is
sanctified in righteousness. {282} Then shall the lambs feed as in
their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers
eat.

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it
were with a cart rope: that say, "Let him make speed, let him hasten
his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of
Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!"

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and
sweet for bitter!

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their
own sight!

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to
mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for a reward, and take
away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the
tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the dry grass sinketh
down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their
blossom shall go up as dust: because they have rejected the law of the
Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

{283}

[Footnote: The prophet threatens Judah with invasion by the dreaded
Assyrian army.]

THE DOOM OF THE UNFRUITFUL NATION

For all this his anger is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched forth still.

And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar,
And he will hiss for them from the end of the earth:
And, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly;
None shall be weary nor stumble among them;
None shall slumber nor sleep;
Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed,
Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind:
Their roaring shall be like a lion,
They shall roar like young lions:
Yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey,
And carry it away safe, and there shall be none to deliver.

And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea;
And if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress,
And the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.

{284}

COMFORT YE MY PEOPLE

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
Saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
And cry unto her,
That her warfare is accomplished,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
That she hath received of the Lord's h