Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 2

1In that day shall a song be sung in the land of Judah;
We have a city of strength;
He hath made salvation to be walls and a rampart.

2Open ye the gates,
And the righteous nation shall enter,
Which keepeth the truth.

3The thought is fixed;
Thou wilt keep peace, peace;
For they have trusted in thee.

4Hope ye in Jehovah for ever;
For in Jah Jehovah is the strength of ages.

5For he will bow down the inhabitants of loftiness;
He will lay low the elevated city;
He will lay it low to the ground;
He will bring it to the dust.

6The foot shall tread it down;
The feet of the poor,
The steps of the needy.

7Straightnesses are the path of the righteous man;
The straight way of the righteous man thou wilt weigh. ³⁸⁵

8Even in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah,
We have waited for thee;
To thy name,
And to the remembrance of thee,
Is the desire of the soul.

9My soul hath desired thee in the night;
Yea, with my spirit within me I will seek thee in the morning; ³⁸⁶
For so soon as thy judgments shall be in the earth,
The inhabitants of the earth shall learn righteousness.

10The wicked man will obtain favour,
And will not learn righteousness;
In the land of upright actions he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.

11Jehovah, though thy hand is lifted up,
They will not see;
They shall see, and be ashamed,
Through their envy of the people;
Yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

12O Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us;
For thou also hast wrought all our works for us.

13O Jehovah our God,
Lords besides thee have had dominion over us;
By thee only will we call thy name to remembrance.

14The dead shall not live;
The slain shall not rise again;
Therefore thou hast visited and driven them away,
And hast destroyed all remembrance of them.

15Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah!
Thou hast added to the nation;
Thou art glorified;
Thou hast enlarged all the boundaries of the earth.

16O Jehovah, in trouble have they visited thee;
They poured out a prayer, when thy chastening was upon them.

17As a woman with child, who draweth near to her delivery,
Is in pain, and crieth out in her pains;
So have we been before thy face, O Jehovah.

18We have been in labour,
We have had pain,
As if we had brought forth wind;
Salvation hath not been wrought for the earth,
And the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

19Thy dead men shall live;
My dead body, they shall arise;
Awake and sing, ye inhabitants of the dust;
For thy dew is the dew of herbs;
And the earth shall cast out the dead. ³⁸⁷

20Come, O my people;
Enter thou into thy chambers;
Shut the door behind thee;
Hide thyself a little for a moment,
Till the indignation pass over.

21For, behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place,
To visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him;
And the earth shall disclose her blood,
And shall no longer cover her slain.