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النشر الإلكتروني

XXXVI.

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. 1 IN the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Senacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fenced cities of 2 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 3 that leads to the fuller's field. Then came out unto him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, 4 the 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 re6 bellest 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 that confide in 7 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 8 and Jerusalem to worship only before this altar? Enter now, I pray thee, into an engagement with my lord the king of Assyria; and I will give thee two thousand horses, on condition that thou canst on thy part provide 9 riders 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 10 will supply thee with chariots and with horsemen? And am I now come up without JEHOVAH against this land to destroy it? JEHOVAH hath said unto me, Go thou up against this land, and destroy it.

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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 12 people who are upon the 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 king of 14 Assyria. Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah de15 ceive you; for he will not be able to deliver 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 hand of the king of 16 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 17 one the waters of his own cistern: until I come and take you to a land like your own land; a land of corn 18 and of wine, a 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 19 land 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 out 20 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 out of my hand 21 Jerusalem? But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's command was, Answer him not.

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CHAP. 1 XXXVII.

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.

And when king Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the 2 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, 3 the son of Amots, the prophet. 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 there is not strength to bring 4 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 5 of the people. And the servants of king Hezekiah came 6 to Isaiah. 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 blasphemed me. 7 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 Senacherib had received advice concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, that he was advancing to give him battle; he sent mes10 sengers again to Hezekiah, saying: Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah king of Judah; Let not thy God, in whom thou confidest, deceive thee; by assuring thee that Jerusalem shall not be given up into the hand of the king 11 of Assyria. Thou hast certainly heard, what the kings

of Assyria have done to all lands, which they have ut12 terly destroyed: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those, which my fathers have destroyed? Gozan, and Haran, and Retseph; and 13 the sons of Eden, which were in Thelassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and of Ivah?

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And Hezekiah received the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read them; and he went up to the house of JEHOVAH: and Hezekiah spread them before 15 the presence of JEHOVAH. And Hezekiah prayed before JEHOVAH, saying: O JEHOVAH, God of Hosts, thou 16 God of Israel, who art seated on the cherubim! Thou art the God, thou alone, to all the kingdoms of the earth! Thou hast made the heavens, and the earth! 17 Incline, O JEHOVAH, thine ear, and hear; open, O JEHOVAH, thine eyes, and see: yea, hear all the words of Senacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living 18 God. In truth, O JEHOVAH, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations, and their lands; and have 19 cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods,

but the work of the hands of man, wood and stone; 20 therefore they have destroyed them. And now, O JEHOVAH, our God, save us, we beseech thee, from his hand; that all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou JEHOVAH art the only God.

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Then Isaiah the son of Amots sent unto Hezekiah, saying: Thus saith JEHOVAH the God of Israel; Thy prayer unto me, concerning Senacherib king of Assyria, 22 I have heard. This is the word which JEHOVAH hath concerning him:

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THE virgin daughter of Sion hath despised thee, she hath laughed thee to scorn;

The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head behind thee.

Whom hast thou reproached, and reviled; and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice?

And hast lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel.

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By thy messengers hast thou reproached JEHOVAH,
and said:

By the multitude of my chariots have I ascended
The highth of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon;
And I will cut down his tallest cedars, his choicest fir-
trees;

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And I will penetrate into his extreme retreats, his richest forests.

I have digged, and I drunk strange waters;

And I have dried up with the sole of my feet all the
canals of fenced places.

Hast thou not heard, of old, that I have disposed it?
And, of ancient times, that I have formed it?

Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldst be
to lay waste

Warlike nations, strong-fenced cities.

Therefore were their inhabitants of small strength; they were dismayed and confounded:

They were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb;

The grass of the house-top; and as the corn blasted before it groweth up.

But thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in,

And thy rage against me, I have known:

Because thy rage against me, and thy insolence, is come up into mine ears;

Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy jaws;

And I will turn thee back by the way in which thou

camest.

And this shall be a sign unto thee:

Eat this year that which groweth of itself;

And the second year, that which springeth up of the

same;

And in the third year sow ye, and reap;

And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

And again shall the escaped, the remnant of the house of Judah,

Strike root downward, and bear fruit upward.

For from Jerusalem shall go forth the remnant;
And the part escaped from Mount Sion:

The zeal of JEHOVAH God of Hosts shall effect this.

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