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children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the

right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire and his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it

shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it

EVENING.

BEHOLD, a king shall reign

in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail,

deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

Isaiah XXXII.

the gathering shall not come.
Tremble, ye women that are at
ease; be troubled, ye careless
ones: strip you, and make you
bare, and gird sackcloth upon your
loins. They shall lament for the
teats, for the pleasant fields, for
the fruitful vine. Upon the land
of my people shall come up thorns
and briers; yea, upon all the
houses of joy in the joyous city:
because the palaces shall be for-
saken; the multitude of the city
shall be left; the forts and towers
shall be for dens for ever, a joy of
wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
until the spirit be poured upon
us from on high, and the wilder-
ness be a fruitful field, and the
fruitful field be counted for a fo-
rest. Then judgment shall dwell
in the wilderness, and righteous-
ness remain in the fruitful field.
And the work of righteousness
shall be peace; and the effect of
righteousness quietness and as-
surance for ever. And my people
shall dwell in a peaceable habita-
tion, and in sure dwellings, and
in quiet resting places; when it
shall hail, coming down on the
forest; and the city shall be low
in a low place. Blessed are ye
that sow beside all waters, that
send forth thither the feet of the
ox and the ass.

AFTER CHRISTMAS.
Isaiah XXXVII.

THE FIRST SUNDAY
MORNING.

AND it came to pass, when

king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of

blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah

said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the

work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: this is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such

as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into

this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

EVENING. Isaiah XXXVIII.

In and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, and said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: I

those days was Hezekiah sick

said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. What shall I say? be hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that

:

go down into the pit cannot hope
for thy truth. The living, the liv-
ing, he shall praise thee, as I do
this day: the father to the chil-
dren shall make known thy truth.
The LORD was ready to save me :
therefore we will sing my songs to
the stringed instruments all the

THE SECOND SUNDAY
MORNING.

EEP silence before me, O
KER
islands; and let the people
renew their strength: let them
come near; then let them speak:
let us come near together to judg-
ment. Who raised up the righte-
ous man from the east, called him
to his foot, gave the nations be-
fore him, and made him rule over
kings? he gave them as the dust
to his sword, and as driven stub-
ble to his bow. He pursued them,
and passed safely; even by the
way that he had not gone with
his feet. Who hath wrought and
done it, calling the generations
from the beginning? I the LORD,
the first, and with the last; I am
he. The isles saw it, and feared;
the ends of the earth were afraid,
drew near, and came. They help-
ed every one his neighbour; and
every one said to his brother, Be
of good courage. So the carpenter
encouraged the goldsmith, and he
that smootheth with the hammer
him that smote the anvil, saying,
It is ready for the sodering: and
he fastened it with nails, that it
should not be moved. But thou,
Israel, art my servant, Jacob
whom I have chosen, the seed of
Abraham my friend. Thou whom
I have taken from the ends of the
earth, and called thee from the
chief men thereof, and said unto
thee, Thou art my servant; I have
chosen thee, and not cast thee
away. Fear thou not; for I am
with thee: be not dismayed; for
I am thy God: I will strengthen
thee; yea, I will help thee; yea,
I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness. Be-
hold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and
confounded: they shall be as no-
thing; and they that strive with

days of our life in the house of
the LORD. For Isaiah had said,
Let them take a lump of figs, and
lay it for a plaister upon the boil,
and he shall recover. Hezekiahi
also had said, What is the sign
that I shall go up to the house of
the LORD?

AFTER CHRISTMAS.
Isaiah XLI.

thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek
them, and shalt not find them,
even them that contended with
thee: they that war against thee
shall be as nothing, and as a thing
of nought. For I the LORD thy
God will hold thy right hand, say-
ing unto thee, Fear not; I will
help thee. Fear not, thou worm
Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I
will help thee, saith the LORD,
and thy redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. Behold, I will make
thee a new sharp threshing in-
strument having teeth: thou shalt
thresh the mountains, and beat
them small, and shalt make the
hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan
them, and the wind shall carry
them away, and the whirlwind
shall scatter them: and thou shalt
rejoice in the LORD, and shalt
glory in the Holy One of Israel.
When the poor and needy seek
water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I
the LORD will hear them, I the
God of Israel will not forsake
them. I will open rivers in high
places, and fountains in the midst
of the valleys: I will make the
wilderness a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water. I
will plant in the wilderness the
cedar, the shittah tree, and the
myrtle, and the oil tree; I will
set in the desert the fir tree, and
the pine, and the box tree toge-
ther: that they may see, and
know, and consider, and under-
stand together, that the hand of
the LORD hath done this, and the
Holy One of Israel hath created
it. Produce your cause, saith the
LORD; bring forth your strong
reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
Let them bring them forth, and
shew us what shall happen: let

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