G U¹ 54:1,2. Exhortation. "Sing". V¹ 54:3. Reason. Fruitfulness. U² 54:4. Exhortation. "Fear not". V² 54:5-10. Reason. Yehovah's faithfulness. U³ 54:11-. Exortation. Be comforted. V³ 54:-11-17. Reason. Yehovah's goodness. U4 55:1-3. Exhortation. "Come". V4 55:4,5. Reason. Messiah given. U5 55:6,7. Exhortation. "Seek". V5 55:8-13. Reason. Yehovah's gift. U6 56:1-. Exhortaion. "Keep justice". V6 56:-1,2. Reason. Yehovah's blessing. U7 56:3. Exhortation. Encouragement. V7 56:4-8. Reason. Yehovah's gathering.
54)
603-588 B.C.
1 “Shout in triumph (see 52:8,9. Zeph.3:14. Quoted in Gal.4:27), O barren (refers to Sarah), You that did not bear; break forth into singing (see 14:7), and cry aloud, you that did not travail with child: for more are the sons of the desolate (see 1:7) than the sons of the husbanded one," (these are of Satan) says Yehovah. (The true family will grow to such a degree once Christ returns and people actually see the true Messiah vs. the false. In God's house and in God's family as she is taken to wife at that great wedding [spiritually])
2 "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your tent-pegs; (It will need to be bigger for the true family)
3 For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left (with truth); and your seed shall inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. (This is in the Millennium. See Rev.19:7,8)
4 Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed (see Lev.26:6. Cp. 44:16,17): neither be you confounded; for you shalt not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of thy youth (i.e. the insults YOU WILL RECIEVE standing against the false messiah. Cp. Jer.3:24,25), and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.
V² W 5-7. The Covenant [Marriage] Breach. X x 8-. Wrath overflowing. y -8. Everlasting kindness. Y 9-. The waters of Noah. Comparison. Y -9-. The waters of Noah. Reason. X x -9. Wrath restrained. y 10-. Everlasting kindness. W -10. The Covenant. Breach removed.
5 For your Maker (Heb. pl. Reference to the triune Yehovah) is your Husband (spiritually); Yehovah Sabaioth is His name; and your Kinsman-Redeemer the Set Apart One of Israel; The Elohim of the whole earth shall He be called. (this is the title connecting Yehovah with universal dominion. Cp. "Yehovah of the whole earth" in Josh.3:11,13. Zech.6:5)
6 For Yehovah has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit (see 1:4), and a wife of youth, when you were refused," says your Elohim.
7 "For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you out.
8 In an overflow wrath I hid My face from you for a moment (see Deut.31:17,18. Cp. Isa.8:17; 53:3; 64:7);
but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you," (see "ancient", 44:7) says Yehovah your Kinsman-Redeemer.
9 "For this is as the waters of Noah to me: (see Gen.6-9. Some codices read one word instead of two, "the days of Noah....when I swore, &c")
for as when I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth;
so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with you [for ever], nor rebuke you [for ever]. (This is a promise to you IF you remain chaste [spritualy])
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed (this occurs at the 7th Trump); but My kindness shall not depart from you,
neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed," says Yehovah That has mercy on you.
11 "O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make your battlements of agates, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your boundries of pleasant stones.
13 And all your sons shall be taught by Yehovah; (quoted in John 6:45) and great shall be the peace of your sons.
14 In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression; for you shall not fear (see "no", 5:8): and from terror; for it shall not come near you.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together (i.e. the enemies of Israel [Ps.56:7; 59:4), but not by Me: whosoever shall gather together against you shall be overthrown for your sake. (cp.8:14)
16 Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire (cp. 45:7,8), and that brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yehovah, and their righteousness is of Me," says Yehovah.
55)
1 Ho, every one that thirsts (this cry heard in Jerusalem today. All water has to be brought. Cp. John 4:14; 7:37-39. The invitation is only to these. Cp. Amos 8:11), come you all to the waters (of life [Rev.22:17]), and he that has no money; come you all, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine (of gladness [Ps.104:15]) and milk (of nourishment [1 Pet.2:2]) without money and without price.
2 Why do you all spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfies not? (emphasising the universal corruption and practice of the natural man. Cp. John 6:27) listen diligently (i.e. continue to listen) to Me, and eat you all that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you (see 44:7), even the sure mercies pertaining to David. (i.e. the lovingkindness well assured to David, the "everlasting covenant" made with David in 2 Sam.7:8-16. Quoted in Acts 13:34. Assured by oath to David, Ps.132:11)
4 Behold, I have given Him (= Messiah: not David, but David's Son and David's Lord) for a Witness to the peoples, a Leader and Commander to the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew not you shall run to you (i.e. Israel, who is addressed here. Prophecy true of today) because of Yehovah your Elohim, and for the Set Apart One of Israel; for He has glorified you.
6 Seek you all Yehovah while He may (i.e. lets Himself be) be found, call you all upon Him while He is near:
7 Let the lawless amn forsake his way (see 1:4), and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to Yehovah, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.
8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” (the contrast thus emphasised is not merely holiness, but vastness) says Yehovah.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For according as the rain comes down, and the snow from the heavens, and returns not to that place, except it (i.e. until it. Note the 4 succeeding tenses are pasts, and in the singular number. The waters do return, as stated in other Scriptures, Ps135:7. Jer.10:13; 51:16) waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth (see Deut. 8:3; 32:2): it shall not return to Me void, but it shall assuredly accomplish that which I please, and it shall assuredly prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For you all shall go forth with joy (i.e. from the lands of your wandering), and be led forth with prosperity: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, (see 14:7) and all the trees of the field (i.e. the open country beyond the limits of cultivation) shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier (or, nettle) shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (see 44:7)
56)
56)
1 Thus says Yehovah, "Keep you all judgment, and do rigteousness:
for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the mortal man that does this, and the son of mankind that lays hold on it (this righteousness...this salvation. Both Fem.); that keeps the sabbath from polluting it (see Ex.20:8-11), and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
3 Neither let the son of the foreigner (see Prov.5:3), that has joined himself to Yehovah, think, saying, 'Yehovah has utterly separated me from His People:' neither let the eunuch say, 'Behold, I am a dry tree.'
4 For" thus says Yehovah "to the eunuchs that keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me (see 1:29), and take hold of My covenant;
5 Even to them will I give in My house and within My walls a place (or, trophy. Heb. hand) and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to Yehovah, to serve Him, and to love the name of Yehovah, to be His servants, every one that keeps the sabbath from polluting it, and takes hold of My covenant;
7 Even them will I bring into My set apart mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices for acceptance upon My altar; for My house shall be called an house of prayer for all peoples." (quoted in Matt.21:13. Mark 11:17. Luke 19:46. Contrast "your house" [Matt.23:28])
8 Adonai Yehovah, Which gathers the outcasts of Israel says, "Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered to him."
H A 56:9. Call to devour. B 56:10 - 57:21. Contrasted characters. A 58:1. Call to cry aloud. B 58:2-14. Contrasted conduct.
9 All you beasts of the field (see 55:12), come to devour, yes, all you beasts in the forest.
B C 56:10-12. The wicked. D 57:1. The righteous. E 57:2. Peace. C 57:3-13-. The wicked. D 57:-13-18. The righteous. E 57:19-21. Peace.
10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dozing (or, dreaming), lying down, loving to slumber.
11 Yes, they are greedy (= strong of steel = strong of appetie: i.e., as well rendered, "greedy") dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
12 “Come you all,” say they, “I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.”
57)
1 The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and kind men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the presence of the calamity. (i.e. the calamity refered to in Jer.22:10. See 2 Kings 22:16-20)
2 He (i.e. the righteous man) shall enter into peace: they (i.e. the men of grace) shall rest iupon their couches, each one walking in his straight path.
C e 3,4. Inquiry. f 5-10. Crimination. e 11. Inquiry. f 12,13- Threatening.
3 But draw near to this place, all you sons of the sorceress (see 2:6 "soothsayers"), the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
4 Against whom do you all sport yourselves? against whom make you all a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are you all not offspring of transgression (i.e. inborn transgression), a false seed.
5 Enflaming yourselves with the sacred trees (i.e. the asherahs, from were "easter" comes from) under every green tree, slaying the offspring in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? (see Lev. 18:21; to Molech [1 Kings 11:7. 2 Kings 17:16,17]; or to Baal [Jer.19:5. Ezek.16:20; 23:39. Hos.13:1])
6 Among the smooth stones of the stream (= the open places. Judah still in the land. None of the things mentioned in vv.5-7 found in Babylon) is your portion; they, they are your lot: even to them have you poured a drink offering, you have offered a meal offering (see Ex.29:40,41, &c. Num.15:1-10. Cp. 1 Kings 12:32,33). Should I receive comfort in these?
7 Upon a lofty and high mountain have you set your bed: even from that place you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the doors also and the posts have you set up your symbols: for you have discovered yourself to another than Me, and are gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made a covenant with them; you loved their couch a hand you have seen(as beckoning).
9 And you went to the king (or, idol, as in 30:33. 1 Kings 11:7) with ointment, and did increase your perfumes, and did send thy messengers far off, and did debase yourself even to Sheõl.
10 You are wearied in the greatness of your way; yet said you not, “There is no hope:” you have found by the length of your journeys] a hand to outh life; therefore you were not grieved.
11 And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied, and have not remembered Me, nor laid it to your heart? have not I held My peace even of old, and you fear Me not?
12 I will declare your righteousness, and your works; for they shall not profit you. (some codices read, "and your works, they will not profit you")
13 When you cry (in ditress), let your companies (i.e. the paramours of v.8) deliver you; but the wind (ruach) shall carry them all away; vanity (put for vain men) shall take them:
but he that flees for refuge to Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My set apart mountain;
14 And shall say, “Make a highway, make a highway (see 7:3), prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of My People.”
15 For thus says the high and lifted up One (see 6:1 "exalted") inhabiting eternity, Whose name is Holy (= Set Apart, or Seperate); “I dwell in the high and set aart place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit (ruach), to revive the spirit (ruach) of the humble, and to revive the heart (or, mind) of the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit (ruach) should fail before Me, and the breathing things which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid Me (cp. 45:15; 59:2; 64:7), and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will [gently] lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. (see 3:26)
19 I create the fruit of the lips; “Peace, peace (= perfect peace, or great prosperity) to him that is far off, and to him that is near,” says Yehovah (The famous Codex Muyah, quoted i the Massrah, reads, "says Yehovah my Elohim); “and I will heal him.
20 But the lawless are like the sea when tossed, for it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace,” (cp. 48:22) says Yehovah Elohim, to the lawless.
58)
1 Cry aloud (= Heb. "call withthe throat": i.e. dee down as in the oriental throat. It denotes not a wild cry, but solemnity with restraint), spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show My People their rebellion, and the house of Jacob their sins. (see 2:5)
B g¹ 2-7. Condition. Legal observances. h¹ 8,9-. Recompence. Illumination. g² -9,10-. Condition. Charity. h² -10-12. Recompence. Illumination. g³ 13. Condition. Legal observance-Sabbath. h³ 14. Recompence. Ascendancy.
2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their Elohim: (see 1:4) they ask of Me the ordinances of righteousnss; they take delight in approaching to Elohim.
3 “Why have we fasted,” say they, “and You see not? why have we afflicted our souls, (this is a strictly Levitical technical expression [Lev.16:29,31; 23:27,32. Num.29:7]. This shows that the People were not in exile as alleged, but in the Land. See also the references to otheer observances below [v.13]. Note that in Chapters 58 and 59 we have the reference to the Day of Atonement; in Chapters 60 and 61, to the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. Ch. 60 refers to the feast of Tabernacles with its "ingathering" [vv.3-5,13], which followed the Day of Atonement [Lev.23:27,34]) and You take no knowledge?” Behold, in the day of your fast you ll find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, you all fast for strife and debate, (referring to Day of Atonement, whichwas still observed; and in the Land, not in exile, as alleged) and to smite with the fist of lawlessness: and youall shall not fast as you all do this day, iy you all would make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? (see 1:29) a day for manknd to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush (see 9:14), and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yehovah?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the pangs of lawlessness (see Ps.73:4), to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you all break every yoke?
7 Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, (the technical term for giving or partaking of food, as in Luke 24:30,35. Acts 2:42,46; 20:7,11; 27:35. 1 Cor.10:16; 11:24. Cp. Job 42:11. Lam.4:4. Ezek.18:7; 24:17. Hos.9:4) and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that do not you hide yourself from your own flesh? (see Gen.29:14. Cp. Neh.5:1-11)
8 Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health (Heb. your healing. referring to the healing of wounds) shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yehovah shall bring up your rear-guard. (see Ex.14:19,20)
9 Then shall you call, and Yehovah shall answer; you shall cry (in distress), and He shall say, “Here I am.”
If you take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 And if you draw out your soul (some codices read, "give out your bread") to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness become as the noon day:
11 And Yehovah shall [gently] guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in great drought, and invigorate your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of you shall rebuild (this is still future) the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in (or, leading home).
13 If you turn away your feet from the sabbath (see 56:2. Christ is our Sabbath = Rest), from doing your pleasures on My set apart day; and call the sabbath a delight, the set apart of Yehovah, honourable; and shall honour Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasures, nor speaking vain words: (or, keep making talk)
14 Then shall you revel in Yehovah; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, (see Deut.32:13; 33:29) and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of Yehovah has spoken it.