{To the Chanter, in Neginoth, an instruction of David when the Ziphites came, and said unto Saul: David is hid among us} Save me, O God, for thy name's sake, and avenge me in thy strength.

And I said, "O that I had wings like a dove! For then would I flee away, and be at rest.

The LORD hath said, "I will bring my people again, as I did from Bashan; mine own will I bring again, as I did sometimes from the deep of the sea,

and I said, "Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency?

Yea, I had almost also said even as they do; but lo, then should I have condemned the generation of thy children.

I said unto the fools, "Deal not so madly," and to the ungodly, "Set not up your horn.

For they spake against God, and said, "Yea yea, God shall prepare a table in the wilderness, shall he?

I have said, "Ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the most highest.

For I have said, "Mercy shall be set up for ever; thy truth shalt thou establish in the heavens."

When I said, "My foot hath slipped, thy mercy, O LORD, held me up."

Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, "They ever err in their hearts, they verily have not known my ways."

Therefore I said unto them in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.

So he said he would have destroyed them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in that gap; to turn away his wrathful indignation, lest he should destroy them.

{A Psalm of David} The LORD said unto my LORD, "Sit thou on my righthand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."

I said in my haste, "All men are liars."

{A song of the stairs} I was glad when they said unto me, "We will go in to the house of the LORD."

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with joy. Then said they among the heathen, "The LORD hath done great things for them."

Remember the children of Edom, O LORD, in the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Down with it! Down with it, even to the ground!"

"Whoso is ignorant, let him come hither!" And to the unwise she said,

Better it is that it be said unto thee, "Come up hither," than thou to be set down in the presence of the prince whom thou seest with thine eyes.

Is there anything, whereof it may be said, "Lo, this is new?" For it was long ago in the times that have been before us.

Then said I thus in my heart, "Now go to, I will take mine ease and have good days." But lo, that was vanity also:

insomuch that I said unto laughter, "Thou art mad," and to mirth, "What doest thou?"

Then said I, "Wisdom is better than strength." Nevertheless, a simple man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

Behold, my beloved said to me: Up and haste my love, my dove, my beautiful, and come:

The watchmen that go about the city found me, to whom I said: Saw ye not him whom my soul loveth?

As I was asleep, and my heart waking, I heard the voice of my beloved, when he knocked. Open to me, said he, O my sister, my love, my darling, my dove: for my head is full of dew, and my locks of my hair are full of the night drops.

But one is my dove, my darling. She is the only beloved of her mother, and dear unto her that bare her. When the daughters saw her, they said, she was blessed: Yea the Queens and concubines praised her.

I said, I will climb up the date tree, and take hold of his branches. Thy breasts also shall be as the vine grapes, the smell of thy nostrils like the smell of apples,

Then I said, "O woe is me! For I am lost: inasmuch as I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell among people that hath unclean lips also. For mine eyes have seen the King and LORD of Hosts."

and touched my mouth, and said, "Lo, this hath touched thy mouth, and thine unrighteousness is taken away, and thy sin is forgiven."

After this I heard the voice of the LORD, taking advisement on this manner, "Whom shall I send, and who will be our messenger?" Then I said, "Here am I, send me."

And so he said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; ye shall plainly see, and not perceive.

Then said God unto Isaiah, "Go meet Ahaz, thou and thy son Shearjashub, at the head of the over pole, in the foot path by the fuller's ground,

Wherefore the LORD said, "Hearken, ye of the house of David: Is it so small a thing for you, to be grievous to men, but that ye should also be painful unto God?

Moreover the LORD said unto me, "Take thee a great leaf, and write in it, as men do with a pen, 'Make hasty speed to rob, and haste to the spoil.'"

After that went I unto the Prophetess, that now had conceived and born a son. Then said the LORD to me, "Give him this name: Mahershalahashbaz.

For the LORD chastised me, and took me by the hand, and warned me, saying unto me that I should not walk in the ways of this people. He said moreover,

For thus hath the LORD said unto me: "I will take my rest, and look upon the matter in my habitation, like a fair heat after the rain, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

Then said the LORD, "Whereas my servant Isaiah goeth naked and barefoot, it is a token and signifying of the thing that after three years shall come upon Egypt and Ethiopia.

Whoso may deceive, said the voice, let him deceive: Who so may destroy, let him destroy. Up Elam, besiege it O Media, for I will still all their groanings.

While they garnished the table, the watchman looked: and while he was eating and drinking it was said, "Up, ye Captains, take you to your shield."

And behold, here cometh a chariot of men with two horsemen." And he answered and said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen! She is turned upside down, and all the images of her gods are smitten to the ground!"

When I perceived that, I said, "Let me alone, and I will make lamentation. Take no labour for to comfort me, as touching the destruction of my people."

Nevertheless, when the LORD of Hosts heard of it, he said: "Yea, if this wickedness of yours shall be remitted, ye must die for it." This hath the LORD God of Hosts spoken.

In that day, sayeth the LORD of Hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place depart and be broken, and fall: and the burden that was upon it shall be plucked away. For the LORD himself hath said it.

And he said, "From hence forth shalt thou make no more mirth, O thou daughter of Sidon: for thou shalt be put down. Stand up therefore, and get thee over unto Chittim, where nevertheless thou shalt have no rest.

We heard songs sung to the praise of the righteous, from all the ends of the world. And I said, "O mine unfruitfulness! O my poverty! Woe is me! The transgressors have offended; the transgressors have grievously offended!"

As for death, he shall utterly consume it. The LORD God shall wipe away the tears from all faces, and take away the rebuke of his people through the whole world. For the LORD himself hath said it.

In that day shall it be said, "Lo, this is our God: we have waited for him, and he shall save us. This is the LORD in whom we have hoped: Let us rejoice, and delight in his salvation.

For ye have said, "No, but we will escape through horses!" Therefore shall ye flee. And, "We will get us up upon swift beasts!" Therefore shall your persecutors be swifter.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, "Tell Hezekiah that the great king of Assyria sayeth thus unto him, 'What presumption is this, that thou trustest unto?

Moreover, thinkest thou that I am come down hither, to destroy this land without the LORD's will? The LORD said unto me: Go down into the land, that thou mayest destroy it.'"

Then said Eliakim, Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, "Speak to us thy servants, we pray thee, in the Syrians language, for we understand it well: And speak not to us in the Jews' Tongue, lest the folk hear, which lieth upon the wall."

And Rabshakeh stood stiff, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' tongue, and said, "Now take heed, how the great king of the Assyrians giveth you warning!

and they said unto him, "Thus sayeth Hezekiah, 'This is the day of trouble, of plague, and of wrath: like as when a child cometh to the birth, but the woman hath no power to bring it forth.

Not long afore this, was Hezekiah sick unto death: And the Prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came unto him, and said, "Thus commandeth the LORD, 'Set thine house in order: for thou must die, and shall not escape.

and said, "Remember, O LORD, that I have walked before thee in truth and a steadfast heart, and have done the thing that is pleasant to thee." And Hezekiah wept sore.

Then said God unto Isaiah,

And Isaiah said, "Take a plaster of figs, and lay it upon the sore, so shall it be whole."

Then said Hezekiah, "O what a great thing is this, that I shall go up in to the house of the LORD."

Then came Isaiah the Prophet to king Hezekiah, and said unto him, "What have the men said, and from whence came they unto thee?" Hezekiah answered, "They came out of a far country unto me, out of Babylon."

Isaiah said, "What have they looked upon in thine house?" Hezekiah answered, "All that is in mine house have they seen: and there is nothing in my treasure, but I showed it them."

Then said Isaiah unto Hezekiah, "Understand the word of the LORD of Hosts:

Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, "Good is the word of God which thou hast told me." He said moreover, "For there shall be peace and faithfulness in my time."

The same voice spake, "Now cry." And I said, "What shall I cry?" Then spake it, "That all flesh is grass, and that all the beauty thereof, is as the flower of the field.

whom I led from the ends of the earth by the hand: For I called thee from far, and said unto thee 'Thou shalt be my servant,' I have chosen thee, and will not cast thee away.

The LORD hath said moreover: The occupiers of Egypt, the merchants of the Ethiopians and Sabees, shall come unto thee with tribute; they shall be thine, they shall follow thee, and go with chains upon their feet. They shall fall down before thee, and make supplication unto thee. For God, without whom there is none other God, shall be with thee.

I have not spoken secretly, neither in dark places of the earth. It is not for naught, that I said unto the seed of Jacob, "Seek me." I am the LORD which, when I speak, declareth the thing that is righteous and true.

For thou hast comforted thyself in thy deceitfulness, and hast said, "No man seeth me." Thine own wisdom and cunning hath deceived thee, in that thou hast said, "I am alone, and without me there is none."

Ye shall go away from Babylon, and escape the Chaldeans with a merry voice. This shall be spoken of, declared abroad, and go forth unto the end of the world: so that it shall be said, "The LORD hath defended his servant Jacob,

And he said to me, "Thou art my servant O Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

And I said, "I labour in vain and spend my strength for nought, and unprofitably. Howbeit, my cause I commit to the LORD and my travail unto my God."

For thus hath the LORD said: My people went down aforetime into Egypt, there to be strangers. Afterward did the king of the Assyrians oppress them for naught.

For he said, "These no doubt will be my people, and no shrinking children," and so he was their Saviour.

Then said I, "Oh LORD God, I cannot speak, for I am yet but young."

And with that, the LORD stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth, and said moreover unto me, "Behold, I put my words in thy mouth,

After this, the LORD spake unto me saying, "Jeremiah, what seest thou?" And I said, "I see a waking rod."

Then said the LORD, "Thou hast seen right, for I will watch diligently upon my word, to perform it."

It happened afterward, that the LORD spake to me again, and said, "What seest thou? And I said: I do see a seething pot, looking out of the north hitherward."

Then said the LORD unto me, "Out of the north shall come a plague upon all the dwellers of the land.

The priests themselves said not once, 'Where is the LORD?' They that have the law in their hands, know me not: The shepherds offend against me. The Prophets do service unto Baal, and follow such things as shall bring them no profit.

The LORD said also unto me, in the time of Josiah the king, "Hast thou seen what that shrinking Israel hath done? How she hath run up upon all high hills, and among all thick trees, and there played the harlot?

Hast thou seen also, when she had done all this, how I said unto her that she should turn again unto me, and yet she is not returned? Judah, that unfaithful sister of hers also saw this:

And the LORD said unto me, "The shrinking Israel is more righteous than the unfaithful Judah:

Then said I, "O LORD God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'Ye shall have peace,' and now the sword goeth through their lives?"

Then shall it be said to the people and to Jerusalem, "A strong wind in the high places of the wilderness cometh through the way of my people; but neither to fan nor to cleanse.

For thus hath the LORD said, "The whole land shall be desolate, yet will I not then have done.

They have denied the LORD, and said, 'It is not he. Tush, there shall no misfortune come upon us; we shall see neither sword nor hunger.'

As for their gods, it may well be said of them, "They are gods, that made neither heaven nor earth: therefore shall they perish from the earth, and from all things under heaven."

and will keep my promise, that I have sworn unto your fathers: Namely, that I would give them a land which floweth with milk and honey, as ye see it is come to pass unto this day." Then answered I, and said, "Amen. It is even so, O LORD, as thou sayest."

Then the LORD said unto me again, "Preach this in the cities of Judah and round about Jerusalem, and say: Hear the words of this covenant, that ye may keep them.

And the LORD said unto me, "It is found out, that whole Israel and all these citizens of Jerusalem are gone back.

Moreover, thus said the LORD unto me, "Go thy way, and get thee a linen breech, and gird it about thy loins, and let it not be wet."

Then said the LORD unto me:

Yea, even thus said the LORD unto me, "Thou shalt not pray to do this people good.

And the LORD said unto me, "The prophets preach lies unto them in my name. I have not spoken with them, neither gave I them any charge, neither did I send them. Yet they preach unto you false visions, charming vanity, and deceitfulness of their own heart.

"Hast thou then utterly forsaken Judah?" said I, "Doest thou so abhor Zion? Or hast thou so plagued us, that we can be healed no more? We looked for peace, and there cometh no good: for the time of health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble.

Then spake the LORD unto me, and said, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart to this people. Drive them away, that they may go out of my sight.

"O LORD," said I then, "thou knowest all things. Therefore remember me, and visit me, deliver me from my persecutors: Receive not my cause in thy long wrath; yet thou knowest, that for thy sake I suffer rebuke.