His arm shall rule: behold His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather together the lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young.

The Greatness of God.-Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and weighed the heavens with His palm? who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor, and hath taught Him? With whom hath He* consulted, and who hath instructed Him, and taught Him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold the islands are as a little dust. And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations are before Him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to Him as nothing and vanity.

To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for Him? Hath the workmen cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved.

His Wisdom.-Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: He that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity. And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly He hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

And to whom have ye likened Me, or made Me equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things: who bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by their names: by the greatness of His might and strength and power, not one of them was missing. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: My way is

*So St. Paul says: Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor? Rom. xi. 34.

Isaias XLII.

hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth: He shall not faint, nor labour, neither is there any searching out of His wisdom. It is He that giveth strength to the weary : and increaseth force and might to them that are not. Youths shall faint and labour, and young men shall fall by infirmity. But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

SECT. CLVIII. THE OFFICE OF CHRIST. PROPHECY OF CYRUS AS A FIGURE
OF CHRIST.

Prophecy of Christ.-Behold My servant,* I will uphold 1-13. Him: My elect, My soul delighteth in Him: I have put My spirit upon Him, He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall His voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till He set judgment in the earth: and the islands shall wait for His law.†

Thus saith the Lord God that created the heavens, and stretched them out: that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it: that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. I the Lord have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the hand, and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: that thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. I the Lord, this is My name: I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven things. The things that were first, behold they are come: and new things do I declare, before they spring forth I will make you hear them.

Sing ye to the Lord a new song, His praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them. Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise: they shall cry from the top of the mountains. They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare His praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a

* Our Lord took upon Him the form of a servant, St. Paul says. Philip. ii. This whole passage is quoted in St. Matthew's Gospel, and applied to our Lord. Chap. xii.

mighty man, as a man of war shall He stir up zeal: He shall shout and cry: He shall prevail against His enemies.

*

Prophecy of Cyrus.-Thus saith the Lord to My anointed Isaias XLV. Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue na- 1-13. tions before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron. And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel. For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou hast not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no other God besides Me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known Me: that they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things.f

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just let the earth be opened, and bud forth a Saviour: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created Him.

Woe to him that gainsayeth his Maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands? Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth? Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his Maker: Ask Me of things to come, concerning My children and concerning the work of My hands give ye charge to Me. I made the earth, and I created man upon it : My hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host. I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build My city, and let go My captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, saith the Lord the God of hosts.

SECT. CLIX. A PROPHECY OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.

1-14.

Christ's Sufferings.—Who hath believed our announcement? Isaias LIIL and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?§ And He shall

Cyrus was called anointed as being a king. This prophecy was at least a

hundred years before his birth. KENRICK.

God ordains all physical evils, which imply no moral wrong, and are subservient to His high counsels. KENRICK.

Jerusalem, with the temple, was rebuilt by order of Cyrus. See Esdras i. St. John in his Gospel (chap. xii.) interprets this as a prophecy of the incredulity of the Jews.

Isaias LV.

grow up as a tender plant before Him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness: and we have seen Him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of Him: despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and His look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed Him not.

Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows:* and we have thought Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was His own will, and He opened not His mouth: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before His shearer, and He shall not open His mouth. He was taken away from distress and from judgment: who shall declare His generation? because He is cut off out of the land of the living: for the wickedness of My people have I struck Him.

And He shall have the ungodly in His burial, and the rich at His death: because He hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in His mouth. And the Lord was pleased to bruise Him in infirmity: if He shall lay down His life for sin, He shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in His hand. Because His soul hath laboured, He shall see and be filled: by His knowledge shall this My just servant justify many, and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I distribute to Him very many, and He shall divide the spoils of the strong, because He hath delivered His soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked † and He hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors.

SECT. CLX. PROMISES OF SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS. THE RESTORATION OF
JERUSALEM IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

The Blessings of the Gospel.-All you that thirst, come to 1-18. the waters: and you that have no money, make haste, buy,‡ and eat come ye, buy wine and milk without money and with

This passage is applied to our Lord in St. Matthew's Gospel, chap. viii. This is applied by our Lord to Himself as being crucified between two thieves in Luke's Gospel, chap. xxii. 37.

So our Lord says: If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. The spiritual blessings bestowed through the Christian Church are prefigured by meats and drinks.

out any price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to Me hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David. Behold I have given Him for a witness to the people, for a leader and a master to the Gentiles. Behold Thou shalt call a nation, which Thou knewest not: and the nations that knew not Thee shall run to Thee, because of the Lord Thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for He hath glorified Thee.

Seek ye the Lord while He may be found: call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God: for He is bountiful to forgive.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts.

And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 30 shall My word be, which shall go forth from My mouth: it shall not return to Me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall sing praise before you, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands. Instead of the shrub shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle-tree: and the Lord shall be named for an everlasting sign, that shall not be taken away.

1-22.

The New Jerusalem.-Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: Isaias LX. for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of * This is interpreted of the wise men who came to adore our Lord at His birth.