The. holie. Bible. conteynyng the olde Testament and the newe.

The .xlj. Chapter.

2 Of the goodnesse and mercy of God towarde the people.

[unspec A] 1 BE styll you (a) 1.1 Ilandes and hearken vnto me: let the people lay their strength together, let them come hither, and then shew their cause: we will go to the lawe together.

2 Who raysed vp the (b) 1.2 iust man from the east, and called hym to go foorth? who cast downe the people, and subdued the kynges before him? that he may throw them al to the ground with his sworde, and scatter them lyke stubble with his bowe.

3 He foloweth vpon them, and goeth safely him selfe, & that in a way where before his foote had not troden.

4 Who hath made and created these thinges? euen he that called the genera∣tions from the beginning, * 1.3 euen I the Lorde whiche am the first, and with the last.

5 The Isles sawe and did feare, and the endes of the earth were abashed, drewe nye, and came hither.

6 Euery man helped his neighbour, and sayd to his brother, be strong.

7 The carpenter comforted the gold∣smith, [unspec B] and the goldsmith the hammer∣man, saying, sowder wyll do very well in it: and they fastened it with nayles, that it shoulde not be moued.

8 But thou Israel art my seruaunt, thou Iacob whom I haue chosē, thou art the seede of Abraham my beloued.

9 Thou art he whom I led from the endes of the earth: for I called thee euen from among the glorious men of it, and sayd vnto thee, Thou art my ser∣uaunt, I haue chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

10 * 1.4Be not afraide, for I am with thee: Melt not away as waxe, for I am thy God to strength thee, helpe thee, and kepe thee with the right hande of my righteousnesse.

11 Beholde, all they that resist thee shall come to confusion and shame, and thine aduersaries shalbe destroyed & brought to naught.

12 So that who so seeketh after them, shall not finde them, thy destroyers shall perishe: and so shall they that vn∣dertake to make battayle against thee be as that is not, & as a thing of naught.

13 For I the Lorde thy God wyll strengthen thy right hande, euen I that say vnto thee, Feare not, I wyll helpe thee.

[unspec C] 14 Be not afraide thou litle worme Ia∣cob, and thou despised Israel: for I wil helpe thee saith the Lorde, and the holy one of Israel thy redeemer.

15 Beholde, I will make thee a treading cart and a newe flaile, that thou mayest threshe and grinde the mountaines, and bring the hilles to powder.

16 Thou shalt fanne them, and the winde shall carrie them away, and the whirle winde shall scatter them: but thou shalt reioyce in the Lorde, and shalt delight in the holy one of Israel.

17 * 1.5When the thirstie and poore seeke water and finde none, and when their tongue is drye of thirst, I geue it them saith the Lorde, I the God of Israel forsake them not.

18 * 1.6 I bryng foorth fluddes in the hilles, and welles in the playne fieldes: I turne the wildernesse to riuers, and the drye lande to conduites of water.

19 I plant in the waste grounde trees of Cedar, Boxe, Myrre, and Oliues, and in the drie I set Firre trees, Elmes, and Hawthornes together.

20 All this do I, that they altogether may see and marke, perceaue with their heartes and consider that the hande of the Lorde maketh these thinges, and that the holy one of Israel bringeth them to passe.

21 Stande at your cause saith the Lord, & bryng foorth your strongest grounde, saith the kyng of Iacob.

22 Let them bring foorth their gods, and let their gods tel vs what shall chaunce hereafter, yea let them shewe vs the thinges that are past what they be, let them declare them vnto vs, that we may take them to heart, and knowe them hereafter.

23 Either shewe vs thinges for to come, [unspec D] and tell vs what shall be done hereaf∣ter, so shall we know that ye are gods: do something either good or bad, so wyl we both knowledge the same, and tell it out.

24 Beholde ye are gods of naught, and your making is of naught: yea abhomi∣ble is the man that hath chosen you.

25 Neuerthelesse, * 1.7 I haue waked vp one from the north, and he shall come from the east, he shal call vpon my name, and shall treade vpon princes as vpon clay, and as the potter treadeth downe the mire.

26 Who declared this from the begin∣ning, and we will knowe hym: or from the olde times, and we wil confesse and say that he is righteous? but there is none that sheweth or declareth any thing, there is none also that heareth your wordes.

27 The first is he that shall say to Sion, beholde, beholde, they are present: and to Hierusalem it selfe wyll I geue an euangelist.

28 But when I consider, there is not a man among them, nor any that can geue counsayle, nor that when I exa∣mine them that can aunswere one worde.

29 Lo wicked are they, and vayne, with the thinges also that they take in hand, yea their images are but winde and vayne thinges.

Notes

• (a) 1.1

  By the Ilandes, God meaneth the gentiles, whō he reproueth for their ido∣latrie.
• (b) 1.2

  By the iust man, is ment Abra∣ham, who be∣ing called out of Vr of the Chaldeans, who being iustified by fayth, became the father of many nations, whom God alwayes de∣fended against all his ene∣mies.
• * 1.3

  Esai. xliiii. a. and .xlviii. ••. Apoc. ii. b.
• * 1.4

  Esai. xliii. b.
• * 1.5

  Gene. xxi. c.
• * 1.6

  Esai. xxv. b. xliii.xliiii. a.
• * 1.7

  Esai. xliii. ••. Cyru••.