XLIV. 6. I am the first, and I am the lust; and beside me there is no God.

I am the only true, eternal God, without all possibility of alteration; and therefore will be ever approved most constant to my own decrees and purposes.

XLIV. 7. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me?

Since I decreed, before ever any of your idol-gods were extant in the world, to select a people to myself from the rest of the earth, which of your false gods could or can order their vocation and government, as I have done?

XLIV. 12. Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

Weak and foolish man will be making a god to himself; and finds himself hungry, and thirsty, and faint, with the very work, while he makes it; yet, so eager is he in that business, as that he forbears his own necessary sustenance, in his zeal to finish it.

XLIV. 18. They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

God hath, in his just judgment, given them up to a strange besottedness, and hath suffered their idol to bereave them of their wits and senses; so as, though they have both hearts and eyes, yet they neither see nor understand.

XLIV. 20. He feedeth of ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

That which should be his comfort, is his affliction and misery : he trusteth to his idol, and that shall no more help him, than ashes can feed and nourish him: he hath given way to these idolatrous fopperies; and now they have utterly infatuated him, so as he hath not the grace to bethink himself of his fond and wicked courses.

XLIV. 28. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

That saith of Cyrus, that Persian Monarch who shall after many years be born, he is the man, that shall favour and restore my people, and perform my pleasure concerning their return from the Babylonish captivity; who shall also give order for the re-edifying of the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple.

XLV. 1. Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall be not shut.

Thus saith the Lord, concerning Cyrus, who is yet unborn, whom I have ordained to be the king of Persia; whom I have

decreed to prosper in all his designs, and to make him victorious over all nations, and to subdue mighty kings, so as they shall be glad to open unto him their most defenced cities.

XLV. 3. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places.

I will give thee those treasures, which have been long laid up in the secret storehouses of kings.

XLV. 5. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.

I have girded thee with honour and power, though thou hast not considered whence these favours have come; neither hast thou, O Cyrus, so well known me, as to abdicate thine idolatry, and to worship me aright.

XLV. 8. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth sulvation, and let righteousness spring up together: I the LORD have created it.

Let all my creatures, saith the Lord, conspire together to the furtherance of the restored happiness of my people: let the heavens, and the clouds, and the earth contribute all the blessings, which are committed unto them, to their enlargement and prosperity; and convey unto them the just performance of all the merciful promises, they have had from me.

XLV. 9. Or thy work, He hath no hands?

Shall the work rise up and controul the workman, and say, He hath no skill?

XLV. 13. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.

I, who am the faithful Guardian of my Church, have raised up Cyrus; who, in future times, shall come, and prosper in his great enterprizes; and he shall build up the walls of Jerusalem; and shall send back the captive Jews into their country, not being hired thereto by any price or reward, but by my immediate instigation. See Ezra, chap. i.

XLV. 14. Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, &c.

The Egyptians, and the Ethiopians, and Sabeans shall be tributary to Cyrus; and the benefit of their labour and merchandise shall by him be improved to the building of Jerusalem: so as the great enemies of God's Church shall voluntarily submit themselves thereunto, and shall acknowledge that God's presence is in her, and his power for her.

XLV. 15. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

All this shall be done for thy people; but, in the mean time, they shall have need of patience: for thou wilt, for a long while,

seem to hide thy face from them, O thou God and Saviour of Israel, and wilt give them up into grievous affliction.

XLVI. 1. Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.

The great idols of the Chaldees, in whom they so vainly trusted, shall now be pulled down, and carried away in carts, as the spoils of the Persian Conqueror: the beasts shall drag them away, and complain of their weight.

XLVI. 8. Remember this, and shew yourselves men; bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.

Remember this, and shew yourselves to be not more brutish than beasts, to worship those things which yourselves have made; but men, endued with reason, which alone is able to teach you to abhor this gross idolatry.

XLVI. 10. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Who, from the beginning of times, and ever since, have still foretold you what would come to pass; both till this present, and in the times yet to come; which I have so infallibly performed, that you may hereby well know the immutable certainty of all my decrees:

XLVI. 11. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country.

Calling Cyrus from the east to execute my decree; who shall come swiftly upon the wings of speed, to do what I have determined, and shall devour the kingdoms of the earth before him.

XLVI. 13. I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Howsoever ye have deserved to set me off from you, yet will I not suffer your incredulity to frustrate those gracious promises, which I have made for the deliverance of my people; but will, in my just time, perform them, and will bring salvation unto Zion, and there settle it, for the happiness of my people Israel.

XLVII. 1. Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

O thou glorious city of Babylon, which braggest of thine impregnableness and might, come down, for so thou shalt, and sit in the dust; for thither shalt thou be humbled: thou shalt no more rule over nations, but shalt be subject to another's power; neither shall there be any more place for thy wanton delicacy, but thou shalt be harshly and roughly intreated of thy conqueror.

XLVII. 2. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

:

Make account, to undergo the cruellest bondage, wherein thou shalt be put to grind in mills, and be whipped to all servile and base works and your coy dames and proud wantons shall go now carelessly, with their locks uncovered and neglected; and shall be forced to walk barefooted to their captivity, through the stony ways and unknown rivers.

XLVII. 3. I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a

man.

I will not deal with thee in any gentle or moderate manner, but in all extremity: the revenge of men may be prevented or mitigated; mine shall not.

XLVIII. 7. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

They, even those hidden things, are unexpectedly brought about, and were not revealed to thee beforehand; lest thou shouldest say, I foreknew them well enough.

XLVIII. 8. And wast called a transgressor from the womb.

Thou wast a stubborn and rebellious people, even from my first dealings with thee; ever since I sequestered thee for my peculiar.

XLVIII. 10. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver ; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

I have taken courses with thee, for thine amendment, not for thy destruction: I have tried thee with the fire of affliction, but not with so extreme a fire, as wherewith silver is tried; that would have burnt thee up, and not have refined thee: I have testified my choice and allowance of thee, upon this fiery trial.

XLVIII. 20. Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth.

I will free you, O my people: behold, ye shall go forth of Babylon; ye shall be rescued from the hand of the Chaldees: go ye therefore from thence with triumph and exultation, and proclaim the great goodness of your God to all the world.

XLIX. 1. Listen, O ye isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; the LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

O all ye foreign nations of the world, listen unto me, your Saviour and Redeemer: the Lord, who, before all times, had decreed me to be the Mediator of his Church, hath accordingly performed it; and hath, from my miraculous conception and birth, set me apart to the accomplishing of this great work.

XLIX. 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me.

He hath given power and efficacy to his word in my mouth, that thereby I may rule my Church, and subdue my enemies; his Almighy protection hath been over me; and he hath destined me, from all worlds, to be a fit and perfect instrument of his service.

XLIX. 4. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with work with my God.

Then I said, I have omitted nothing on my part, that I might do, for the gaining of my people, the Jews; but all my cost, and pains, that I have bestowed upon them, is no better than cast away but it is mine Everlasting Father, with whom I am one, who gives full approbation of all that I have done; who graciously accepts of both my active and passive obedience. So also verse 5.

XLIX. 5. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

Though Israel be so obstinate, that he will not reap the proffered benefit of my Redemption, yet my glory with the Lord shall be no whit the less.

XLIX. 6. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Yea, this is not all the honour, that God my Father will put upon me; for, Behold, saith he, it were a poor matter, if thy redemption and rule should be only limited to the tribes of Israel; no, I will so extend and advance this glorious and happy office and work of thine, that it shall reach unto the Gentiles, all the world over.

XLIX. 8. And give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.

I have given thee to renew and establish that covenant, which is between me and my Church; to raise up and settle all my chosen upon earth; and to bring into my Church those, which pertain unto it, so as even the most desolate parts thereof may be furnished and peopled.

XLIX. 9. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Such plenty of provision will I make for my people, that the very highways and dry and barren mountains shall yield them

abundance of nourishment and increase.

XLIX. 12. Behold, these shall come from far and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.