And the plummet of emptiness over her scorched

plains. 12 No more shall they boast the renown of the kingdom;

And all her princes shall utterly fail.

13 And in her palaces shall spring up thorns;
The nettle and the bramble, in her fortresses:
And she shall become a habitation for dragons,
A court for the daughters of the ostrich.

14 And the jackals and the mountain-cats shall meet one another;

And the satyr shall call to his fellow :
There also the screech-owl shall pitch;

And shall find for herself a place of rest.

15 There shall the night-raven make her nest, and lay her eggs:

And she shall hatch them, and gather her young
under her shadow:

There also shall the vultures be gathered together;
Every one of them shall join her mate.

16 Consult ye the book of JEHOVAH, and read:
Not one of these shall be missed;

Not a female shall lack her mate:

For the mouth of JEHOVAH hath given the command;

And his spirit itself hath gathered them.

17 And he hath cast the lot for them;

1

And his hand hath meted out their portion by the line:

They shall possess the land for a perpetual inheritance;

From generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

CHAP. XXXV.

THE desert, and the waste, shall be glad ; And the wilderness shall rejoice, and flourish : 2 Like the rose shall it beautifully flourish;

3

And the well watered plain of Jordan shall also

rejoice :

The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
The beauty of Carmel and of Sharon:

These shall behold the glory of JEHOVAH,
The majesty of our God.

Strengthen ye the feeble hands,

And confirm ye the tottering knees.

4 Say ye to the faint-hearted: Be ye strong;
Fear ye not; behold your God!

Vengeance will come; the retribution of God:
He himself will come, and will deliver you.
5 Then shall be unclosed the eyes of the blind;
And, the ears of the deaf shall be opened:
6 Then shall the lame bound like the hart,
And the tongue of the dumb shall sing:
For in the wilderness shall burst forth waters,
And torrents in the desert:

7 And the glowing sand shall become a pool,
And the thirsty soil bubbling springs :

And in the haunt of dragons shall spring forth
The grass, with the reed, and the bulrush.

8 And a highway shall be there;

And it shall be called the way of holiness:

No unclean person shall pass through it;

But He himself shall be with them, walking in the

way,

And the foolish shall not err therein:

9 No lion shall be there;

Nor shall the tyrant of the beasts come up thither :
Neither shall he be found there;

But the redeemed shall walk in it.

10 Yea the ransomed of JEHOVAH shall return;

They shall come to Sion with triumph;

And perpetual gladness shall crown their heads.
Joy and gladness shall they obtain ;

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

CHAP. XXXVI.

1 IN the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Senacherib, king of Assyria came up against all the 2 fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh, from Lachish to Jerusalem, to the king Hezekiah, with a great body of forces; and he presented himself at the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway that leads to the 3 fullers' field. Then came out to him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the 4 recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them: Say ye to Hezekiah; Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What is this ground of confidence, in which 5 thou confidest? Thou hast said (but they are vain words), I have counsel and strength sufficient for the war. Now in whom dost thou confide, that thou 6 rebellest against me? Thou certainly confidest in the support of this broken reed, in Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will pierce his hand, and go through it: such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all 7 that confide in him. But if ye say to me, We confide in JEHOVAH our God; is it not He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed; and hath commanded Judah and Jerusalem to wor8 ship only before this altar? Enter now, I pray thee, into an engagement with my lord the king of As syria; and I will give thee two thousand horses, on condition that thou canst on thy part provide riders 9 for them. How then wilt thou turn back any one commander, among the least of my lord's servants, advancing against thee? And trustest thou, that Egypt will supply thee with chariots and with 10 horsemen? And am I now come up without JEHOVAH against this land to destroy it? JEHOVAH

11

hath said unto me, Go thou up against this land, and destroy it.

Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh: Speak, we beseech thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people, who are upon the 12 wall. And Rabshakeh said, Hath my lord sent me to thy lord and to thee, to speak these words? and not to the men, that sit on the wall, destined to eat their own dung, and drink their own 13 urine, together with you? Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said: Hear ye the words of the great king, the 14 king of Assyria. Thus saith the king: Let not He

zekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deli15 ver you. And let not Hezekiah persuade you to trust in JEHOVAH; saying JEHOVAH will certainly deliver us; this city shall not be given up into the 16 hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not unto Hezekiah; for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make peace with me, and come out unto me. And eat ye every one of his own vine, and every one of his own · fig-tree; and drink ye every one the waters of his 17 own cistern: until I come and take you to a land

like your own land; a land of corn and of wine, a 18 land of bread and of vineyards. Nor let Hezekiah seduce you, saying, JEHOVAH will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered each his own land 19 from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arphad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria 20 out of my hand? Who are there among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their own lands out of my hand; that JEHOVAH should deliver 21 out of my hand Jerusalem? But the people held

22

their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's command was, Answer him not.

Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah, with their clothes rent; and reported unto him the words of Rabshakeh.

CHAP. XXXVII.

1 AND when king Hezekiah heard it, he rent his

clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and 2 went into the house of JEHOVAH. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amots, the prophet. 3 And they said unto him: Thus saith Hezekiah; This

day is a day of distress, and of rebuke, and of contumely: for the children are come to the birth, and 4 there is not strength to bring forth. O that JEHOVAH thy God would hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his lord the king of Assyria hath sent to reproach the living God! and that he would refute the words which JEHOVAH thy God hath heard! And do thou offer up thy prayer for the poor remains of the people. 5 And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said unto them: Thus shall ye say to

your lord: Thus saith JEHOVAH: Be not afraid, because of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blas7 phemed me. Behold, I will infuse a spirit into 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.

8 But Rabshakeh returned; and found the king of Assyria besieging Libnah: for he had heard, that he 9 had decamped from Lachish. And when Senache