Notes on Isaiah
From the Original 1599 Geneva Bible Notes

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Isa 1:1

1:1 The {a} vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw {b} concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of {c} Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Argument - God, according to his promise in De 18:15 that he would never leave his Church destitute of a prophet, has from time to time accomplished the same: whose office was not only to declare to the people the things to come, of which they had a special revelation, but also to interpret and declare the law, and to apply particularly the doctrine contained briefly in it, for the use and profit of those to whom they thought it chiefly to belong, and as the time and state of things required. Principally in the declaration of the law, they had respect to three things which were the ground of their doctrine: first, to the doctrine contained briefly in the two tables: secondly to the promises and threatenings of the law: and thirdly to the covenant of grace and reconciliation grounded on our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law. To which they neither added nor diminished, but faithfully expounded the sense and meaning of it. As God gave them understanding of things, they applied the promises particularly for the comfort of the Church and the members of it, and also denounced the menaces against the enemies of the same: not for any care or regard to the enemies, but to assure the Church of their safeguard by the destruction of their enemies. Concerning the doctrine of reconciliation, they have more clearly entreated it than Moses, and set forth more lively Jesus Christ, in whom this covenant of reconciliation was made. In all these things Isaiah surpassed all the prophets, and was diligent to set out the same, with vehement admonitions, reprehensions, and consolations: ever applying the doctrine as he saw that the disease of the people required. He declares also many notable prophecies which he had received from God, concerning the promise of the Messiah, his office and kingdom, the favour of God toward his Church, the calling of the Gentiles and their union with the Jews. Which are principal points contained in this book, and a gathering of his sermons that he preached. Which after certain days that they had stood upon the temple door (for the manner of the prophets was to post the sum of their doctrine for certain days, that the people might the better mark it as in Isa 8:1, Hab 2:2 ) the priests took it down and reserved it among their registers. By God's providence these books were preserved as a monument to the Church forever. Concerning his person and time he was of the king's stock for Amos his father was brother to Azariah king of Judah, as the best writers agree) and prophesied more than 64 years, from the time of Uzziah to the reign of Manasseh who was his son-in-law (as the Hebrews write) and by whom he was put to death. In reading of the prophets, this one thing among others is to be observed, that they speak of things to come as though they were now past because of the certainty of it, and that they could not but come to pass, because God had ordained them in his secret counsel and so revealed them to his prophets.

(a) That is, a revelation or prophecy, which was one of the two means by which God declared himself to his servants in old times, as in Nu 12:6 and therefore the prophets were called seers, 1Sa 9:9 .
(b) Isaiah was chiefly sent to Judah and Jerusalem, but not only: for in this book are prophecies concerning other nations also.
(c) Called also Azariah, 2Ki 15:1 of these kings read 2Ki 14:1-21:1, 2Ch 25:1-33:1 .

Isa 1:2

1:2 Hear, O {d} heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up {e} children, and they have rebelled against me.

(d) Because men were obstinate and insensible, he calls to the dumb creatures, who were more prompt to obey God's word, as in De 32:1 .
(e) He declares his great mercy toward the Jews as he chose them above all other nations to be his people and children as in De 10:15 .

Isa 1:3

1:3 The {f} ox knoweth his owner, and the donkey his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

(f) The most dull and brute beasts acknowledge their duty more toward their masters, than my people do toward me, of whom they have received benefits without comparison.

Isa 1:4

1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a {g} seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the {h} Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.

(g) They were not only wicked as were their fathers, but utterly corrupt and by their evil example infected others.
(h) That is, him that sanctifies Israel.

Isa 1:5

1:5 Why should ye be {i} stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole {k} head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

(i) What good is it to seek to mend you by punishment, seeing that the more I correct you, the more you rebel?
(k) By naming the chief parts of the body, he signifies that there was no part of the whole body of the Jews free from his rods.

Isa 1:6

1:6 From the {l} sole of the foot even to the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, {m} neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

(l) Every part of the body, the least as well as the chiefest was plagued.
(m) Their plagues were so grievous that they were incurable, and yet they would not repent.

Isa 1:7

1:7 Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, foreigners devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as overthrown by {n} foreigners.

(n) Meaning, of them who dwell far off, who because they look for no advantage of that which remains destroy all before them.

Isa 1:8

1:8 And the daughter of {o} Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

(o) That is, Jerusalem.

Isa 1:9

1:9 Except the LORD of hosts {p} had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been {q} as Sodom, we should have been like Gomorrah.

(p) Because he will always have a Church to call on his Name.
(q) That is, all destroyed.

Isa 1:10

1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye {r} rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

(r) You who for your vices deserved to be destroyed, as they of Sodom, save that God from his mercy reserved a little number, La 3:22 .

Isa 1:11

1:11 To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I {s} delight not in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.

(s) Although God commanded these sacrifices for a time, as aids and exercises of their faith, yet because the people did not have faith or repentance, God detests them, Ps 50:13, Jer 6:20, Am 5:22, Mic 6:7 .

Isa 1:13

1:13 {t} Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

(t) Without faith and repentance.

Isa 1:14

1:14 Your {u} new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble to me; I am weary of bearing [them].

(u) Your sacrifices offered in the new moons and feasts: he condemns by this hypocrites who think to please God with ceremonies and they themselves are void of faith and mercy.

Isa 1:15

1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full {x} of blood.

(x) He shows that where men are given to evil, deceit, cruelty and extortion, which is meant by blood, there God will show his anger and not accept them though they seem holy, as in Isa 59:3 .

Isa 1:16

1:16 {y} Wash ye, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil;

(y) By this outward washing, he means the spiritual: exhorting the Jews to repent and amend their lives.

Isa 1:17

1:17 Learn to {z} do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

(z) This kind of reasoning by the second table, the scriptures use in many places against the hypocrites who pretend holiness and religion in word, but when charity and love for their brethren should appear they declare that they have neither faith nor religion.

Isa 1:18

1:18 Come now, {a} and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be {b} white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

(a) To know if I accuse you without cause.
(b) Lest sinners should pretend any rigour on God's part, he only wills them to be pure in heart, and he will forgive all their sins, no matter how many or great.

Isa 1:19

1:19 If ye {c} are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

(c) He shows that whatever adversity man endures, it ought to be attributed to his own incredulity and disobedience.

Isa 1:21

1:21 How is the {d} faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now {e} murderers.

(d) That is, Jerusalem, which had promised happiness to me, as a wife to her husband.
(e) Given to covetousness and extortion, which he signified before by blood, Isa 1:15 .

Isa 1:22

1:22 Thy {f} silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

(f) Whatever was pure in you before, is now corrupt, though you have an outward show.

Isa 1:23

1:23 Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of {g} thieves: every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come to them.

(g) That is, they maintain the wicked and the extortioners: and not only do not punish them, but are themselves such.

Isa 1:24

1:24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the {h} mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will {i} rid myself of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies:

(h) When God will show himself merciful to his Church, he calls himself the Holy one of Israel, but when he has to do with his enemies, he is called Mighty, as against whom no power is able to resist.
(i) I will take vengeance of my adversaries the Jews and so satisfy my desire by punishing them.

Isa 1:25

1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, {k} and take away all thy tin:

(k) Lest the faithful among them should be overcome with his threatening he adds this consolation.

Isa 1:26

1:26 {l} And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

(l) It is once the work of God to purify the heart of man, which he does because of his promise, made concerning the salvation of his Church.

Isa 1:27

1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with {m} judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

(m) By justice is meant God's faithful promise, which is the reason for the deliverance of his Church.

Isa 1:28

1:28 And the {n} destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners [shall be] together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

(n) The wicked will not be partakers of God's promise, Ps 92:9 .

Isa 1:29

1:29 For they shall be ashamed of the {o} oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

(o) That is, the trees and pleasant places where you commit idolatry which was forbidden De 16:22 .

Isa 1:31

1:31 And the strong shall be as a {p} wick, and its maker as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench [them].

(p) The false god's in which you put your confidence will be consumed as easily as a piece of wick.

Isa 2:2

2:2 And it {a} shall come to pass in the last days, [that] the mount of the LORD'S house {b} shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall {c} flow to it.

(a) The decree and ordinance of God, concerning the restoration of the Church, which is chiefly meant by the time of Christ.
(b) In an evident place to be seen and discerned.
(c) When the kingdom of Christ will be enlarged by the preaching of the doctrine. Here also is declared the zeal of the children of God when they are called.

Isa 2:3

2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to {d} the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the {e} law, and the word of the LORD from {f} Jerusalem.

(d) Alluding to mount Zion, where the visible Church then was.
(e) Meaning, the whole doctrine of salvation.
(f) This was accomplished when the gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, and from there went through all the world.

Isa 2:4

2:4 And {g} he shall judge among the nations, and shall {h} rebuke many people: and they shall {i} beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn {k} war any more.

(g) The Lord, who is Christ, will have all power given to him.
(h) That they may acknowledge their sins, and turn to him.
(i) He shows the fruit of the peace which the gospel should bring, that is, that men should do good to one another, while before they were enemies.
(k) He speaks not against the use of weapons and lawful war, but shows how the hearts of the godly will be affected one toward another, which peace and love begin and grow in this life, but will be perfected when we are joined with our head Jesus Christ.

Isa 2:5

2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us {l} walk in the light of the LORD.

(l) Seeing the Gentiles will be ready, make haste, and show them the way to worship God.

Isa 2:6

2:6 Therefore thou {m} hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are {n} filled [with customs] from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, {o} and they please themselves in the children of foreigners.

(m) The prophet seeing the small hope that the Jews would convert, complains to God as though he had utterly forsaken them for their sins.
(n) Full of the corruptions that reigned chiefly in the east parts.
(o) They altogether gave themselves to the fashions of other nations.

Isa 2:7

2:7 Their land also is full of {p} silver and gold, neither [is there any] end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither [is there any] end of their chariots:

(p) The prophet first condemned their superstition and idolatry next their covetousness and thirdly their vain trust in worldly means.

Isa 2:9

2:9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man {q} humbleth himself: therefore {r} forgive them not.

(q) He notes the nature of the idolaters who are never satisfied in their superstitions.
(r) Thus the prophet spoke being inflamed with the zeal of God's glory, and that he might fear them with God's judgment.

Isa 2:11

2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be abased, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in {s} that day.

(s) Meaning, as soon as God will begin to execute his judgments.

Isa 2:14

2:14 And upon all the high {t} mountains, and upon all the hills [that are] lifted up,

(t) By high trees and mountains are he means the proud and lofty, who think themselves most strong in this world.

Isa 2:16

2:16 And upon {u} all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

(u) He condemns their vain confidence which they had in strongholds and in their rich merchandise which brought in vain pleasures with which men's minds became effeminate.

Isa 2:20

2:20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made [each one] for himself to worship, {x} to the moles and to the bats;

(x) They will cast them into vile and filthy places when they perceive that they are not able to help them.

Isa 2:22

2:22 Cease ye from man, whose {y} breath [is] in his nostrils: for why is he to be esteemed?

(y) Cast off your vain confidence in man, whose life is so frail that if his nose is stopped he is dead and consider that you are dealing with God.

Isa 3:1

3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the rod {a} and the staff, the whole support of bread, and the whole support of water,

(a) Because they trusted in their abundance and prosperity he shows that they should be taken from them.

Isa 3:2

3:2 The mighty man, and the man of war, {b} the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

(b) The temporal governor and the minister.

Isa 3:3

3:3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the skilful craftsman, and the {c} eloquent orator.

(c) By these he means that God would take away everything that was of any value, and which they had any opportunity to want in themselves.

Isa 3:4

3:4 And I will give {d} children [to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

(d) Not only in age: but in manners, knowledge and strength.

Isa 3:5

3:5 And the people shall be {e} oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honourable.

(e) For lack of good regiment and order.

Isa 3:6

3:6 When a man shall {f} take hold of his brother of the house of his father, [saying], Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and [let] this ruin [be] under thy hand:

(f) He shows that this plague will be so horrible that contrary to the common manner of men, who by nature are ambitious, no one will be found able or willing to be their governor.

Isa 3:7

3:7 In that day shall he {g} swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

(g) Fear will cause him to forswear himself, rather than to take such a dangerous charge upon himself.

Isa 3:9

3:9 The {h} show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide [it] not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.

(h) When God examines their deed on which they now set an impudent face, he will find the mark of their impiety in their forehead.

Isa 3:10

3:10 {i} Say ye to the righteous, that [it shall be] well [with him]: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

(i) You that are godly be assured that God will defend you in the midst of these troubles.

Isa 3:12

3:12 [As for] my people, {k} children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

(k) Because the wicked people were more addicted to their princes than to the commandments of God, he shows that he would give them such princes, by whom they would have no help, but that they would be manifest tokens of his wrath, because they would be fools and effeminate.

Isa 3:14

3:14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the {l} elders of his people, and with their princes: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor [is] in your houses.

(l) Meaning that the rulers and governors had destroyed his Church and not preserved it, according to their duty.

Isa 3:15

3:15 What mean ye [that] ye beat my people to pieces, {m} and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

(m) That is, you show all cruelty against them.

Isa 3:16

3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, {n} Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with {o} extended necks and {p} wanton eyes, walking and {q} mincing [as] they go, and making a {r} tinkling with their feet:

(n) He means the people because of the arrogancy and pride of their women who gave themselves to all wantonness and dissolution.
(o) Which declared their pride.
(p) As a sign that they were not chaste.
(q) Which showed their wantonness.
(r) They delighted then in slippers that creaked or had little plates sewn on them which tinkled as they went.

Isa 3:23

3:23 The mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the {s} veils.

(s) In rehearsing all these things particularly he shows the lightness and vanity of such as cannot be content with comely apparel according to their degree.

Isa 3:25

3:25 Thy men shall fall by the {t} sword, and thy mighty in the war.

(t) Meaning that God will not only punish the women but their husbands who have permitted this dissoluteness and also the commonwealth which has not remedied it.

Isa 4:1

4:1 And in that day {a} seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only {b} let us be called by thy name, to take away our {c} reproach.

(a) When God will executes this vengeance there will not be one man found to be the head to many women, and they contrary to womanly shamefacedness will seek men, and offer themselves under any condition.
(b) He our husband and let us be called your wives.
(c) For so they thought it to be without a head and husband.

Isa 4:2

4:2 In that day shall the {d} branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] the pride and glory of them that have escaped of Israel.

(d) He comforts the Church in this desolation which will spring up like a bud signifying that God's graces should be as plentiful toward the faithful as though they sprang out of the earth, as in Isa 45:8 . Some by the bud of the Lord mean Christ.

Isa 4:3

4:3 And it shall come to pass, [that he that is] left in Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, [even] every one that is {e} written among the living in Jerusalem:

(e) He alludes to the book of life, of which read Ex 32:32 meaning God's secret counsel, in which his elect are predestinated to life everlasting.

Isa 4:4

4:4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the {f} blood of Jerusalem from the midst of it by the spirit of {g} judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

(f) That is, the cruelty, extortion, malice and all wickedness.
(g) When things will be addressed that were amiss.

Isa 4:5

4:5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, {h} a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the {i} glory [shall be] a defence.

(h) He alludes to the pillar of the cloud, Ex 13:21 , meaning that God's favour and protection should appear in every place.
(i) The faithful are called the glory of God because his image and tokens of his grace shine in them.

Isa 4:6

4:6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm {k} and from rain.

(k) God promises to be the defence of his Church against all troubles and dangers.

Isa 5:1

5:1 Now will {a} I sing to my {b} wellbeloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a {c} vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

(a) The prophet by this song sets before the people's eyes their ingratitude and God's mercy.
(b) That is, to God.
(c) Meaning that he had planted his Church in a place most plentiful and abundant.

Isa 5:2

5:2 And he dug it, and removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, {d} and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress in it: and he expected that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth {e} wild grapes.

(d) He spared no diligence or cost.
(e) In Isa 5:7 he declares what they were.

Isa 5:3

5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, {f} between me and my vineyard.

(f) He makes them judges in their own cause, for as much as it was evident that they were the cause of their own ruin.

Isa 5:5

5:5 And now come; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I {g} will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall of it, and it shall be trodden down:

(g) I will take no more care for it: meaning, that he would take from them his word and ministers and all other comforts, and feed them contrary plagues.

Isa 5:7

5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for {h} judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold {i} a cry.

(h) Judgment and righteousness are true fruit of the fear of God and therefore in the cruel oppression there is no religion.
(i) Of them who are oppressed.

Isa 5:8

5:8 Woe to them that join house to house, [that] lay field to field, till [there is] no {k} place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

(k) That is, for the poor to dwell in.

Isa 5:9

5:9 In my {l} ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.

(l) I have heard the complaint and cry of the poor.

Isa 5:10

5:10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one {m} bath, and the seed of an {n} homer shall yield an {o} ephah.

(m) Which contains about 5 gallons, so that every acre would yield only half a gallon.
(n) Which contains 50 gallons.
(o) An ephah contains 5 gallons and is in dry things as much as a bath is in liquids.

Isa 5:11

5:11 Woe to them that {p} rise early in the morning, [that] they may follow strong drink; that continue until {q} night, [till] wine inflames them!

(p) Who spare no pain nor diligence to follow their lusts.
(q) Who are never weary of their rioting and excessive pleasures but use all means to provoke to the same.

Isa 5:12

5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the {r} work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

(r) They do not regard the provident care of God over them, nor for what end he has created them.

Isa 5:13

5:13 Therefore my people {s} have gone into captivity, because [they have] {t} no knowledge: and their honourable men [are] famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

(s) That is, will certainly go: for so the prophets use to speak as though the thing which will come to pass were done already.
(t) Because they would not obey the word of God.

Isa 5:14

5:14 Therefore {u} hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

(u) Meaning, the grave will swallow up them who will die for hunger and thirst, and yet for all this great destruction it will never be satisfied.

Isa 5:17

5:17 Then shall {x} the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

(x) God comforts the poor lambs of his Church, who had been strangers in other countries, promising that they would dwell in these places again, of which they had been deprived by the fat and cruel tyrants.

Isa 5:18

5:18 Woe to them that draw iniquity with {y} cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

(y) Who use all allurements, opportunities and excuses to harden their conscience in sin.

Isa 5:19

5:19 That say, {z} Let him make speed, [and] hasten his work, that we may see [it]: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know [it]!

(z) He shows what are the words of the wicked, when they are menaced by God's judgments, 2Pe 3:4 .

Isa 5:20

5:20 Woe to them that call evil good, {a} and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

(a) Who are not ashamed of sin, nor care for honesty but are grown to a desperate impiety.

Isa 5:21

5:21 Woe to [them that are] {b} wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

(b) Who contemn all doctrine and admonition.

Isa 5:22

5:22 Woe to [them that are] {c} mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mix strong drink:

(c) Who are never weary, but show their strength, and brag in gluttony and drunkenness.

Isa 5:24

5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their {d} root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

(d) Both they and their posterity so that nothing will be left.

Isa 5:25

5:25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his {e} hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills trembled, and their carcases [were] torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.

(e) He shows that God had so sore punished this people, that the dumb creatures if they had been so plagued would have been more sensible, and therefore his plagues must continue, till they begin to seal them.

Isa 5:26

5:26 And he will lift up an ensign {f} to the nations from afar, and will hiss to them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

(f) He will make the Babylonians come against them at his beck, and to fight under his standard.

Isa 5:27

5:27 None shall {g} be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their loins be loosed, nor {h} the latchet of their shoes be broken:

(g) They will be prompt and lusty to execute God's vengeance.
(h) The enemy will have no impediment.

Isa 5:29

5:29 Their roaring [shall be] like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall {i} roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry [it] away safe, and none shall deliver [it].

(i) By which is declared the cruelty of the enemy.

Isa 5:30

5:30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if {k} [one] looketh to the land, behold darkness [and] sorrow, and the light is darkened in its {l} heavens.

(k) The Jews will find no comfort.
(l) In the land of Judah.

Isa 6:1

6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died {a} I saw also the Lord sitting upon a {b} throne, high and lifted up, and his {c} train filled the temple.

(a) God does not show himself to man in his majesty but according as man's capacity to comprehend him, that is, by visible signs as John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
(b) As a judge ready to give sentence.
(c) Of his garment, or of his throne.

Isa 6:2

6:2 Above it stood the {d} seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his {e} face, and with two he covered his {f} feet, and with two he {g} flew.

(d) They were angels so called because they were of a fiery colour, to signify that they burnt in the love of God, or were light as fire to execute his will.
(e) Signifying that they were not able to endure the brightness of God's glory.
(f) By which it was declared that man was not able to see the brightness of God in them.
(g) Which declares the prompt obedience of the angels to execute God's commandment.

Isa 6:3

6:3 And one cried to another, and said, {h} Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole {i} earth [is] full of his glory.

(h) This often repetition signifies that the angels cannot satisfy themselves in praising God, to teach us that in all our lives we should give ourselves to the continual praise of God.
(i) His glory not only appears in the heavens but through all the world, and therefore all creatures are bound to praise him.

Isa 6:4

6:4 And the posts of the door {k} moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

(k) Which was to confirm the prophet, that it was not the voice of man: and by the smoke was signified the blindness that would come on the Jews.

Isa 6:5

6:5 Then said I, {l} Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

(l) He speaks this for two reasons, the one because he who was a mortal creature and therefore had more need to glorify God than the angels, did not do it, and the other because the nearer that man approaches to God, the more he knows his own sin and corruption.

Isa 6:6

6:6 Then one of the seraphims flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the {m} altar:

(m) Of the burnt offerings where the fire never went out.

Isa 6:7

6:7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy {n} sin purged.

(n) This declares that man cannot render due obedience to God, till he has purged us.

Isa 6:9

6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, {o} Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

(o) By which is declared that for the malice of man God will not immediately take away his word, but he will cause it to be preached to their condemnation, when as they will not learn by it to obey his will, and be saved: by this he exhorts the ministers to do their duty, and answers to the wicked murmurers, that through their own malice their heart is hardened, Mt 13:14, Ac 28:26, Ro 11:8 .

Isa 6:11

6:11 Then said I, Lord, {p} how long? And he answered, Until the cities shall be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

(p) As he was moved with the zeal of God's glory, so was he touched with a charitable affection toward the people.

Isa 6:13

6:13 But yet in it [shall be] {q} a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, {r} and as an oak, whose substance [is] in them, when they cast [their leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance of it.

(q) Meaning, the tenth part: or as some write, it was revealed to Isaiah for the confirmation of his prophecy that ten kings would come before their captivity, as were from Uzziah to Zedekiah.
(r) For the fewness of them they will seem to be eaten up: yet they will later flourish as a tree, which in winter loses leaves, and seems to be dead, yet in summer is fresh and green.

Isa 7:1

7:1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, [that] Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, {a} went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

(a) That is, the second time: for in the first battle Ahaz was overcome.

Isa 7:2

7:2 And it was told the house of {b} David, saying, Syria is confederate with {c} Ephraim. And his heart was {d} moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.

(b) Meaning, the kings house.
(c) That is, Israel, because that tribe was the greatest, Ge 48:19 .
(d) For fear.

Isa 7:3

7:3 Then said the LORD to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and {e} Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;

(e) That is to say, the rest will return which name Isaiah gave his son, to signify that the rest of the people would return out of their captivity.

Isa 7:4

7:4 And say to him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking {f} firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

(f) Which have but a little smoke and will quickly be quenched.

Isa 7:6

7:6 Let us go up against Judah, and trouble it, and let us conquer it for ourselves and set a king in the midst of it, [even] the son of {g} Tabeal:

(g) Who was an Israelite, and as it seems, enemy to the house of David.

Isa 7:8

7:8 For the head of Syria [is] Damascus, and the head of Damascus [is] Rezin; and within {h} sixty five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

(h) Counting from the 25 years of the reign of Uzziah, at which time Amos prophesied this thing, and now Isaiah confirms that the Israelites would be led into perpetual captivity, which came to pass 20 years after Isaiah gave this message.

Isa 7:11

7:11 Ask thee {i} a sign from the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

(i) For the confirmation of this thing that your enemies will be destroyed and you preserved.

Isa 7:12

7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I {k} tempt the LORD.

(k) Not to believe God's word without a sign, is to tempt God, but to refuse a sign when God offers it for the aid and help of our infirmity is to rebel against him.

Isa 7:13

7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; [Is it] a small thing for you to weary {l} men, but will ye weary my God also?

(l) You think you have to do with men when you contemn God's messengers but it is God against whom you bend yourselves.

Isa 7:14

7:14 Therefore the Lord {m} himself shall give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

(m) Forasmuch as you are unworthy, the Lord for his own promise sake will give a sign which will be that Christ the Saviour of his Church and the effect of all signs and miracles will be revealed.

Isa 7:15

7:15 {n} Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

(n) Meaning that Christ is not only God, but man also, because he will be nourished as other men until the age of discretion.

Isa 7:16

7:16 For before the {o} child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken by both her kings.

(o) Not meaning Christ, but any child: for before a child can come to the years of discretion, the kings of Samaria and Syria will be destroyed.

Isa 7:17

7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that {p} Ephraim departed from Judah; [even] the king of {q} Assyria.

(p) Since the time that the twelve tribes rebelled under Rehoboam.
(q) In whom you have put your trust.

Isa 7:18

7:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall hiss for the {r} fly that [is] in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria.

(r) Meaning, the Egyptians: for since the country is hot and moist, it is full of flies, as Assyria is full of bees.

Isa 7:19

7:19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all {s} bushes.

(s) Signifying that no place will be free from them.

Isa 7:20

7:20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, [namely], by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the {t} feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

{t} That is, that which is from the belly downward meaning that he would destroy both great and small.

Isa 7:21

7:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall {u} nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

(u) He who before had a great number of cattle will be content with one cow and two sheep.

Isa 7:22

7:22 And it shall come to pass, for the {x} abundance of milk [that] they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

(x) The number of men will be so small that a few beasts will be able to nourish all abundantly.

Isa 7:24

7:24 With arrows and with {y} bows shall [men] come there; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

(y) As they who go to seek wild beasts among the bushes.

Isa 7:25

7:25 And [on] {z} all hills that shall be dug with the mattock, there shall not come there the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

(z) The mountains contrary to their will, will be tilled by such as shall flee to them for comfort.

Isa 8:1

8:1 Moreover the LORD said to me, Take thee a {a} great roll, and write in it {b} with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

(a) That you may write in great letters to the intent that it may be more easily read.
(b) Meaning, after the common fashion, because all men might read it.

Isa 8:2

8:2 And I took to me {c} faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

(c) Because the thing was of great importance, he took these two witnesses, who were of credit with the people, when he set this up upon the door of the temple, even though Uriah was a flattering hypocrite, 2Ki 16:11 .

Isa 8:3

8:3 And I went to the {d} prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

(d) Meaning, to his wife and this was done in a vision.

Isa 8:4

8:4 For before the {e} child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the {f} king of Assyria.

(e) Before any child is able to speak.
(f) That is, the army of Assyria.

Isa 8:6

8:6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of {g} Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

(g) Which was a fountain at the foot of mount Zion, out of which ran a small river through the city: meaning, that they of Judah distrusting their own power which was small desired such power and riches as they saw in Syria and Israel.

Isa 8:7

8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of {h} the river, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks:

(h) That is, the Assyrians who dwell beyond Euphrates.

Isa 8:8

8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the {i} neck; and the spread of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O {k} Immanuel.

(i) It will be ready to drown them.
(k) He speaks this to Messiah, or Christ, in whom the faithful were comforted and who would not suffer his Church to be destroyed utterly.

Isa 8:9

8:9 Associate yourselves, O ye {l} people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

(l) That is, you who are enemies to the Church, as the Assyrians, Egyptians, Syrians etc.

Isa 8:11

8:11 For the LORD spoke thus to me {m} with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

(m) To encourage me that I should not shrink for the infidelity of this people, and so neglect my office.

Isa 8:12

8:12 Say ye not, A {n} confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye {o} their fear, nor be afraid.

(n) Consent not you who are godly to the league and friendship that this people seek with strangers and idolaters.
(o) Meaning, that they should not fear the thing that they who have no hope in God feared.

Isa 8:13

8:13 {p} Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.

(p) In putting your trust only in him, in calling on him in adversity, patiently looking for his help, and fearing to do anything contrary to his will.

Isa 8:14

8:14 And he shall be for a {q} sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

(q) He will defend you who are his elect, and reject all the rest, meaning Christ against whom the Jews would stumble and fall, Lu 2:23, Ro 9:33, 1Pe 2:7,8 .

Isa 8:16

8:16 {r} Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

(r) Though all forsake me, yet you who are mine keep my word sure sealed in your hearts.

Isa 8:18

8:18 Behold, I and the {s} children whom the LORD hath given me [are] for signs and for wonders in Israel {t} from the LORD of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.

(s) Meaning, them who were willing to hear and obey the word of God whom the world hated, as though they were monsters and not worthy to live.
(t) This was a consolation in their troubles, knowing that nothing could come to them, but by the will of the Lord.

Isa 8:19

8:19 And when they shall say to you, Seek to them that are mediums, and to wizards that peep, and that mutter: {u} should not a people seek to their God? for the {x} living to the dead?

(u) Answer the wicked thus, should not God's people seek comfort only from him?
(x) That is, will they refuse to be taught by the prophet, who is the mouth of God, and seek help from the dead, which is the illusion of Satan?

Isa 8:20

8:20 To the {y} law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no {z} light in them.

(y) Seek remedy in the word of God, where his will is declared.
(z) They have no knowledge but are blind leaders of the blind.

Isa 8:21

8:21 And they shall pass through it, distressed and hungry: and it shall come to {a} pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, {b} and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

(a) That is, in Judah, where they would have had rest, if they had not thus grievously offended God.
(b) In whom before they put their trust.

Isa 8:22

8:22 And they shall look to the earth; and behold trouble and {c} darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.

(c) They will think that heaven and earth and all creatures are bent against them to trouble them.

Isa 9:1

9:1 Nevertheless {a} the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her distress, {b} when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of {c} the nations.

(a) He comforts the Church again after these great threatenings promising to restore them to great glory in Messiah.
(b) With which Israel was punished, first by Tiglath-pilesar, which was a light scourge in respect to that which they suffered afterward by Shalmaneser, who carried the Israelites away captive.
(c) While the Jews and Gentiles dwelt together by reason of those twenty cites, which Solomon gave to Hiram.

Isa 9:2

9:2 The people that {d} walked in darkness have seen a great {e} light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the {f} light shined.

(d) Which were in captivity in Babylon and the prophets speaks of that thing which would come to pass 60 years later as though it were now done.
(e) Meaning, the comfort of their deliverance.
(f) This captivity and deliverance were figures of our captivity by sin and of our deliverance by Christ through the preaching of the Gospel, Mt 4:15,16 .

Isa 9:3

9:3 Thou hast {g} multiplied the nation, [and] increased the joy: they rejoice before thee according to the joy in harvest, [and] as [men] rejoice when they divide the spoil.

(g) Their number was greater when they went into captivity then when they returned but their joy was greater at their return, Hag 2:9 .

Isa 9:4

9:4 For thou hast broken the {h} yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

(h) You gave them perfect joy by delivering them, and by destroying the tyrants, that had kept them in cruel bondage, as you delivered them by Gideon from the Midianites, Jud 7:21 .

Isa 9:5

9:5 For every battle of the warrior [is] with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but [this] shall be {i} with burning [and] fuel of fire.

(i) He speaks of the deliverance of his Church, which he has delivered miraculously from his enemies, but especially by the coming of Christ of whom he prophecies in the next verse.

Isa 9:6

9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting {k} Father, The Prince of Peace.

(k) The author of eternity, and by whom the Church and every member of it will be preserved forever, and have immortal life.

Isa 9:7

9:7 Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. {l} The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

(l) His singular love and care for his elect.

Isa 9:8

9:8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon {m} Israel.

(m) This is another prophecy against them of Samaria who were mockers and contemners of God's promises and menaces.

Isa 9:10

9:10 The {n} bricks have fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them into] cedars.

(n) We were but weak, when the enemy overcame us, but we will make ourselves so strong, that we will neither care for our enemies, nor fear God's threatenings.

Isa 9:11

9:11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of {o} Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;

(o) Rezin king of Syria, who was in league with Israel, was slain by the Assyrians, after whose death, Aram that is, the Syrians were against Israel, who on the other side were assailed by the Philistines.

Isa 9:18

9:18 For wickedness {p} burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up [like] the rising of smoke.

(b) Wickedness as a bellows kindles the fire of God's wrath which consumes all his obstinate enemies.

Isa 9:19

9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall {q} spare his brother.

(q) Though there was no foreign enemy, yet they will destroy one another.

Isa 9:20

9:20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the {r} flesh of his own arm:

(r) Their greediness will be insatiable, so that one brother will eat up another, as though he should eat his own flesh.

Isa 10:1

10:1 Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that {a} write grievousness [which] they have prescribed;

(a) Who write and pronounce a wicked sentence to oppress the people: meaning, that the wicked magistrate, who were the chief cause of mischief, would be first punished.

Isa 10:3

10:3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation [which] shall come from {b} far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your {c} glory?

(b) That is, from Assyria.
(c) Your riches and authority, that they may be safe and that you may receive them again.

Isa 10:4

10:4 {d} Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.

(d) Because they have forsaken me, some will go into captivity and the rest will be slain.

Isa 10:5

10:5 O {e} Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.

(e) God calls for the Assyrians to be the executioners of his vengeance.

Isa 10:6

10:6 I will send {f} him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I command him, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

(f) That is, the Assyrians against the Jews who are hypocrites. In the sixth and seventh verse is declared the difference of the work of God and of the wicked in one very thing and act: for God's intention is to chastise them for their amendment, and the Assyrians purpose is to destroy them to enrich themselves. Thus in respect to God's justice, it is God's work, but in respect to their own malice, it is the work of the devil.

Isa 10:9

10:9 [Is] not Calno as {g} Carchemish? [is] not Hamath as Arpad? [is] not Samaria as Damascus?

(g) Seeing that I have overcome one city as well as another, so that none could resist, shall Jerusalem be able to escape my hands?

Isa 10:12

10:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, [that] when the Lord hath performed {h} his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart {i} of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

(h) When he has sufficiently chastised his people (for he begins at his own house) then will he burn the rods.
(i) Meaning of Sennacherib.

Isa 10:15

10:15 Shall the {k} axe boast itself against him that heweth with it? [or] shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if the rod should shake [itself] against them that lift it, [or] as if the staff should lift [itself, as if it were] no wood.

(k) Here we see that no creature is able to do anything, but as God appoints him, and that they are all his instruments to do his work though the intentions are diverse, as in Isa 10:6 .

Isa 10:17

10:17 And the light of Israel shall be for a {l} fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour {m} his thorns and his briers in one day;

(l) Meaning that God is a light to comfort his people and a fire to burn his enemies.
(m) That is, the Assyrians.

Isa 10:18

10:18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul {n} and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer {o} fainteth.

(n) That is, body and soul utterly.
(o) When the battle is lost and the standard taken.

Isa 10:20

10:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them; but shall {p} lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

(p) This is the end of God's plagues toward his, to bring them to him, and to forsake all trust in others.

Isa 10:22

10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the full end {q} decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

(q) This small number which seemed to be consumed and yet according to God's decree is saved, will be sufficient to fill all the world with righteousness.

Isa 10:23

10:23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a full end, even {r} determined, in the midst of all the land.

(r) God will destroy this land as he has determined and later save a small portion.

Isa 10:24

10:24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of {s} Egypt.

(s) As the Egyptians punished you.

Isa 10:26

10:26 And the LORD of hosts shall raise up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of {t} Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the {u} sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

(t) Read Isa 9:4 .
(u) When the Israelites passed through by the lifting up of Moses' rod, and the enemies were drowned, Ex 14:28 .

Isa 10:27

10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of {x} the anointing.

(x) Because of the promise made to that kingdom, by which Christ's kingdom was prefigured.

Isa 10:28

10:28 He is come to {y} Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath attended to his carriages:

(y) He describes by what way the Assyrians would come against Jerusalem, to confirm the faithful, when it would come to pass, that as their plague was come, so should they be delivered.

Isa 10:33

10:33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the {z} bough with terror: and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

(z) Fear and destruction will come on Judah for the princes and the people will all be led away captive.

Isa 11:1

11:1 And there shall come forth a {a} rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

(a) Because the captivity of Babylon was a figure of the spiritual captivity under sin, he shows that our true deliverance must come by Christ: for as David came out of Jesse, a man without dignity, so Christ would come of a poor carpenter's house as out of a dead stock, Isa 53:2 .

Isa 11:4

11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall {b} smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

(b) All these properties can agree to no one, but only to Christ: for it is he who touches the hearts of the faithful and mortifies their concupiscence: and to the wicked he is the favour of death and to them who will perish, so that all the world will be smitten with his rod, which is his word.

Isa 11:6

11:6 The {c} wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

(c) Men because of their wicked affections are named by the names of beasts, in which the same affections reign: but Christ by his Spirit will reform them, and work in them such mutual charity, that they will be like lambs, favouring and loving one another and cast off all their cruel affections, Isa 65:25 .

Isa 11:9

11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as {d} the waters cover the sea.

(d) It will be in as great abundance as the waters in the sea.

Isa 11:10

11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the {e} people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his {f} rest shall be glorious.

(e) He prophecies of the calling of the Gentiles.
(f) That is, the Church which he also calls his rest, Ps 132:14 .

Isa 11:11

11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set his hand {g} again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the isles of the sea.

(g) For God first delivered his people out of Egypt and now promises to deliver them out of their enemies hands as from the Parthians, Persians, Chaldeans and them of Antioch among whom they were dispersed and this is chiefly meant of Christ, who calls his people being dispersed through all the world.

Isa 11:13

11:13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of {h} Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not distress Ephraim.

(h) Here he describes the consent that will be in his Church and their victory against their enemies.

Isa 11:15

11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the {i} tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand {k} over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make [men] go over dryshod.

(i) Meaning a corner of the sea that enters into the land and has the form of a tongue.
(k) That is, Nile, the great river of Egypt which enters into the sea with seven streams.

Isa 12:1

12:1 And in that day thou {a} shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thy anger is turned away, and thou didst comfort me.

(a) He shows how the Church will praise God, when they are delivered from their captivity.

Isa 12:2

12:2 Behold, God [is] my {b} salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.

(b) Our salvation stands only in God, who gives us an assured confidence, constancy and opportunity to praise him for the same.

Isa 12:3

12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye {c} draw water out of the wells of salvation.

(c) The graces of God will be so abundant that you may receive them in as great plenty as waters out of a fountain that is full.

Isa 12:6

12:6 Cry aloud and shout, {d} thou inhabitant of Zion: for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

(d) You who are of the Church.

Isa 13:1

13:1 The {a} burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

(a) That is, the great calamity which was prophesied to come on Babel, a grievous burden which they were not able to bear. In these twelve chapters following he speaks of the plagues with which God would smite the strange nations (whom they knew) to declare that God chastised the Israelites as his children and these others as his enemies: and also that if God does not spare these who are ignorant, they must not think strange if he punishes them who have knowledge of his Law, and do not keep it.

Isa 13:2

13:2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, shake the {b} hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

(b) That is, the Medes and Persians.

Isa 13:3

13:3 I have commanded my {c} sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, [even] them that rejoice in my {d} highness.

(c) That is, prepared and appointed to execute my judgments.
(d) Who willingly go about to the work to which I appoint them, but how the wicked do this, read Isa 10:6 .

Isa 13:5

13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the {e} weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

(e) The army of the Medes and the Persians against Babylon.

Isa 13:6

13:6 Wail {f} ye; for the day of the LORD [is] at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

(f) You Babylonians.

Isa 13:8

13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be as] {g} flames.

(g) The Babylonians anger and grief will be so much that their faces will burn as fire.

Isa 13:10

13:10 For the {h} stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

(h) They who are overcome will think that all the powers of heaven and earth are against them, Eze 32:7, Joe 3:15, Mt 24:29 .

Isa 13:11

13:11 And I will punish the {i} world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the {k} proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

(i) He compares Babylon to the whole world because they so esteemed themselves by reason of their great empire.
(k) He notes the principal vice, to which they are most given as are all that abound in wealth.

Isa 13:12

13:12 I will make a {l} man more rare than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

(l) He notes the great slaughter that will be, seeing the enemy will neither for gold or silver spare a man's life as in Isa 13:17 .

Isa 13:14

13:14 And {m} it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one to his own land.

(m) Meaning the power of Babylon with their hired soldiers.

Isa 13:16

13:16 Their {n} children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.

(n) This was not accomplished when Cyrus took Babylon, but after the death of Alexander the great.

Isa 13:20

13:20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the {o} Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

(o) Who used to go from country to country to find pasture for their beasts, but they will find none.

Isa 13:21

13:21 But {p} wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

(p) Who were either wild beasts or fools, or wicked spirits, by which Satan deluded man, as by the fairies, goblins, and such like fantasies.

Isa 14:1

14:1 For {a} the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers {b} shall be joined with them, and they shall unite with the house of Jacob.

(a) He shows why God will haste to destroy his enemies, that is, because he will deliver his Church.
(b) Meaning that the Gentiles will be joined with the Church and worship God.

Isa 14:2

14:2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for {c} servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

(c) Signifying that the Jews would be superior to the Gentiles and that they would be brought under the service of Christ by the preaching of the Apostles, by which all are brought to the subjection of Christ, 2Co 10:5 .

Isa 14:6

14:6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, [and] {d} none hindereth.

(d) That is, he permitted all violence and injuries to be done.

Isa 14:7

14:7 The whole earth is at {e} rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing.

(e) Meaning that where tyrants reign, there can be no rest or quietness and also how detestable a thing tyranny is, seeing the insensible creatures have opportunity to rejoice at their destruction.

Isa 14:9

14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to {f} meet [thee] at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, [even] all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

(f) As though they feared, lest you should trouble the dead, as you did the living and here he derides the proud tyranny of the wicked, who know not that all creatures wish their destruction, that they may rejoice.

Isa 14:11

14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm {g} is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

(g) Instead of your costly carpets and coverings.

Isa 14:12

14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O {h} Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

(h) You who thought yourself most glorious and as it were placed in the heaven for the morning star that goes before the sun, is called Lucifer, to whom Nebuchadnezzar is compared.

Isa 14:13

14:13 For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the {i} north:

(i) Meaning, Jerusalem of which the temple was of the north side, Ps 48:2 .

Isa 14:16

14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly {k} look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that shook kingdoms;

(k) In marvelling at you.

Isa 14:17

14:17 [That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed its cities; [that] opened not {l} the house of his prisoners?

(l) To set them free, noting his cruelty.

Isa 14:19

14:19 But thou art {m} cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

(m) You were not buried in the sepulchre of your fathers, your tyranny was so abhorred.

Isa 14:21

14:21 {n} Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they may not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.

(n) He called to the Medes and Persians, and all those who would execute God's vengeance.

Isa 14:25

14:25 {o} That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off {p} them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

(o) As I have begun to destroy the Assyrians in Sennacherib: so will I continue and destroy them wholly, when I will deliver you from Babylon.
(p) From the Jews.

Isa 14:28

14:28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this {q} burden.

(q) Read Geneva "Isa 13:1"

Isa 14:29

14:29 Rejoice not thou, all {r} Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit [shall be] a fiery flying serpent.

(r) He wills the Philistines not to rejoice because the Jews are diminished in their power, for their strength will be greater than it ever was.

Isa 14:30

14:30 And the {s} firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and {t} he shall slay thy remnant.

(s) The Israelites who were brought to most extreme misery.
(t) That is, my people.

Isa 14:31

14:31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, all Palestina, [art] dissolved: for there shall come from the {u} north a smoke, and none [shall be] {x} alone in his appointed times.

(u) That is, from the Jews or Assyrians: for they were brought to extreme misery.

Isa 14:32

14:32 What shall [one] then answer the {y} messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded {z} Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

(y) Who will come to enquire of the state of the Church.
(z) They will answer that the Lord defends his Church and those that join themselves to it.

Isa 15:1

15:1 The {a} burden of Moab. Because in the night {b} Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to silence;

(a) Read Geneva "Isa 13:1"
(b) The chief city by which the whole country was meant.

Isa 15:2

15:2 {c} He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall wail over {d} Nebo, and over Medeba: on all {e} their heads [shall be] baldness, [and] every beard shorn.

(c) The Moabites will flee to their idols for comfort but it will be too late.
(d) Which were cites of Moab.
(e) For as in the west parts the people used to let their hair grow long when they mourned, so in the East part they cut it off.

Isa 15:5

15:5 My {f} heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives [shall flee] to Zoar, {g} an heifer of three years old: for they shall go up the ascent of Luhith with weeping for in the way of Horonaim they {h} shall raise a cry of destruction.

(f) The prophet speaks this in the person of the Moabites: or as one who felt the great judgment of God that God would come on them.
(g) Meaning that it was a city that always lived in pleasure and never felt sorrow.
(h) He describes the miserable dissipation and flight of the Moabites.

Isa 15:7

15:7 Therefore the abundance they have gained, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the {i} brook of the willows.

(i) To hide themselves and their goods there.

Isa 15:9

15:9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full {k} of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions {l} upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

(k) Of them who are slain.
(l) So that by no means would they escape the hand of God: thus will God punish the enemies of his Church.

Isa 16:1

16:1 Send {a} ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

(a) That is, offer a sacrifice, by which he derides their long delay, who would not repent when the Lord called them, showing them that it is now too late seeing the vengeance of God is on them.

Isa 16:2

16:2 For it shall be, [that], as a {b} wandering bird cast out of the nest, [so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

(b) There is no remedy but that you must flee.

Isa 16:3

16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; {c} make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; discover not him that wandereth.

(c) He shows what Moab would have done, when Israel their neighbour was in affliction, to whom because they would give no shadow or comfort, they are now left comfortless.

Isa 16:4

16:4 Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner {d} is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

(d) The Assyrians will oppress the Israelites but for a while.

Isa 16:5

16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: {e} and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and swiftly executing righteousness.

(e) Meaning, Christ.

Isa 16:6

16:6 We have heard of the pride of Moab; [he is] very proud: [even] of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: [but] his {f} lies [shall] not [be] so.

(f) Their vain confidence and proud bragging will deceive them, Jer 48:2 .

Isa 16:7

16:7 Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, every one shall wail: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely [they are] {g} stricken.

(g) For all your mourning, yet the city will be destroyed even to the foundation.

Isa 16:8

16:8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, [and] the vine of Sibmah: {h} the lords of the nations have broken down her principal plants, they have come [even] to {i} Jazer, they wandered [through] the wilderness: her branches are extended, they have gone over the sea.

(h) That is, the Assyrians and other enemies.
(i) Meaning that the country of Moab was now destroyed, and all the precious things of it were carried into the borders yea into other countries and over the sea.

Isa 16:9

16:9 Therefore I will {k} bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy {l} harvest is fallen.

(k) He shows that their plague was so great that it would have moved any man to lament with them, as in Ps 141:5 .
(l) The enemies are come upon you, and shout for joy when they carry your conveniences from you as in Jer 48:33 .

Isa 16:11

16:11 Wherefore my {m} heart shall sound like an harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kirharesh.

(m) For sorrow and compassion.

Isa 16:12

16:12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his {n} sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

(n) They will use all means to seek help for their idols, and all in vain: for Chemosh their great god will not be able to help them.

Isa 16:14

16:14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, {o} Within three years, as the years of an {p} hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be despised, with all that great multitude; and the remnant [shall be] very small [and] feeble.

(o) He appointed a certain time to punish the enemies in.
(p) Who will observe justly the time for which he is hired and serve no longer but will ever long for it.

Isa 17:1

17:1 The {a} burden of {b} Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

(a) Read Geneva "Isa 13:1"
(b) The chief city of Syria.

Isa 17:2

17:2 The cities of {c} Aroer [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.

(c) It was a country of Syria by the river Arnon.

Isa 17:3

17:3 The fortress also shall cease from {d} Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the {e} glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

(d) It seems that the prophet would comfort the Church in declaring the destruction of these two kings of Syria and Israel, when as they had conspired the overthrow of Judah.
(e) The ten tribes gloried in their multitude and alliance with other nations: therefore he says that they will be brought down and the Syrians also.

Isa 17:4

17:4 And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of {f} Jacob shall be diminished, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.

(f) Meaning, of the ten tribes who boasted themselves of their nobility, prosperity, strength and multitude.

Isa 17:5

17:5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathereth {g} the grain, and reapeth the heads with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth heads in the valley of {h} Rephaim.

(g) As the abundance of corn does not fear the harvest men that would cut it down: no more will the multitude of Israel make the enemies shrink, whom God will appoint to destroy them.
(h) A valley which was plentiful and fertile.

Isa 17:6

17:6 Yet gleaning grapes shall {i} be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two [or] three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches of it, saith the LORD God of Israel.

(i) Because God would have his covenant stable, he promises to reserve some of this people, and to bring them to repentance.

Isa 17:7

17:7 At that day shall a man look to his {k} Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

(k) He shows that God's corrections always bring fruit, and cause his to turn from their sins and to humble themselves to him.

Isa 17:9

17:9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which {l} they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

(l) As the Canaanites left their cities when God placed the Israelites there, so the cities of Israel will not be able to defend their inhabitants any more than bushes, when God will send the enemy to plague them.

Isa 17:10

17:10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with foreign {m} slips:

(m) Which are excellent and brought out of other countries.

Isa 17:11

17:11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest [shall be] a heap in the day {n} of grief and of desperate sorrow.

(n) As the Lord threatens the wicked in his law, Le 26:16 .

Isa 17:12

17:12 {o} Woe to the multitude of many people, [who] make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

(o) The prophet laments, considering the horrible plague that was prepared against Israel by the Assyrians, who were infinite in number, and gathered from many nations.

Isa 17:13

17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but [God] shall {p} rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

(p) He adds this for the consolation of the faithful who were in Israel.

Isa 17:14

17:14 And behold at the time of evening {q} trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that plunder us, and the lot of them that rob us.

(q) He compares the Assyrians to a tempest which rises overnight and in the morning is gone.

Isa 18:1

18:1 Woe to the {a} land shadowing with wings, which [is] beyond the rivers of Cush:

(a) He means that part of Ethiopia which lies toward the sea, which was so full of ships that the sails (which he compares to wings) seemed to shadow the sea.

Isa 18:2

18:2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of {b} bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], {c} Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and stripped, to a {d} people terrible from their beginning to this time; a nation measured by line and trodden down, whose land the {e} rivers have laid waste!

(b) Which is those countries were great, so much so that they made ships from them for swiftness.
(c) This may be taken that they sent others to comfort the Jews and to promise them help against their enemies, and so the Lord threatened to take away their strength, that the Jews should not trust in it: or that they solicited the Egyptians and promised them aid to go against Judah.
(d) That is, the Jews who because of God's plague made all other nations afraid of the same, as God threatened in De 28:37 .
(e) Meaning the Assyrians, Isa 8:7 .

Isa 18:3

18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when {f} he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

(f) When the Lord prepared to fight against the Ethiopians.

Isa 18:4

18:4 For so the LORD said to me, I will take my {g} rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a {h} clear heat upon herbs, [and] like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

(g) I will stay a while from punishing the wicked.
(h) Which two seasons are profitable for the ripening of fruit, by which he means that he will seem to favour them and give them abundance for a time, but he will suddenly cut them off.

Isa 18:6

18:6 They shall be left together to the fowls of the mountains, and to the {i} beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

(i) Not only men will contemn them, but the brute beast.

Isa 18:7

18:7 In that time shall the {k} present be brought to the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and stripped, and from a people terrible from their beginning to this time; a nation measured by line and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

(k) Meaning that God will pity his Church, and receive that little remnant as an offering to himself.

Isa 19:1

19:1 The {a} burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD {b} rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

(a) Read Isa 13:7 .
(b) Because the Egyptians trusted in the defence of their country, in the multitude of their idols and in the valiantness of their men the Lord shows that he will come over all their munitions in a swift cloud, and that their idols will tremble at his coming and that men's hearts will faint.

Isa 19:2

19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall {c} fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.

(c) As he caused the Ammonites, Moabites and Idumeans to kill one another, when they came to destroy the Church of God, 2Ch 20:22, Isa 49:26 .

Isa 19:3

19:3 And the {d} spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of her; and I will destroy her counsel: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to the mediums, and to the wizards.

(d) Meaning, their policy and wisdom.

Isa 19:5

19:5 And the waters shall {e} fail from the sea, and the rivers shall be wasted and dried up.

(e) He shows that the sea and their great river Nile by which they thought themselves most sure, would not be able to defend them but that he would send the Assyrians among them, that would keep them under as slaves.

Isa 19:6

19:6 And they shall turn the {f} rivers far away; [and] the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

(f) For the Nile ran into the sea by seven streams, as though they were many rivers.

Isa 19:7

19:7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the {g} mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no [more].

(g) The Hebrew word is mouth, by which they mean the spring out of which the water gushes as out of a mouth.

Isa 19:8

19:8 The fishermen also shall {h} mourn, and all they that cast hook into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

(h) The Scriptures describe the destruction of a country by the taking away of the conveniences of it, as by vines, flesh, fish and such other things by which countries are enriched.

Isa 19:11

19:11 Surely the princes of {i} Zoan [are] fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become senseless: how say ye to Pharaoh, I {k} [am] the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

(i) Called also Tanes, a famous city on the Nile.
(k) He notes the flatterers of Pharaoh: who persuaded the king that he was wise and noble, and that his house was ancient and so he flatters himself, saying I am wise.

Isa 19:13

19:13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of {l} Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the {m} support of its tribes.

(l) Or Memphis, Alexandria, and now called the great Cairo.
(m) The principal upholders of it are the main cause of their destruction.

Isa 19:14

19:14 The LORD hath mingled a {n} perverse spirit in the midst of it: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work of it, as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit.

(n) For the spirit of wisdom he has made them drunken and giddy with the spirit of error.

Isa 19:15

19:15 Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may {o} perform.

(o) Neither the great or the small, the strong or the weak.

Isa 19:17

19:17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror {p} to Egypt, every one that maketh mention of it shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

(p) Considering that through their opportunity the Jews did not make God their defence but put their trust in them, and were therefore now punished, they will fear least the same light on them.

Isa 19:18

19:18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt {q} speak the language of Canaan, and {r} swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of {s} destruction.

(q) Will make one confession of faith with the people of God, by the speech of Canaan, meaning the language in which God was then served.
(r) Will renounce their superstitions and protest to serve God correctly.
(s) Meaning of six cities, five would serve God, and the sixth would remain in their wickedness: and so there would be but one lost.

Isa 19:19

19:19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and {t} a pillar at its border to the LORD.

(t) There will be evident signs and tokens, that God's religion is there: which manner of speech is taken of the patriarchs and ancient time, when God has not as yet appointed the place, and full manner how he would be worshipped.

Isa 19:20

19:20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them {u} a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

(u) This declares that this prophecy would be accomplished in the time of Christ.

Isa 19:21

19:21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do {x} sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow to the LORD, and perform [it].

(x) By these ceremonies he comprehends the spiritual service under Christ.

Isa 19:23

19:23 In that day shall there be a highway from {y} Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

(y) By these two nations, which were then chief enemies of the Church, he shows that the Gentiles and the Jews would be joined together in one faith and religion, and would all be one fold under Christ their shepherd.

Isa 20:1

20:1 In the year that {a} Tartan came to {b} Ashdod, (when {c} Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

(a) Who was captain of Sennacherib, 2Ki 18:17 .
(b) A city of the Philistines.
(c) The Hebrews write that Sennacherib was so called.

Isa 20:2

20:2 At the same time spoke the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the {d} sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

(d) Which signifies that the prophet lamented the misery that he saw prepared before the three years that he went naked and barefooted.

Isa 20:5

20:5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of {e} Cush their expectation, and of Egypt their {f} glory.

(e) In whose aid they trusted.
(f) Of whom they boasted and gloried.

Isa 20:6

20:6 And the inhabitant of this {g} isle shall say in that day, Behold, such [is] our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

(g) Meaning Judea which was encompassed by their enemies as an isle with waters.

Isa 21:1

21:1 The burden of the {a} desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; [so] it cometh from the desert, {b} from a terrible land.

(a) On the seaside between Judea and Caldea was a wilderness, by which he means Caldea.
(b) That is, the ruin of Babylon by the Medes and Persians.

Isa 21:2

21:2 A grievous vision is declared to me; the {c} treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O {d} Elam: besiege, O Media; all her sighing have I made {e} to cease.

(c) The Assyrians and Chaldeans who had destroyed other nations will be overcome by the Medes and Persians: and this he prophesied a hundred years before it came to pass.
(d) By Elam he means the Persians.
(e) Because they will find no comfort, they will mourn no more, or I have caused them to cease mourning, whom Babylon had afflicted.

Isa 21:3

21:3 Therefore are my {f} loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing [of it]; I was dismayed at the seeing [of it].

(f) This the prophet speaks in the person of the Babylonians.

Isa 21:4

21:4 My heart panted, fearfulness terrified me: the night {g} of my pleasure hath he turned into fear to me.

(g) He prophecies the death of Belshazzar as in Dan 5:30 who in the midst of his pleasures was destroyed.

Isa 21:5

21:5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: {h} arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.

(h) While they are eating and drinking, they will be commanded to run to their weapons.

Isa 21:6

21:6 For thus hath the {i} Lord said to me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

(i) That is, in a vision by the spirit of prophecy.

Isa 21:7

21:7 And he saw a chariot [with] a couple of horsemen, a chariot of donkeys, [and] {k} a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:

(k) Meaning, chariots of men of war, and others that carried the baggage.

Isa 21:8

21:8 And he cried, A {l} lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my post whole nights:

(l) Meaning, Darius who overcame Babylon.

Isa 21:9

21:9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And {m} he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken to the ground.

(m) The watchman whom Isaiah set up, told him who came toward Babylon, and the angel declared that it would be destroyed: all this was done in a vision.

Isa 21:10

21:10 O {n} my threshing, and the grain of my floor: that which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared to you.

(n) Meaning, Babylon.

Isa 21:11

21:11 The burden of {o} Dumah. He calleth to me out of {p} Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

(o) Which was a city of the Ishmaelites and was so named by Dumah, Ge 25:14 .
(p) A mountain of the Idumeans.

Isa 21:12

21:12 The watchman said, The {q} morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.

(q) He describes the unquietness of the people of Dumah, who were night and day in fear of their enemies, and ever ran to and fro to enquire news.

Isa 21:13

21:13 The burden upon Arabia. In {r} the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.

(r) For fear, the Arabians will flee into the woods and he appoints the way they will take.

Isa 21:14

21:14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought {s} water to him that was thirsty, they met with their bread him that fled.

(s) Signifying that for fear they will not tarry to eat or drink.

Isa 21:16

21:16 For thus hath the Lord said to me, Within a year, {t} according to the years of an {u} hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:

(t) He appoints them respite for one year only, and then they would be destroyed.
(u) Read Isa 16:14 .

Isa 21:17

21:17 And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of {x} Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it].

(x) Which was the name of a people of Arabia: and by the horrible destruction of all these nations, he teaches the Jews that there is no place for refuge or to escape God's wrath, but only to remain in his Church, and to live in his fear.

Isa 22:1

22:1 The burden of the {a} valley of vision. What {b} aileth thee now, that thou hast wholly gone up to the housetops?

(a) Meaning, Judea, which was compassed about with mountains, and was called the valley of visions, because of the prophets, who were always there, whom they named Seers.
(b) He speaks to Jerusalem, whose inhabitants fled up to the housetops for fear of their enemies.

Isa 22:2

22:2 Thou that art full of {c} shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain [men are] not slain {d} with the sword, nor dead in battle.

(c) Which was wont to be full of people and joy.
(d) But for hunger.

Isa 22:3

22:3 All thy rulers have fled together, they are {e} bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, [who] have fled from {f} far.

(e) And led into captivity.
(f) Who have fled from other places to Jerusalem for comfort.

Isa 22:4

22:4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep {g} bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.

(g) He shows what is the duty of the godly, when God's plagues hang over the Church, and especially of the ministers, Jer 9:1 .

Isa 22:5

22:5 For [it is] a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of {h} crying to the mountains.

(h) That is, the shout of the enemies whom God had appointed to destroy the city.

Isa 22:6

22:6 And Elam {i} bore the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

(i) He reminds them how God delivered them once from Sennacherib, who brought the Persians and Syrians with him, that they might by returning to God avoid that great plague which they would suffer by Nebuchadnezzar.

Isa 22:8

22:8 And he uncovered the {k} coverings of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.

(k) The secret place where the armour was: that is, in the house of the forest, 1Ki 7:2 .

Isa 22:9

22:9 Ye have seen also {l} the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

(l) You forfeited the ruinous places which were neglected in times of peace: meaning, the whole City, and the City of David, which was within the compass of the other.

Isa 22:10

22:10 And ye have numbered the houses {m} of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

(m) Either to pull down such as might hurt, or else to know what men they were able to make.

Isa 22:11

22:11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the {n} water of the old pool: but ye have not looked to {o} its maker, neither had respect to him that fashioned it long ago.

(n) To provide if need should be of water.
(o) To God who made Jerusalem: that is, they trusted more in these worldly means than in God.

Isa 22:13

22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us {p} eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

(p) Instead of repentance you were joyful and made great cheer, contemning the admonitions of the prophets saying Let us eat and drink for our prophets say that we will die tomorrow.

Isa 22:15

22:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, repair to this {q} treasurer, [even] to Shebna, who [is] over the house, [and say],

(q) Because the Hebrew word also signifies one who nourishes and cherishes, there are those of the scholars who think that this wicked man nourished a secret friendship with the Assyrians and Egyptians to betray the Church and to provide for himself against all dangers: in the mean season he packed craftily, and got of the best offices into his hand under Hezekiah, ever aspiring to the highest.

Isa 22:16

22:16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre {r} here, [as] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that cut out an habitation {s} for himself in a rock?

(r) Meaning, that he was a stranger, and came up of nothing.
(s) While he thought to make his name immortal by his famous sepulchre, he died most miserably among the Assyrians.

Isa 22:18

22:18 With violence he will surely turn and toss thee [like] a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory [shall be] the {t} shame of thy lord's house.

(t) Signifying that whatever dignity the wicked attain to, at length it will turn to the shame of those princes by whom they are preferred.

Isa 22:20

22:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will {u} call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:

(u) To be steward again, out of which office he had been put, by the craft of Shebna.

Isa 22:22

22:22 And the {x} key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

(x) I will commit to him the full charge and government of the king's house.

Isa 22:23

22:23 And I will fasten him [as] a {y} nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

(y) I will establish him, and confirm him in his office, of this phrase read Ezr 9:9 .

Isa 22:24

22:24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, {z} all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.

(z) Meaning that both small and great who will come from Eliakim, will have praise and glory by his faithful officer.

Isa 22:25

22:25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the {a} nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that [was] upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken [it].

(a) He means Shebna, who in man's judgment should never have fallen.

Isa 23:1

23:1 The {a} burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of {b} Tarshish; for {c} it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of {d} Chittim it is {e} revealed to them.

(a) Read Geneva "Isa 13:1"
(b) You of Cilicia that come here for merchandise.
(c) Tyrus is destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
(d) By Chittim they meant all the isles and countries west of Palestine.
(e) All men know of this destruction.

Isa 23:2

23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have {f} replenished.

(f) Have hunted and enriched you.

Isa 23:3

23:3 And by great waters the {g} seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, [is] her revenue; and she is a merchandise of nations.

(g) Meaning, the corn of Egypt which was fed by the overflowing of the Nile.

Isa 23:4

23:4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the {h} sea hath spoken, [even] the strength of the sea, saying, I {i} travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish young men, [nor] bring up virgins.

(h) That is, Tyrus, which was the chief part of the sea.
(i) I have no people left in me, and am as a barren woman, that never had children.

Isa 23:5

23:5 As at the report concerning Egypt, [so] shall they be {k} greatly pained at the report of Tyre.

(k) Because these two countries were joined in league together.

Isa 23:6

23:6 Pass ye over to {l} Tarshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the isle.

(l) Tyrus wills other merchants to go to Cilicia, and to come no more there.

Isa 23:8

23:8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the {m} crowning [city], whose merchants [are] princes, whose traders [are] the honourable of the earth?

(m) Who makes her merchants like princes.

Isa 23:10

23:10 Pass through thy land as a river, O {n} daughter of Tarshish: [there is] no more strength.

(n) Your strength will no more serve you: therefore flee to other countries for comfort.

Isa 23:12

23:12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed {o} virgin, {p} daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

(o) For Tyre was never touched nor afflicted before.
(p) Because Tyrus was built by them of Zidon.

Isa 23:13

23:13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, [till] the {q} Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up its towers, they raised up its palaces; [and] he {r} brought it to ruin.

(q) The Chaldeans who dwelt in tents in the wilderness were gathered by the Assyrians into cities.
(r) The people of the Chaldeans destroyed the Assyrians: by which the prophet means that seeing the Chaldaeans were able to overcome the Assyrians who were so great a nation, much more will these two nations of Chaldea and Assyria be able to overthrow Tyrus.

Isa 23:14

23:14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your {s} strength is laid waste.

(s) That is, Tyrus by whom you are enriched.

Isa 23:15

23:15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of {t} seventy years shall Tyre {u} sing as an harlot.

(t) Tyrus will lie destroyed seventy years which he calls the reign of one king, or a man's age.
(u) Will use all craft and subtilty to entice men again to her.

Isa 23:16

23:16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; {x} make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

(x) She will labour by all means to recover her first credit, as a harlot when she is long forgotten, seeks by all means to entertain her lovers.

Isa 23:17

23:17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her {y} hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

(y) Though she has been chastised by the Lord, yet she will return to her old wicked practises and for gain will give herself to all men's lusts like a harlot.

Isa 23:18

23:18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be {z} holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, for sufficient food and for durable clothing.

(z) He shows that God yet by the preaching of the gospel will call Tyre to repentance and turn her heart from evil and filthy gain, to the true worshipping of God, and liberality toward his saints.

Isa 24:1

24:1 Behold, the LORD maketh the {a} earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants.

(a) This prophecy is as a conclusion of that which has been threatened to the Jews and other nations from the 13th chapter and therefore by the earth he means those lands which were named before.

Isa 24:2

24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the {b} priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.

(b) Because this was a name of dignity it was also applied to them who were not of Aaron's family, and so signifies also a man of dignity, as in 2Sa 8:18, 20:25, 1Ch 18:17 and by these words the prophet signifies a horrible confusion, where there will be neither religion, order nor policy, Ho 4:9 .

Isa 24:5

24:5 The earth {c} also is defiled under its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

(c) That is, does not give her fruit for the sin of the people, whom the earth deceived of their nourishment because they deceived God of his honour.

Isa 24:6

24:6 Therefore hath the {d} curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell in it are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are {e} burned, and few men left.

(d) Written in the law, as in Le 26:14, De 28:16 thus the prophets used to apply particularly the menaces and promises which are general in the law.
(e) With heat and drought, or else that they were consumed with the fire of God's wrath.

Isa 24:10

24:10 The city of {f} confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may enter.

(f) Which as it was without order so now should it be brought to desolation and confusion: and this was not only meant of Jerusalem, but of all the other wicked cities.

Isa 24:11

24:11 [There is] a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the {g} mirth of the land is gone.

(g) Because they did not use God's benefits correctly their pleasures would fail, and they would fall to mourning.

Isa 24:13

24:13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] {h} as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

(h) He comforts the faithful, declaring that in this great desolation the Lord will assemble his Church which will praise his Name, as in Isa 10:22 .

Isa 24:14

24:14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from {i} the sea.

(i) From the utmost coasts of the world, where the gospel will be preached as in Isa 24:16 .

Isa 24:16

24:16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, [even] glory to the {k} righteous. But I said, {l} My leanness, my leanness, woe to me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

(k) Meaning to God, who will publish his gospel through all the world.
(l) I am consumed with care, considering the affliction of the Church, both by foreign enemies and domestic. Some read, My secret, my secret: that is, it was revealed to the prophet, that the good would be preserved and the wicked destroyed.

Isa 24:18

24:18 And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the {m} windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

(m) Meaning that God's wrath and vengeance would be over and under them, so that they would not escape no more than they did at Noah's flood.

Isa 24:21

24:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall {n} punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

(n) There is no power so high or mighty, but God will visit him with his rods.

Isa 24:22

24:22 And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be {o} visited.

(o) Not with his rods as in Isa 24:21 but will be comforted.

Isa 24:23

24:23 {p} Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

(p) When God restores his Church, the glory of it will so shine, and his ministers (who are called his ancient men) that the sun and the moon will be dark in comparison to it.

Isa 25:1

25:1 O LORD, thou {a} [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth.

(a) Thus the prophet gives thanks to God because he will bring under subjection these nations by his corrections, and make them of his Church, who before were his enemies.

Isa 25:2

25:2 For thou hast made of a {b} city an heap; [of] a fortified city a ruin: a palace {c} of foreigners to be no city; it shall never be built.

(b) Not only of Jerusalem, but also of these other cities which have been your enemies.
(c) That is, a place where all vagabonds may live without danger and as it were at ease as in a palace.

Isa 25:3

25:3 Therefore shall the {d} strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

(d) The arrogant and proud who before would not know you will by your corrections fear and glorify you.

Isa 25:4

25:4 For thou hast been a defence to the poor, a defence to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast {e} of the terrible ones [is] as a storm [against] the wall.

(e) The rage of the wicked is furious, till God breaks the force of it.

Isa 25:5

25:5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the {f} heat in a dry place; {g} [even] the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

(f) Meaning, that as the heat is abated by the rain, so shall God bring down the rage of the wicked.
(g) As a cloud shades from the heat of the sun, so God will assuage the rejoicing of the wicked against the godly.

Isa 25:6

25:6 And on this {h} mountain shall the LORD of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

(h) That is, in Zion, by which he means his Church, which would under Christ be assembled of the Jews and the Gentiles, and is here described under the figure of a costly banquet, as in Mt 22:2 .

Isa 25:7

25:7 And he will destroy on this mountain {i} the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.

(i) Meaning, that ignorance and blindness, by which we are kept back from Christ.

Isa 25:8

25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will {k} wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he remove from all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it].

(k) He will take away all opportunity for sorrow and fill his with perfect joy, Rev 7:17,21:4 .

Isa 25:10

25:10 For on this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and {l} Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the {m} dunghill.

(l) By Moab are meant all the enemies of his Church.
(m) There were two cities by this name: one in Judah, 1Ch 6:81 and another in the land of Moab, Jer 48:2 which seems to have been a plentiful place of corn, Isa 36:17 .

Isa 26:1

26:1 In that day shall {a} this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; {b} salvation will [God] appoint [for] walls and bulwarks.

(a) This song was made to comfort the faithful when their captivity would come, assuring them also of their deliverance, for which they should sing this song.
(b) God's protection and defence will be sufficient for us.

Isa 26:2

26:2 {c} Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

(c) He assures the godly to return after the captivity to Jerusalem.

Isa 26:3

26:3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] {d} mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.

(d) You have decreed so, and your purpose cannot be changed.

Isa 26:5

26:5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; {e} the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, [even] to the ground; he bringeth it [even] to the dust.

(e) There is no power so high that it can hinder God, when he will deliver his.

Isa 26:6

26:6 The foot shall tread it down, [even] the feet of the {f} poor, [and] the steps of the needy.

(f) God will set the poor afflicted over the power of the wicked.

Isa 26:8

26:8 Yea, in the way of thy {g} judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of [our] soul [is] to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

(g) We have constantly abode in the adversities with which you had afflicted us.

Isa 26:9

26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn {h} righteousness.

(h) Meaning that by afflictions men will learn to fear God.

Isa 26:10

26:10 Let favour {i} be shown to the wicked, [yet] he will not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

(i) The wicked though God show them evident signs of his grace, will not be any better off.

Isa 26:11

26:11 LORD, [when] thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: [but] they shall see, and be ashamed for [their] {k} envy at the people; yea, the fire of thy {l} enemies shall devour them.

(k) Through envy and indignation against your people.
(l) The fire and vengeance with which you destroy your enemies.

Isa 26:13

26:13 O LORD our God, [other] {m} lords beside thee have had dominion over us: [but] by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

(m) The Babylonians, who have not governed according to your word.

Isa 26:14

26:14 [They are] {n} dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

(n) Meaning that the reprobate even in this life will have the beginning of everlasting death.

Isa 26:15

26:15 Thou hast increased {o} the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed [it] far [to] all the ends of the earth.

(o) That is, the company of the faithful by the calling of the Gentiles.

Isa 26:16

26:16 LORD, in trouble have they {p} visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them.

(p) That is, the faithful by the rods were moved to pray to you for deliverance.

Isa 26:17

26:17 As a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy {q} sight, O LORD.

(q) That is, in extreme sorrow.

Isa 26:18

26:18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth {r} wind; we have not wrought any deliverance on the earth; neither have the inhabitants of {s} the world fallen.

(r) Our sorrows had no end, neither did we enjoy the comfort that we looked for.
(s) The wicked and men without religion were not destroyed.

Isa 26:19

26:19 {t} Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy {u} dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

(t) He comforts the faithful in their afflictions, showing them that even in death they will have life and that they would certainly rise to glory, the contrary would come to the wicked, as in Isa 26:14 .
(u) As herbs dead in winter flourish again by the rain in the springtime, so they who lie in the dust will rise up to joy, when they feel the dew of God's grace.

Isa 26:20

26:20 Come, my people, {x} enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation shall be past.

(x) He exhorts the faithful to be patient in their afflictions and to wait on God's work.

Isa 26:21

26:21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her {y} blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

(y) The earth will vomit and cast out the innocent blood, which it has drunk, that it may care for vengeance against the wicked.

Isa 27:1

27:1 In that {a} day the LORD with his severe and great and strong {b} sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that [is] in the sea.

(a) At the time appointed.
(b) That is, by his mighty power, and by his word. He prophecies here of the destruction of Satan and his kingdom under the name of Liviashan, Assur, and Egypt.

Isa 27:2

27:2 In that day sing ye to her, A vineyard {c} of red wine.

(c) Meaning, of the best wine, which this vineyard, that is, the Church would bring forth, as most agreeable to the Lord.

Isa 27:4

27:4 Fury {d} [is] not in me: who would set the briers [and] thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

(d) Therefore he will destroy the kingdom of Satan, because he loves his Church for his own mercies sake, and cannot be angry with it, but wishes that he may pour his anger on the wicked infidels, whom he means by briers and thorns.

Isa 27:5

27:5 Or let him {e} take hold of my strength, [that] he may make peace with me; [and] he shall make peace with me.

(e) He marvels that Israel will not come by gentleness, unless God make them to feel his rods, and so bring them to him.

Isa 27:6

27:6 {f} He shall cause them that descend from Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

(f) Though I afflict and diminish my people for a time, yet will the root spring again and bring forth in great abundance.

Isa 27:7

27:7 Hath he smitten {g} him, as he smote those that smote him? [or] is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?

(g) He shows that God punishes his in mercy, and his enemies in justice.

Isa 27:8

27:8 In {h} measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.

(h) That is, you will not destroy the root of your Church, though the branches of it seem to perish by the sharp wind of affliction.

Isa 27:9

27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this [is] all the {i} fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten asunder, the idols and images shall not stand up.

(i) He shows that there is no true repentance nor full reconciliation to God, till the heart is purged from all idolatry and the monuments of it are destroyed.

Isa 27:10

27:10 Yet the {k} fortified city [shall be] desolate, [and] the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume its branches.

(k) Not withstanding his favour that he will show them later, yet Jerusalem will be destroyed, and grass for cattle will grow in it.

Isa 27:11

27:11 When its boughs are withered, they shall be broken off: the {l} women come, [and] set them on fire: for it [is] a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour.

(l) God will not have need of mighty enemies: for the very women will do it to their great shame.

Isa 27:12

27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall gather from the channel of the {m} river to the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.

(m) He will destroy all from the Euphrates to the Nile: for some fled toward Egypt, thinking to have escaped.

Isa 27:13

27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the great trumpet shall be {n} blown, and they shall come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD on the holy mount at Jerusalem.

(n) In the time of Cyrus, by whom they would be delivered: but this was chiefly accomplished under Christ.

Isa 28:1

28:1 Woe to the {a} crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty [is] a fading flower, who [are] on the head of the rich {b} valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

(a) Meaning, the proud kingdom of the Israelites, who were drunk with worldly prosperity.
(b) Because the Israelites for the most part dwelt in plentiful valleys, he means by this the valley of them who had abundance of worldly prosperity and were as it were crowned with garlands.

Isa 28:2

28:2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and {c} strong one, [which] as a tempest of hail [and] a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

(c) He seems to mean the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were carried away.

Isa 28:4

28:4 And the glorious beauty, which [is] on the head of the rich valley, shall be a fading flower, [and] as {d} the early fruit before the summer; which [when] he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

(d) Which is not of long continuance, but is soon ripe and first eaten.

Isa 28:5

28:5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the {e} remnant of his people,
 

(e) Signifying that the faithful who do not put their trust in any worldly prosperity but made God their glory, will be preserved.

Isa 28:6

28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for {f} strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

(f) He will give counsel to the governor and strength to the captain to drive the enemies in at their own gates.

Isa 28:7

28:7 But {g} they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are overwhelmed with wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble [in] judgment.

(g) Meaning, the hypocrites who were among them, and were altogether corrupt in life and doctrine, which is here meant by drunkenness and vomiting.

Isa 28:9

28:9 {h} Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.

(h) For there was no one that was able to understand any good doctrine: but were foolish and as unfit as young babes.

Isa 28:10

28:10 For {i} precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

(i) They must have one thing often repeated.

Isa 28:11

28:11 For with stammering {k} lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

(k) Let one teach what he can, yet they will no more understand him, than if he spoke in a strange language.

Isa 28:12

28:12 To whom {l} he said, {m} This [is] the rest [with which] ye may {n} cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

(l) That is, the prophet, whom God would send.
(m) This is the doctrine on which you ought to stay and rest.
(n) Show to them that are weary and have need of rest, what the true rest is.

Isa 28:13

28:13 But the word of the {o} LORD was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

(o) Because they will not receive the word of God, when it is offered, it comes of their own malice, if after their hearts are so hardened, that they care not for it, as before, Isa 6:9 .

Isa 28:15

28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a {p} covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not reach us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under {q} falsehood have we hid ourselves:

(p) They thought they had shifts to avoid God's judgments, and that they could escape though all others perished.
(q) Though the prophets condemned their idols and vain fruit of falsehood and vanity, yet the wicked thought in themselves that they would trust in these things.

Isa 28:16

28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a {r} tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth {s} shall not make haste.

(r) That is, Christ, by whom all the building must be tried and upheld, Ps 118:22, Mt 21:42, Ac 4:11, Ro 9:33, 1Pe 2:6 .
(s) He will be quiet, and seek no other remedies, but be content with Christ.

Isa 28:17

28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and {t} righteousness to the plummet: and the {u} hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow {x} the hiding place.

(t) In the restitution of his Church, judgment and justice will reign.
(u) God's corrections and affliction.
(x) Affliction will discover their vain confidence, which they kept secret to themselves.

Isa 28:19

28:19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a {y} vexation only [to] understand the report.

(y) Terror and destruction will make you learn that which exhortations and gentleness could not bring you to.

Isa 28:20

28:20 For the bed is {z} shorter than that [a man] can stretch himself [on it]: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself [in it].

(z) Your affliction will be so sore, that you are not able to endure it.

Isa 28:21

28:21 For the LORD shall rise as [on] mount {a} Perazim, he shall be angry as [in] the valley {b} of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

(a) When David overcame the Philistines, 2Sa 5:20, 1Ch 14:11 .
(b) Where Joshua discomfited five kings of the Amorites, Jos 10:12 .

Isa 28:25

28:25 When he hath made {c} even the face of it, doth he not cast abroad the black cummin, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the wheat in rows and the appointed barley and the rye in their place?

(c) As the plowman has his appointed time, and various instruments for his labour, so has the Lord for his vengeance: for he punishes some at one time, and some at another, some after one sort, and some after another, so that his chosen seed is beaten and tried, but not broken as are the wicked.

Isa 29:1

29:1 Woe to {a} Ariel, to Ariel, the city [where] David dwelt! add ye year to year; {b} let them kill sacrifices.

(a) Or Ariel: the Hebrew word Ariel signifies the Lion of God, and signifies the Altar, because the altar seemed to devour the sacrifice that was offered to God, as in Eze 43:16 .
(b) Your vain confidence in your sacrifices will not last long.

Isa 29:2

29:2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be to me {c} as Ariel.

(c) Your city will be full of blood as an altar on which they sacrifice.

Isa 29:4

29:4 And thou shalt be brought down, [and] shalt speak out of the {d} ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, like a medium, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

(d) Your speech will be no longer be so lofty but abased and low as the very charmers who are in low places and whisper, so that their voice can scarcely by heard.

Isa 29:5

29:5 Moreover the multitude of thy {e} strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

(e) Your hired soldiers in whom you trusted, will be destroyed as dust or chaff in a whirlwind.

Isa 29:7

29:7 And the {f} multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her strong hold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

(f) The enemies that I will bring to destroy you, and that which you place your vain trust in will come at unawares even as a dream in the night. Some read as if this was a comfort to the Church for the destruction of their enemies.

Isa 29:8

29:8 It shall even be as when an hungry [man] dreameth, and, behold, {g} he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, [he is] faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

(g) That is, he thinks that he eats.

Isa 29:9

29:9 {h} Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

(h) Muse on this a long as ye like, yet you will find nothing but opportunity to be astonished for your prophets are blind, and therefore cannot direct you.

Isa 29:11

29:11 And the vision of all is become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I {i} cannot; for it [is] sealed:

(i) Meaning, that it is all alike, either to read, or not to read, unless God open the heart to understand.

Isa 29:13

29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people {k} draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their {l} fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

(k) Because they are hypocrites and not sincere in heart, as in Mt 15:7,8 .
(l) That is, their religion was learned by man's doctrine, and not by my word.

Isa 29:14

29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, [even] an wonderful work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall {m} perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hid.

(m) Meaning, where God is not worshipped according to his word, both magistrates and ministers are fools and without understanding.

Isa 29:15

29:15 Woe to them that {n} seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

(n) This is spoken of them who in heart despised God's word, and mocked at the admonitions but outwardly bore a good face.

Isa 29:16

29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed {o} as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing formed say of him that formed it, He had no understanding?

(o) For all your craft says the Lord, you are not able to escape my hands any more than the clay that is in the potter's hands has power to deliver itself.

Isa 29:17

29:17 [Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be {p} turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

(p) Will there not be a change of all things? Carmel is a plentiful place in respect to what it will be then and may be taken for a forest, as in Isa 32:15 and thus he speaks to comfort the faithful.

Isa 29:21

29:21 That make a man an offender for a {q} word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing.

(q) They who went about to find fault with the prophets words, and would not abide admonitions, but would entangle them and bring them into danger.

Isa 29:24

29:24 They also that erred in spirit {r} shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

(r) Signifying that unless God gives understanding and knowledge, man cannot but still err and murmur against him.

Isa 30:1

30:1 Woe to the {a} rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not from me; and that {b} cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

(a) Who contrary to their promise take not me for their protector and contrary to my commandment seek help from strangers.
(b) They seek shifts to cloak their doings and not godly means.

Isa 30:4

30:4 For his {c} princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.

(c) The chief of Israel went into Egypt as an ambassador to seek help and abode at these cities.

Isa 30:6

30:6 The {d} burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from which [come] the young and the old lion, the viper and flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people [that] shall not profit [them].

(d) That is, a heavy sentence or prophecy against the beasts that carried their treasures into Egypt, by the wilderness, which was south from Judah, signifying that if the beasts would not be spared, the men would be punished much more grievously.

Isa 30:7

30:7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried {e} concerning this, Their strength {f} [is] to sit still.

(e) That is, to Jerusalem.
(f) And not to come to and fro to seek help.

Isa 30:8

30:8 Now go, write {g} it before them in a tablet, and note it in a book, that it may be for the {h} time to come for ever and ever:

(g) That is, this prophecy.
(h) That is may be a witness against them for all posterity.

Isa 30:9

30:9 That this [is] a rebellious people, lying children, children [that] will not {i} hear the law of the LORD:

(i) He shows what was the cause of their destruction and brings also all misery to man: that is, because they would not hear the word of God, but delighted to be flattered and led in error.

Isa 30:10

30:10 Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy {k} deceits:

(k) Threaten us not by the word of God, neither be so rigorous, nor talk to us in the Name of the Lord, as in Jer 11:21 .

Isa 30:12

30:12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in {l} oppression and perverseness, and lean upon it:

(l) Meaning, in their stubbornness against God and the admonitions of his prophets.

Isa 30:14

30:14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it {m} a piece to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit.

(m) Signifying that the destruction of the wicked will be without recovery.

Isa 30:15

30:15 For thus saith the {n} Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

(n) Often by his prophets he put you in remembrance of this, that you should only depend on him.

Isa 30:16

30:16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon {o} horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

(o) We will trust to escape by our horses.

Isa 30:17

30:17 One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the {p} top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.

(p) Whereas all the trees are cut down save two or three to make masts.

Isa 30:18

30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be {q} gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD [is] a God of
(r) judgment: blessed [are] all they that wait for him.

(q) He commends the great mercies of God, who with patience waits to call sinners to repentance.
(r) Not only in punishing but in using moderation in the same, as in Jer 10:24,30:11 .

Isa 30:21

30:21 And thy ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, {s} walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

(s) God will direct all your ways and appoint you how to go either hither or thither.

Isa 30:22

30:22 Ye shall {t} defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a polluted cloth; thou shalt say to it, {u} Be gone from me.

(t) You will cast away your idols which you have made of gold and silver with all that belongs to them, as a most filthy thing and polluted.
(u) Showing that there can be no true repentance, unless both in heart and deed we show ourselves enemies to idolatry.

Isa 30:25

30:25 And there shall be upon every high {x} mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers [and] streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

(x) By these various manners of speech he shows that the happiness of the Church will be so great, that no one is able sufficiently to express it.

Isa 30:26

30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the {y} sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

(y) When the Church is restored, the glory of it will pass seven times the brightness of the sun: for by the sun and moon which are two excellent creations, he shows what will be the glory of the children of God in the kingdom of Christ.

Isa 30:27

30:27 Behold, {z} the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [of it is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

(z) This threatening is against the Assyrians the chief enemies of the people of God.

Isa 30:28

30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of {a} vanity: and [there shall be] a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing [them] to err.

(a) To drive you to nothing: and thus God consumes the wicked by that means, by which he cleanses his.

Isa 30:29

30:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the {b} night [when] a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come upon the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

(b) You will rejoice at the destruction of your enemies, as they who sang for joy at the solemn feast, which began in the evening.

Isa 30:31

30:31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, [who] smote with a {c} rod.

(c) God's plague.

Isa 30:32

30:32 And [in] every place where the grounded staff shall pass, {d} which the LORD shall lay upon him, [it] shall be with {e} tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight {f} with it.

(d) It will destroy.
(e) With joy and assurance of the victory.
(f) Against Babel, meaning the Assyrians and Babylonians.

Isa 30:33

30:33 For {g} Tophet [is] ordained of old; yea, for the {h} king it is prepared; he hath made [it] {i} deep [and] large: the pile of it [is] fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

(g) Here it is taken for hell, where the wicked are tormented, read 2Ki 23:10 .
(h) So that their estate or degree cannot exempt the wicked.
(i) By these figurative speeches he declares the condition of he wicked after this life.

Isa 31:1

31:1 Woe to them that {a} go down to Egypt for help; and rely on horses, and trust in chariots, because [they are] many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, neither {b} seek the LORD!

(a) There were two special reasons why the Israelites should not join with the Egyptians: first, because the Lord had commanded them never to return there, De 17:16,28:68 lest they should forget the benefit of their redemption: and secondly, lest they should be corrupted with the superstition and idolatry of the Egyptians, and so forsake God, Jer 2:18 .
(b) Meaning, that they forsake the Lord, if they put their trust in worldly things: for they cannot trust in both.

Isa 31:2

31:2 Yet he also [is] {c} wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.

(c) And knows their crafty enterprises, and will bring all to nought.

Isa 31:3

31:3 Now the Egyptians [are] men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that {d} helpeth shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

(d) Meaning, both the Egyptians and the Israelites.

Isa 31:4

31:4 For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, [he] will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come {e} down to fight for mount Zion, and for its hill.

(e) He shows the Jews that if they would put their trust in him, he is so able, that no one can resist his power and so care over them, as a bird over her young, which ever flies about them for their defence: which similitude the scripture uses in various places, as in De 32:11, Mt 23:37 .

Isa 31:6

31:6 Turn ye to [him from] whom the children of Israel have {f} deeply revolted.

(f) He touches their conscience that they might earnestly feel their grievous sins, and so truly repent, for as much as now they are almost drowned and past recovery.

Isa 31:7

31:7 For in that day every man shall {g} cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made to you [for] a sin.

(g) By these fruits your repentance will be known, as in Isa 2:20 .

Isa 31:8

31:8 {h} Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be made vessels.

(h) When your repentance appears.

Isa 31:9

31:9 And he shall pass over to his {i} strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose {k} fire [is] in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

(i) This was accomplished soon after when Sennacherib's army was discomfited, and he fled to his castle in Nineveh for comfort.
(k) To destroy his enemies.

Isa 32:1

32:1 Behold, {a} a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall {b} rule in judgment.

(a) This prophecy is of Hezekiah, who was a figure of Christ, and therefore it should chiefly be referred to him.
(b) By judgment and justice is meant an upright government, both in policy and religion.

Isa 32:2

32:2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as streams of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in {c} a weary land.

(c) Where men are weary with travelling for lack of water.

Isa 32:3

32:3 And the eyes of {d} them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

(d) He promises to give the true light which is the pure doctrine of God's word, and understanding, and zeal of the same, are contrary to the threatenings against the wicked, Isa 6:9,29:10 .

Isa 32:5

32:5 The {e} vile person shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said [to be] bountiful.

(e) Vice will no more be called virtue, nor virtue esteemed by power and riches.

Isa 32:9

32:9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye {f} careless daughters; give ear to my speech.

(f) He prophecies of such calamity to come that they will not spare the women and children, and therefore wills them to take heed and provide.

Isa 32:10

32:10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, {g} ye careless women: {h} for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

(g) Meaning that the affliction would continue long and when one year was past, yet they should look for new plagues.
(h) God will take from you the means and opportunities, which made you contemn him: that is, abundance of worldly goods.

Isa 32:12

32:12 They shall lament for the {i} breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

(i) By the breasts he means the plentiful fields, by which men are nourished as children with the breast: or, the mothers for sorrow and heaviness will lack milk.

Isa 32:15

32:15 Until the {k} spirit shall be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, and the {l} fruitful field shall be counted for a forest.

(k) That is, when the Church will be restored, thus the prophets after they have denounced God's judgments against the wicked, used to comfort the godly, lest they should faint.
(l) The field which is now fruitful, will be but as a barren forest in comparison to what it will be then as in Isa 29:17 which will be fulfilled in Christ's time, for then they who were before as the barren wilderness, being regenerate will be fruitful and they who had some beginning of godliness, will bring forth fruit in such abundance, that their former life will seem but as a wilderness where no fruit was.

Isa 32:19

32:19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the {m} city shall be low in a low place.

(m) They will not need to build it in high places for fear of the enemy: for God will defend it, and turn away the storms from hurting their conveniences.

Isa 32:20

32:20 Blessed [are] ye {n} that sow beside all waters, that {o} send forth [there] the feet of the ox and the donkey.

(n) That is, upon fat ground and well watered, which brings forth in abundance, or in places which before were covered with waters, and now made dry for your uses.
(o) The fields will be so rank, that they will send out their cattle to eat up the first crop, which abundance will be signs of God's love and favour toward them.

Isa 33:1

33:1 Woe to thee that {a} layest waste, and thou [wast] not laid waste; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt {b} cease to lay waste, thou shalt be wasted; [and] when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, {c} they shall deal treacherously with thee.

(a) Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as were the Chaldeans and Assyrians, but chiefly of Sennacherib, but not only.
(b) When your appointed time will come that God will take away your power: and that which you have wrongfully gained, will be given to others, as in Am 5:11 .
(c) The Chaldeans will do the same to the Assyrians, as the Assyrians did to Israel, and the Medes and Persians will do the same to the Chaldeans.

Isa 33:2

33:2 {d} O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for thee: be thou {e} their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

(d) He declares by this what is the chief refuge of the faithful, when troubles come, to pray, and seek help from God.
(e) Which helped our fathers as soon as they called on you.

Isa 33:3

33:3 At the noise of the tumult the {f} people fled; at the {g} lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

(f) That is, the Assyrians fled before the army of the Chaldeans, or the Chaldeans for fear of the Medes and Persians.
(g) When you, O Lord, lifted up your arm to punish your enemies.

Isa 33:4

33:4 And your spoil shall be gathered [like] the gathering of the {h} caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall {i} he run upon them.

(h) You who as caterpillars destroyed with your number the whole world, will have no strength to resist your enemies the Chaldeans: but will be gathered on a heap and destroyed.
(i) Meaning, the Medes and Persians against the Chaldeans.

Isa 33:6

33:6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of {k} thy times, [and] strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD [is] his treasure.

(k) That is, in the days of Hezekiah.

Isa 33:7

33:7 Behold, {l} their valiant ones shall cry outside: the {m} ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

(l) Sent from Sennacherib.
(m) Whom they of Jerusalem sent to intreat of peace.

Isa 33:8

33:8 The {n} highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

(n) These are the words of the ambassadors, when they returned from Sennacherib.

Isa 33:9

33:9 The earth mourneth [and] languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed [and] hewn down: {o} Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off [their fruits].

(o) Which was a plentiful country, meaning, that Sennacherib would destroy all.

Isa 33:10

33:10 Now will I {p} rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

(p) To help and deliver my Church.

Isa 33:11

33:11 {q} Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, [as] fire, shall devour you.

(q) This is spoken against the enemies, who thought all was their own, but he shows that their enterprise will be in vain, and that the fire which they had kindled for others would consume them.

Isa 33:13

33:13 Ye [that are] {r} far off, hear what I have done; and, ye [that are] near, acknowledge my might.

(r) His vengeance will be so great that all the world will talk of it.

Isa 33:14

33:14 The {s} sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

(s) Which do not believe the words of the prophet, and the assurance of their deliverance.

Isa 33:16

33:16 He shall dwell on {t} high: his place of defence [shall be] the strong holds of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters [shall be] sure.

(t) Meaning, that God will be a sure defence to all them that live according to his word.

Isa 33:17

33:17 Thy eyes shall {u} see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the {x} land that is very far off.

(u) They will see Hezekiah delivered from his enemies and restored to honour and glory.
(x) They will be no more shut in as they were by Sennacherib, but go where it pleases them.

Isa 33:18

33:18 Thy heart {y} shall meditate terror. Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the towers?

(y) Before this liberty comes you will think that you are in great danger: for the enemy will so sharply assail you that one will cry "Where is the clerk that writes the names of them who are taxed?" another, "Where is the receiver?" another will cry for him that values the rich houses, but God will deliver you from this fear.

Isa 33:21

33:21 But there the glorious LORD [will be] to us a place {z} of broad rivers [and] streams; in which shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass through it.

(z) Let us be content with this small river of Shiloah and not desire the great streams and rivers, by which the enemies may bring in ships and destroy us.

Isa 33:23

33:23 Thy {a} tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the {b} prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

(a) He derides the Assyrians and enemies of the Church, declaring their destruction as they who perish by shipwreck.
(b) He comforts the Church, and shows that they will be enriched with all benefits both of body and soul.

Isa 34:1

34:1 Come near, ye {a} nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that spring from it.

(a) He prophecies of the destruction of the Edomites and other nations which were enemies to the Church.

Isa 34:2

34:2 For the indignation of the LORD [is] upon all nations, and [his] fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly {b} destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

(b) God has determined in his counsel and has given sentence for their destruction.

Isa 34:4

34:4 And all the host of heaven {c} shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.

(c) He speaks this in respect to man's judgment, who in great fear and horrible troubles, think that heaven and earth perishes.

Isa 34:5

34:5 For my sword shall be {d} bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of {e} my curse, to judgment.

(d) I have determined in my secret counsel and in the heavens to destroy them till my sword is weary with shedding blood.
(e) They had an opinion of holiness, because they came from the patriarch Isaac, but in effect were cursed by God, and enemies to his Church as the papists are.

Isa 34:6

34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, [and] with the blood of {f} lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in {g} Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

(f) That is, both of young and old, poor and rich of his enemies.
(g) That famous city will be consumed as a sacrifice burnt to ashes.

Isa 34:7

34:7 And the {h} unicorns shall come down with them, and the bulls with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

(h) The mighty and rich will be as well destroyed as the inferiors.

Isa 34:9

34:9 And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into {i} brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch.

(i) He alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ge 19:24 .

Isa 34:11

34:11 But the cormorant {k} and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of {l} confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

(k) Read Isa 13:21, Zep 2:14 .
(l) In vain will any man go about to build it again.

Isa 34:12

34:12 {m} They shall call her nobles to the kingdom, but none [shall be] there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

(m) Meaning, here will be neither order nor policy nor state of commonwealth.

Isa 34:14

34:14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also {n} meet with the wild beasts of the isle, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

(n) Read Isa 13:21 .

Isa 34:15

34:15 There {o} shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

(o) Signifying that Idumea would be a horrible desolation and barren wilderness.

Isa 34:16

34:16 Seek ye out of the {p} book of the LORD, and read: no one of {q} these shall fail, none shall lack her mate: for my {r} mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

(p) That is, in the law where such curses are threatened against the wicked.
(q) That is, beasts and souls.
(r) That is, the mouth of the Lord.

Isa 34:17

34:17 And he hath cast the {s} lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell in it.

(s) He has given the beasts and souls Idumea for an inheritance.

Isa 35:1

35:1 The {a} wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

(a) He prophecies of the full restoration of the Church both of the Jews and Gentiles under Christ, which will be fully accomplished at the last day: although as yet it is compared to a desert and wilderness.

Isa 35:2

35:2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of {b} Carmel and Sharon, they shall {c} see the glory of the LORD, [and] the excellence of our God.

(b) The Church which was before compared to a barren wilderness will by Christ be made most plenteous and beautiful.
(c) He shows that the presence of God is the reason that the Church brings forth fruit and flourishes.

Isa 35:3

35:3 {d} Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

(d) He wills all to encourage one another, and especially the ministers to exhort and strengthen the weak, that they may patiently abide the coming of God, which is at hand.

Isa 35:4

35:4 Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] {e} vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompence; he will come and save you.

(e) To destroy your enemies.

Isa 35:5

35:5 Then the eyes of the {f} blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

(f) When the knowledge of Christ is revealed.

Isa 35:6

35:6 Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing: for in the {g} wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

(g) They who were barren and destitute of the graces of God, will have them given by Christ.

Isa 35:8

35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of {h} holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it {i} [shall be] for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err [in it].

(h) It will be for the saints of God and not for the wicked.
(i) God will lead and guide them, alluding to the bringing forth of Egypt.

Isa 35:9

35:9 No lion shall be there, nor [any] {k} ravenous beast shall go up on it, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]:

(k) As he threatens the wicked with destruction by this, Isa 30:6 .

Isa 35:10

35:10 And the {l} ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

(l) Whom the Lord will deliver from the captivity of Babylon.

Isa 36:1

36:1 Now it came to pass {a} in the {b} fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, [that] Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

(a) This history is rehearsed because it is as a seal and confirmation of the doctrine before, both for the threatenings and promises: that is, that God would permit his Church to be afflicted, but at length would send deliverance.
(b) When he had abolished superstition, and idolatry, and restored religion, yet God would exercise his Church to try their faith and patience.

Isa 36:3

36:3 Then came forth to him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was {c} over the house, and Shebna {d} the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.

(c) For he was now restored to his office, as Isaiah had prophesied in Isa 22:20 .
(d) This declares that there were few godly to be found in the king's house, when he was driven to end this wicked man in such a weighty matter.

Isa 36:4

36:4 And {e} Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence [is] this in which thou trustest?

(e) Sennacherib's chief captain.

Isa 36:5

36:5 I say, {f} [sayest thou], (but [they are but] vain words) [I have] counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

(f) He speaks this in the person of Hezekiah, falsely charging him that he put his trust in his wit and eloquence, while his only confidence was in the Lord.

Isa 36:6

36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will enter his hand, and pierce it: so [is] {g} Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

(g) Satan laboured to pull the godly king from one vain confidence to another: that is, from trust in the Egyptians, whose power was weak and would deceive them, to yield himself to the Assyrians, and so not to hope for any help from God.

Isa 36:9

36:9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the {h} least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

(h) He reproaches Hezekiah's small power, which is not able to resist one of Sennacherib's least captains.

Isa 36:10

36:10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said to me, {i} Go up against this land, and destroy it.

(i) Thus the wicked to deceive us, will pretend the Name of the Lord: but we must try the spirits, whether they are of God or not.

Isa 36:11

36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, {k} Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand [it]: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that [are] on the wall.

(k) They were afraid, lest by his words, he should have stirred up the people against the king, and also pretended to grow to some appointment with him.

Isa 36:16

36:16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make {l} [an agreement] with me [by] a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

(l) The Hebrew word signifies blessing, by which this wicked captain would have persuaded the people, that their condition would be better under Sennacherib than under Hezekiah.

Isa 36:19

36:19 Where [are] the gods of {m} Hamath and Arphad? where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

(m) That is, of Antioch in Syria, of which these two other cities also were: by which we see how every town had its peculiar idol, and how the wicked make God an idol because they do not understand that God makes them his scourge, and punishes cities for sin.

Isa 36:21

36:21 But they {n} held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

(n) Not that they did not show by evident signs that they detested his blasphemy: or they had now rent their clothes, but they knew it was in vain to use long reasoning with this infidel, whose reign they would have so much more provoked.

Isa 37:1

37:1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard [it], that he {a} tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

(a) In sign of grief and repentance.

Isa 37:2

37:2 And he sent Eliakim, who [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, to {b} Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

(b) To have comfort from him by the word of God, that his faith might be confirmed and so his prayer be more earnest: teaching by it that in all dangers these two are the only remedies to seek to God and his ministers.

Isa 37:3

37:3 And they said to him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the {c} birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth.

(c) We are in as great sorrow as a woman in labour who cannot be delivered.

Isa 37:4

37:4 It may be the LORD thy God will {d} hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore {e} lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that is left.

(d) That is, will declare by effect that he has heard it: for when God defers to punish, it seems to the flesh, that he knows not the sin, or hears not the cause.
(e) Declaring that the ministers office stands not only in comforting by the word, but also in praying for the people.

Isa 37:7

37:7 Behold, I will send a wind upon him, and he shall hear a {f} rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

(f) Of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, who will come and fight against him.

Isa 37:8

37:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against {g} Libnah: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

(g) Which was a city toward Egypt, thinking by it to have stayed the force of his enemies.

Isa 37:10

37:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, {h} deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

(h) Thus God would have him utter a most horrible blasphemy before his destruction: as to call the author of all truth a deceiver: some gather by this that Shebna had disclosed to Sennacherib the answer that Isaiah sent to the king.

Isa 37:12

37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, [as] {i} Gozan, and {k} Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who [were] in Telassar?

(i) Which was a city of the Medes.
(k) Called also Charre a city in Mesopotamia, from which Abraham came after his fathers death.

Isa 37:16

37:16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that {l} dwellest [between] the cherubim, thou [art] the God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

(l) He grounds his prayer on God's promise, who promised to hear them from between the Cherubims.

Isa 37:18

37:18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and {m} their countries,

(m) Meaning, the ten tribes.

Isa 37:20

37:20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that {n} all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD, [even] thou only.

(n) He declares for what cause he prayed, that they might be glorified by it through all the world.

Isa 37:22

37:22 This [is] the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The {o} virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised, [and] derided thee; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

(o) Whom God had chosen to himself as a chaste virgin, and over whom he had care to preserve her from the lusts of the tyrant, as a father would have over his daughter.

Isa 37:23

37:23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted thy eyes on high? [even] against the {p} Holy One of Israel.

(p) Declaring by this that they who are enemies to God's Church fight against him whose quarrel his Church only maintains.

Isa 37:25

37:25 I have dug, {q} and drank water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

(q) He boasts of his policy in that he can find means to nourish his army: and of his power in that his army is so great, that it is able to dry up whole rivers, and to destroy the waters which the Jews had closed in.

Isa 37:26

37:26 Hast thou not heard long ago, [how] I have done it; [and] of ancient times, {r} that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities [into] ruinous heaps.

(r) Signifying that God did not make his Church to destroy it, but to preserve it: and therefore he says that he formed it of old, even in his eternal counsel which cannot be changed.

Isa 37:27

37:27 Therefore their inhabitants [were] of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as grain] blighted {s} before it is grown up.

(s) He shows that the state and power of most flourishing cities endures but a moment in respect to the Church, which will remain forever, because God is the maintainer of it.

Isa 37:28

37:28 But I know thy abode, and thy {t} going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

(t) Meaning, his counsels and enterprises.

Isa 37:29

37:29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into my ears, therefore I will put my {u} hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou {x} camest.

(u) Because Sennacherib showed himself as a devouring fish and furious beast, he uses these similarities to teach how he will take him and guide him.
(x) You will lose your labour.

Isa 37:30

37:30 And this [shall be] a {y} sign to thee, Ye shall eat [this] year such as groweth of itself; and the (z) second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

(y) God gives signs after two sorts: some go before the thing as the signs that Moses worked in Egypt, which were for the confirmation of their faith, and some go after the thing, as the sacrifice, which they were commanded to make three days after their departure: and these latter are to keep the blessings of God in our remembrance, of which sort this here is.
(z) He promises that for two years the ground would feed them of itself.

Isa 37:31

37:31 And {a} the remnant that hath escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

(a) They whom God has delivered out of the hands of the Assyrians will prosper: and this properly belongs to the Church.

Isa 37:35

37:35 For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant {b} David's sake.

(b) For my promise sake made to David.

Isa 37:37

37:37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at {c} Nineveh.

(c) Which was the chiefest city of the Assyrians.

Isa 37:38

37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and {d} Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

(d) Who was also called Sardanapalus, in whose days ten years after Sennacherib's death the Chaldeans overcame the Assyrians by Merodach their king.

Isa 38:1

38:1 In those {a} days was Hezekiah sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

(a) Soon after that the Assyrians were slain: so that God will have the exercise of his children continually, that they may learn only to depend on God and aspire to the heavens.

Isa 38:2

38:2 Then Hezekiah {b} turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,

(b) For his heart was touched with fear of God's judgment, seeing he had appointed him to die so quickly after his deliverance from so great calamity, as one unworthy to remain in that estate, and also foreseeing the great change that would come in the Church, as he left no son to reign after him: for as yet Manasseh was not born, and when he reigned, we see what a tyrant he was.

Isa 38:6

38:6 And I will deliver thee and this city {c} from the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

(c) He not only promises to prolong his life, but to give him rest and quietness from the Assyrians, who might have renewed their army to revenge their former defeat.

Isa 38:7

38:7 And {d} this [shall be] a sign to thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;

(d) For Hezekiah had asked for a sign for the confirmation of his faith, as in Isa 38:22, 2Ki 20:8 , to which he was moved by the singular motion of God's spirit.

Isa 38:8

38:8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which hath gone down on the {e} sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it had gone down.

(e) Read 2Ki 20:8 .

Isa 38:9

38:9 {f} The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness:

(f) He left this song of his lamentation and thanksgiving to all posterity, as a monument of his own infirmity and thankful heart for God's benefits, as David did, Ps 51:1 .

Isa 38:10

38:10 I said in the {g} cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the rest of my years.

(c) At which time it was told to me, that I would die.

Isa 38:11

38:11 I said, {h} I shall not see the LORD, [even] the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

(h) I will no more praise the Lord here in this temple among the faithful thus God permits his dearest children to want his consolation for a time that his grace afterward may appear when they feel their own weakness.

Isa 38:12

38:12 My age hath departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I {i} have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even] {k} to night wilt thou make an end of me.

(i) By my sin I have provoked God to take my life from me.
(k) That is, in one day, or shortly.

Isa 38:13

38:13 I reckoned {l} till morning, [that], as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.

(l) Overnight I thought that I would live till morning, but my pangs in the night persuaded me the contrary: he shows the horror that the faithful have when they apprehend God's judgment against their sin.

Isa 38:14

38:14 Like a crane [or] a swallow, so I {m} chattered: I mourned as a dove: my eyes fail [with looking] upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

(m) I was so oppressed with sorrow, that I was not able to utter my words, but only to groan and sigh.

Isa 38:15

38:15 What shall I say? {o} he hath both spoken to me, and himself hath done [it]: I shall go {p} softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

(o) God has declared by his prophet that I will die and therefore I will yield to him.
(p) I will have no release, but continual sorrows while I live.

Isa 38:16

38:16 O Lord, {q} by these [things men] live, and in all these [things is] the life of my spirit: so wilt thou {r} restore me, and make me to live.

(q) They who will outlive the men that are now alive, and all they who are in these years will acknowledge this blessing.
(r) That after that you had condemned me to death you restored me to life.

Isa 38:17

38:17 Behold, for {s} peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my {t} sins behind thy back.

(s) While I thought to have lived in rest and ease being delivered from my enemy, I had grief upon grief.
(t) He values more the remission of his sins, and God's favour than a thousand lives.

Isa 38:18

38:18 For {u} the grave cannot praise thee, death can [not] celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

(u) For as much as God has placed man in this world to glorify him, the godly take it as a sign of his wrath, when their days were shortened, either because they seemed unworthy for their sins to live longer in his service, or for their zeal to God's glory, seeing that there are so few in earth who regard it as in Ps 6:5,115:17 .

Isa 38:19

38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I [do] this day: the father to the {x} children shall make known thy truth.

(x) All posterity will acknowledge and the fathers according to their duty toward their children will instruct them in your graces and mercies toward me.

Isa 38:20

38:20 The LORD [was ready] to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of {y} our life in the house of the LORD.

(y) He shows what is the use of the Congregation and Church, that is, to give the Lord thanks for his benefits.

Isa 38:21

38:21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and {z} lay [it] for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.

(z) Read 2Ki 20:7 .

Isa 38:22

38:22 Hezekiah also {a} had said, What [is] the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

(a) As in Isa 38:7 .

Isa 39:1

39:1 At that time {a} Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent {b} letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.

(a) This was the first king of Babylon, who overcame the Assyrians in the tenth year of his reign.

Isa 39:2

39:2 And Hezekiah was {c} glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasuries: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them.

(c) Read 2Ki 20:13, 2Ch 32:25,31 .

Isa 39:4

39:4 Then said he, What have {d} they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah answered, All that [is] in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.

(d) He asks him of the particulars, to make him understand the craft of the wicked, which he before being overcome with their flattery and blinded with ambition, could not see.

Isa 39:6

39:6 Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thy house, and [that] which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be {e} carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

(e) By the grievousness of the punishment is declared how greatly God detested ambition and vain glory.

Isa 39:7

39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be {f} eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

(f) That is, officers and servants.

Isa 39:8

39:8 {g} Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good [is] the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

(g) Read 2Ki 20:19 .

Isa 40:1

40:1 Comfort {a} ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

(a) This is a consolation for the Church, assuring them that they will never be destitute of prophets by which he exhorts the true ministers of God that then were, and those also that would come after him, to comfort the poor afflicted and to assure them of their deliverance both of body and soul.

Isa 40:2

40:2 Speak ye kindly to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her {b} warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received from the LORD'S hand {c} double for all her sins.

(b) The time of her affliction.
(c) Meaning, sufficient as in Isa 61:7 and full correction, or double grace, while she deserved double punishment.

Isa 40:3

40:3 The {d} voice of him that crieth in the {e} wilderness, (f) Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

(d) That is, of the prophets.
(e) That is, in Babylonia and other places, where they were kept in captivity and misery.
(f) Meaning Cyrus and Darius who would deliver God's people out of captivity and make them a ready way to Jerusalem.

Isa 40:4

40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every {g} mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

(g) Whatever may prevent or hinder this deliverance will be removed.

Isa 40:5

40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all {h} flesh together shall see [it]: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].

(h) This miracle will be so great, that it will be known through all the world.

Isa 40:6

40:6 The {i} voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh [is] grass, and all its {k} beauty [is] as the flower of the field:

(i) The voice of God which spoke to the prophet Isaiah.
(k) Meaning, all man's wisdom and natural powers, Jas 1:10, 1Pe 1:24 .

Isa 40:7

40:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the {l} breath of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people [is] grass.

(l) The spirit of God will discover the vanity in all that seems to have any excellency of themselves.

Isa 40:8

40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the {m} word of our God shall stand for ever.

(m) Though considering the frailty of man's nature many of the Jews would perish, and so not be partakers of this deliverance, yet God's promise would be fulfilled, and they who remained, would feel the fruit of it.

Isa 40:9

40:9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, go up upon the high {n} mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it] up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold {o} your God!

(n) To publish this benefit through all the world.
(o) He shows in one word the perfection of all man's happiness, which is to have God's presence.

Isa 40:10

40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], and {p} his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.

(p) His power will be sufficient without help of any other, and will have all means in himself to bring his will to pass.

Isa 40:11

40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with {q} young.

(q) He will show his care and favour over them who are weak and tender.

Isa 40:12

40:12 Who hath comprehended the waters in the hollow of his {r} hand, and measured heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

(r) Declaring that as only God has all power, so does he use the same for the defence and maintenance of his Church.

Isa 40:13

40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] {s} his counsellor hath taught him?

(s) He shows God's infinite wisdom for the same.

Isa 40:17

40:17 All nations before him [are] as {t} nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

(t) He speaks all this to the intent that they would neither fear man nor put their trust in any, save only in God.

Isa 40:18

40:18 To whom then {u} will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare to him?

(u) By this he arms them against the idolatry with which they would be tempted in Babylon.

Isa 40:20

40:20 He that [is] so {x} impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree [that] will not rot; he seeketh for himself a skilful workman to prepare a graven image, [that] shall not be moved.

(x) He shows the rage of the idolaters, seeing that the poor who do not have enough to meet their own needs will defraud themselves to serve their idols.

Isa 40:21

40:21 Have ye not known? have ye not {y} heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the {z} foundations of the earth?

(y) Do you not have the word of God, which plainly condemns idolatry?
(z) Can you not learn by the visible creatures whom God has made for your use, that you should not serve them or worship them?

Isa 40:24

40:24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also {a} blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

(a) So that his power appears in every place we turn our eyes.

Isa 40:26

40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these [things], that bringeth {b} out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in power; not one faileth.

(b) Who has set in order the infinite number of the stars.

Isa 40:27

40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, {c} My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over by my God?

(c) He rebukes the Jews because they did not rest on the providence of God, but thought that he had forsaken them in their troubles.

Isa 40:28

40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the {d} ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his {e} understanding.

(d) And therefore all power is in his hand to deliver when his time comes.
(e) Showing that men must patiently abide, and not curiously seek out the cause of God's delay in our affliction.

Isa 40:30

40:30 {f} Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

(f) They who trust in their own virtue, and do not acknowledge that all comes from God.

Isa 41:1

41:1 Keep {a} silence before me, O isles; and let the people {b} renew [their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

(a) God as though he pleaded his cause with all nations requires silence, that he may be heard in his right.
(b) That is, gather all their power and supports.

Isa 41:2

41:2 Who raised up the {c} righteous [man] from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made [him] rule over kings? he gave [them] as the dust to his sword, [and] as driven stubble to his bow.

(c) Who called Abraham (who was the pattern of God's justice in delivering his Church) from the idolatry of the Chaldeans to go to and fro at his commandment and placed him in the land of Canaan.

Isa 41:4

41:4 Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the {d} generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the {e} first, and with the last; I [am] he.

(d) Who has created man and maintained his succession.
(e) Though the world set up many gods, yet they diminish nothing of my glory: for I am all one, unchangeable, which have ever been and will be for ever.

Isa 41:5

41:5 The isles saw [it], and {f} feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and {g} came.

(f) Considering my excellent works among my people.
(g) They assembled themselves and conspired against me to maintain their idolatry.

Isa 41:6

41:6 They helped every one his neighbour; and [every one] said to his brother, {h} Be of good courage.

(h) He notes the obstinacy of the idolaters to maintain their superstitions.

Isa 41:8

41:8 But thou, Israel, [art] my {i} servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

(i) And therefore ought not to pollute yourself with the superstition of the Gentiles.

Isa 41:10

41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the {k} right hand of my righteousness.

(k) That is, by the force of promise, in the performance of which I will show myself faithful and just.

Isa 41:12

41:12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not {l} find them, [even] them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.

(l) Because they will be destroyed.

Isa 41:14

41:14 Fear not, thou {m} worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

(m) Thus he calls them because they were contemned of all the world, and that they considering their own poor estate should seek him for help.

Isa 41:15

41:15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the {n} mountains, and beat [them] small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

(n) I will make you able to destroy all your enemies no matter how mighty, and this chiefly is referred to the kingdom of Christ.

Isa 41:17

41:17 [When] {o} the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

(o) That is, they who will be afflicted in the captivity of Babylon.

Isa 41:18

41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry {p} land springs of water.

(p) God would rather change the order of nature than that they should want anything, who cry to him by true faith in their miseries: declaring to them by this that they will lack nothing by the way, when they return from Babylon.

Isa 41:20

41:20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel {q} hath created it.

(q) That is, has appointed and determined that it will come to pass.

Isa 41:21

41:21 {r} Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong [reasons], saith the King of Jacob.

(r) He bids the idolaters to prove their religion and to bring forth their idols, that they may be tried whether they know all things, and can do all things, which if they cannot do, he concludes that they are not gods, but vile idols.

Isa 41:24

41:24 Behold, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination [is he that] {s} chooseth you.

(s) So that a man cannot make an idol, without doing that which God detests and abhors for he chooses his own devises and forsakes the Lords.

Isa 41:25

41:25 I have raised up [one] from the north, {t} and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he {u} call upon my name: and he shall come upon {x} princes as [upon] morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

(t) Meaning, the Chaldeans.
(u) That is, Cyrus, who will do all things in my name and by my direction: by which he means that both their captivity and deliverance will be ordered by God's providence and appointment.
(x) Both of the Chaldeans and others.

Isa 41:26

41:26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and in times past, that we may say, [He is] righteous? verily, [there is] none that sheweth, verily, [there is] none that declareth, verily, [there is] none that heareth {y} your words.

(y) Meaning, that none of the Gentile gods can work any of these things.

Isa 41:27

41:27 The first [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold {z} them: and I will give to Jerusalem {a} one that bringeth good tidings.

(z) That is, the Israelites who return from the captivity.
(a) That is, a continual succession of prophets and ministers.

Isa 41:28

41:28 For {b} I beheld, and [there was] no man; even among them, and [there was] no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

(b) When I looked whether the idols could do these things, I found that they had neither wisdom nor power to do anything: therefore he concludes that all are wicked that trust in such vanities.

Isa 42:1

42:1 Behold {a} my servant, {b} whom I uphold; my elect, [in whom] my soul {c} delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth {d} judgment to the Gentiles.

(a) That is, Christ, who in respect to his manhood is called here servant. The prophets used to make mention of Christ after they declared any great promise, because he is the foundation on which all the promises are made and ratified.
(b) For I have committed all my power to him, as to a most faithful steward: some read, I will establish him: that is, in his office by giving him the fulness of my Spirit.
(c) Only he is acceptable to me and they that come to me by him: for there is no other means of reconciliation, Mt 12:18, Eph 4:1
(d) He will declare himself governor over the Gentiles and call them by his word, and rule them by his Spirit.

Isa 42:2

42:2 He shall not {e} cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

(e) His coming will not be with pomp and noise, as earthly princes.

Isa 42:3

42:3 A {f} bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking {g} flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment to {h} truth.

(f) He will not hurt the weak and feeble, but support and comfort them.
(g) Meaning, the wick of a lamp or candle which is almost out, but he will cherish it and snuff it, that it may shine brighter.
(h) Although he favours the weak, yet will he not spare the wicked, but will judge them according to truth and equity.

Isa 42:4

42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he hath {i} set judgment in the earth: and the {k} isles shall wait for his law.

(i) Till he has set all things in good order.
(k) The Gentiles will desire to receive his doctrine.

Isa 42:6

42:6 I the LORD have called thee in {l} righteousness, and will hold {m} thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a {n} covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

(l) Meaning, to a lawful and just calling.
(m) To assist and guide you.
(n) As him, by whom the promise made to all nations in Abraham will be fulfilled.

Isa 42:8

42:8 I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my {o} glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

(o) I will not permit my glory to be diminished: which I would do if I were not faithful.

Isa 42:9

42:9 Behold, the former things have {p} come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

(p) As in time past I have been true in my promises, so will I be in time to come.

Isa 42:11

42:11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up [their voice], the villages [that] {q} Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

(q) Meaning, the Arabians, under whom he comprehends all the people of the East.

Isa 42:13

42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a {r} mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

(r) He shows the zeal of the Lord, and his power in the conservation of his Church.

Isa 42:14

42:14 I have long time held my peace; I have been still, [and] restrained myself: [now] will I cry like a {s} travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

(s) I will haste to execute my vengeance, which I have so long deferred as a woman that desires to be delivered, when she is in labour.

Isa 42:16

42:16 And I will bring the {t} blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do for them, and not forsake them.

(t) That is, my poor people, who are in perplexity and care.

Isa 42:19

42:19 Who [is] blind, but my {u} servant? or deaf, as my {x} messenger [that] I sent? who [is] blind as [he that is] {y} perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?

(u) That is, Israel, which would have most light because of my Law.
(x) The priest to whom my word is committed, who would not only hear it himself but cause others to hear it.
(y) As the priests and prophets that would be lights to others?

Isa 42:22

42:22 But this [is] a people {z} robbed and plundered; [they are] all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, {a} Restore.

(z) Because they will not acknowledge this blessing from the Lord, who is ready to deliver them, he permits them to be spoiled by their enemies through their own fault and incredulity.
(a) There will be no one to comfort them , or to will the enemy to restore that which he has spoiled.

Isa 42:23

42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? [who] will hearken and hear for {b} the time to come?

(b) Meaning, God's wrath.

Isa 43:1

43:1 But now thus saith the LORD {a} that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, {b} Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine.

(a) After these threatenings he promises deliverance to his Church, because he has regenerated them, adopted them, and called them.
(b) When you see dangers and conspiracies on all sides, remember this benefit and the love of your God, and it will encourage you.

Isa 43:2

43:2 When thou passest through the {c} waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

(c) By water and fire he means all kinds of trouble and peril.

Isa 43:3

43:3 For I [am] the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave {d} Egypt [for] thy ransom, Cush and Seba for thee.

(d) I turned Sennacherib's power against these countries, and made them suffer the affliction which you would have done, and so were as the payment of our ransom, Isa 37:9 .

Isa 43:4

43:4 Since thou hast been precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give {e} men for thee, and people for thy life.

(e) I will not spare any man, rather than you should perish, for God values one of his faithful more than all the wicked in the world.

Isa 43:5

43:5 Fear not: for I [am] with thee: I will bring thy seed from the {f} east, and gather thee from the west;

(f) He prophecies of their deliverance from the captivity of Babylon, and so of the calling of the universal Church, alluding to that which is written in De 30:3 .

Isa 43:7

43:7 [Even] every one that is called by my {g} name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; verily, I have made him.

(g) Meaning that he could not be unmindful of them, unless he would neglect his own Name and glory.

Isa 43:9

43:9 Let all the nations be gathered {h} together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forth their {i} witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them {k} hear, and say, [It is] truth.

(h) Signifying that no power can resist him in doing this miraculous work, nor are all their idols able to do the same, as in Isa 41:22 .
(i) To prove that the things which are spoken of them are true.
(k) Showing that the malice of the wicked hinders them in the knowledge of the truth, because they will not hear when God speaks by his word.

Isa 43:10

43:10 Ye {l} [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my {m} servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after me.

(l) The prophets and people to whom I have given my law.
(m) Meaning especially Christ, and by him all the faithful.

Isa 43:14

43:14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have {n} brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry [is] in {o} the ships.

(n) By Darius and Cyrus.
(o) They will cry when they would escape by my water, seeing that the course of the Euphrates is turned another way by the enemy.

Isa 43:16

43:16 Thus saith the LORD, who maketh a way in {p} the sea, and a path in the mighty {q} waters;

(p) When he delivered Israel from Pharaoh, Ex 14:22 .
(q) When the Israelites passed through Jordan, Jos 3:17 .

Isa 43:17

43:17 Who bringeth {r} forth the {s} chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick.

(r) When he delivered his people out of Egypt.
(s) Pharaoh and his mighty army.

Isa 43:19

43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the {t} wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.

(t) Meaning, that their deliverance out of Babylon would be more famous than that from Egypt was, Jer 23:7, Hag 2:10, 2Co 5:17, Re 21:5,7 .

Isa 43:20

43:20 The {u} beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

(u) They will have such abundance of all things as they return home, even in the dry and barren places, that the very beasts will feel my blessings and will acknowledge them: much more men ought to be thankful for the same.

Isa 43:22

43:22 But thou hast not {x} called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been {y} weary of me, O Israel.

(x) You have not worshipped me as you ought to have done.
(y) Because you have not willingly received that which I commanded you, you grieved me. By which he shows that his mercies were the only reason for their deliverance, as they had deserved the contrary.

Isa 43:23

43:23 Thou {z} hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.

(z) Meaning, in true faith and obedience.

Isa 43:24

43:24 Thou hast bought me no sweet {a} cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast {b} burdened me with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thy iniquities.

(a) Either for the composition of the sweet ointment Ex 30:34 , or for the sweet incense Ex 30:7 .

Isa 43:26

43:26 Put me in {c} remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

(c) If I forget anything that may make for your justification, put me in remembrance and speak for yourself.

Isa 43:27

43:27 Thy {d} first father hath sinned, and thy {e} teachers have transgressed against me.

(d) Your ancestors.
(e) Your priests and your prophets.

Isa 43:28

43:28 Therefore I have {f} profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

(f) That is, rejected, abhorred, and destroyed them in the wilderness and at other times.

Isa 44:2

44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed {a} thee from the womb, [who] will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, {b} whom I have chosen.

(a) He treated and chose you from the beginning of his own mercy, and before you could merit anything.
(b) Whom God accepts as righteous: or who had opportunity to it because of the law, and your holy calling.

Isa 44:3

44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is {c} thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring:

(c) Because man of himself is as the dry and barren land, he promises to moisten him with the waters of his Holy Spirit, Joel 2:28, Joh 7:38, Ac 2:17 .

Isa 44:4

44:4 And they {d} shall spring up [as] among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

(d) That is, your children and posterity will increase wonderfully after their deliverance from Babylon.

Isa 44:5

44:5 One shall say, I [am] the LORD'S; and another {e} shall call [himself] by the name of Jacob; and another shall write [with] his hand to the LORD, and surname [himself] by the name of Israel.

(e) By this diversity of speech he means one thing, that is, that the people will be holy, and receive the true religion from God, as in Ps 87:5 .

Isa 44:6

44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; {f} I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and besides me [there is] no God.

(f) I am always like myself, that is, merciful toward my Church, and most able to maintain it, as in Isa 41:4,48:12, Re 1:17,22:13 .

Isa 44:7

44:7 And who, as I, shall {g} call, and shall declare it, and set {h} it in order for me, since I appointed the {i} ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let {k} them show to them.

(g) And appoint them that will deliver the Church.
(h) That is, tell me how I should proceed in this.
(i) God calls the Israelites ancient, because he preferred them to all others in his eternal election.
(k) Meaning, their idols.

Isa 44:8

44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? {l} ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? verily, [there is] no God; I know not [any].

(l) Read Isa 43:10 .

Isa 44:9

44:9 They that make a graven image [are] all of them vanity; and {m} their delectable things shall not profit; and they [are] their own witnesses; {n} they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

(m) Whatever they bestow on their idols, to make them seem glorious.
(n) That is, the idolaters seeing that their idols are blind, are witnesses of their own blindness, and feeling that they are not able to help them, must confess that they have no power.

Isa 44:10

44:10 Who hath formed a {o} god, or cast a graven image [that] is {p} profitable for nothing?

(o) Meaning that whatever is made by the hand of man, if it is valued as a god, is most detestable.
(p) By which appears their blasphemy, who call images the books of the laity, seeing that they are not only here called unprofitable, but in Isa 41:24 abominable. Jeremiah calls them the work of errors, Jer 10:15 , Habakkuk, a lying teacher Hab 2:18 .

Isa 44:11

44:11 Behold, all his {q} fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they [are] of men: let them all be gathered together, let them {r} stand up; [yet] they shall fear, [and] they shall be ashamed together.

(q) That is, who in any way consent either to the making or worshipping.
(r) Signifying, that the multitude will not then save the idolaters, when God will take vengeance, although they excuse themselves by it among men.

Isa 44:12

44:12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is {s} hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

(s) He describes the raging affection of the idolaters, who forget their own necessities to set forth their devotion toward their idols.

Isa 44:13

44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out [his] rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in {t} the house.

(t) To place it in some Temple.

Isa 44:15

44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take of it, and {u} warm himself; indeed, he kindleth [it], and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth [it]; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down to it.

(u) He sets forth the obstinacy and malice of the idolaters who though they see by daily experience that their idols are no better than the rest of the matter of which they are made, yet they refuse the one part, and make a god of the other, as the papists make their cake god, and the rest of their idols.

Isa 44:16

44:16 He burneth part of it in the fire; with part of it he {x} eateth flesh; he roasteth meat, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth [himself], and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:

(x) That is, he either makes a table or trenchers.

Isa 44:18

44:18 They have not known nor understood: {y} for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; [and] their hearts, that they cannot understand.

(y) The prophet gives here an answer to all them who wonder how it is possible that any would be so blind as to commit such abomination, saying that God has blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts.

Isa 44:20

44:20 He feedeth {z} on 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?

(z) He is abused as one that would eat ashes, thinking to satisfy his hunger.

Isa 44:21

44:21 {a} Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou [art] my servant: I have formed thee; thou [art] my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten by me.

(a) Showing that man's heart is most inclined to idolatry, and therefore he warns his people by these examples, that they should not cleave to any but to the living God, when they should be among the idolaters.

Isa 44:23

44:23 {b} Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done [it]: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree in it: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

(b) He shows that the work of the Lord toward his people will be so great, that the insensible creatures will be moved with it.

Isa 44:25

44:25 That frustrateth the {c} tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise [men] backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

(c) He arms them against the soothsayers of Babylon, who would have said that they knew by the stars that God would not deliver Israel, and that Babylon would stand.

Isa 44:26

44:26 That confirmeth the word of his {d} servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up her decayed places:

(d) Of Isaiah and the rest of his prophets, who assured the Church of God's favour and deliverance.

Isa 44:27

44:27 That saith to the {e} deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

(e) He shows that God's work would be no less notable in this their deliverance, than when he brought them out of Egypt, through the sea.

Isa 44:28

44:28 That saith of {f} Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

(f) To assure them of their deliverance he names the person by whom it would be, more than a hundred years before he was born.

Isa 45:1

45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to {a} Cyrus, whose {b} right hand I have held, to {c} subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

(a) To assure the Jews of their deliverance against the great temptations that they would abide, he names the person and the means.
(b) Because Cyrus would execute the office of a deliverer, God called him his anointed for a time, but after another sort than he called David.
(c) To guide him in the deliverance of my people.

Isa 45:2

45:2 I will go before thee, and make the {d} crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut asunder the bars of iron:

(d) I will take away all impediments and hindrances.

Isa 45:3

45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest {e} know that I, the LORD, who call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel.

(e) Not that Cyrus knew God to worship him correctly, but he had a certain particular knowledge as profane men may have of his power, and so was compelled to deliver God's people.

Isa 45:4

45:4 For Jacob my servant's {f} sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

(f) Not for anything that is in you, or for your worthiness.

Isa 45:5

45:5 I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God besides me: I {g} girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

(g) I have given you strength, power and authority.

Isa 45:7

45:7 I form the {h} light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

(h) I send peace and war, prosperity and adversity, as in Am 3:6 .

Isa 45:8

45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down {i} righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have {k} created it.

(i) He comforts the Jews as if he would say, "Though when you look to the heavens and earth for comfort you see nothing now but signs of God's wrath, yet will cause them to bring forth certain tokens of your deliverance, and of the performance of my promise": which is meant by righteousness.
(k) I have appointed Cyrus to this use and purpose.

Isa 45:9

45:9 {l} Woe to him that contendeth with his Maker! [Let] the potsherd [contend] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, {m} He hath no hands?

(l) By this he bridles their impatience, who in adversity and trouble murmur against God, and will not tarry his pleasure: willing that man would match with his like, and not contend against God.
(m) That is, it is not perfectly made.

Isa 45:11

45:11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me {n} of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

(n) Instead of murmuring, humble yourselves and ask what you will for the consolation of my children, and you will be sure of it as you are of these things which are at your command. Some read it with an interrogation, and make it the application of the comparison.

Isa 45:12

45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, [even] my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their {o} host have I commanded.

(o) That is, the stars.

Isa 45:13

45:13 I have raised {p} 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 {q} price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.

(p) That is, Cyrus, that I may show by him the faithfulness of my promise in delivering my people.
(q) Meaning, freely and without ransom, or any grievous condition.

Isa 45:14

45:14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour {r} of Egypt, and merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to thee, and they shall be {s} thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down to thee, they shall make supplication to thee, [saying], Surely God [is] in thee; and [there is] none else, [there is] no God.

(r) These people were tributaries to the Persians, and so king Artahshashte gave this money toward the building of the temple, Ezr 7:27 .
(s) While they were your enemies, they will now honour you and you will rule them: which was accomplished in the time of Christ.

Isa 45:15

45:15 Verily thou [art] a God that {t} hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

(t) By this he exhorts the Jews to patience, though their deliverance is deferred for a time: showing that they would not repent their long patience, but the wicked and idolaters will be destroyed.

Isa 45:18

45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be {u} inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else.

(u) That is, of men, but chiefly of his Church.

Isa 45:19

45:19 I have not spoken in secret, {x} in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

(x) As do the false gods, who give uncertain answers.

Isa 45:20

45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, {y} ye [that have] escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god [that] cannot save.

(y) All you idolaters who though you seem to have worldly dignity yet in God's sight you are vile and abject.

Isa 45:22

45:22 Look to me, and be ye saved, all {z} the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else.

(z) He calls the idolaters to repentance, willing them to look on him with the eye of faith.

Isa 45:23

45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] {a} righteousness, and shall not return, That to me every {b} knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

(a) That is, that the thing which I have promise will be faithfully performed.
(b) The knowledge of God and the true worshipping will be through all the world, Rom 14:11, Phil 2:10 by which he signifies that we must not only serve God in heart, but declare the same also by outward profession.

Isa 45:24

45:24 Surely, {c} shall [one] say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: [even] to him shall [men] come; and all that are {d} incensed against him shall be ashamed.

(c) Meaning the faithful will feel and confess this.
(d) All the contemners of God.

Isa 46:1

46:1 Bel boweth down, {a} Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the {b} beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages [were] heavily loaded; [they were] a burden to the weary [beast].

(a) These were the chief idols of Babylon.
(b) Because they were of gold and silver, the Medes and Persians carried them away.

Isa 46:2

46:2 {c} They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but {d} themselves have gone into captivity.

(c) The beasts that carried the idols fell down under their burden.
(d) He derides the idols, who had neither soul nor sense.

Isa 46:3

46:3 Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are {e} borne [by me] from the birth, which are carried from the womb:

(e) He shows the difference between the idols and the true God; for they must be carried by others, but God himself carries his, as in De 32:11 .

Isa 46:4

46:4 And [even] to [your] old age I [am] he; and [even] to gray hairs will I carry [you]: {f} have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver [you].

(f) Seeing I have begotten you, I will nourish and preserve you forever.

Isa 46:5

46:5 To whom will ye liken me, and make [me] equal, and {g} compare me, that we may be like?

(g) The people of God setting their own calamity, and the flourishing estate of the Babylonians, would be tempted to think that their God was not so mighty as the idols of their enemies: therefore he describes the original of all the idols to make them to be abhorred by all men: showing that the most that can be spoken in their commendation, is but to prove them vile.

Isa 46:8

46:8 Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring [it] again to {h} mind, O ye transgressors.

(h) Become wise, meaning, that all idolaters are without wit or sense, like mad men.

Isa 46:11

46:11 Calling a ravenous {i} bird from the east, the man that executeth my {k} counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken [it], I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed [it], I will also perform it.

(i) That is, Cyrus, who will come as swift as a bird and fight against Babylon.
(k) Him by whom I have appointed to execute that which I have determined.

Isa 46:12

46:12 Hearken to me, ye stubborn in heart, that [are] far from {l} righteousness:

(l) Who by your incredulity would prevent the performance of my promise.

Isa 46:13

46:13 I bring {m} near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

(m) He shows that man's incredulity cannot abolish the promise of God, Ro 3:3 .

Isa 47:1

47:1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O {a} virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: [there is] no {b} throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

(a) Which has lived in wealth and wantonness and has not yet been overcome by any enemies.
(b) Your government will be taken from you.

Isa 47:2

47:2 Take the millstones, and {c} grind meal: uncover thy locks, {d} make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

(c) You will be brought to most vile servitude: for to turn the mill was the office of slaves.
(d) The things in which she sets her greatest pride, will be made vile, even from the head to the foot.

Isa 47:3

47:3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet [thee as] a {e} man.

(e) I will use no humanity nor pity toward you.

Isa 47:4

47:4 {f} [As for] our redeemer, the LORD of hosts [is] his name, the Holy One of Israel.

(f) The Israelites will confess that the Lord does this for his Church's sake.

Isa 47:5

47:5 {g} Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

(g) For shame, and hide yourself.

Isa 47:6

47:6 I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and given them into thy hand: thou didst show them no {h} mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

(h) They abused God's judgments, thinking that he punished the Israelites, because he would completely cast them off, and therefore instead of pitying their misery, you increased it.

Isa 47:9

47:9 But these two [things] shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their {i} perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, [and] for the great abundance of thy enchantments.

(i) So that your punishment will be so great, as is possible to be imagined.

Isa 47:10

47:10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy {k} wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, I [am], and none else besides me.

(k) You thought that your own wisdom and policy would have saved you.

Isa 47:12

47:12 Stand now with thy enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast {l} laboured from thy youth; if thou shalt be able to profit, if thou mayest prevail.

(l) He derides their vain confidence, who put their trust in anything but in God, condemning also such vain sciences, which serve no use, but to delude the people, and to bring them from depending only on God.

Isa 47:14

47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal {m} to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it.

(m) They will utterly perish, and no part of them remain.

Isa 47:15

47:15 Thus shall they be to thee with whom thou hast laboured, [even] thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his {n} quarter; none shall save thee.

(n) They will flee everyone to that place, which he thought by his speculations to be most sure: but that will deceive them.

Isa 48:1

48:1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are {a} called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of {b} the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, [but] not in truth, nor in righteousness.

(a) He detects their hypocrisy who claimed to be Israelites, but were not so.
(b) Meaning, the fountain and stock.

Isa 48:2

48:2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves {c} upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts [is] his name.

(c) They make a show, as though they would have no other God.

Isa 48:3

48:3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth from my mouth, and I showed {d} them; I did [them] suddenly, and they came to pass.

(d) He shows that they could not accuse him in anything, as he had performed whatever he had promised.

Isa 48:4

48:4 Because I knew that {e} thou [art] obstinate, and thy neck [is] an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

(e) I have done for you more than I promised, that your stubbornness and impudency might have been overcome.

Isa 48:5

48:5 I have even from the beginning declared [it] to thee; before it came to pass I showed {f} [it] thee: lest thou shouldest say, My idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

(f) How you should be delivered out of Babylon.

Isa 48:6

48:6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye {g} declare [it]? I have showed ye new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

(g) Will you not acknowledge my blessing, and declare it to others?

Isa 48:7

48:7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I {h} knew them.

(h) Showing that man's arrogancy is the reason God does not declare all things at once, lest they should attribute this knowledge to their own wisdom.

Isa 48:8

48:8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time [that] thy ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the {i} womb.

(i) From the time that I brought you of Egypt: for that deliverance was as the birth of the Church.

Isa 48:9

48:9 For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, {k} that I cut thee not off.

(k) As it was my free mercy that I chose you: so it is my free mercy that must save you.

Isa 48:10

48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but {l} not with silver; I have {m} chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

(l) For I had respect to your weakness and infirmity: for in silver there is some pureness, but in us there is nothing but dross.
(m) I took you out of the furnace where you would have been consumed.

Isa 48:11

48:11 For my own sake, [even] for my own sake, will I do [it]: for how should [my name] {n} be profaned? {o} and I will not give my glory to another.

(n) God joins the salvation of his with his own honour: so that they cannot perish, but his glory would be diminished, as in De 32:27 .
(o) Read Isa 42:8 .

Isa 48:12

48:12 Hearken to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; {p} I [am] he; I [am] the first, I also [am] the last.

(p) Read Isa 41:4 .

Isa 48:13

48:13 My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: [when] I call to them, {q} they stand up together.

(q) To obey me, and to do whatever I command them.

Isa 48:14

48:14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these [things]? The LORD hath loved {r} him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans.

(r) Meaning, Cyrus, whom he had chosen to destroy Babylon.

Isa 48:16

48:16 Come ye near to me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the {s} beginning; from the time that it was, there [am] I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath {t} sent me.

(s) Since the time that I declared myself to your fathers.
(t) Thus the Prophet speaks for himself, and to assure them of these things.

Isa 48:17

48:17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I [am] the LORD thy God who teacheth thee {u} to profit, who leadeth thee by the way [that] thou shouldest go.

(u) What things will do you good.

Isa 48:19

48:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy body like its gravel; his {x} name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

(x) That is, the prosperous estate of Israel.

Isa 48:20

48:20 {y} Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it [even] to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

(y) After he had forewarned them of their captivity and of the reason for it, he shows them the great joy that will come of their deliverance.

Isa 48:21

48:21 And they {z} thirsted not [when] he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he broke the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

(z) He shows that it will be as easy to deliver them, as he did their fathers out of Egypt.

Isa 48:22

48:22 [There is] no {a} peace, saith the LORD, to the wicked.

(a) Thus he speaks that the wicked hypocrites should not abuse God's promise, in whom was neither faith nor repentance, as in Isa 57:21

Isa 49:1

49:1 Listen, to me O isles; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called {a} me from {b} the womb; from the body of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

(a) This is spoken in the person of Christ, to assure the faithful that these promises should come to pass: for they were all made in him and in him would be performed.
(b) This is meant of the time that Christ would be manifested to the world, as in Ps 2:7 .

Isa 49:2

49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp {c} sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he {d} hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

(c) By the sword and shaft, he signifies the virtue and efficacy of Christ's doctrine.
(d) God has taken me to his protection and defence: this chiefly is meant of Christ, and may also be applied to the ministers of his word.

Isa 49:3

49:3 And said to me, Thou [art] my servant, O {e} Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

(e) By Israel is meant Christ, and all the body of the faithful, as the members and their head.

Isa 49:4

49:4 Then I said, I have {f} laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: [yet] surely my judgment [is] with the LORD, and my work with my God.

(f) Thus Christ in his members complains that his labour and preaching take no effect, yet he is contented that his doings are approved by God.

Isa 49:5

49:5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb [to be] his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, {g} yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

(g) Though the Jews refuse my doctrine, yet God will approve my ministry.

Isa 49:6

49:6 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 {h} thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth.

(h) To declare my gospel to the Gentiles, as in Isa 42:6, Ac 13:47, Lu 2:32 .

Isa 49:7

49:7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a {i} servant of rulers, Kings shall see and {k} arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, [and] the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

(i) Meaning, the Jews whom tyrants kept in bondage.
(k) The benefit of their deliverance will be so great, that great and small will acknowledge it, and revere God for it.

Isa 49:8

49:8 Thus saith the LORD, {l} In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give {m} thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the {n} earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

(l) Thus he speaks of his Church when he would show his mercy toward it, 2Co 6:2 .
(m) Meaning, Christ alone.
(n) Signifying that before Christ renewed the earth by his word, there is nothing but confusion and disorder.

Isa 49:9

49:9 That thou mayest say to the {o} prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their {p} pastures [shall be] in all high places.

(o) To them who are in the prison of sin and death.
(p) Being in Christ's protection, they will be safe against all dangers, and free from fear of the enemies.

Isa 49:10

49:10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy {q} on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
 

(q) Meaning, that there would be nothing in their way from Babylon that would hinder or hurt them: but this is accomplished spiritually. Isa 49:12

49:12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of {r} Sinim.

(r) Meaning, the south country, so that Christ will deliver his from all the parts of the world.

Isa 49:13

49:13 Sing, O {s} heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

(s) Read Isa 44:23 .

Isa 49:14

49:14 But Zion said, The LORD hath {t} forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

(t) He objects what the faithful might say in their long affliction and answers to comfort them with a most proper comparison and full of consolation.

Isa 49:16

49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] {u} hands; thy {x} walls [are] continually before me.

(u) Because I would not forget you.
(x) Meaning, the good order of policy and discipline.

Isa 49:17

49:17 Thy children shall make {y} haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee.

(y) I have continual care to build you up again and to destroy your enemies.

Isa 49:18

49:18 Lift up thy eyes around, and behold: all these gather themselves together, [and] come to thee. [As] I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely {z} clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them [on thee], as a bride [doeth].

(z) He shows what are the ornaments of the Church: to have many children, who are assembled by the word of God, and governed by his Spirit.

Isa 49:22

49:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the {a} Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in [their] arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon [their] shoulders.

(a) He shows that Christ will not only gather this great number from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.

Isa 49:23

49:23 And kings {b} shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow to thee with [their] face toward the earth, and lick up the {c} dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

(b) Meaning, that kings will be converted to the gospel, and bestow their power and authority for the preservation of the Church.
(c) Being joined with the Church, they will humble themselves to Christ their head, and give him all honour.

Isa 49:24

49:24 Shall the prey be {d} taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

(d) He makes this as an objection as though the Chaldeans were strong, and had them in just possession.

Isa 49:25

49:25 But thus saith the LORD, {e} Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

(e) This is the answer to their objection, that no one is stronger than the Lord, neither has a more just title to them.

Isa 49:26

49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with {f} their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

(f) I will cause them to destroy one another as in Jud 7:22, 2Ch 20:22, Isa 19:2 .

Isa 50:1

50:1 Thus saith the LORD, Where [is] the {a} bill of your mother's divorcement, {b} whom I have put away? or which of my creditors [is it] {c} to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

(a) Meaning, that he has not forsaken her, but through her own opportunity as in Ho 2:2 .
(b) Who would declare that I have cut her off: meaning, that they could show no one.
(c) Signifying, that he sold them not for any debt or poverty, but that they sold themselves to sins to buy their own lusts and pleasures.

Isa 50:2

50:2 {d} Why, when I came, [was there] no man? when I called, [was there] none to answer? Is my hand {e} shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish smelleth rotten, because [there is] no water, and dieth for thirst.

(d) He came by his prophets and ministers, but they would not believe their doctrine and convert.
(e) Am I not able to help you, as I have helped your fathers of old, when I dried up the Red sea, and killed the fish in the rivers, and also afterward in Jordan?

Isa 50:3

50:3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make {f} sackcloth their covering.

(f) As I did in Egypt in token of my displeasure, Ex 10:21 .

Isa 50:4

50:4 The Lord GOD hath given {g} me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him that is] {h} weary: he awakeneth morning by morning, he awakeneth my ear to hear {i} as the learned.

(g) The prophet represents here the person and charge of them that are justly called to the ministry by God's word.
(h) To him that is oppressed by affliction and misery.
(i) As they who are taught, and made meet by him.

Isa 50:6

50:6 I gave my back to the {k} smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

(k) I did not shrink from God for any persecution or calamity. By which he shows that the true ministers of God can look for no other recompense of the wicked, but after this sort, and also that is their comfort.

Isa 50:10

50:10 {l} Who [is] among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh [in] darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God.

(l) Showing that it is a rare thing that any should obey correctly God's true ministers, though they labour to bring them from hell to heaven.

Isa 50:11

50:11 Behold, all ye that kindle {m} a fire, that surround [yourselves] with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

(m) You have sought consolation by your own devises, and have refused the light and consolation which God has offered: therefore you will remain in sorrow and not be comforted.

Isa 51:1

51:1 Hearken to me, {a} ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look to the {b} rock [from which] ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit [from which] ye were dug.

(a) He comforts the Church, that they would not be discouraged for their small number.
(b) That is, to Abraham, of whom you were begotten, and to Sarah of whom we were born.

Isa 51:3

51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness {c} like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

(c) As plentiful as paradise, Ge 2:8,9 .

Isa 51:4

51:4 Hearken to me, my people; and give ear to me, O my nation: for a {d} law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

(d) I will rule and govern my Church by my word and doctrine.

Isa 51:5

51:5 My {e} righteousness [is] near; my salvation is gone forth, and my {f} arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on my arm shall they trust.

(e) The time that I will accomplish my promise.
(f) My power and strength.

Isa 51:6

51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the {g} heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

(g) Forewarns them of the horrible changes and mutations of all things, and how he will preserve his church in the midst of all these dangers.

Isa 51:9

51:9 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, {h} in the generations of old. [Art] thou not that which hath cut {i} Rahab, [and] wounded the {k} dragon?

(h) He puts them in remembrance of his great benefit for their deliverance out of Egypt, that by it they might learn to trust in him constantly.
(i) Meaning, Egypt, Ps 87:4 .
(k) That is, Pharaoh, Eze 29:3 .

Isa 51:11

51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall {l} return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be] upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

(l) From Babylon.

Isa 51:14

51:14 The captive exile {m} hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

(m) He comforts them by the short time of their banishment: for in seventy years they were restored and the greatest empire of the world destroyed.

Isa 51:16

51:16 And I have put my words in thy {n} mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the {o} heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, Thou [art] my people.

(n) Meaning, of Isaiah and of all true ministers who are defended by his protection.
(o) That all things may be restored in heaven and earth, Eph 1:10 .

Isa 51:17

51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drank at the hand of the LORD the {p} cup of his fury; thou hast drank the dregs of the cup of trembling, [and] wrung [them] out.

(p) You have been justly punished and sufficiently as Isa 40:2 and this punishment in the elect is by measure, and according as God gives grace to hear it: but in the reprobate it is the just vengeance of God to drive them to an insensibleness and madness, as Jer 25:15,16 .

Isa 51:19

51:19 These two {q} [things] have come to thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

(q) Of which the one is outward as of the things that come to the body, as war, and famine and the other is inward, and belongs to the mind: that is, to be without comfort: therefore he says "How will you be comforted?"

Isa 51:21

51:21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunk, but {r} not with wine:

(r) But with trouble and fear.

Isa 52:1

52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no {a} more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

(a) No wicked tyrant, who will subvert God's true religion and oppress the conscience.

Isa 52:2

52:2 Shake thyself from the {b} dust; arise, [and] sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

(b) Put off the garments of sorrow and heaviness and put on the apparel of joy and gladness.

Isa 52:3

52:3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for {c} nothing; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

(c) The Babylonians paid nothing to me for you: therefore I will take you again without ransom.

Isa 52:4

52:4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went {d} down in times past into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian {e} oppressed them without cause.

(d) When Jacob went there in times of famine.
(e) The Egyptians might pretend some reason to oppress my people because they went there and remained among them, but the Assyrians have no title to excuse their tyranny by, and therefore I will punish them more than I did the Egyptians.

Isa 52:5

52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nothing? they that rule over them make them to wail, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is] {f} blasphemed.

(f) That is, by the wicked, who think that I have no power to deliver them.

Isa 52:7

52:7 How {g} beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that proclaimeth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that proclaimeth salvation; that saith to Zion, Thy God reigneth!

(g) Signifying that the joy and good tidings of their deliverance would make their affliction in the mean time more easy: but this is chiefly meant of the spiritual joy, as in Na 1:15, Ro 10:15 .

Isa 52:8

52:8 {h} Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

(h) The prophets who are your watchmen will publish your deliverance: this was begun under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but was accomplished under Christ.

Isa 52:10

52:10 The LORD hath made {i} bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

(i) As ready to smite his enemies and to deliver his people.

Isa 52:11

52:11 {k} Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from there, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that {l} bear the vessels of the LORD.

(k) He warns the faithful not to pollute themselves with the superstitions of the Babylonians, as Isa 48:20, 2Co 6:17 .
(l) For the time is at hand that the priests and Levites chiefly (and so by them all the people, who will be as the Levites in this office) will carry home vessels of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away.

Isa 52:12

52:12 For ye shall not go out {m} with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel [will be] your rear guard.

(m) As your fathers did out of Egypt.

Isa 52:13

52:13 Behold, my {n} servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

(n) Meaning Christ, by whom our spiritual deliverance would be wrought of which this was a sign.

Isa 52:14

52:14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so {o} marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

(o) In the corrupt judgment of man, Christ in his person was not valued.

Isa 52:15

52:15 So {p} shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their {q} mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they {r} consider.

(p) He will spread his word through many nations.
(q) In sign of reverence, and as being astonished at his excellency.
(r) By the preaching of the gospel.

Isa 53:1

53:1 Who {a} hath believed our report? and to whom is the {b} arm of the LORD revealed?

(a) The prophet shows that very few will receive their preaching from Christ, and from their deliverance by him, Joh 12:38, Ro 10:16 .
(b) Meaning, that no one can believe but whose hearts God touches with the virtue of his Holy Spirit.

Isa 53:2

53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a {c} root out of a dry {d} ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him.

(c) The beginning of Christ's kingdom will be small and contemptible in the sight of man, but it will grow wonderfully and flourish before God.
(d) Read Isa 11:1 .

Isa 53:3

53:3 He is despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with {e} grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

(e) Which was by God's singular providence for the comfort of sinners, He 4:15 .

Isa 53:4

53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried {f} our sorrows: yet we did esteem him {g} stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

(f) That is, the punishment due to our sins, for which he has both suffered and made satisfaction, Mt 8:17, 1Pe 2:24 .
(g) We judge evil, thinking that he was punished for his own sins, and not for ours.

Isa 53:5

53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the {h} chastisement for our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

(h) He was chastised for our reconciliation, 1Co 15:3 .

Isa 53:6

53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the {i} iniquity of us all.

(i) Meaning, the punishment of our iniquity, and not the fault itself.

Isa 53:7

53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he {k} opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

(k) But willingly and patiently obeyed his father's appointment, Mt 26:63, Ac 8:32 .

Isa 53:8

53:8 He was taken from {l} prison and from judgment: {m} and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

(l) From the cross and grave, after that he was condemned.
(m) Though he died for sin, yet after his resurrection he will live forever and this his death is to restore life to his members, Ro 6:9 .

Isa 53:9

53:9 {n} And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth.

(n) God the Father delivered him into the hands of the wicked, and to the powers of the world to do with him what they would.

Isa 53:10

53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when {o} thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

(o) Christ by offering up himself will give life to his Church, and so cause them to live with him forever.

Isa 53:11

53:11 He shall see of the {p} travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my {q} righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

(p) That is, the fruit and effect of his labour, which is the salvation of his Church.
(q) Christ will justify by faith through his word, while Moses could not justify by the law.

Isa 53:12

53:12 Therefore I will divide to him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because {r} he hath poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin {s} of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

(r) Because he humbled himself, therefore he will be extolled to glory, Php 2:7-2:12 .
(s) That is, of all that believe in him.

Isa 54:1

54:1 Sing, O {a} barren, thou [that] didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou [that] didst not travail with child: for more [are] the children of the {b} desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

(a) After he has declared the death of Christ, he speaks to the Church, because it would feel the fruit of the same, and calls her barren, because in the captivity she was a widow without hope to have any children.
(b) The Church in this her affliction and captivity will bring forth more children, than when she was free, or this may be spoken by admiration, considering the great number that would come from her. Her deliverance under Cyrus was as her childhood, and therefore this was accomplished when she came of age, which was under the gospel.

Isa 54:2

54:2 {c} Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them extend the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

(c) Signifying that for the great number of children that God would give her, she would seem to lack room to lodge them.

Isa 54:4

54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy {d} youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy {e} widowhood any more.

(d) The afflictions which you suffered at the beginning.
(e) When you were refused for your sins, Isa 50:1 .

Isa 54:5

54:5 For thy {f} Maker [is] thy husband; the LORD of hosts [is] his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole {g} earth shall he be called.

(f) That regenerated you by his Holy Spirit.
(g) His glory will shine through the whole world, which seemed before to be shut up in Judea.

Isa 54:6

54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a {h} wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

(h) As a wife who was forsaken in your youth.

Isa 54:9

54:9 For this [is as] the {i} waters of Noah to me: for [as] I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more overflow the earth; so have I sworn that I will not be angry with thee, nor rebuke thee.

(i) As sure as the promise that I made to Noah, that the waters would no longer overflow the earth.

Isa 54:11

54:11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, [and] not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with {k} fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

(k) By this he declares the excellent estate of the Church under Christ.

Isa 54:13

54:13 And all thy children [shall be] {l} taught from the LORD; and great [shall be] the peace of thy children.

(l) By the hearing of his word and inward moving of his spirit.

Isa 54:14

54:14 In {m} righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

(m) In stability and sureness, so that it will stand forever.

Isa 54:15

54:15 Behold, they shall surely assemble, [but] not by {n} me: whoever shall assemble {o} against thee shall fall for thy sake.

(n) And therefore will not prevail.
(o) Meaning, the domestic enemies of the Church, as are the hypocrites.

Isa 54:16

54:16 Behold, I have created the {p} smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

(p) Signifying by this that man can do nothing, but so far as God gives power: for seeing that all are his creatures, he must govern and guide them.

Isa 55:1

55:1 Ho, every one that {a} thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath {b} no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy {c} wine and milk without money and without price.

(a) Christ by proposing his graces and gifts to his Church, exempts the hypocrites who are full with their imagined works, and the Epicureans who are full with their worldly lusts, and so do not thirst after these waters.
(b) Signifying that God's benefits cannot be bought for money.
(c) By waters, wine, milk and bread, he means all things necessary to the spiritual life, as these are necessary to this corporal life.

Isa 55:2

55:2 Why do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? {d} and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently to me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in {e} fatness.

(d) He reproves their ingratitude, who refuse those things that God offers willingly, and in the mean time spare neither cost nor labour to obtain those which are not profitable.
(e) You will be fed abundantly.

Isa 55:3

55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the {f} sure mercies of David.

(f) The same covenant which through my mercy I ratified and confirmed to David, that it would be eternal, 2Sa 7:13, Ac 13:34 .

Isa 55:4

55:4 Behold, I have given {g} him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

(g) Meaning Christ, of whom David was a figure.

Isa 55:5

55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation [that] thou knowest not, {h} and 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.

(h) That is, the Gentiles, who before you did not receive to be your people.

Isa 55:6

55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be {i} found, call ye upon him while he is near:

(i) When he offers himself by the preaching of his word.

Isa 55:7

55:7 Let the wicked {k} forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

(k) By this he shows that repentance must be joined with faith, and how we cannot call on God correctly, unless the fruits of our faith appear.

Isa 55:8

55:8 For my {l} thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

(l) Although you are not soon reconciled one to another and judge me by yourselves, yet I am easy to be reconciled, yea, I offer my mercies to you.

Isa 55:11

55:11 So shall my {m} word be that proceedeth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] for which I sent it.

(m) If these small things have their effect, as daily experience shows much more will my promise which I have made and confirmed, bring to pass the things which I have spoken for your deliverance.

Isa 55:12

55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the {n} mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands.

(n) Read Isa 44:23,49:13

Isa 55:13

55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD {o} for a name, for an everlasting {p} sign [that] shall not be cut off.

(o) To set forth his glory.
(p) Of God's deliverance, and that he will never forsake his Church.

Isa 56:1

56:1 Thus saith the LORD, {a} Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation [is] near to come, and my {b} righteousness to be revealed.

(a) God shows what he requires of them after he has delivered them: that is, the works of charity by which true faith is declared.
(b) Which I will declare toward you, and pour into your hearts by my Spirit.

Isa 56:2

56:2 Blessed [is] the man [that] doeth this, and the son of man [that] layeth hold on it; that keepeth the {c} sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

(c) Under the Sabbath he comprehends the whole service of God and true religion.

Isa 56:3

56:3 Neither let the son of the foreigner, that {d} hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I [am] a dry tree.

(d) Let no one think himself unfit to receive the graces of the Lord: for the Lord will take away all impediments, and will forsake no one who will keep his true religion, and believe in him.

Isa 56:5

56:5 Even to them will I give in my {e} house and within my walls a place and a {f} name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

(e) Meaning, in his Church.
(f) They will be called after my people, and be of the same religion: yea, under Christ the dignity of the faithful will be greater than the Jews were at that time.

Isa 56:7

56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt {g} offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon my altar; for my house shall be called an house of prayer for {h} all people.

(g) By this he means the spiritual service of God, to whom the faithful offer continual thanksgiving, yea themselves and all that they have, as a lively and acceptable sacrifice.
(h) Not only for the Jews, but for all others, Mt 21:13 .

Isa 56:9

56:9 All ye {i} beasts of the field, come to devour, [yea], all ye beasts in the forest.

(i) Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as the Babylonians, Assyrians, etc thus he speaks to scare the hypocrites and to assure the faithful that when this comes they may know it was told to them before.

Isa 56:10

56:10 His {k} watchmen [are] blind: they are all ignorant, they [are] all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

(k) He shows that this affliction will come through the fault of the governors, prophets and pastors, whose ignorance, negligence, greed and obstinacy provoked God's wrath against them.

Isa 56:12

56:12 Come ye, [say they], I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to {l} morrow shall be as this day, [and] much more abundant.

(l) We are well yet, and to morrow will be better: therefore let us not fear the plagues before they come: thus the wicked contemned the admonition and exhortations which were made to them in the Name of God.

Isa 57:1

57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth [it] to heart: and merciful men [are] taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away {a} from the evil [to come].

(a) From the plague that is at hand, and also because God will punish the wicked.

Isa 57:2

57:2 {b} He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, [each one] walking [in] his uprightness.

(b) The soul of the righteous will be in joy, and their body will rest in the grave to the time of the resurrection, because they walked before the Lord.

Isa 57:3

57:3 But draw near here, ye {c} sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.

(c) He threatens the wicked hypocrites, who under the pretence of the name of God's people, derided God's word and his promises: boasting openly that they were the children of Abraham, but because they were not faithful and obedient as Abraham was, he calls them bastards and the children of sorcerers, who forsook God, and fled to wicked means for comfort.

Isa 57:5

57:5 Inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the {d} children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?

(d) Read Le 18:21, 2Ki 23:10 .

Isa 57:6

57:6 Among the smooth [stones] {e} of the stream [is] thy portion; they, they [are] thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in {f} these?

(e) Meaning every place was polluted with their idolatry: or every fair stone they found they made into an idol.
(f) In the sacrifices which you offering before these idols thought you served God.

Isa 57:7

57:7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy {g} bed: even there thou wentest up to offer sacrifice.

(g) That is, your altars in an open place, like an impudent harlot, that cares not for the sight of her husband.

Isa 57:8

57:8 Behind the {h} doors also and the door posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast uncovered [thyself to another] than me, and hast gone up; thou hast {i} enlarged thy bed, and made thee [a covenant] with them; thou didst love their bed where thou sawest [it].

(h) Instead of setting up the word of God in the open places on the posts and doors to have it in remembrance, De 6:9,27:1 you have set up signs and marks of your idolatry in every place.
(i) That is, increased your idolatry more and more.

Isa 57:9

57:9 And thou wentest {k} to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase [thyself even] to hell.

(k) You sought the favour of the Assyrians by gifts and presents to help you against the Egyptians and when they failed you sought the Babylonians, and more and more tormented yourself.

Isa 57:10

57:10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; [yet] saidst thou not, {l} There is no hope: thou {m} hast found the life of thy hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.

(l) Although you saw all your labours to be in vain, yet would you never acknowledge your fault and leave off.
(m) He derides their unprofitable diligence, who thought to have made all sure, and yet were deceived.

Isa 57:11

57:11 And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast {n} lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid [it] to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of {o} old, and thou fearest me not?

(n) Broken promises with me.
(o) Meaning, that the wicked abuse God's leniency, and grow to further wickedness.

Isa 57:12

57:12 I will declare thy righteousness, {p} and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

(p) That is, your naughtiness, idolatry and impiety which the wicked call God's service: thus he derides their obstinacy.

Isa 57:13

57:13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind {q} shall carry them all away; vanity shall take [them]: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

(q) Meaning, the Assyrians and others, whose help they looked for.

Isa 57:14

57:14 {r} And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

(r) God will say to Darius and Cyrus.

Isa 57:16

57:16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always angry: {s} for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls [which] I have made.

(s) I will not use my power against frail man, whose life is but a blast.

Isa 57:17

57:17 For the {t} iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and smote him: I hid myself, and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

(t) That is, for the vices and faults of the people, which is here meant by covetousness.

Isa 57:18

57:18 I have seen his ways, and will {u} heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.

(u) Though they were obstinate, yet I did not withdraw my mercy from them.

Isa 57:19

57:19 I create the {x} fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to [him that is] {y} far off, and to [him that is] near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

(x) That is, I frame the speech and words of my messengers who will bring peace.
(y) As well to him that is in captivity as to him that remains at home.

Isa 57:20

57:20 But the wicked [are] like the troubled sea, when it {z} cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

(z) Their evil conscience always torments them and therefore they can never have rest, Isa 48:22 .

Isa 58:1

58:1 Cry {a} aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

(a) The Lord thus speaks to the prophet willing him to use all diligence and severity to rebuke the hypocrites.

Isa 58:2

58:2 Yet they {b} seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

(b) They will seem to worship me and have outward holiness.

Isa 58:3

58:3 {c} Why have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [why] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find {d} pleasure, and exact all your labours.

(c) He sets forth the malice and disdain of the hypocrites, who grudge against God, if their works are not accepted.
(d) Thus he convinces the hypocrites by the second table and by their duty toward their neighbour, that they have neither faith nor religion.

Isa 58:4

58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be {e} heard on high.

(e) So long as you use contention and oppression, your fasting and prayers will not be heard.

Isa 58:6

58:6 [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every {f} yoke?

(f) That you leave off all your extortions.

Isa 58:7

58:7 [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou shouldest bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou shouldest cover him; and that thou shouldest not hide thyself from {g} thy own flesh?

(g) For in him you see yourself as in a mirror.

Isa 58:8

58:8 Then shall thy (h) light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy {i} righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rear guard.

(h) That is, the prosperous estate with which God will bless you.
(i) The testimony of your goodness will appear before God and man.

Isa 58:9

58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I [am]. If thou shalt take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the {k} finger, and speaking vanity;

(k) By which is meant all manner of injury.

Isa 58:10

58:10 And [if] thou shalt {l} draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in {m} obscurity, and thy darkness [be] as the noonday:

(l) That is, have compassion on their miseries.
(m) Your adversity will be turned into prosperity.

Isa 58:12

58:12 And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old {n} waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

(n) Signifying that of the Jews would come such as would build again the ruins of Jerusalem and Judea: but chiefly this is meant of the spiritual Jerusalem, whose builders were the Apostles.

Isa 58:13

58:13 If thou shalt {o} turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking [thy own] words:

(o) If you refrain yourself from your wicked works.

Isa 59:3

59:3 For your hands are defiled with {a} blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath uttered perverseness.

(a) Read Isa 1:15 .

Isa 59:4

59:4 None calleth for justice, nor [any] {b} pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and {c} bring forth iniquity.

(b) All men wink at the injuries and oppressions and none go about to remedy them.
(c) According to their wicked devices, they hurt their neighbours.

Isa 59:5

59:5 They hatch {d} eggs of an adder, and weave the spider's {e} web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

(d) Whatever comes from them is poison, and brings death.
(e) They are profitable to no purpose.

Isa 59:9

59:9 Therefore is {f} judgment far from us, neither doth {g} justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, [but] we walk in darkness.

(f) That is, God's vengeance to punish our enemies.
(g) God's protection to defend us.

Isa 59:10

59:10 We grope for the wall like the {h} blind, and we grope as if [we had] no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; [we are] in desolate places as dead [men].

(h) We are altogether destitute of counsel, and can find no end to our miseries.

Isa 59:11

59:11 We all roar like {i} bears, and mourn bitterly like doves: we look for judgment, but [there is] none; for salvation, [but] it is far from us.

(i) We express our sorrows by outward signs, some more and some less.

Isa 59:12

59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our {k} sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;

(k) This confession is general to the Church to obtain remission of sins, and the prophets did not exempt themselves from the same.

Isa 59:13

59:13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of {l} falsehood.

(l) That is, against our neighbours.

Isa 59:14

59:14 And {m} judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

(m) There is neither justice nor uprightness among men.

Isa 59:15

59:15 Yea, truth faileth; and he [that] departeth from evil maketh himself {n} a prey: and the LORD saw [it], and it displeased him that [there was] no judgment.

(n) The wicked will destroy him.

Isa 59:16

59:16 And he saw that [there was] no man, and wondered that [there was] no intercessor: {o} therefore his arm brought {p} salvation to him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

(o) Meaning, to do justice, and to remedy the things that were so far out of order.
(p) That is, his Church or his arm helped itself and did not seek aid from any other.

Isa 59:17

59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an {q} helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance [for] clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

(q) Signifying that God has all means at hand to deliver his Church and to punish their enemies.

Isa 59:18

59:18 According to [their] deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the {r} isles he will repay recompence.

(r) That is, your enemies who dwell in various places, and beyond the sea.

Isa 59:19

59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall {s} come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

(s) He shows that there will be great affliction in the Church, but God will always deliver his.

Isa 59:20

59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to {t} them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

(t) By which he declares that the true deliverance from sin and Satan belongs to none but to the children of God, whom he justifies.

Isa 59:21

59:21 As for me, this [is] my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that [is] upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, {u} shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

(u) Because the doctrine is made profitable by the virtue of the Spirit, he joins the one with the other, and promises to give them both to his Church for ever.

Isa 60:1

60:1 Arise, shine; for thy {a} light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

(a) The time of your prosperity and happiness: while speaking of Babylon, he commanded her to go down, Isa 47:1 .

Isa 60:2

60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the {b} earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

(b) Signifying, that all men are in darkness till God gives them the light of his Spirit, and that this light shines to no one, but to those that are in his Church.

Isa 60:3

60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to {c} thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

(c) Meaning, that Judea would be as the morning star, and that the Gentiles would receive light from her.

Isa 60:4

60:4 Lift up thy eyes around, and see: all {d} they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at [thy] side.

(d) An infinite number from all countries as in Isa 49:18 .

Isa 60:5

60:5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thy heart shall fear, {e} and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted to thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come to thee.

(e) For joy, as the heart is drawn in for sorrow.

Isa 60:6

60:6 The {f} multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD.

(f) Meaning, that everyone will honour the Lord with that with which he is able: Signifying that it is no true serving of God unless we offer ourselves to serve his glory, and all that we have.

Isa 60:7

60:7 All the flocks of {g} Kedar shall be gathered together to thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to thee: they shall come up with acceptance on my {h} altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

(g) That is the Arabians, that have great abundance of cattle.
(h) Because the altar was a figure of Christ, He 13:10 , he shows that nothing can be acceptable to him, which is not offered to him by this altar, who was both the offering and the altar itself.

Isa 60:8

60:8 Who [are] these {i} [that] fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows?

(i) Showing what great number will come to the Church, and with what great diligence and zeal.

Isa 60:9

60:9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships {k} of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

(k) The Gentiles that are now enemies, will become friends and set forth the Church.

Isa 60:10

60:10 And the sons of foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their {l} kings shall minister to thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

(l) Meaning Cyrus and his successors, but chiefly this is accomplished in them that serve Christ, being converted by his gospel.

Isa 60:12

60:12 For the nation and {m} kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be utterly wasted.

(m) He shows that God has given all power and authority here in earth for the use of his Church, and that they who will not serve and profit the same will be destroyed.

Isa 60:13

60:13 The {n} glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my {o} feet glorious.

(n) There is nothing so excellent which will not serve the needs of the Church.
(o) Signifying that God's majesty is not included in the temple, which is but the place for his feet, that we may learn to rise to the heavens.

Isa 60:14

60:14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending to thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves {p} down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

(p) To worship their head Christ, by obeying his doctrine.

Isa 60:16

60:16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the {q} breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

(q) Both high and low will be ready to help and comfort you.

Isa 60:17

60:17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers {r} peace, and thy exactors righteousness.

(r) Your governors will love you, and seek your wealth and prosperity.

Isa 60:18

60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt {s} call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

(s) Meaning not an earthly happiness, but spiritual, which is fulfilled in Christ's kingdom.

Isa 60:19

60:19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the {t} moon give light to thee: but the LORD shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

(t) Signifying that all worldly means will cease, and that Christ will be all in all, as in Re 21:23,22:5 .

Isa 60:21

60:21 Thy people also [shall be] all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the {u} branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

(u) The children of the Church.

Isa 60:22

60:22 A little one shall become a {x} thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in its time.

(x) Meaning, that the Church would be miraculously multiplied.

Isa 61:1

61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] {a} upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the {b} brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the {c} captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound;

(a) Thus belongs to all the prophets and ministers of God, but chiefly to Christ, of whose abundant graces everyone receives according as it pleases him to distribute.
(b) To them that are lively touched with the feeling of their sins.
(c) Who are in the bondage of sin.

Isa 61:2

61:2 To proclaim the {d} acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of {e} vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

(d) The time when it pleased God to show his good favour to man, which Paul calls the fulness of time, Ga 4:4 .
(e) For when God delivers his Church, he punishes his enemies.

Isa 61:3

61:3 To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for {f} ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called {g} trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

(f) Which was the sign of mourning.
(g) Trees that bring forth good fruits, as in Mt 3:8 .

Isa 61:4

61:4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many {h} generations.

(h) That is, for a long time.

Isa 61:5

61:5 And foreigners shall {i} stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien [shall be] your plowmen and your vinedressers.

(i) They will be ready to serve you in all your needs.

Isa 61:6

61:6 But ye shall be named the {k} Priests of the LORD: [men] shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the {l} riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

(k) This is accomplished in the time of Christ, by whom all the faithful are made priests and kings, 1Pe 2:9, Re 1:6,5:10 .
(l) Read Isa 6:11:16 .

Isa 61:7

61:7 For your shame [ye shall have] {m} double; and [for] confusion {n} they shall rejoice in {o} their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the {p} double: everlasting joy shall be to them.

(m) Abundant recompence as this word is used, Isa 40:2 .
(n) That is, the Jews.
(o) That is, of the Gentiles.
(p) While the Gentiles had dominion over the Jews in times past, now they will have double authority over them and possess twice as much.

Isa 61:8

61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate {q} robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

(q) I will not receive their offerings who are extortioners, deceivers, hypocrites or that deprive me of my glory.

Isa 61:9

61:9 And {r} their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they [are] the seed [which] the LORD hath blessed.

(r) That is, of the Church.

Isa 61:10

61:10 {s} I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels.

(s) He shows what will be the affection, when they feel their deliverance.

Isa 62:1

62:1 For Zion's sake I will not {a} hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until its righteousness shall go forth as {b} brightness, and its salvation as a lamp [that] burneth.

(a) The prophet says that he will never cease to declare to the people the good tidings of their deliverance.
(b) Till they have full deliverance: and this the prophet speaks to encourage all other ministers to the setting forth of God's mercies toward his Church.

Isa 62:2

62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by {c} a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

(c) You will have a more excellent fame than you have had till now.

Isa 62:3

62:3 Thou shalt also be a {d} crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

(d) He will value you as dear and precious as a king does his crown.

Isa 62:4

62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed {e} Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be {f} married.

(e) You will no longer be contemned as a woman forsaken by her husband.
(f) That it may be replenished with children.

Isa 62:5

62:5 For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, [so] shall thy sons {g} marry thee: and [as] the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, [so] shall thy God rejoice over thee.

(g) As they confess one faith and religion with you, they are in the same bond of marriage with you, and they are called the children of the Church, as Christ makes her plentiful to bring forth children to him.

Isa 62:6

62:6 I have set {h} watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, [which] shall never hold their peace day nor night: {i} ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

(h) Prophets, pastors and ministers.
(i) He exhorts the ministers never to cease to call on God by prayer for the deliverance of his Church and to teach others to do the same.

Isa 62:7

62:7 And give him no rest, till he shall establish, and till he shall make Jerusalem a {k} praise in the earth.

(k) For the restoration of which all the world will praise him.

Isa 62:10

62:10 {l} Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

(l) Signifying the great number that would come to the Church, and what means he would prepare for the restitution of the same, as in Isa 57:14 .

Isa 62:11

62:11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed to the end of the world, {m} Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward [is] with him, and {n} his work before him.

(m) You prophets and ministers show the people of this their deliverance: which was chiefly meant of our salvation by Christ, Zec 9:9, Mt 21:5 .
(n) He will have all power to bring his purpose to pass, as in Isa 40:10 .

Isa 62:12

62:12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A {o} city not forsaken.

(o) That is, one over whom God has had a singular care to recover her when she was lost.

Isa 63:1

63:1 Who [is] this that cometh {a} from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this [that is] glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? {b} I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

(a) This prophecy is against the Idumeans and enemies who persecuted the Church, on whom God will take vengeance, and is here set forth all bloody after he has destroyed them in Bozrah, the chief city of the Idumeans: for these were their greatest enemies,and under the title of circumcision and the kindred of Abraham.
(b) God answers them that asked this question, "Who is this?" etc. and says "You see now performed in deed the vengeance which my prophets threatened."

Isa 63:2

63:2 {c} Why [art thou] red in thy apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine press?

(c) Another question, to which the Lord answers.

Isa 63:4

63:4 For the day of vengeance [is] in my heart, and the {d} year of my redeemed is come.

(d) Showing that when God punishes his enemies, it is for the profit and deliverance of his Church.

Isa 63:5

63:5 And I looked, and [there was] none to help; and I wondered that [there was] none to uphold: therefore my own {e} arm brought salvation to me; and my fury, it upheld me.

(e) God shows that he has no need of man's help for the deliverance of his, and though men refuse to do their duty through negligence and ingratitude, yet he himself will deliver his Church, and punish the enemies, Isa 59:16 .

Isa 63:6

63:6 And I will tread down the people in my anger, and make them {f} drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

(f) I will so astonish them and make them so giddy that they will not know which way to go.

Isa 63:7

63:7 I will {g} mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, [and] the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.

(g) The prophet speaks this to move the people to remember God's benefits in times past, that they may be confirmed in their troubles.

Isa 63:8

63:8 For he said, Surely they [are] my {h} people, children [that] will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

(h) For I chose them to be mine, that they should be holy, and not deceive my expectation.

Isa 63:9

63:9 In all their affliction he was {i} afflicted, and the angel {k} of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

(i) He bore their afflictions and griefs as though they had been his own.
(k) Which was a witness of God's presence, and this may be referred to Christ, to whom belongs the office of salvation.

Isa 63:11

63:11 Then he {l} remembered the days of old, Moses, [and] his people, [saying], Where [is] he that brought them out of the sea with the {m} shepherd of his flock? where [is] he that put his Holy Spirit within {n} him?

(l) That is, the people of Israel being afflicted, called to mind God's benefits, which he had bestowed on their fathers in times past.
(m) Meaning, Moses.
(n) That is, in Moses that he might well govern the people: some refer this giving of the spirit to the people.

Isa 63:13

63:13 That led them through the deep, as an {o} horse in the wilderness, [that] they should not stumble?

(o) Peaceably and gentle, as a horse is led to his pasture.

Isa 63:15

63:15 {p} Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where [is] thy {q} zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they {r} restrained?

(p) Having declared God's benefits showed to their forefathers, he turned himself to God by prayer, desiring him to continue the same graces toward them.
(q) Your great affection, which you bore for us.
(r) Meaning, from the whole body of the Church.

Isa 63:16

63:16 Doubtless thou [art] our father, though {s} Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, [art] our father, our redeemer; thy name [is] from everlasting.

(s) Though Abraham would refuse us to be his children, yet you will not refuse to be our father.

Isa 63:17

63:17 O LORD, why hast {t} thou made us to err from thy ways, [and] hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy {u} servants' sake, the tribes of thy inheritance.

(t) By taking away the Holy Spirit from us, by whom we were governed, and so for our ingratitude delivered us up to our own concupiscence, and punished sin by sin according to your just judgment.
(u) Meaning, for the covenant's sake made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob his servants.

Isa 63:18

63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed [it] but a little {x} while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

(x) That is, in respect to the promise, which is perpetual: even though they had now possessed the land of Canaan for 1400 years: and thus they lament, to move God rather to remember his covenant, than to punish their sins.

Isa 64:1

64:1 O that thou wouldest {a} rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

(a) The prophet continues his prayer, desiring God to declare his love toward his Church by miracles and mighty power, as he did in mount Sinai.

Isa 64:2

64:2 As [when] the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth {b} the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thy adversaries, [that] the nations may tremble at thy presence!

(b) Meaning, the rain, hail, fire, thunder and lightning.

Isa 64:4

64:4 For since the beginning of the world [men] have not {c} heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, [what] he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

(c) Paul uses the same kind of admiration, 1Co 2:9 marvelling at God's great benefit showed to his Church, by the preaching of the gospel.

Isa 64:5

64:5 Thou meetest him {d} that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy {e} ways: behold, thou art angry; for we have sinned: in {f} those is continuance, and we {g} shall be saved.

(d) You showed favour toward our fathers, when they trusted in you and walked after your commandments.
(e) They considered your great mercies.
(f) That is, in your mercies, which he calls the ways of the Lord.
(g) You will have pity on us.

Isa 64:6

64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our {h} righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

(h) We are justly punished and brought into captivity, because we have provoked you to anger, and though we would excuse ourselves, yet our righteousness, and best virtues are before you as vile cloths, or (as some read) like the menstruous cloths of a woman.

Isa 64:8

64:8 But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the {i} clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.

(i) Even though O Lord by your just judgment you may utterly destroy us as the potter may his pot, yet we appeal to your mercies, by which it has pleased you to adopt us to be your children.

Isa 64:9

64:9 Be not very angry, O LORD, {k} neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we [are] all thy people.

(k) For so the flesh judges when God does not immediately send comfort.

Isa 64:10

64:10 {l} Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

(l) Who were dedicated to your service, and to call on your Name.

Isa 64:11

64:11 Our holy and our beautiful house, {m} where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

(m) In which we rejoiced and worshipped you.

Isa 64:12

64:12 Wilt thou restrain thyself {n} for these [things], O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and grievously afflict us?

(n) That is, at the contempt of your own glory? Though our sins have deserved this, yet you will not permit your glory thus to be diminished.

Isa 65:1

65:1 I am sought by [them that] {a} asked not [for me]; I am found by [them that] sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, to a nation [that] was not called by my name.

(a) Meaning, the Gentiles who know not God, would seek him, when he had moved their heart with his Holy Spirit, Ro 10:20 .

Isa 65:2

65:2 I have {b} spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, which walketh in a way [that is] not good, after their own {c} thoughts;

(b) He shows the reason for the rejection of the Jews, because they would not obey him or any admonition of his prophets, by whom he called them continually and stretch out his hand to draw them.
(c) He shows that to delight in our own fantasies is the declining from God and the beginning of all superstitions and idolatry.

Isa 65:3

65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in {d} gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of {e} brick;

(d) Which were dedicated to idols.
(e) Meaning their altars, which he thus named by contempt.

Isa 65:4

65:4 Which remain among the {f} graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat {g} swine's flesh, and broth of abominable [things is in] their vessels;

(f) To consult with spirits, and to conjure devils, which was forbidden.
(g) Which was contrary to God's commandment, Le 11:7, De 14:8 .

Isa 65:5

65:5 Which say, {h} Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These [are] a smoke in my nose, a fire that {i} burneth all the day.

(h) He shows that hypocrisy is always joined with pride and contempt of others.
(i) Their punishment will never have an end.

Isa 65:6

65:6 Behold, [it is] {k} written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,

(k) So that the remembrance of it cannot be forgotten.

Isa 65:7

65:7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers {l} together, saith the LORD, who have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.

(l) Will be both punished together: and this declares how the children are punished for their fathers faults, that is, when the same faults or like are found in them.

Isa 65:8

65:8 Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and [one] saith, Destroy it not; for a {m} blessing [is] in it: so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.

(m) That is, it is profitable: meaning that God will not destroy the faithful branches of his vineyard, when he destroys the rotten stocks, that is, the hypocrites.

Isa 65:10

65:10 And {n} Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

(n) Which was a plentiful place in Judea to feed sheep, as Achor was for cattle.

Isa 65:11

65:11 But ye [are] they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that {o} troop, and that furnish the drink offering to that number.

(o) By the multitude and number he means their innumerable idols of whom they thought they could never have enough.

Isa 65:12

65:12 Therefore will I {p} number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I {q} spoke, ye did not hear; but did evil before my eyes, and did choose [that] in which I delighted not.

(p) Seeing you cannot number your gods, I will number you with the sword.
(q) By my prophets, whom you would not obey.

Isa 65:13

65:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall {r} eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:

(r) By these words, eat and drink, he means the blessed life of the faithful, who have always had consolation and full contentment of all things in their God, though sometimes they lack these corporal things.

Isa 65:15

65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse to my {s} chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by {t} another name:

(s) Meaning, that he would call the Gentiles, who would abhor even the very name of the Jews for their infidelities sake.
(t) Than by the name of the Jews.

Isa 65:16

65:16 That he who blesseth himself in the {u} earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former {x} troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.

(u) By blessing, and by swearing is meant the praising of God for his benefits, and the true worshipping of him, who will not be only in Judea, but through all the world.
(x) I will no longer permit my Church to be desolate as in times past.

Isa 65:17

65:17 For, behold, I create {y} new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

(y) I will so altar and change the state of my church, that it will seem to dwell in a new world.

Isa 65:20

65:20 There shall be no more from there an infant of days, nor an old man that hath {z} not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner [being] {a} an hundred years old shall be accursed.

(z) Meaning, in this wonderful restoration of the Church there would be no weakness of youth, nor infirmities of age, but all would be fresh and flourishing: and this is accomplished in the heavenly Jerusalem, when all sins will cease, and the tears will be wiped away.
(a) By which he shows that the infidels and unrepentant sinners have no part of this benediction.

Isa 65:21

65:21 And they shall {b} build houses, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

(b) He proposes to the faithful the blessings which are contained in the law, and so under temporal things comprehends the spiritual promises.

Isa 65:25

65:25 The {c} wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox: and dust [shall be] the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

(c) Read Isa 11:6 .

Isa 66:1

66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The {a} heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build to me? and where [is] the place of my rest?

(a) My majesty is so great, that it fills both heaven and earth, and therefore cannot be included in a temple like an idol, condemning by this their main confidence which trusted in the temple and sacrifices.

Isa 66:2

66:2 For all these [things] hath my hand made, {b} and all these [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of {c} a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

(b) Seeing that both the temple and the things in it, with the sacrifices were made and done by his appointment, he shows that he has no need of it, and that he can be without them, see Geneva "Ps 50:10".
(c) To him that is humble and pure in heart, who receives my doctrine with reverence and fear.

Isa 66:3

66:3 He that killeth an ox [is as if] he {d} slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, [as if] he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as if he offered] swine's blood; he that burneth incense, [as if] he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

(d) Because the Jews thought themselves holy by offering their sacrifices, and in the mean season had neither faith or repentance, God shows that he no less detests these ceremonies than he does the sacrifices of the heathen, who offered men, dogs and swine to their idols, which things were expressly forbidden in the law.

Isa 66:4

66:4 I also will {e} choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before my eyes, and chose [that] in which I delighted not.

(e) I will discover their wickedness and hypocrisy, with which they think to blind my eyes to all the world.

Isa 66:5

66:5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his {f} word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

(f) He encourages the faithful by promising to destroy their enemies, who pretended to be as brethren, but were hypocrites, and hated them that feared God.

Isa 66:6

66:6 {g} A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.