Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature Part 21

THE SECOND VOICE

The gra.s.s withereth, The flower fadeth: But the word of our G.o.d shall stand for ever.

FOURTH VOICE (still more distant)

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, Get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, Lift up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your G.o.d!

FIFTH VOICE

Behold, the Lord G.o.d will come as a mighty one, And his arm shall rule for him: Behold, his reward is with him, And his recompence before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, He shall gather the lambs in his arm, And carry them in his bosom, And shall gently lead those that give suck.

ZION AWAKENED

(Being Vision III of the Rhapsody of 'Zion Redeemed')

Appeals to Zion

JEHOVAH

Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.

For the LORD hath comforted Zion: he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

(No response)

JEHOVAH

Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shall go forth from me, and I will make my judgement to rest for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

(No response)

JEHOVAH

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings.

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation unto all generations.

(No response)

THE CELESTIAL HOSTS

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; Awake, as in the days of old, The generations of ancient times!

Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces, That pierced the dragon?

Art thou not it which dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea A way for the redeemed to pa.s.s over?

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come with singing unto Zion; And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: They shall obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

JEHOVAH

I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as gra.s.s; and hast forgotten the LORD thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.

For I am the LORD thy G.o.d, which stilleth the sea, when the waves thereof roar: the LORD of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

(No response)

THE CELESTIAL HOSTS

Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, Which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; Thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.

There is none to guide her Among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; Neither is there any that taketh her by the hand Of all the sons that she hath brought up.

These two things are befallen thee; Who shall bemoan thee?

Desolation and destruction, And the famine, and the sword, How shall I comfort thee?

Thy sons have fainted, They lie at the top of all the streets, As an antelope in a net; They are full of the fury of the LORD, The rebuke of thy G.o.d.

JEHOVAH

Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord, the LORD, and thy G.o.d that pleadeth the cause of his people: Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go over.

(No response)

THE CELESTIAL HOSTS

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncirc.u.mcised and the unclean.

Shake thyself from the dust; Arise, sit thee down, O Jerusalem: Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

JEHOVAH

For thus saith the LORD, Ye were sold for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord G.o.d, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the a.s.syrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what do I here, saith the LORD, seeing that my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them do howl, saith the LORD, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: Behold it is I!

ii

The Awakening

CHORUS OF WATCHMEN

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him That bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation: That saith unto Zion, Thy G.o.d reigneth!

The voice of thy Watchmen! they lift up the voice, Together do they sing, For they shall see, eye to eye, How the LORD returneth to Zion.