22:23. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father.
22:24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father"s house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music.
22:25. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it.
Isaias Chapter 23
The destruction of Tyre. It shall be repaired again after seventy years.
23:1. The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them.
23:2. Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon pa.s.sing over the sea, have filled thee.
23:3. The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations.
23:4. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins.
23:5. When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre:
23:6. Pa.s.s over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island.
23:7. Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity?
her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
23:8. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the n.o.bles of the earth?
23:9. The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth.
23:10. Pa.s.s thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more.
23:11. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof.
23:12. And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no rest.
23:13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the a.s.syrians founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have, brought it to ruin.
23:14. Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste.
23:15. And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot.
23:16. Take a harp, go about the city, harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered.
23:17. And it shall come to pa.s.s after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
23:18. And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance.
Sanctified to the Lord... This alludes to the conversion of the Gentiles.
Isaias Chapter 24
The judgments of G.o.d upon all the sinners of the world. A remnant shall joyfully praise him.
24:1. Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof.
24:2. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth.
24:3. With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.
24:4. The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened.
24:5. And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant.
24:6. Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left.
24:7. The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all the merry have sighed.
24:8. The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent.
24:9. They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
24:10. The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man cometh in.
24:11. There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away.
24:12. Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates.
24:13. For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended.
24:14. These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea.
24:15. Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord G.o.d of Israel in the islands of the sea.
24:16. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated.
24:17. Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth.
24:18. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.
24:19. With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved.
24:20. With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.
24:21. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth.
The host of heaven on high... The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons of the air.
24:22. And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited.
24:23. And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients.