days that have not conie, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria." Chap. viii. 5: "The Lord spake also unto me again, saying, 6, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; 7, Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8, And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel." Chap. ix. 1: "Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3, Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4, For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5, For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7, Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,* upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Chap. x. 5: "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6, I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7, Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. 8, For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? 9, Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus ? † 10, As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11, Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? 12, Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout • Those that are at all versed in scriptural language will attach no weight to the terms "no end" and " for ever," found in ch. v. 7; for the former often signifies plenteousness, and the latter long but not eternal duration. Vide Eccl. iv. 16: “There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them." Isaiah ii. 7: "Neither is there any end of their treasure, neither is there any end of their chariots." Nahum ii. 9: "There is none end of their store." Ch. iii. 3: "And there is none end of their corpses." Psalm cxlv. 2, 9: "I will praise thy name for ever and ever." Deut. xv. 17: "And he shall be thy servant for ever." + Compare vers. 9-11, with the historical relation of the vain boastings of the Assyrian, narrated in 2 Kings xviii, 33—35. heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks."-16, "Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17, And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame and it shall burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day."-24, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. 25, For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger, in their destruction." 27, *"And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing." 2 Kings xviii. 1: "Now it came to pass, in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2, Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: his mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. 3, And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. 4, He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan. 5, He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that : Compare with 2 Kings xvi. 7, "So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser King of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son," &c., and ch. xviii. 7, as above. were before him. 6, For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. 7, And the Lord was with him: and be prospered whithersoever he went forth and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not. 8, He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city."-17, "And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rab-shakeh, from Lachish to king Hezekiah, with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field."-28, " Then Rab-shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: 29, Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: 30, Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 31, Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: 32, Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land; a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. 33, Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34, Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? 35, Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand ?" Chap. xix. 15: "And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 16, Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God." 19, "Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only. 20, Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21, This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 22, Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. 23, By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel."-27, " But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 28, Because thy rage against me and thy |