Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

210.

[merged small][ocr errors]

The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will do this.

A JUST RULER AND THE EFFECT OF HIS RULE

A sprout shall spring from the stock of Jesse,
And out of his roots a shoot shall bear fruit.
Jehovah's spirit shall rest upon him:

A spirit of wisdom and insight,
A spirit of counsel and might,
A spirit of knowledge and reverence.

He will not judge by sight only,
Nor render decisions on hearsay,
But will justly judge the helpless,
And with equity decide for the needy.
By his rebuke he will smite the ruthless,
By his breath he will slay the wicked.
The girdle on his loins will be righteousness,
And the band on his waist faithfulness.:

Then the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard lie down with the kid;
The lion eat straw like the ox,
The calf and young lion graze together,
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall be friends,

And their young shall lie down together.

The nursling shall play on the hole of the asp,

And the young child put his hand on the den of the viper.

Men shall do no harm nor destruction

Throughout all my holy mountain;

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah,
Even as the waters cover the sea.

211. TRUE DEMOCRACY

Behold, a ruler shall rule uprightly,
And officials also govern justly.

Each shall be as a shelter from the wind,
Like a hiding-place from the driving storm,
Like streams of water in ground that is dry,
Like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

The eyes of those who can see shall not be closed,
And the ears of those who can hear shall be attentive;
The mind of the impetuous shall understand knowledge,
And the tongues of stammerers shall speak without
halting.

No more shall the ignoble be called noble,
Nor the knave be hailed as princely.

For the ignoble speaks ignobly,

And his mind plans villainy,

To do what is impious,

To speak error regarding Jehovah,

To keep the hungry soul empty,
To withhold drink from the thirsty.
But the noble man makes noble plans,
By his noble acts shall he stand.

When the spirit is poured upon us from on high,
The wilderness shall become a fruitful field,
And a fruitful field be considered but a forest.
Then in the wilderness justice shall dwell,
And righteousness in the fruitful field.
The fruit of righteousness shall be peace,
And the effect of justice shall be security.

212. THE OVERTHROW OF AUTOCRATIC MIGHT

Hark, on the hills is a tumult, as of a mighty multitude; Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering to

gether,

Jehovah of hosts himself is mustering the martial host. They are coming from a distant land, from the very end of heaven,

Jehovah and the agents of his wrath, to destroy the entire earth.

Babylon, most beautiful of kingdoms, the pride of the Chaldeans,

Shall be like Sodom and Gomorrah after God overthrew

them,

Uninhabited forever, deserted from age to age;

No nomad shall there pitch his tent, no shepherds fold their flocks.

But wild cats shall lie there, their houses shall be full of jackals;

Ostriches shall live there, and satyrs too shall dance there,

Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its windows, And wolves shall bay to each other in its revelling halls; Its time is near, its days shall not be prolonged.

How still the oppressor has become, the terror ceased! Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of tyrants,

That smote the peoples in fury, with stroke unceasing, That trampled down nations in anger, with trampling unchecked!

[ocr errors]

All the earth is at rest and peace, they break out in glad songs.

Even pine trees exult over you, and the cedars of Leb

anon:

'Now that you have lain down, no woodman comes up against us.'

The abode of the dead is stirred to hail your coming, Arousing for you the shades, all the leaders of earth, Making rise up from their thrones all the kings of the nations,

They shall all of them make answer, and say to you: 'You, too, are as weak as we, and become like us! Your majesty is flung into the grave, and the melody of your harps;

[ocr errors]

Corruption is spread out beneath you, and your covering is worms.'

'How you have fallen from heaven, radiant son of the dawn!

How you are struck down to the ground, prostrate upon corpses!

Yet you have said in your heart, "I will mount to the heavens,

Above the stars of God I will exalt my throne,

I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the north,

I will rise above the lofty cloud banks, and be like the Most High."

'Yet you shall be brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit!'

213. JEHOVAH THE ROCK OF AGES

Thou keepest the steadfast mind in peace,
For in thee it trusts.

Trust in Jehovah forever,

For he is the Rock of Ages.

With my soul I desire thee in the night,
With my spirit I long for thee in the morning;
For when thy judgments appear on earth,

The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

As a woman about to give birth to a child.
Writhes and cries out in her pain,

So were we, O Jehovah, in thy presence.

We travailed, we writhed in pain,

But we have, as it were, given birth to nothing;
We have wrought no deliverance for the land,
And no inhabitants of the world have been born.

But thy dead shall live,

Their bodies rise again.

They who dwell in the dust shall awake and sing,

For thy dew is a light-giving dew,

And the earth shall cast forth the dead.

214. JEHOVAH STRONG TO DELIVER

Woe to you, spoiler, although you have not been spoiled,
You treacherous one whom no one has deceived!
When you have ceased spoiling you shall be despoiled,
And ended your deceiving, you shall be deceived!

Jehovah, be gracious to us, for we wait for thee;
Be thou our arm of strength every morning,
Our deliverance also in time of stress.
When thy voice sounds, the peoples flee,
When thou dost arise, the nations scatter.

The sinners in Zion are afraid,
Trembling has seized the impious.

'Who among us can dwell with devouring fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting flames?'

He who lives uprightly and speaks the truth,
He who despises gain won through extortion,
Who keeps his hands from accepting a bribe,
Who closes his ears against bloody plans,
And shuts his eyes against wrong-doing.
That one shall live on the heights,
The rocky fastnesses shall be his retreat;
His bread shall be prepared,
His water shall be assured.

« PoprzedniaDalej »