The Bible Story Part 315

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.

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 the watchmen! they lift up the voice, Together do they sing, For they shall see, eye to eye, When the Lord returneth to Zion.

Break forth into joy, sing together, Ye waste places of Jerusalem: For the Lord hath comforted his people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. {287}

The Lord hath made bare his holy arm In the eyes of the nations; And all the ends of the earth Shall see the salvation of our G.o.d.

Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, Touch no unclean thing: Go ye out of the midst of her; Be ye clean ye that bear the vessels of the Lord.

For ye shall not go out in haste, Neither shall ye go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, And the G.o.d of Israel will be your rearguard.

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THE TRIUMPH OF THE MAN OF SORROWS

Who hath believed that which we have heard?

And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him; Nor beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: And as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, And we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of G.o.d and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon him, And with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned everyone to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him The iniquity of us all. {289}

He was oppressed, Yet he humbled himself, And opened not his mouth; As a lamb is led to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb; Yea, he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away; And his life who shall recount?

For he was cut off out of the land of the living; For the transgressions of my people was he stricken.

And they made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his death; Although he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; He hath put him to grief: When his soul shall make an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand: He shall see, and be satisfied with the travail of his soul.

By his knowledge shall my righteous servant make many righteous: And he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide with him a portion of the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the strong: Because he poured out his soul unto death, And was numbered with the transgressors: Yet he bare the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

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BEAUTIFUL ZION

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, And lay thy foundations with sapphires.

And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, And thy gates of carbuncles, And all thy borders of precious stones.

And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; And great shall be the peace of thy children: In righteousness shalt thou be established.

Thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come nigh thee.

Behold I have created the smith That bloweth the fire of coals, And bringeth forth a weapon for its work; And I have created the waster to destroy.

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness which is of me, saith the Lord.

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HO, EVERY ONE THAT THIRSTETH

Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; Yea, come, buy wine and milk, Without money and without price.

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?

And your labor for that which satisfieth not?

Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Incline your ear and come unto me; Hear, and your soul shall live: And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, Even the sure mercies of David.

Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, And a leader and commander to the peoples.

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, And a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee, Because of the Lord thy G.o.d, And for the Holy One of Israel; For he hath glorified thee.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: {292}

And let him return unto the Lord, And he will have mercy upon him; And to our G.o.d, For he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, Saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

For ye shall go out with joy, And be led forth with peace: The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, And all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

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ARISE, s.h.i.+NE

Arise, s.h.i.+ne; for thy light is come, And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, And gross darkness the peoples: But the Lord shall arise upon thee, And his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And nations shall come to thy light, And kings to the brightness of thy rising.