The Bible Story Part 314

I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, For though thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, And thou comfortest me.

Behold G.o.d is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and song; And he is become my salvation.

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water Out of the wells of salvation.

Give thanks unto the Lord, Call upon his name, Declare his doings among the peoples, Make mention that his name is exalted.

Sing unto the Lord for he hath done excellent things: Let this be known in all the earth.

Cry aloud, and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

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THE COMING MESSIAH

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, Mighty G.o.d, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government And of peace there shall be no end Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom; To establish it with judgment, And with righteousness, from henceforward even for ever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.

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A SONG OF TRIUMPH

Sing unto the Lord a new song, And his praise from the end of the earth; Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, The isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar doth inhabit; Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains.

Let them give glory unto the Lord, And declare his praise in the islands.

The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man; He shall stir up zeal like a man of war: He shall cry, yea, he shall shout aloud; He shall do mightily against his enemies.

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PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD

Let me sing of my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.

My wellbeloved had a vineyard In a very fruitful hill: And he made a trench about 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 hewed out a winepress therein: And he looked that it should bring forth grapes-- And it brought forth wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

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? And now come, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the fence thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the {281} 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.

THE CONDEMNATION UPON UNFRUITFULNESS

Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land! In mine ears saith the Lord of hosts, "Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah."

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!

And the harp and the lute, the tabret and the pipe, and wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither have they considered the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, for lack of knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their mult.i.tude are parched with thirst. Therefore h.e.l.l hath enlarged her desire, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their mult.i.tude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, descend into it. And the mean man is bowed down and the great man is humbled, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled: but the Lord of hosts is exalted in judgment, and G.o.d the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness. {282} Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: that say, "Let him make speed, let him 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!"

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!

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the dry gra.s.s sinketh down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

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[Footnote: The prophet threatens Judah with invasion by the dreaded a.s.syrian army.]

THE DOOM OF THE UNFRUITFUL NATION

For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched forth still.

And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, And he will hiss for them from the end of the earth: And, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; 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: Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind: Their roaring shall be like a lion, They shall roar like young lions: Yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, And carry it away safe, and there shall be none to deliver.

And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea; And if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress, And the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.

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COMFORT YE MY PEOPLE

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, Saith your G.o.d.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, And cry unto her, That her warfare is accomplished, That her iniquity is pardoned; That she hath received of the Lord's hand Double for all her sin.

Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our G.o.d.

Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

The voice of one saying, "Cry."

And one said, "What shall I cry?"

All flesh is gra.s.s, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The gra.s.s withereth, The flower fadeth, {285} Because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it: Surely the people is gra.s.s.

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

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."

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 recompense before him.

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

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AWAKE, O ZION!