:10 And whatsoever mine 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 portion of all my labour.
2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had
wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all
was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness,
and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that
which hath been already done.
2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as
light excelleth darkness.
2:14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool
walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth
to them all.
2:15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the
fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I
said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
2:16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than
of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall
all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
2:17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is
wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation
of spirit.
2:18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under
the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
2:19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or
a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured,
and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
2:20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair
of all the labour which I took under the sun.
2:21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and
in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein
shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
2:22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the
vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
2:23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief;
yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he
should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his
labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto,
more than I?
2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight
wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to
gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God.
This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven:
3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break
down, and a time to build up;
3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn,
and a time to dance;
3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather
stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep,
and a time to cast away;
3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep
silence, and a time to speak;
3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war,
and a time of peace.
3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein
he laboureth?
3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to
the sons of men to be exercised in it.
3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:
also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out
the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a
man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and
enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for
ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth
it, that men should fear before him.
3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to
be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment,
that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity
was there.
3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous
and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every
work.
3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the
sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that
they themselves are beasts.
3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth
beasts; even one thing 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.
3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and
all turn to dust again.
3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward,
and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better,
than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion:
for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
4:1 So 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.
4:2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead
more than the living which are yet alive.
4:3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not
yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right
work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity
and vexation of spirit.
4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his
own flesh.
4:6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the
hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea,
he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour;
neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do
I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is
a sore travail.
4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good
reward for their labour.
4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow:
but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to
help him up.
4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat:
but how can one be warm alone?
4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand
him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
4:13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and
foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
4:14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also
he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
4:15 I considered all the living which walk under the
sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
4:16 There is no 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.
5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,
and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they
consider not that they do evil.
5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart
be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou
upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business;
and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay
it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that
thou shouldest vow and not pay.
5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither
say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be
angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
5:7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there
are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter:
for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than
they.
5:9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the
king himself is served by the field.
5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with
silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
5:11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat
them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding
of them with their eyes?
5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he
eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to
sleep.
5:13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the
sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
5:14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he
begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
5:15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall
he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which
he may carry away in his hand.
5:16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points
as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured
for the wind?
5:17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he
hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
5:18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely
for one to 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.
5:19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and
wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion,
and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
5:20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life;
because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,
and it is common among men:
6:2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and
honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth,
yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it:
this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
6:3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many
years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled
with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth
is better than he.
6:4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness,
and his name shall be covered with darkness.
6:5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any
thing: this hath more rest than the other.
6:6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told,
yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
6:7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the
appetite is not filled.
6:8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath
the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
6:9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering
of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
6:10 That which hath been is named already, and it is
known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier
than he.
6:11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity,
what is man the better?
6:12 For who knoweth what is 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?
7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and
the day of death than the day of one's birth.
7:2 It is better to go to the house of 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.
7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness
of the countenance the heart is made better.
7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than
for a man to hear the song of fools.
7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is
the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
7:7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift
destroyeth the heart.
7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof:
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger
resteth in the bosom of fools.
7:10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former
days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning
this.
7:11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there
is profit to them that see the sun.
7:12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence:
but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that
have it.
7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that
straight, which he hath made crooked?
7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day
of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other,
to the end that man should find nothing after him.
7:15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity:
there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a
wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.
7:16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself
over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself ?
7:17 Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish:
why shouldest thou die before thy time?
7:18 It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this;
yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall
come forth of them all.
7:19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty
men which are in the city.
7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth
good, and sinneth not.
7:21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken;
lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
7:22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that
thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.
7:23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will
be wise; but it was far from me.
7:24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can
find it out?
7:25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and
to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness
of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose
heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall
escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
7:27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting
one by one, to find out the account:
7:28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man
among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man
upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
8:1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation
of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of
his face shall be changed.
8:2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and
that in regard of the oath of God.
8:3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in
an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
8:4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and
who may say unto him, What doest thou?
8:5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil
thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
8:6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment,
therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
8:7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can
tell him when it shall be?
8:8 There is no man that hath power 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.
8:9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every
work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth
over another to his own hurt.
8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and
gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where
they had so done: this is also vanity.
8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to
do evil.
8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his
days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that
fear God, which fear before him:
8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither
shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not
before God.
8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth;
that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of
the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according
to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
8:15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better
thing under the sun, than 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.
8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to
see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither
day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot
find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour
to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man
think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
9:1 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 hatred by all that is before
them.
9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event
to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and
to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not:
as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth
an oath.
9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under
the sun, that there is one event unto 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.
9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there
is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the
dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory
of them is forgotten.
9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy,
is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing
that is done under the sun.
9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy
wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
9:8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head
lack no ointment.
9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all
the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the
sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life,
and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in
the grave, whither thou goest.
9:11 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 chance happeneth to them all.
9:12 For man also knoweth not his 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.
9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and
it seemed great unto me:
9:14 There was a little city, and few men within it;
and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great
bulwarks against it:
9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he
by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor
man.
9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless
the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than
the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner
destroyeth much good.
10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary
to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in
reputation for wisdom and honour.
10:2 A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's
heart at his left.
10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the
way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee,
leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.
10:5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,
as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
10:6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit
in low place.
10:7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking
as servants upon the earth.
10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso
breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
10:9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and
he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge,
then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment;
and a babbler is no better.
10:12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but
the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness:
and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell
what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of
them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child,
and thy princes eat in the morning!
10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the
son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not
for drunkenness!
10:18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and
through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry:
but money answereth all things.
10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and
curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry
the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find
it after many days.
11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for
thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
11:3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves
upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north,
in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he
that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
11:5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit,
nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so
thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
11:6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening
withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either
this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
11:7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it
is for the eyes to behold the sun:
11:8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them
all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many.
All that cometh is vanity.
11:9 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 thine
heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment.
11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put
away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt
say, I have no pleasure in them;
12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the
stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
12:3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because
they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when
the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of
the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is
high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man
goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden
bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern.
12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he
still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out,
and set in order many proverbs.
12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words:
and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails
fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of
making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the
flesh.
12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with
every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
BOOK:Song of Solomon
1:1 The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for
thy love is better than wine.
1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name
is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought
me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember
thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
1:5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
1:6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the
sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they
made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
1:7 Tell me, 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 thy companions?
1:8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go
thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the
shepherds' tents.
1:9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of
horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
1:10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck
with chains of gold.
1:11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of
silver.
1:12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard
sendeth forth the smell thereof.
1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he
shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
1:14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in
the vineyards of Engedi.
1:15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art
fair; thou hast doves' eyes.
1:16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant:
also our bed is green.
1:17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters
of fir.
2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2:2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the
daughters.
2:3 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.
2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner
over me was love.
2:5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for
I am sick of love.
2:6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand
doth embrace me.
2:7 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.
2:8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping
upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
2:9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold,
he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself
through the lattice.
2:10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my
love, my fair one, and come away.
2:11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and
gone;
2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the
singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
2:13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the
vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair
one, and come away.
2:14 O my dove, that art in the 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.
2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil
the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among
the lilies.
2:17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,
turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains
of Bether.
3:1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, but I found him not.
3:2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets,
and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him,
but I found him not.
3:3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to
whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
3:4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but
I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go,
until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of
her that conceived me.
3:5 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.
3:6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like
pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders
of the merchant?
3:7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant
men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.
3:8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every
man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.
3:9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of
Lebanon.
3:10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom
thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being
paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.
3:11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king
Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his
espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
4:1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art
fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of
goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
4:2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even
shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and
none is barren among them.
4:3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech
is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
4:4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an
armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty
men.
4:5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are
twins, which feed among the lilies.
4:6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I
will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
4:7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
4:8 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.
4:9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse;
thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy
neck.
4:10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how
much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than
all spices!
4:11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey
and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the
smell of Lebanon.
4:12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring
shut up, a fountain sealed.
4:13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with
pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
4:14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with
all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
4:15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters,
and streams from Lebanon.
4:16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow
upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come
into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
5:1 I am come into my garden, my 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.
5:2 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 night.
5:3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I
have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door,
and my bowels were moved for him.
5:5 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.
5:6 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 answer.
5:7 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.
5:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find
my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
5:9 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?
5:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among
ten thousand.
5:11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are
bushy, and black as a raven.
5:12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers
of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
5:13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers:
his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
5:14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl:
his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
5:15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets
of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
5:16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
6:1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among
women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
6:2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds
of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
6:3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth
among the lilies.
6:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely
as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
6:5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome
me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
6:6 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.
6:7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within
thy locks.
6:8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines,
and virgins without number.
6:9 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.
6:10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair
as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
6:11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits
of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates
budded.
6:12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots
of Amminadib.
6:13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that
we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the
company of two armies.
7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's
daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands
of a cunning workman.
7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not
liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
7:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are
twins.
7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like
the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the
tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair
of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
7:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
7:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy
breasts to clusters of grapes.
7:8 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 thy nose like apples;
7:9 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.
7:10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
let us lodge in the villages.
7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see
if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates
bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
7:13 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.
8:1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts
of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea,
I should not be despised.
8:2 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 juice of my pomegranate.
8:3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right
hand should embrace me.
8:4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir
not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
8:5 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 bare thee.
8:6 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 vehement flame.
8:7 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.
8:8 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?
8:9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace
of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
8:10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was
I in his eyes as one that found favour.
8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out
the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring
a thousand pieces of silver.
8:12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou,
O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof
two hundred.
8:13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions
hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe
or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
BOOK:Isaiah
1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD
hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled
against me.
1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a
seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the
LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone
away backward.
1:5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt
more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
1:6 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.
1:7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned
with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate,
as overthrown by strangers.
1:8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in
a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very
small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like
unto Gomorrah.
1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give
ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
1:11 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 in the blood of bullocks, or of
lambs, or of he goats.
1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required
this at your hand, to tread my courts?
1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination
unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot
away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul
hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide
mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your
hands are full of blood.
1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your
doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the
good of the land:
1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured
with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was
full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
1:22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with
water:
1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves:
every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the
fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
1:24 Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the
mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge
me of mine enemies:
1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge
away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
1:26 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.
1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts
with righteousness.
1:28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of
the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be
consumed.
1:29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have
desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
1:30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and
as a garden that hath no water.
1:31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of
it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench
them.
2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning
Judah and Jerusalem.
2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that
the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall
flow unto it.
2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let
us go up to 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 law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the
light of the LORD.
2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house
of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers
like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
2:7 Their land also is full of 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:
2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the
work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
2:9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth
himself: therefore forgive them not.
2:10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust,
for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the
haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted
in that day.
2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every
one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and
he shall be brought low:
2:13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high
and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
2:14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the
hills that are lifted up,
2:15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced
wall,
2:16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all
pleasant pictures.
2:17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and
the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted
in that day.
2:18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
2:19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and
into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of
his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
2:20 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,
to the moles and to the bats;
2:21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the
tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his
majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils:
for wherein is he to be accounted of ?
3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take
away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay
of bread, and the whole stay of water.
3:2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and
the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
3:3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and
the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and
babes shall rule over them.
3:5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another,
and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly
against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.
3:6 When a man shall 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:
3:7 In that day shall he 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.
3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because
their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes
of his glory.
3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against
them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their
soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
3:10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with
him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
3:11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for
the reward of his hands shall be given him.
3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors,
and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee
to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
3:13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge
the people.
3:14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients
of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard;
the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
3:15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and
grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of
Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes,
walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
3:17 Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown
of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their
secret parts.
3:18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery
of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their
round tires like the moon,
3:19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
3:20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and
the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
3:21 The rings, and nose jewels,
3:22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles,
and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
3:23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods,
and the vails.
3:24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet
smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead
of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth;
and burning instead of beauty.
3:25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty
in the war.
3:26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being
desolate shall sit upon the ground.
4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one
man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only
let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
4:2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful
and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely
for them that are escaped of Israel.
4:3 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 written among the living in Jerusalem:
4:4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of
the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from
the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
4:5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place
of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the
shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
4:6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the
day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from
storm and from rain.
5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved
touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful
hill:
5:2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof,
and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of
it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring
forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that
I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth
grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to
my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten
up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
5:6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned,
nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command
the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
5:7 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 judgment,
but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay
field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in
the midst of the earth!
5:9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many
houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
5:10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath,
and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine
inflame them!
5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe,
and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD,
neither consider the operation of his hands.
5:13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because
they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their
multitude dried up with thirst.
5:14 Therefore 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.
5:15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the
mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
5:16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
5:17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and
the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
5:18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity,
and sin as it were with a cart rope:
5:19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work,
that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw
nigh and come, that we may know it!
5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter!
5:21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight!
5:22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and
men of strength to mingle strong drink:
5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away
the righteousness of the righteous from him!
5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and
the flame consumeth the chaff, so their 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.
5:25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against
his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath
smitten them: and the hills did tremble, 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.
5:26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from
far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they
shall come with speed swiftly:
5:27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none
shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed,
nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
5:28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like
a whirlwind:
5:29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar
like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall
carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
5:30 And in that day they shall roar against them like
the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness
and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the
LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple.
6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings;
with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and
with twain he did fly.
6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,
holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him
that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
6:5 Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a
live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this
hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom
shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed,
but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their
ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
6:11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until
the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and
the land be utterly desolate,
6:12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there
be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return,
and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in
them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance
thereof.
7:1 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, went up toward Jerusalem
to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
7:2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria
is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of
his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
7:3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet
Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper
pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not,
neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands,
for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
7:5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah,
have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
7:6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us
make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the
son of Tabeal:
7:7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither
shall it come to pass.
7:8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of
Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be
broken, that it be not a people.
7:9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head
of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not
be established.
7:10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
7:11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either
in the depth, or in the height above.
7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt
the LORD.
7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it
a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel.
7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know
to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
7:16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil,
and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of
both her kings.
7:17 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
Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
7:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers
of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
7:19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them
in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns,
and upon all bushes.
7:20 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 feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
7:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man
shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
7:22 And it shall come to pass, for the 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.
7:23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every
place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings,
it shall even be for briers and thorns.
7:24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither;
because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
7:25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock,
there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall
be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
8:1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great
roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
8:2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record,
Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
8:3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived,
and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
8:4 For before the 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 king of Assyria.
8:5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,
8:6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah
that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon
them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria,
and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over
all his banks:
8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow
and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of
his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
8:9 Associate yourselves, O ye 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.
8:10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought;
speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
8:11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand,
and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
8:12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this
people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him
be your fear, and let him be your dread.
8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone
of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for
a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
8:15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and
be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
8:17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face
from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given
me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which
dwelleth in mount Zion.
8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them
that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
8:21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and
hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they
shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
8:22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble
and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
9:1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was
in her vexation, 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 the nations.
9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great
light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath
the light shined.
9:3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased
the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men
rejoice when they divide the spoil.
9:4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and
the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
9:5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused
noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and
fuel of fire.
9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto 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 Father, The Prince
of Peace.
9:7 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. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
9:8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted
upon Israel.
9:9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the
inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
9:10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with
hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
9:11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries
of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
9:12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind;
and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is
not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
9:13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth
them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
9:14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head
and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and
the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
9:16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err;
and they that are led of them are destroyed.
9:17 Therefore the LORD shall have no joy in their young
men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every
one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For
all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
9:18 For wickedness 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 lifting up of smoke.
9:19 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
spare his brother.
9:20 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 flesh of his own arm:
9:21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they
together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away,
but his hand is stretched out still.
10:1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and
that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
10:2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take
away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey,
and that they may rob the fatherless!
10:3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and
in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help?
and where will ye leave your glory?
10:4 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.
10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff
in their hand is mine indignation.
10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation,
and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the
spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the
streets.
10:7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart
think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
10:8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
10:9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad?
is not Samaria as Damascus?
10:10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols,
and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
10:11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her
idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
10:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the
Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I
will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the
glory of his high looks.
10:13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have
done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds
of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the
inhabitants like a valiant man:
10:14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of
the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all
the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth,
or peeped.
10:15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?
as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if
the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
10:16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send
among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning
like the burning of a fire.
10:17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and
his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his
briers in one day;
10:18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and
of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a
standard-bearer fainteth.
10:19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be
few, that a child may write them.
10:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall
no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
10:21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob,
unto the mighty God.
10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of
the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness.
10:23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption,
even determined, in the midst of all the land.
10:24 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 Egypt.
10:25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation
shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
10:26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for
him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his
rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
10:27 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 the anointing.
10:28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at
Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:
10:29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken
up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
10:30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause
it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
10:31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather
themselves to flee.
10:32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall
shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
10:33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop
the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down,
and the haughty shall be humbled.
10:34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest
with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem
of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the
fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither
reprove after the hearing of his ears:
11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor,
and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the
earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall
he slay the wicked.
11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
11:6 The 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.
11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young
ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of
the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain:
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters
cover the sea.
11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles
seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
Lord shall set his hand 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 islands of the sea.
11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations,
and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed
of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
11:13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the
adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and
Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines
toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall
lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey
them.
11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of
the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over
the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over
dryshod.
11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of
his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel
in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
12:1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise
thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou
comfortedst me.
12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not
be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is
become my salvation.
12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the
wells of salvation.
12:4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call
upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his
name is exalted.
12:5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things:
this is known in all the earth.
12:6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for
great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz
did see.
13:2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt
the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of
the nobles.
13:3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also
called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
13:4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like
as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered
together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven,
even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole
land.
13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
13:7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's
heart shall melt:
13:8 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 flames.
13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with
wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy
the sinners thereof out of it.
13:10 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 shine.
13:11 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.
13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold;
even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth
shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in
the day of his fierce anger.
13:14 And 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 into his own land.
13:15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through;
and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
13:16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before
their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
13:17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight
in it.
13:18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces;
and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall
not spare children.
13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty
of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
13:20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be
dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch
tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
13:21 But 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.
13:22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in
their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time
is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
14:1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will
yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall
be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
14:2 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 servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives,
whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
14:3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD
shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard
bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the
king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city
ceased!
14:5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and
the sceptre of the rulers.
14:6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual
stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
14:7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break
forth into singing.
14:8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars
of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against
us.
14:9 Hell 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.
14:10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou
also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the
noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover
thee.
14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken
the nations!
14:13 For thou hast said in thine 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 north:
14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High.
14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the
sides of the pit.
14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee,
and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms;
14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed
the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
14:18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them,
lie in glory, every one in his own house.
14:19 But thou art 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.
14:20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because
thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers
shall never be renowned.
14:21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity
of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill
the face of the world with cities.
14:22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD
of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and
nephew, saith the LORD.
14:23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern,
and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction,
saith the LORD of hosts.
14:24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as
I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall
it stand:
14:25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and
upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from
off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
14:26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole
earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
14:27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall
disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
14:28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the
rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall
come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
14:30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the
needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and
he shall slay thy remnant.
14:31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina,
art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall
be alone in his appointed times.
14:32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the
nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall
trust in it.
15:1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab
is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab
is laid waste, and brought to silence;
15:2 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high
places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their
heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
15:3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with
sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one
shall howl, weeping abundantly.
15:4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice
shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall
cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.
15:5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall
flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of
Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they
shall raise up a cry of destruction.
15:6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for
the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
15:7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that
which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
15:8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab;
the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim.
15:9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood:
for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab,
and upon the remnant of the land.
16:1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela
to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
16:2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast
out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.
16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow
as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not
him that wandereth.
16:4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou
a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at
an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and
he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and
seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
16:6 We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud:
even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall
not be so.
16:7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall
howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are
stricken.
16:8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine
of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants
thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness:
her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
16:9 Therefore I will 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 harvest is fallen.
16:10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the
plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither
shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their
presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.
16:11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for
Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.
16:12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that
Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to
pray; but he shall not prevail.
16:13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning
Moab since that time.
16:14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three
years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned,
with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and
feeble.
17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken
away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
17:2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be
for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
17:3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and
the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the
glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
17:4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the
glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax
lean.
17:5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth
the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that
gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
17:6 Yet gleaning grapes shall 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 thereof, saith the
LORD God of Israel.
17:7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his
eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
17:8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of
his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either
the groves, or the images.
17:9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken
bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children
of Israel: and there shall be desolation.
17:10 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 strange slips:
17:11 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 of grief and of desperate sorrow.
17:12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which 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!
17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many
waters: but God shall 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.
17:14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the
morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot
of them that rob us.
18:1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia:
18:2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels
of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation
scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto;
a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on
the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when
he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
18:4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest,
and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs,
and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
18:5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect,
and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the
sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
18:6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the
mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon
them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
18:7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the
LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible
from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot,
whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD
of hosts, the mount Zion.
19:1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD 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.
19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians:
and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against
his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst
thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to
the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits,
and to the wizards.
19:4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand
of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord,
the LORD of hosts.
19:5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the
river shall be wasted and dried up.
19:6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the
brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall
wither.
19:7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the
brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away,
and be no more.
19:8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that
cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon
the waters shall languish.
19:9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that
weave networks, shall be confounded.
19:10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof,
all that make sluices and ponds for fish.
19:11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel
of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh,
I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
19:12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let
them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed
upon Egypt.
19:13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes
of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are
the stay of the tribes thereof.
19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the
midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof,
as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
19:15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which
the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
19:16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and
it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD
of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
19:17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt,
every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because
of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.
19:18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt
speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall
be called, The city of destruction.
19:19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD
in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to
the LORD.
19:20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto
the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD
because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great
one, and he shall deliver them.
19:21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians
shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea,
they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.
19:22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite
and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated
of them, and shall heal them.
19:23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt
to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into
Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
19:24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt
and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
19:25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed
be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
20:1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when
Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took
it;
20:2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son
of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put
off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
20:3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath
walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt
and upon Ethiopia;
20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians
prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot,
even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
20:5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia
their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
20:6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that
day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered
from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?
21:1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds
in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible
land.
21:2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous
dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam:
besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
21:3 Therefore are my 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.
21:4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the
night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
21:5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat,
drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
21:6 For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Go, set a watchman,
let him declare what he seeth.
21:7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen,
a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently
with much heed:
21:8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually
upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
21:9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with
a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen;
and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
21:10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that
which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared
unto you.
21:11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir,
Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
21:12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also
the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
21:13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia
shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
21:14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water
to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
21:15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
21:16 For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Within a year,
according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall
fail:
21:17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty
men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of
Israel hath spoken it.
22:1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth
thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
22:2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city,
joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
22:3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound
by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have
fled from far.
22:4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep
bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter
of my people.
22:5 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 crying to the mountains.
22:6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and
horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
22:7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys
shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array
at the gate.
22:8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou
didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.
22:9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David,
that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
22:10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and
the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
22:11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for
the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof,
neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call
to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and
killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for
to morrow we shall die.
22:14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of
hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith
the Lord GOD of hosts.
22:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee
unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
22:16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that
thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a
sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
22:17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty
captivity, and will surely cover thee.
22:18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like
a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots
of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.
22:19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from
thy state shall he pull thee down.
22:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will
call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
22:21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen
him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and
he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house
of Judah.
22:22 And the 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.
22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place;
and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.
22:24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his
father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity,
from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
22:25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the
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.
23:1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish;
for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the
land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom
the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
23:3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest
of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
23:4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken,
even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children,
neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.
23:5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they
be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.
23:6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of
the isle.
23:7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of
ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
23:8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning
city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable
of the earth?
23:9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the
pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the
earth.
23:10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of
Tarshish: there is no more strength.
23:11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook
the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city,
to destroy the strong holds thereof.
23:12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou
oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there
also shalt thou have no rest.
23:13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was
not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness:
they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and
he brought it to ruin.
23:14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is
laid waste.
23:15 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 seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
23:16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that
hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest
be remembered.
23:17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy
years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and
shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face
of the earth.
23:18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness
to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise
shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to