heathen, and will cast up my banner unto the nations; and they shall bring thy sons in thine arms, and carry thy daughters in their shoulders.

And the kings shall be thy nurses, and their princesses thy nurses. They shall fall to the ground before thee, and lick the dust of thy feet. Then shalt thou know that I am the LORD, in whom they that wait upon me shall not be put to shame.

Can a robbery be taken from a giant, or can the righteous be loosed from his captives?

For thus saith the LORD; Now shall the captives be taken from the giant, and the spoil of the strong be loosed: and I will contend with thy strife, and will save thy children.

And I will feed thy oppressors with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I am the LORD thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One in Jacob.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 50
The rejection of the Jews. Christ’s obedience.

Thus saith the LORD; Where is your mother’s bill of divorcement, that I might have left her?
Or who is my usurer, to whom I have sold you? Behold, ye are sold for your sins, and your
mother is left for your transgressions.

Why came I, and there was none; I called, and no man answered? Is my hand now become so short, that it cannot deliver, or is there no power with me to deliver? Behold, with my rebuke I make the sea dry, and make the rivers of waters as a wilderness, that their fishes stink for want of water, and die for thirst.

I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and make his covering as sackcloth.

The Lord GOD hath given me a learned tongue, that I may know how to speak in season to him that is weary. He waketh me every morning; he waketh my ear, that I may hear as a disciple.

The LORD hath opened mine ear; and I am not disobedient, neither do I go back.

I set my back before them that smote me, and my cheeks before them that scolded me: I hid not my face from shame and spittle.

For the LORD help me, therefore I shall not be put to shame. Therefore have I set my face as a pebble; for I know that I shall not be put to shame.

He is near, he that judgeth me: who will dispute with me? Let us come together: who is he that judgeth me? Come ye hither unto me.

Behold, the LORD help me: who is he that will condemn me? Behold, they shall all wax old as a garment; moths shall eat them up.

Who is there among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and seemeth not to him? He shall hope in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God.

Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, armed with flames: walk in the light of your fire, and in flames which ye have kindled. These things are returned unto you of mine hand: in pain ye shall lie.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 51
Comfort of all believers, grounded in God’s promise.

Hearken unto me, ye that pursue after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the well whence ye are digged.

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah, of whom ye were born. For I called unto him, while he was yet single, and blessed him, and multiplied him.

For the LORD hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her desolations; he hath made her wildernesses as gardens of pleasure, and her fields as the garden of the LORD; to find delight and joy in them, and thanksgiving and praise.

Hearken unto me, my people; hearken unto me, my people. For from me shall go forth a law, and my judgment will I soon set forth for the light of the nations.

For my righteousness is near, my salvation goeth forth, and mine arms shall judge the nations.
The isles wait for me, and wait for my arm.

Lift up your eyes toward heaven, and look down upon the earth. For the heavens shall pass away as smoke, and the earth shall wax old as a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in the twinkling of an eye. But my salvation endureth for ever, and my righteousness shall not fail.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, O people, in whose hearts is my law. Fear not when men revile you, and be not dismayed when they make you despondent.

For moths shall eat them up as a garment, and worms shall devour them as a willing cloth: but my righteousness shall stand for ever, and my salvation for ever.

Hither, hither, come power, thou arm of the LORD! Farewell, as of old, as of old! Art thou not he that hath cut down the proud, and wounded the dragon?

Art thou not he that dried up the sea of great deep waters, that made the bottom of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass through?

So shall the redeemed of the LORD return, and come unto Zion with glory; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. Delight and joy shall take hold of them, but mourning and sighing shall flee from them.

I am your Comforter. Who art thou then that thou art afraid of men that die, and of the children of men that are eaten for hay?

And forget the LORD that made thee, that stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth?
But thou fearest the wrath of the wicked all the day long, when he is about to destroy. Where is the wrath of the wicked?

When he had made haste and run about, that he might deliver, and they died not in the destruction, neither lacked they bread?

For I am the LORD thy God, which turneth the sea, and the waves thereof rage: his name is called LORD of hosts.

I will put my word in thy mouth, and will cover thee under the shadow of my hands, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

Awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk of the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath. The lees of the cup of staggering thou hast drunk, and licked the drops.

There was none of all the children which she bare to guide her, none of all the children which she brought up to take her by the hand.

These two met thee: who bare sorrow with thee? There was disturbance, harm, famine, and sword; who should comfort thee?

Thy children were fainted; they lay in every street like a snared hart, full of wrath from the LORD, and reproach from thy God.

Therefore hear this, thou wretched man, and drunken without wine!

Thus saith thy sovereign LORD, and thy God that avengeth his people; Behold, I take away the cup of stumbling out of thine hand, and the lees of the cup of my wrath; thou shalt drink it no more,

But I will deliver him into the hand of thy oppressors, which have said unto thy soul: Bend thee down, that we may pass over; and put thy back to the ground, and like an alley to pass over.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 52
Redemption of the church and loveliness of the gospel.

Arise, arise, O Zion; put on thy strength, adorn thyself gloriously, O holy city Jerusalem. For no uncircumcised or unclean shall reign in thee henceforth.

Get thee out of the dust, arise, thou captive Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, thou captive daughter of Zion.

For thus saith the LORD, Ye are sold for nought; ye shall be redeemed without money.

For thus saith the LORD GOD; My people went down at the first into Egypt, to be sojourners there: and Assyria hath done them violence without a cause.

But how is it done unto me now in all this place? saith the LORD. My people are seduced in vain; their rulers make vain weeping, saith the LORD; and my name is blasphemed daily.

Therefore my people shall know my name in that day: for, behold, I myself will speak.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messengers that proclaim peace, that preach good, that proclaim salvation, that say unto Zion, Thy God is King.

Thy watchmen cry aloud with their voice, and boast together: for it shall be seen with eyes, when the LORD converteth Zion.

Let us be glad and rejoice together in the desolation of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and redeemed Jerusalem.

The LORD hath revealed his holy arm in the sight of all nations, that the end of the world may see the salvation of our God.

Go away, go away! Depart from thence, and touch no unclean thing. Come out from her, purify yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of the LORD.

For ye shall not go out with haste, nor walk with flight: for the LORD shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall gather you.
(Isaiah)
Chapter 53
Christ’s passion and resurrection.
(On Good Friday.)

Behold, my servant shall do wisely, and shall be exalted, and very highly exalted, 14. That many shall be angry with thee, because his form is more ugly than other men’s, and his countenance than the children of men.

But so shall he sprinkle many nations, that even kings shall shut their mouths against him.
For unto them that have not heard of it shall they see with delight: and they that have not heard of it shall know it.
Ch. 53. v. 1. But who will believe our