9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.

11 And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid' it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?

12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people.

[idolaters reproved.

15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his

mourners.

19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. (G)

CHAP. LVII.

(G) The death of the righteous lamented, and the hypocrisy of idolaters reproved, with promises to the penitent.-fter lamenting the decease of the righteous, (perhaps with reference either to Hezekiah or Josiah), and the insensibility of the people on the occasion, the prophet proceeds to charge the nation in general with apostacy, and, as in some preceding chapters, with a partiality for alliances with pagan princes. In opposition to this, they are recommended to humble themselves before the God of Israel, whose name is holy, and

whose habitation is eternity, but, who, though he holds his court on high, disdains not to hold communion with the meek and humble upon earth. For though, while man perseveres in rebellion, he can have no ground to hope for mercy; yet, when a siuner falls at the footstool of a throne of grace, God will no more contend with him, lest "the spirit (of man) should fail before him." (Comp. Psalm 1xxviii. 38, 39. ciii. 9, 13, 14.)

This chapter concludes, like ch. xlviii, with excluding the wicked and impenitent from any share of the blessings promised to the humble and believing.

"Thon providest room;" Lowth, "Thou hast provided a place for it;" meaning, for the idol and its

altar.

Ver. 9. And thou wentest, &c.-Lowth, "Thou hast visited the king with a present of oil." This may refer to either the king of Assyria or Egypt. Compare Hosea xii. 1. Even to hell Lowth, "To hades," meaning, to the very lowest degree.

Ver. 10. In the greatness- Lowth, "Length of thy ways," or journey.Thou hast found the life of thine hand- Rather," thou hast found (supported) life by thy haud i, e. by the labour of thy hand. To the same sense, Gataker, Lowth, and Boothroyd.

Ver. 11. That thou hast lied-Lowth," Dealt falsely."

Ver. 12. Declare thy righteousness.-Perhaps the word might be rendered "expose," develop, or lay open thy righteousness, and show its hypocrisy. * Gataker. Lowth, on the authority of the I.XX, Syriac, and Arabic, reads, "my righteousness," bel we think without occasion.

Ver. 14. Cast ye up-Compare chap, xl. 3, 4. Ver. 17. Frowardly-Heb. "Turning away;"'i. from the path of duty.

Ver. 19. Fruit of the lips-that is, praise for peace and mercy. See Heb. xii. 15.

CRY aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD.

6 Is not this the fast, that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover

[the Jews reproved.

him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee: the glory of the LORD shall be thy rere-ward.

9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.

11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself

CHAP. LVIII. Ver. 1. Cry aloud-Heb. "In the throat;" i. e. perhaps," Cry till thou art hoarse." Ver. 3. Labours-Heb. " Griefs ;" i. e. the grievons labours required of slaves, who, by God's law, were not allowed to work on fast days. Compare ver 6, also Levit. xvi. 29, and Zech. vii. 5.

Ver. 5. A day for a man, &c.-Marg. "A man to afflict his soul for a day "" So Lowth.

Ver. 6. The heavy burdens-Heb. "The bundles of the yoke."-Let the oppressed-Heb. "Broken;" that is, broken down by labour and oppression, as slaves doubtless often were.

Ver. 7. The poor that are cast out -Lowth," The wandering poor."

Ver. 8. Shall be thy rere-ward-Heb. "Shall gather thee up;" that is, "Gather up all the stragglers."

Ver.9. The putting forth-that is, pointing of the finger, by way of ridicule.And speaking vanity

-Lowth, "The injurious," perhaps rather "the contemptuous speech."

Ver. 10. Draw out thy soul that is, thy affections, which implies both sympathy and benevolence.

Ver. 11. Make fat thy bones-that is, make them strong, as being full of marrow; so the term is used by the Hebrews. See Prov. iii. 8.-xv. 30.xvi. 24. Fail not-Heb." Lie," or deceive not, the expectation of the thirsty traveller.

Ver. 12. And they .... of thee-that is, “thy posterity shall build," &c. So Lowth, &c.

Ver. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, &c.-The Jews were forbidden to journey on that sacred day, farther than to the tabernacle, &c. they were not to employ it either in business or pleasure, as here follows: Not speaking thine own words-that is, not spending it in secular con

versation.

Ver. 14. Ride upon the high places. See Deut.

xxxii. 13.

Disclosures of iniquity, and]

in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (H)

CHAP. LIX.

BEHOLD, the LORD's hand is not

shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eat eth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

CHAP. LVIII.

7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall

not know peace.

9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;

13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

(H) The Hypocrisy of the Jews reproved, with encouragement to the penitent. This chapter might properly be called, The unmasking of hypocrisy, which it appears the Jews of Isaiah's time carried to a height not to be exceeded by either Jews or Christians in any future age; though we fear it may not be without a parallel in both. To set apart a day professedly to God, and at the same time to convert it into a day of pleasure or business, is a crime here admirably described, and pointedly condemned: yet is not this exactly the way in which multitudes of Christians keep the

sabbath? Still more similar is it to the case before us, when persons pretend to sanctify the sabbath themselves, and oblige their servants to devote the whole, or the far greater part of it, to business or domestic labour. The reverse of this character is that of the Christian, who to the exercise of piety towards God, unites that of sympathy and benevolence to the poor and the afflicted, of which we have many happy examples, in those who, without omitting their own religious duties, employ those spare moments which others devote to indolence or luxury, in visiting the sick, and assisting to instruct the ignorant.

CHAP. LIX. Ver. 2. Have hid his face-Marg. "Made him hide," &c.

Ver. 5. They hatch cockatrice eggs Lowth, "The eggs of the basilisk."That which is crushed-rather, "when it is crushed," or broken.

Ver. 10. In desolate places as dead men — or, like the dead;" alluding, perhaps, to the dark

14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it ta: displeased him that there was no judg

ment.

16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

17 For he put on righteousness as a fr breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.

CHAP. LIX.

[the Messiah.

19 So shall they fear the namė of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

CHAP. LX.

(I)

(1) Farther disclosures of iniquity: with encouragements to repentance, and hopes of pardon. While one part of the nation put on the mask of hypocrisy and pretended to be religious, another part ran into the opposite extreme, and became openly vicious aud profane: their lips were polluted with falsehood, and their hands defiled with blood. What is said of their hatching the eggs of serpents seems to refer to the dangerous speculations in which they engaged, to promote their own interests, and the gratification of their ambition; and their manufacture of spiders' webs, to the flimsy excuses and pretences by which they thought to screen their crimes. While their schemes were hatching, their pernicious nature was perhaps generally unsus pected; but when disclosed they were found to conceal a fatal poison. So their webs were finely wrought; but could not conceal their wickedness and folly from meu

of penetration, much less from the omniscient eye of God.

Notwithstanding, however, the abounding of sin and folly, the Lord avows his readiness as well as ability to restore his chosen nation; and will do it in a manner worthy of himself: the mighty Redeemer shall come to Zion, and his own arm shall bring salvation.

Independent of a primary reference to the return from Babylon, the common subject of these latter chapters, the concluding verses may have a more remote allusion to the conversion of the Western Isles and the eastern Continent, and even possibly to the last great conflict upon earth. See Rev. xxii. 8-10.

In addition to the great importance of the truths contained in this chapter, Bp. Lowth observes, it " is remarkable for the beauty, strength and variety of the images with which it abounds;" and distinguished by the elegance of its composition.

Ver. 15. Maketh himself a prey-Lowth, "Exposeth himself to be plundered." It displeased him-Heb. Was evil in his eyes."

Ver. 18. According to their deeds- Heb. "Recompences." Taking the text as it stands, (which we are always disposed to do when we can draw from it an intelligible meaning) we should render it, "According to the (law of) recompences, accordingly will he repay," or "recompense them;" i. e. as the heathen (Egypt, perhaps, more especially) had treat

ed Israel, so would the Lord recompense the heathen. Compare chap. Ixv. 6, 7, Jer. xvii. 18; and especially xxv. 14.

Ver. 15. From the west-probably Europe, and especially the British isles. The rising of the sun -the vast continent of India, China, &c. When the enemy.... like a flood-that is, with an overwhelming force.-The Lord shall lift up a stan derd against him-that is, oppose him by almighty power.