The M+G+R Foundation

Old Testament Readings

Which Are Never Read In A Roman Catholic Mass

Prophecy of Isaias (Isaiah)

To translate this text into any major language Click Here


INTRODUCTION

If one of the Faithful participates in a Roman Catholic Mass every single day of the year, for three years, he/she will hear a considerable part of the Holy Scriptures (New and Old Testaments) during these liturgies. However, many parts of the Holy Scripture will never be read in Mass; thus, they will not be heard by the most faithful of the Faithful unless they make a point of studying the Holy Scriptures.

In the four Gospels the omissions, in many cases, make sense, since the same story or parable appears in more than one Gospel. Although they do not necessarily appear in the same manner, the key concept is still transmitted to the Faithful. The real problem arises when major portions of the Old Testament are simply left out from what should have been the Evangelization Process.

Take the Books of the Major Prophets, for example. Most of their contents are not read in a Roman Catholic Mass. Thus, most of the Faithful are ignorant of their very important contents unless they have made an effort to study it on their own.

Through the Grace of God and the diligent work of Mrs. R. M., from Puerto Rico, we are able to bring to you today all verses from the Prophecy of Isaias (Isaiah) which have been left out of the Roman Catholic Masses.

The on-line Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible was used in the development of what we now call the "Inconvenient Bible".



Prophecy of Isaias (Isaiah)

Biblical Verses Omitted From Roman Catholic Mass Readings



Chapter 1 verses 1-9, 21-31 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The vision of Isaias the son of Amos I which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda.

[2] Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me. [3] The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.

[4] Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.

[5] For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad. [6] From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.

[7] Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies. [8] And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste.

[9] Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.

[21] How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers. [22] Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water. [23] Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cometh not in to them.

[24] Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies. [25] And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dress, and I will take away all thy tin. [26] And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city. [27] Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice.

[28] And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed. [29] For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen. [30] When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water. [31] And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it.

Chapter 2 verses 4-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[4] And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. [5] O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

[6] For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children. [7] Their land is filled with silver and gold: and there is no end of their treasures. [8] And their land is filled with horses: and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. [9] And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been debased: therefore forgive them not.

[10] Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. [11] The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

[12] Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and highminded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled. [13] And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan. [14] And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the elevated hills. [15] And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall. [16] And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to behold.

[17] And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. [18] And idols shall be utterly destroyed. [19] And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.

[20] In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats. [21] And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. [22] Cease ye therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high.

Chapter 3 verses 1-26 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] For behold the sovereign the Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Juda the valiant and the strong, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water. [2] The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the cunning man, and the ancient. [3] The captain over fifty, and the honourable in countenance, and the counsellor, and the architect, and the skillful in eloquent speech. [4] And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them.

[5] And the people shall rush one upon another, and every man against his neighbour: the child shall make it tumult against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. [6] For a man shall take hold or his brother, one of the house of his father, saying: Thou hast a garment, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. [7] In that day he shall answer, saying: I am no healer, and in my house there is no bread, nor clothing: make me not ruler of the people.

[8] For Jerusalem is ruined, and Juda is fallen: because their tongue, and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty. [9] The shew of their countenance hath answered them: and they have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom, and they have not hid it: woe to their souls, for evils are rendered to them.

[10] Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings. [11] Woe to the wicked unto evil: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. [12] As for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them. O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps. [13] The Lord standeth up to judge, and he standeth to judge the people.

[14] The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and its princes: for you have devoured the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house. [15] Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts.

[16] And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton glances of their eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their feet and moved in a set pace: [17] The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair.

[18] In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes, and little moons, [19] And chains and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets, [20] And bodkins, and ornaments of the legs, and tablets, and sweet balls, and earrings, [21] And rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead, [22] And changes of apparel, and short cloaks, and fine linen, and crisping pins, [23] And looking-glasses, and lawns, and headbands, and fine veils.

[24] And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness, and instead of a stomacher, haircloth. [25] Thy fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and thy valiant ones in battle. [26] And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground.

Chapter 4 verse 1 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

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

Chapter 5 verses 8-30 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[8] Woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth? [9] These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an inhabitant. [10] For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels.

[11] Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink till the evening, to be inflamed with wine. [12] The harp, and the lyre, and the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you consider the works of his hands. [13] Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst. [14] Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it.

[15] And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low. [16] And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice. [17] And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness.

[18] Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart. [19] That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it.

[20] Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

[21] Woe to you that rue wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits.

[22] Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at drunkenness. [23] That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of the just from him.

[24] Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the dame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel. [25] Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

[26] And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly. [27] There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they shall not slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken. [28] Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the hint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest. [29] Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it. [30] And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the roaring of the sea; we shall look towards the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist thereof.

Chapter 6 verses 9-13 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[9] And he said:

Go, and thou shalt say to this people:

Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not. [10] Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.

[11] And I said:

How long, O Lord?

And he said:

Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate. [12] And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth. [13] And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn, and shall be made a shew as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that spreadeth its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy seed.

Chapter 7 verses 15-25 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[15] He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. [16] For before the child know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings.

[17] The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda with the king of the Assyrians.

[18] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. [19] And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with shrubs, and in all hollow places. [20] In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard.

[21] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep. [22] And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land. [23] And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers. [24] With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briars and thorns shall be in all the land. [25] And as for all the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon.

Chapter 8 verses 1-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it with a man's pen. Take sway the spoils with speed, quickly take the prey. [2] And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias the priest, and Zacharias the son of Barachias. [3] And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils: Make haste to take away the prey. [4] For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians.

[5] And the Lord spoke to me again, saying:

[6] Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, and hath rather taken Basin, and the son of Romelia: [7] Therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks, [8] And shall pass through Juda, overflowing, and going over shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel.

[9] Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome, gird yourselves, and be overcome. [10] Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word, and it shall not be done: because God is with us.

[11] For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: [12] Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. [13] Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [14] And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone or stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [15] And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken. [16] Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

[17] And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. [18] Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Sion. [19] And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead?

[20] To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light. [21] And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king, and their God, and look upwards. [22] And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress.

Chapter 9 verses 8-21 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[8] The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. [9] And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and the inhabitants of Samaria that say in the pride and haughtiness of their heart: [10] The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with square stones: they have cut down the sycamores, but we will change them for cedars. [11] And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rasin over him, and shall bring on his enemies in a crowd: [12] The Syrians from the east, and the Philistines from the west: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth, For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

[13] And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them, and have not sought after the Lord of hosts. [14] And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel the head and the tail, him that bendeth down, and him that holdeth back, in one day. [15] The aged and honourable, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. [16] And they that call this people blessed, shall cause them to err: and they that are called blessed, shall be thrown down headlong. [17] Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men: neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless, and widows: for every one is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth hath spoken folly. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his bend is stretched out still.

[18] For wickedness is kindled as a fire, it shall devour the brier and the thorn: and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in smoke ascending on high. [19] By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire: no man shall spare his brother. [20] And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled: every one shall eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, and they together shall be against Juda. [21] After all these things his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Chapter 10 verses 1-4, 8-12, 17-34 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice: [2] To oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and that they might rob the fatherless. [3] What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which cometh from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? [4] That you be not bowed down under the bond, and fall with the slain? In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

[8] For he shall say: [9] Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus? [10] As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria. [11] Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

[12] And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes.

[17] And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and the Holy One thereof as a flame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on fire, and shall be devoured in one day. [18] And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear. [19] And they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that they shall easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down.

[20] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel, in truth. [21] The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. [22] For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall overflow with justice. [23] For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land.

[24] Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: O my people that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt. [25] For yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness. [26] And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. [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 putrify at the presence of the oil.

[28] He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at Machmas he shall lay up his carriages. [29] They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was astonished, Gabaath of Saul fled away. [30] Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, attend, O Laisa, poor Anathoth. [31] Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take courage. [32] It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of Jerusalem. [33] Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled. [34] And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Libanus with its high ones shall fall.

Chapter 11 verses 11-16 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[11] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea. [12] And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth. [13] And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim.

[14] But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, and Moab shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient. [15] And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes. [16] And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Chapter 12 verses 1-6 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me. [2] Behold, God is my saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: O because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation.

[3] You shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour's fountains: [4] And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high. [5] Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: shew this forth in all the earth. [6] Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel.

Chapter 13 verses 1-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of Babylon, which Isaias the son of Amos saw. [2] Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates. [3] I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory. [4] The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war. [5] To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: tile Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land.

[6] Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord. [7] Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt, [8] And shall be broken. Gripings and pains shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt. [9] Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. [10] For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light.

[11] And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty. [12] A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold. [13] For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his tierce wrath. [14] And they shall be as a doe fleeing away, and as a sheep: and there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land. [15] Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword. [16] Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished.

[17] Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold: [18] But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons. [19] And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. [20] It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there. [21] But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there: [22] And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.

Chapter 14 verses 1-32 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Her time is near at hand, and her days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose out of Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall adhere to the house of Jacob. [2] And the people shall take them, and bring them into their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors.

[3] And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage, wherewith thou didst serve before, [4] Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say: How is the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute hath ceased? [5] The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, [6] That struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel manner.

[7] The whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad and hath rejoiced. [8] The fir trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of Libanus, saying: Since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to cut us down.

[9] Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of nations. [10] All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us. [11] Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering.

[12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? [13] And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. [14] I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. [15] But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit.

[16] They that shall see thee, shall turn toward thee, and behold thee. Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms, [17] That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to his prisoners? [18] All the kings of the nations have all of them slept in glory, every one in his own house. [19] But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch defiled, and wrapped up among them that were slain by the sword, and art gone down to the bottom of the pit, as a rotten carcass.

[20] Thou shalt not keep company with them, even in burial: for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people: the seed of the wicked shall not be named for ever. [21] Prepare his children for slaughter for the iniquity of their fathers: they shall not rise up, nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. [22] And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the bud, and the offspring, saith the Lord. [23] And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of waters, and I will sweep it and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord of hosts.

[24] The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be: and as I have purposed, [25] So shall it fall out: That I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulder. [26] This is the counsel, that I have purposed upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. [27] For the Lord of hosts hath decreed, and who can disannul it? and his hand is stretched out: and who shall turn it away?

[28] In the year that king Achaz died, was this burden:

[29] Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, that the rod of him that struck thee is broken in pieces: for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall swallow the bird. [30] And the firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest with confidence: and I will make thy root perish with famine, and I will kill thy remnant.

[31] Howl, O gate; cry, O city: all Philistia is thrown down: for a smoke shall come from the north, and there is none that shall escape his troop. [32] And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nations? That the Lord hath founded Sion, and the poor of his people shall hope in him.

Chapter 15 verses 1-9 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of Moab.

Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, it is silent: because the wall of Moab is destroyed in the night, it is silent. [2] The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places to mourn over Nabo, and over Medaba, Moab hath howled: ton all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaven. [3] In their streets they are girded with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets all shall howl and come down weeping.

[4] Hesebon shall cry, and Eleale, their voice is heard even to Jasa. For this shall the well appointed men of Moab howl, his soul shall howl to itself. [5] My heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof shall flee unto Segor a heifer of three years old: for by the ascent of Luith they shall go up weeping: and in the way of Oronaim they shall lift up a cry of destruction. [6] For the waters of Nemrim shall be desolate, for the grass is withered away, the spring is faded, all the greenness is perished.

[7] According to the greatness of their work, is their visitation also: they shall lead them to the torrent of the willows. [8] For the cry is gone round about the border of Moab: the howling thereof unto Gallim, and unto the well of Elim the cry thereof. [9] For the waters of Dibon are filled with blood: for I will bring more upon Dibon: the lion upon them that shall flee of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

Chapter 16 verses 1-14 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion. [2] And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon. [3] Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. [4] My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot. [5] And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just.

[6] We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength. [7] Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes. [8] For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea.

[9] Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy harvest. [10] And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away. [11] Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall. [12] And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail.

[13] This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time: [14] And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many.

Chapter 17 verses 1-14 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of Damascus.

Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones. [2] The cities of Aroer shall be left for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid. [3] And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: saith the Lord of hosts.

[4] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean. [5] And it shall be as when one gathereth in the harvest that which remaineth, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn: and it shall be as he that seeketh ears in the vale of Raphaim. [6] And the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive tree, two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the top of the tree, saith the Lord the God of Israel.

[7] In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel. [8] And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made: and he shall not have respect to the things that his fingers wrought, such as groves and temples.

[9] In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs, and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and thou shalt be desolate. [10] Because thou hast forgotten God thy saviour, and hast not remembered thy strong helper: therefore shalt thou plant good plants, and shalt sow strange seed. [11] In the day of thy planting shall be the wild grape, and in the morning thy seed shall flourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and shall grieve thee much.

[12] Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters. [13] Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing, but he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. [14] In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us.

Chapter 18 verses 1-7 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, [2] That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters. Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and torn in pieces: to a terrible people, after which there is no other: to a nation expecting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled. [3] All ye inhabitants of the world, who dwell on the earth, when the sign shall be lifted up on the mountains, you shall see, and you shall hear the sound of the trumpet. [4] For thus saith the Lord to me: I will take my rest, and consider in my place, as the noon light is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest. [5] For before the harvest it was all flourishing, and it shall bud without perfect ripeness, and the sprigs thereof shall be cut off with pruning hooks: and what is left shall be cut away and shaken out. [6] And they shall be left together to the birds of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall be upon them all the summer, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

[7] At that time shall a present be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people rent and torn in pieces: from a terrible people, after which there hath been no other: from a nation expecting, expecting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, to mount Sion.

Chapter 19 verses 1-25 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of Egypt.

Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. [2] And I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians: and they shall fight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. [3] And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the bowels thereof, and I will cast down their counsel: and they shall consult their idols, and their diviners, and their wizards, and soothsayers. [4] And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord the God of hosts.

[5] And the water of the sea shall be dried up, and the river shall be wasted and dry. [6] And the rivers shall fail: the streams of the banks shall be diminished, and be dried up. The reed and the bulrush shall wither away. [7] The channel of the river shall be laid bare from its fountain, and every thing sown by the water shall be dried up, it shall wither away, and shall be no more. [8] The fishers also shall mourn, and all that cast a hook into the river shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish away. [9] They shall be confounded that wrought in flax, combing and weaving fine linen. [10] And its watery places shall be dry, all they shall mourn that made pools to take fishes.

[11] The princes of Tanis are become fools, the wise counsellors of Pharao have given foolish counsel: how will you say to Pharao: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? [12] Where are now thy wise men? let them tell thee, and shew what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

[13] The princes of Tanis are become fools, the princes of Memphis are gone astray, they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people thereof. [14] The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of giddiness: and they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a drunken man staggereth and vomiteth. [15] And there shall be no work for Egypt, to make head or tail, him that bendeth down, or that holdeth back.

[16] In that day Egypt shall be like unto women, and they shall be amazed, and afraid, because of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall move over it. [17] And the land of Juda shall be a terror to Egypt: every one that shall remember it shall tremble because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined concerning it.

[18] In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the city of the sun.

[19] In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a monument of the Lord at the borders thereof: [20] It shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he shall send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver them. [21] And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them. [22] And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be pacified towards them, and heal them.

[23] In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian.

[24] In that day shall Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the Assyrian: a blessing in the midst of the land, [25] Which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands to the Assyrian: but Israel is my inheritance.

Chapter 20 verses 1-6 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] In the year that Tharthan entered into Azotus, when Sargon the king of the Assyrians had sent him, and he had fought against Azotus, and had taken it: [2] At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaias the son of Amos, saying: Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and barefoot.

[3] And the Lord said:

As my servant Isaias hath walked, naked and barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia, [4] So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old. naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt. [5] And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and of Egypt their glory. [6] And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver up from the face of the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape?

Chapter 21 verses 1-17 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of the desert of the sea.

As whirlwinds come from the south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land. [2] A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease.

[3] Therefore are my loins filled with pain, anguish hath taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the hearing of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it. [4] My heart failed, darkness amazed me: Babylon my beloved is become a wonder to me. [5] Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield.

[6] For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman: and whatsoever he shall see, let him tell. [7] And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed. [8] And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights.

[9] Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground. [10] O my thrashing and the children of my door, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you.

[11] The burden of Duma calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the eight? watchman, what of the night? [12] The watchman said: The morning cometh, also the night: if you seek, seek: return, come.

[13] The burden in Arabia.

In the forest at evening you shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim. [14] Meeting the thirsty bring him water, you that inhabit the land of the south, meet with bread him that fleeth. [15] For they are fled from before the swords, from the sword that hung over them, from the bent bow, from the face of a grievous battle.

[16] For thus saith the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away. [17] And the residue of the number of strong archers of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord the God of Israel hath spoken it.

Chapter 22 verses 1-18, 24-25 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of the valley of vision.

What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops? [2] Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle. [3] All the princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off. [4] Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people.

[5] For it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain. [6] And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall. [7] And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horseman shall place themselves in the gate. [8] And the covering of Juda shall be discovered,

and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest. [9] And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower pool, [10] And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify the wall. [11] And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago.

[12] And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: [13] And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. [14] And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts.

[15] Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him: [16] What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock. [17] Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment. [18] He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord.

[24] And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music.

[25] In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it.

Chapter 23 verses 1-18 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The burden of Tyre.

Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them. [2] Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee. [3] The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations.

[4] Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins. [5] When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre:

[6] Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island. [7] Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. [8] Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth? [9] The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth.

[10] Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more. [11] He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof. [12] And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no, rest.

[13] Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the Assyrian founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have brought it to ruin. [14] Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste.

[15] And it shall come to pass in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot.

[16] Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered. [17] And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

[18] And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance.

Chapter 24 verses 1-23 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. [2] And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant, so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth. [3] With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. [4] The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. [5] And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant.

[6] Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left.

[7] The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all the merryhearted have sighed. [8] The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent. [9] They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

[10] The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man cometh in. [11] There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away. [12] Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates.

[13] For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended.

[14] These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea. [15] Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. [16] From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one.

And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated. [17] Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth. [18] And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.

[19] With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved. [20] With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fell, and not rise again.

[21] And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth. [22] And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited. [23] And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients.

Chapter 25 verses 1-5, 10b-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee, and give glory to thy name: for thou hast done wonderful things, thy designs of old faithful, amen. [2] For thou hast reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to ruin, the house of strangers, to be no city, and to be no more built up for ever. [3] Therefore shall a strong people praise thee, the city of mighty nations shall fear thee.

[4] Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall. [5] Thou shalt bring down the tumult of strangers, as heat in thirst: and as with heat under a burning cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the mighty to wither away.

[10] ... and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces with the wain. [11] And he shall stretch forth his hands under him, as he that swimmeth stretcheth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down his glory with the dashing of his hands. [12] And the bulwarks of thy high walls shall fall, and be brought low, and shall be pulled down to the ground, even to the dust.

Chapter 26 verses 10-11, 13-15, 20-21 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[10] Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord. [11] Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour thy enemies.

[13] O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, only in thee let us remember thy name.

[14] Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and hast destroyed all their memory. [15] Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? thou hast removed all the ends of the earth far off.

[20] Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away. [21] For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more.

Chapter 27 verses 1-13 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] In that day the Lord with his hard, and great, and strong sword shall visit leviathan the bar serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent, and shall slay the whale that is in the see.

[2] In that day there shall be singing to the vineyard of pure wine. [3] I am the Lord that keep it, I will suddenly give it drink: lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day. [4] There is no indignation in me: who shall make me a thorn and a brier in battle: shall march against it, shall I set it on fire together? [5] Or rather shall it take hold of my strength, shall it make peace with me, shall it make peace with me?

[6] When they shall rush in unto Jacob, Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed. [7] Hath he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? or is he slain, as he killed them that were slain by him? [8] In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it. He hath meditated with his severe spirit in the day of heat.

[9] Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be forgiven: and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces, the groves and temples shall not stand.

[10] For the strong city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness: there the calf shall feed, and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches. [11] Its harvest shall be destroyed with drought, women shall come and teach it: for it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it, shall not have mercy on it: and he that formed it, shall not spare it.

[12] And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered together one by one, O ye children of Israel. [13] And it shall come to pass, that in that day a noise shall be made with a great trumpet, and they that were lost, shall come from the land of the Assyrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem.

Chapter 28 verses 1-29 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower the glory of his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine. [2] Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail: a destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a spacious land.

[3] The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet. [4] And the fading flower the glory of his joy, who is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn: which when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon as he taketh it in his hand, he will eat it up.

[5] In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of joy to the residue of his people:

[6] And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate. [7] But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment. [8] For all tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more place.

[9] Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts. [10] For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there.

[11] For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people. [12] To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear. [13] And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again: expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

[14] Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule over my people that is in Jerusalem. [15] For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected.

[16] Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten. [17] And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall overflow its protection.

[18] And Sour league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it. [19] Whensoever it shall pass through, it shall take you away: because in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear. [20] For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both.

[21] For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him. [22] And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I have heard of the Lord the God of hosts a consumption and a cutting short upon all the earth.

[23] Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech. [24] Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground? [25] Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow gith, and scatter cummin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds? [26] For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him.

[27] For gith shall not be thrashed with saws, neither shall the cart wheel turn about upon cummin: but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a staff. [28] But bread corn shall be broken small: but the thrasher shall not thrash it for ever, neither shall the cart wheel hurt it, nor break it with its teeth. [29] This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice.

Chapter 29 verses 1-16 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took: year is added to year: the solemnities are at an end. [2] And I will make a trench about Ariel, and it shall be in sorrow and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel. [3] And I will make a circle round about thee, and will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee.

[4] Thou shalt be brought down, thou shalt speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be from the earth like that of the python, and out of the ground thy speech shall mutter. [5] And the multitude of them that fan thee, shall be like small dust: and as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have prevailed against thee. [6] And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation shall come from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great noise of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.

[7] And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel, shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have fought, and besieged and prevailed against it. [8] And as he that is hungry dreameth, and eateth, but when he is awake, his soul is empty: and as he that is thirsty dreameth, and drinketh, and after he is awake, is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is empty: so shall be the multitude of all the Gentiles, that have fought against mount Sion.

[9] Be astonished, and wander, waver, and stagger: be drunk, and not with wine: stagger, and not with drunkenness. [10] For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep, he will shut up your eyes, he will cover your prophets and princes, that see visions.

[11] And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, they shall say: Read this: and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed. [12] And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no letters, and it shall be said to him: Read: and he shall answer: I know no letters.

[13] And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men: [14] Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

[15] Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord: and their works are in the dark, and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? [16] This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou madest me not: or the thing framed should say to him that fashioned it: Thou understandest not.

Chapter 30 verses 1-17, 22, 27-33 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to you, apostate children, saith the Lord, that you would take counsel, and not of me: and would begin a web, and not by my spirit, that you might add sin upon sin: [2] Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharao, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt.

[3] And the strength of Pharao shall be to your confusion, and the confidence of the shadow of Egypt to your shame. [4] For thy princes were in Tanis, and thy messengers came even to Hanes. [5] They were all confounded at a people that could not profit them: they were no help, nor to any profit, but to confusion and to reproach.

[6] The burden of the beasts of the south. In a land of trouble and distress, from whence come the lioness, and the lion, the viper and the flying basilisk, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not be able to profit them. [7] For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this: It is pride only, sit still.

[8] Now therefore go in and write for them upon box, and note it diligently in a book, and it shall be in the latter days for a testimony for ever. [9] For it is a people that provoketh to wrath, and lying children, children that will not hear the law of God. [10] Who say to the seers: See not: and to them that behold: Behold not for us those things that are right: speak unto us pleasant things, see errors for us. [11] Take away from me the way, turn away the path from me, let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us.

[12] Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because you have rejected this word, and have trusted in oppression and tumult, and have leaned upon it: [13] Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a breach that falleth, and is found wanting in a high wall, for the destruction thereof shall come on a sudden, when it is not looked for. [14] And it shall be broken small, as the potter's vessel is broken all to pieces with mighty breaking, and there shall not a sherd be found of the pieces thereof, wherein a little fire may be carried from the hearth, or a, little water be drawn out of the pit.

[15] For thus saith the Lord God the Holy One of Israel: If you return and be quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall your strength be. And you would not: [16] But have said: No, but we will flee to horses: therefore shall you flee. And we will mount upon swift ones: therefore shall they be swifter that shall pursue after you. [17] A thousand men shall flee for fear of one: and for fear of five shall you flee, till you be left as the mast of a ship on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign upon a hill.

[22] And thou shalt defile the plates of thy graven things of silver, and the garment of thy molten things of gold, and shalt cast them away as the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. Thou shalt say to it: Get thee hence.

[27] Behold the name of the Lord cometh from afar, his wrath burneth, and is heavy to bear: his lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. [28] His breath as a torrent overflowing even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people. [29] You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe, to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. [30] And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall shew the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and the dame of devouring fire: he shall crush to pieces with whirlwind, and hailstones.

[31] For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall fear being struck with the rod. [32] And the passage of the rod shall be strongly grounded, which the Lord shall make to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in great battles he shall over throw them. [33] For Topheth is prepared from yesterday, prepared by the king, deep, and wide. The nourishment thereof is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord as a torrent of brimstone kindling it.

Chapter 31 verses 1-9 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses, and putting their confidence in chariots, because they me many: and in horsemen, because they me very strong: and have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord. [2] But he that is the wise one hath brought evil, and hath not removed his words: and he will rise up against the house of the wicked, and against the aid of them that work iniquity. [3] Egypt is man, and not God: and their horses, flesh, and not spirit: and the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall, and they shall all be confounded together.

[4] For thus saith the Lord to me: Like as the lion roareth, and the lion's whelp upon his prey, and when a multitude of shepherds shall come against him, he will not fear at their voice, nor be afraid of their multitude: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight upon mount Sion, and upon the hill thereof.

[5] As birds dying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing over and saving. [6] Return as you had deeply revolted, O children of Israel.

[7] For in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your hands have made for you to sin. [8] And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword not of a man, and the sword not of a man shall devour him, and he shall flee not at the face of the sword: and his young men shall be tributaries. [9] And his strength shall pass away with dread, and his princes fleeing shall be afraid: the Lord hath said it, whose die is in Sion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

Chapter 32 verses 1-20 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in judgment. [2] And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land. [3] The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently. [4] And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain. [5] The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great:

[6] For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty. [7] The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor man speaketh judgment. [8] But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers.

[9] Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech. [10] For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more. [11] Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip yen, and be confounded, gird your loins.

[12] Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard. [13] Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced? [14] For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks, [15] Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest.

[16] And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel. [17] And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security for ever. [18] And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest. [19] But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be made very low. [20] Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass.

Chapter 33 verses 1-24 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Woe to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself also be spoiled? and thou that despisest, shalt not thyself also be despised? when thou shalt have made an end of spoiling, thou shalt be spoiled: when being wearied thou shalt cease to despise, thou shalt be despised. [2] O Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for thee: be thou our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble.

[3] At the voice of the angel the people fled, and at the lifting up thyself the nations are scattered. [4] And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locusts are gathered, as when the ditches are full of them. [5] The Lord is magnified, for he hath dwelt on high: he hath filled Sion with judgment and justice. [6] And there shall be faith in thy times: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

[7] Behold they that see shall cry without, the angels of peace shall weep bitterly. [8] The ways are made desolate, no one passeth by the road, the covenant is made void, he hath rejected the cities, he hath not regarded the men.

[9] The land hath mourned, and languished: Libanus is confounded and become foul, and Saron is become as a desert: and Basan and Carmel are shaken.

[10] Now will I rise up, saith the Lord: now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. [11] You shall conceive heat, you shall bring forth stubble: your breath as fire shall devour you. [12] And the people shall be as ashes after a fire, as a bundle of thorns they shall be burnt with fire.

[13] Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are near know my strength. [14] The sinners in Sion are afraid, trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

[15] He that walketh in justices, and speaketh truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil. [16] He shall dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure.

[17] His eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall see the land far off. [18] Thy heart shall meditate fear: where is the learned? where is he that pondereth the words of the law? where is the teacher of little ones? [19] The shameless people thou shalt not see, the people of profound speech: so that thou canst not understand the eloquence of his tongue, in whom there is no wisdom.

[20] Look upon Sion the city of our solemnity: thy eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed: neither shall the nails thereof be taken away for ever, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken: [21] Because only there our Lord is magnificent: it place of rivers, very broad and spacious streams: no ship with oars shall pass by it, neither shall the great galley pass through it.

[22] For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us. [23] Thy tacklings are loosed, and they shall be of no strength: thy mast shall be in such condition, that thou shalt not be able to spread the flag. Then shall the spoils of much prey be divided: the lame shall take the spoil. [24] Neither shall he that is near, say: I am feeble. The people that dwell therein, shall have their iniquity taken away from them.

Chapter 34 verses 1-17 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Come near, ye Gentiles, and hear, and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and every thing that cometh forth of it. [2] For the indignation of the Lord if upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath killed them, and delivered them to slaughter. [3] Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a slink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood. [4] And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and from the fig tree.

[5] For my sword is inebriated in heaven: behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter unto judgment. [6] The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with the blood of lambs and buck goats, with the blood of rams full of marrow: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. [7] And the unicorns shall go down with them, and the bulls with the mighty: their land shall be soaked with blood, and their ground with the fat of fat ones.

[8] For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompenses of the judgment of Sion. [9] And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the ground thereof into brimstone: and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. [10] Night and day it shall not be quenched, the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever. [11] The bittern and ericius shall possess it: and the ibis and the raven shall dwell in it: and a line shall be stretched out upon it, to bring it to nothing, and a plummet, unto desolation.

[12] The nobles thereof shall not be there: they shall call rather upon the king, and all the princes thereof shall be nothing. [13] And thorns and nettles shall grow up in its houses, and the thistle in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be the habitation of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches. [14] And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself. [15] There hath the ericius had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and hath dug round about, and cherished them in the shadow thereof: thither are the kites gathered together one to another.

[16] Search ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read: not one of them was wanting, one hath not sought for the other: for that which proceedeth out of my mouth, he hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. [17] And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation they shall dwell therein.

Chapter 35 is covered in full in the Mass Readings sometime at least every three years.

Chapter 36 verses 1-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fenced cities of Juda, and took them. [2] And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to Jerusalem, to king Ezechias with a great army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller's held. [3] And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder.

[4] And Rabsaces said to them: Tell Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence wherein thou trustest? [5] Or with what counsel or strength dost thou prepare for war? on whom dost thou trust, that thou art revolted from me? [6] Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king or Egypt to all that trust in him. [7] But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar? [8] And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able on thy part to find riders for them. [9] And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my master's servants? But if thou trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen: [10] And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it. [11] And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: Speak to thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: speak not to us in the Jews' language in the hearing of the people, that are upon the wall.

[12] And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak all these words; and not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you? [13] Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. [14] Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you. [15] And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. [16] Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, 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 water of his cistern, [17] Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and vineyards. [18] Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians? [19] Where is the god of Emath and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? [20] Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that hath delivered his country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

[21] And they held their peace, and answered him not a word. For the king had commanded, saying: answer him not. [22] And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, went in to Ezechias with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.

Chapter 37 verses 1-38 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. [2] And he sent Eliacim who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaias the son of Amos the prophet. [3] And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. [4] It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.

[5] And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias. [6] And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me. [7] Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country.

[8] And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna. For he had heard that he was departed from Lachis. [9] And he heard say about Tharaca the king of Ethiopia: He is come forth to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying: [10] Thus shall you speak to Ezechias the king of Juda, saying: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. [11] Behold thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians hare done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou be delivered? [12] Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thalassar? [13] Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?

[14] And Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias spread it before the Lord. [15] And Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying: [16] O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. [17] Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God. [18] For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste lands, and their countries. [19] And they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the works of men's hands, of wood and stone: and they broke them in pieces. [20] And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord.

[21] And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians: [22] This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him:

The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee. [23] Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

[24] By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord: and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus: and I will out down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees, and will enter to the top of its height, to the forest of its Carmel. [25] I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks.

[26] Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it hath come to pass that hills fighting together, and fenced cities should be destroyed. [27] The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which withered before it was ripe.

[28] I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. [29] When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

[30] But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third year sow and reap, and giant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. [31] And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward: [32] For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a, remnant, and salvation from mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

[33] Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it. [34] By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.

[35] And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant. [36] And the angel of the Lord went out, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses. [37] And Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians went out and departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive. [38] And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 38 verses 9-20 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[9] The writing of Ezechias king of Juda, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.

[10] I said:

In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell: I sought for the residue of my years. [11] I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest. [12] My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, he out me off: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me.

[13] I hoped till morning, as a lion so hath he broken all my bones: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me. [14] I will cry like a young swallow, I will meditate like a dove: my eyes are weakened looking upward: Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me.

[15] What shall I say, or what shall he answer for me, whereas he himself hath done it? I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul. [16] O Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me, and make me to live.

[17] Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter: but thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish, thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. [18] For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for thy truth. [19] The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this day: the father shall make thy truth known to the children.

[20] O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

Chapter 39 verses 1-8 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] At that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered. [2] And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the storehouses of his aromatical spices, and of the silver, and of the gold, and of the sweet odours, and of the precious ointment, and all the storehouses of his furniture, and all things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion that Ezechias shewed them not.

[3] Then Isaias the prophet came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said: From a far country they came to me, from Babylon. [4] And he said: What saw they in thy house? And Ezechias said: All things that are in my house have they seen, there was not any thing which I have not shewn them in my treasures. [5] And Isaias said to Ezechias: Rear the word of the Lord of hosts. [6] Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried away into Babylon: there shall not any thing be left, saith the Lord. [7] And of thy children, that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. [8] And Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which he hath spoken, is good. And he said: Only let peace and truth be in my days.

Chapter 40 verses 12-24 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[12] Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with his palm? who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? [13] Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor, and hath taught him? [14] With whom hath he consulted, and who hath instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding?

[15] Behold the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold the islands are as a little dust. [16] And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. [17] All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity.

[18] To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him? [19] Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? [20] He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skillful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved.

[21] Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations of the earth? [22] It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. [23] He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity. [24] And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

Chapter 41 verses 1-12, 21-29 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Let the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take new strength: let them come near, and then speak, let us come near to judgment together. [2] Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow. [3] He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet.

[4] Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last. [5] The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came. [6] Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage. [7] The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering: and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

[8] But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend: [9] In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away.

[10] Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee. [11] Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee. [12] Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee.

[21] Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob. [22] Let them come, and tell us all things that are to come: tell us the former things what they were: and we will set our heart upon them, and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that are to come.

[23] shew the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us speak, and see together. [24] Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination.

[25] I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay.

[26] Who bath declared from the beginning, that we may know: and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words.

[27] The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist. [28] And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word. [29] Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity.

Chapter 42 verses 8-25 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[8] I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things. [9] The things that were first, behold they are come: and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you head them.

[10] Sing ye to the Lord a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them. [11] Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from the top of the mountains. [12] They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare his praise in the islands. [13] The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his enemies.

[14] I have always held my peace, I have I kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labour: I will destroy, and swallow up at once. [15] I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and will make all their grass to wither: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up the standing pools. [16] And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not: and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these things have I done to them, and have not forsaken them.

[17] They are turned back: let them be greatly confounded, that trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our god. [18] Hear, ye deaf, and, ye blind, behold that you may see.

[19] Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? or who is blind, but the servant of the Lord? [20] Thou that seest many things, wilt thou not observe them? thou that hast ears open, wilt thou not hear? [21] And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and exalt it.

[22] But this is a people that is robbed and wasted: they are all the snare of young men, and they are hid in the houses of prisons: they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them: a spoil, and there is none that saith: Restore. [23] Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for times to come? [24] Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law.

[25] And he hath poured out upon him the indignation of his fury, and a strong battle, and hath burnt him round about, and he knew not: and set him on fire, and he understood not.

Chapter 43 verses 1-15, 23-24a, 26-28 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine. [2] When thou shalt pass through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee: when thou shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and the flames shall not burn in thee:

[3] For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I have given Egypt for thy atonement, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. [4] Since thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee, and I will give men for thee, and people for thy life.

[5] Fear not, for I am with thee: I will. bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. [6] I will say to the north: Give up: and to the south: Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. [7] And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, and made him. [8] Bring forth the people that are blind, and have eyes: that are deaf, and have ears.

[9] All the nations are assembled together, and the tribes are gathered: who among you can declare this, and shall make us hear the former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be justified, and hear, and say: It is truth.

[10] You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know, and believe me, and understand that I myself am. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none. [11] I am, I am the Lord: and there is no saviour besides me. [12] I have declared, and have saved. I have made it heard, and there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and I am God. [13] And from the beginning I am the same, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall turn it away?

[14] Thus saith the Lord your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their bars, and the Chaldeans glorying in their ships. [15] I am the Lord your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

[23] Thou hast not offered me the ram of thy holocaust, nor hast thou glorified me with thy victims: I have not caused thee to serve with oblations, nor wearied thee with incense. [24] Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy victims. ...

[26] Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together: tell if thou hast any thing to justify thyself. [27] Thy first father sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. [28] And I have profaned the holy princes, I have given Jacob to slaughter, and Israel to reproach.

Chapter 44 verses 1-28 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. [2] Thus saith the Lord that made and formed thee, thy helper from the womb: Fear not, O my servant Jacob, and thou most righteous whom I have chosen.

[3] For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land: I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy stock. [4] And they shall spring up among the herbs, as willows beside the running waters. [5] One shall say: I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand, To the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

[6] Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. [7] Who is like to me? let him call and declare: and let him set before me the order, since I appointed the ancient people: and the things to come, and that shall be hereafter, let them shew unto them.

[8] Fear ye not, neither be ye troubled, from that time I have made thee to hear, and have declared: you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me, a maker, whom I have not known?

[9] The makers of idols are all of them nothing, and their best beloved things shall not profit them. They are their witnesses, that they do not see, nor understand, that they may be ashamed. [10] Who hath formed a god, and made a graven thing that is profitable for nothing?

[11] Behold, all the partakers thereof shall be confounded: for the makers are men: they shall all assemble together, they shall stand and fear, and shall be confounded together.

[12] The smith hath wrought with his file, with coals, and with hammers he hath formed it, and hath wrought with the strength of his arm: he shall hunger and faint, he shall drink no water, and shall be weary.

[13] The carpenter hath stretched out his rule, he hath formed it with a plane: he hath made it with corners, and hath fashioned it round with the compass: and he hath made the image of a man as it were a beautiful man dwelling in a house. [14] He hath cut down cedars, taken the holm, and the oak that stood among the trees of the forest: he hath planted the pine tree, which the rain hath nourished. [15] And it hath served men for fuel: he took thereof, and warmed himself: and he kindled it, and baked bread: but of the rest he made a god, and adored it: he made a graven thing, and bowed down before it. [16] Part of it he burnt with fire, and with part of it he dressed his meat: he boiled pottage, and was filled, and was warmed, and said: Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. [17] But the residue thereof he made a god, and a graven thing for himself: he boweth down before it, and adoreth it, and prayeth unto it, saying: Deliver me, for thou art my God.

[18] They have not known, nor understood: for their eyes are covered that they may not see, and that they may not understand with their heart. [19] They do not consider in their mind, nor know, nor have the thought to say: I have burnt part of it in the fire, and I have baked bread upon the coals thereof: I have broiled flesh and have eaten, and of the residue thereof shall I make an idol? shall I fall down before the stock of a tree?

[20] Part thereof is ashes: his foolish heart adoreth it, and he will not save his soul, nor say: Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand.

[21] Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee, thou art my servant, O Israel, forget me not. [22] I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee.

[23] Give praise, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath shewn mercy: shout with joy, ye ends of the earth: ye mountains, resound with praise, thou, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified.

[24] Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, and thy maker, from the womb: I am the Lord, that make all things, that alone stretch out the heavens, that establish the earth, and there is none with me. [25] That make void the tokens of diviners, and make the soothsayers mad. That turn the wise backward, and that, make their knowledge foolish.

[26] That raise up the word of my servant and perform the counsel of my messengers, who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be inhabited: and to the cities of Juda: You shall be built, and I will raise up the wastes thereof.

[27] Who say to the deep: Be thou desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers. [28] Who say to Cyrus: Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt perform all my pleasure. Who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built: and to the temple: Thy foundations shall be laid.

Chapter 45 verses 2-3, 7, 9-17, 19-21a have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[2] I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron. [3] And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel.

[7] I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things.

[9] Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands? [10] Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth?

[11] Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: Ask me of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give ye charge to me. [12] I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host. [13] I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, saith the Lord the God of hosts.

[14] Thus saith the Lord: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come over to thee, and shall be thins: they shall walk after thee, they shall go bound with manacles: and they shall worship thee, and shall make supplication to thee: only in thee is God, and there is no God besides thee.

[15] Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel the saviour. [16] They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors are gone together into confusion. [17] Israel is saved in the Lord with as eternal salvation: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever.

[19] I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things.

[20] Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save. [21] Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? ...

Chapter 46 verses 1-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Bel is broken, Nebo is destroyed: their idols are put upon beasts and cattle, your burdens of heavy weight even unto weariness. [2] They are consumed, and are broken together: they could not save him that carried them, and they themselves shall go into captivity.

[3] Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who are carried by my bowels, are borne up by my womb. [4] Even to your old age I am the same, and to your grey hairs I will carry you: I have made you, and I will bear: I will carry and will save.

[5] To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like? [6] You that contribute gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in the scales: and hire a goldsmith to make a god: and they fall down and worship. [7] They bear him on their shoulders and carry him, and set him in his piece, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place. Yea, when they shall cry also unto him, he shall not hear: he shall not save them from tribulation.

[8] Remember this, and be ashamed: return, ye transgressors, to the heart. [9] Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God beside, neither is there the like to me:

[10] Who shew from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done: [11] Who call a bird from the east, and from a far country the man of my own will, and I have spoken, and will bring it to pass: I have created, and I will do it.

Hear me, O ye hardhearted, who are far from justice. [12] I have brought my justice near, it shall not be afar off: and my salvation shall not tarry. I will give salvation in Sion, and my glory in Israel.

Chapter 47 verses 1-15 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called delicate and tender. [2] Take a millstone and grind meal: uncover thy shame, strip thy shoulder, make bare thy legs, pass over the rivers.

[3] Thy nakedness shall be discovered, and thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and no man shall resist me. [4] Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. [5] Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms.

[6] I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and have given them into thy bend: thou hast shewn no mercy to them: upon the ancient thou hast laid thy yoke exceeding heavy. [7] And thou hast said: I shall be a lady for ever: thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, neither hast thou remembered thy latter end.

[8] And now hear these things, thou that art delicate, and dwellest confidently, that sayest in thy heart: I am, and there is none else besides me: I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know barrenness. [9] These two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day, barrenness and widowhood. All things are come upon thee, because of the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great hardness of thy enchanters.

[10] And thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, and hast said: There is none that seeth me. Thy wisdom, and thy knowledge, this hath deceived thee. And thou hast said in thy heart: I am, and besides me there is no other. [11] Evil shall come upon thee, and then shalt not know the rising thereof: and calamity shall fall violently upon thee, which thou canst not keep off: misery shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

[12] Stand now with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be it may profit thee any thing, or if thou mayst become stronger.

[13] Thou hast failed in the multitude or thy counsels: let now the astrologers stand and save thee, they that gazed at the stars, and counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that shall come to thee.

[14] Behold they are as stubble, fire hath burnt them, they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the dames: there are no coals wherewith they may be warmed, nor fire, that they may sit thereat. [15] Such are all the things become to thee, in which thou hast laboured: thy merchants from thy youth, every one hath erred in his own way, there is none that can save thee.

Chapter 48 verses 1-16, 20-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice. [2] For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name.

[3] The former things of old I have declared, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I have made them to be heard: I did them suddenly and they came to pass. [4] For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass.

[5] I foretold thee of old, before they came to pass I told thee, lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them. [6] See now all the things which thou hast heard: but have you declared them? I have shewn thee new things from that time, and things are kept which thou knowest not: [7] They are created now, and not of old: and before the day, when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them. [8] Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb.

[9] For my name's sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish. [10] Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty. [11] For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another.

[12] Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel whom I call: I am he, I am the first, and I am the last. [13] My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand together.

[14] Assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear: who among them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him, he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. [15] I, even I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous.

[16] Come ye near unto me, and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: from the time before it was done, I was there, and now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit.

[20] Come forth out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, declare it with the voice of joy: make this to be heard, and speak it out even to the ends of the earth. Say: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. [21] They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out: he brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock, and the waters gushed out. [22] There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord.

Chapter 49 verses 7, 16-26 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[7] Thus saith the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the Lord's sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee.

[16] Behold, I have graven thee in my hands: thy walls are always before my eyes.

[17] Thy builders are come: they that destroy thee and make thee waste shall go out of thee. [18] Lift up thy eyes round about, and see all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and as a bride thou shalt put them about thee. [19] For thy deserts, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be chased far away. [20] The children of thy barrenness shall still say in thy ears: The place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in. [21] And thou shalt-say in thy heart: Who hath begotten these? I was barren and brought not forth, led away, and captive: and who hath brought up these? I was destitute and alone: and these, where were they?

[22] Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will set up my standard to the people. And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and carry thy daughters upon their shoulders. [23] And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nurses: they shall worship thee with their face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him.

[24] Shall the prey be taken from the strong? or can that which was taken by the mighty be delivered? [25] For thus saith the Lord: Yea verily, even the captivity shall be taken away from the strong: and that which was taken by the mighty, shall be delivered. But I will judge those that have judged thee, and thy children I will save. [26] And I will feed thy enemies with their own flesh: and they shall be made drunk with their own blood, as with new wine: and all flesh shall know, that I am the Lord that save thee, and thy Redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob.

Chapter 50 verses 1-3 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of the divorce of your mother, with which I have put her away? or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you: behold you are sold for your iniquities, and for your wicked deeds have I put your mother away.

[2] Because I came, and there was not a man: I called, and there was none that would hear. Is my hand shortened and become little, that I cannot redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, I will turn the rivers into dry land: the fishes shall rot for want of water, and shall die for thirst. [3] I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and will make sackcloth their covering.

Chapter 51 verses 1-23 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out. [2] Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sara that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. [3] The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.

[4] Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my tribes: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations. [5] My just one is near at hand, my saviour is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm.

[6] Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail.

[7] Hearken to me, you that know what is just, my people who have my law in your heart: fear ye not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies. [8] For the worm shall eat them up as a garment: and the moth shall consume them as wool: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice from generation to generation,

[9] Arise, arise, put on strength, O thou arm of the Lord, arise as in the days of old, in the ancient generations. Hast not thou struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon? [10] Hast not thou dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep, who madest the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass over?

[11] And now they that are redeemed by the Lord, shall return, and shall come into Sion singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning shall flee away. [12] I, I myself will comfort you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass? [13] And thou hast forgotten the Lord thy maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth: and thee hast been afraid continually all the day at the presence of his fury who afflicted thee, and had prepared himself to destroy thee: where is now the fury of the oppressor? [14] He shall quickly come that is going to open unto you, and he shall not kill unto utter destruction, neither shall his bread fail. [15] But I am the Lord thy God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell: the Lord of hosts is my name.

[16] I have put my words in thy mouth, and have protected thee in the shadow of my hand, that thou mightest plant the heavens, and found the earth: and mightest say to Sion: Thou art my people. [17] Arise, arise, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath; thou hast drunk even to the bottom of the cup of dead sleep, and thou hast drunk even to the dregs.

[18] There is none that can uphold her among all the children that she hath brought forth: and there is none that taketh her by the hand among all the children that she hath brought up. [19] There are two things that have happened to thee: who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword, who shall comfort thee? [20] Thy children are cast forth, they have slept at the head of all the ways, as the wild ox that is snared: full of the indignation of the Lord, of the rebuke of thy God.

[21] Therefore hear this, thou poor little one, and thou that art drunk but no with wine. [22] Thus saith thy Sovereign the Lord and thy God, who will fight for his people: Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of dead sleep, the dregs of the cup of my indignation, thou shalt not drink it again any more. [23] And I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed thee, and have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as a way to them that went over.

Chapter 52 verses 1-6, 11-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Arise, arise, put on thy strength, O Sion, put on the garments of thy glory, O Jerusalem, the city of the Holy One: for henceforth the uncircumcised, and unclean shall no more pass through thee. [2] Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem: loose the bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion.

[3] For thus saith the Lord: You were sold gratis, and you shall be redeemed without money. [4] For thus saith the Lord God: My people went down into Egypt at the beginning to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without any cause at all. [5] And now what have I here, saith the Lord: for my people is taken away gratis. They that rule over them treat them unjustly, saith the Lord, and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long. [6] Therefore my people shall know my name in that day: for I myself that spoke, behold I am here.

[11] Depart, depart, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing: go out of the midst of her, be ye clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord. [12] For you shall not go out in a tumult, neither shall you make haste by flight: For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together.

Chapter 53 is covered in full in the Mass Readings sometime at least every three years.

Chapter 54 verses 15-17 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[15] Behold, an inhabitant shall come, who was not with me, he that was a stranger to thee before, shall be joined to thee. [16] Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the killer to destroy. [17] No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and every tongue that resisteth thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their justice with me, saith the Lord.

Chapter 55 verses 12-13 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[12] For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall sing praise before yen, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands. [13] Instead of the shrub, shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the nettle, shall come up the myrtle tree: and the Lord shall be named for an everlasting sign, that shall not be taken away.

Chapter 56 verses 3b-5, 9-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[3] ... And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree. [4] For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, They that shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold fast my covenant: [5] I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name which shall never perish.

[9] All ye beasts of the field come to devour, all ye beasts of the forest. [10] His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams. [11] And meet impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last. [12] Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness: and it shall be as today, so also tomorrow, and much more.

Chapter 57 verses 1-21 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and men of mercy are taken away, because there is none that understandeth; for the just man is taken away from before the face of evil. [2] Let peace come, let him rest in his bed that hath walked in his uprightness.

[3] But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and of the harlot. [4] Upon whom have you jested? upon whom have you opened your mouth wide, and put out your tongue? are not you wicked children, a false seed, [5] Who seek your comfort in idols under every green tree, sacrificing children in the torrents, under the high rocks?

[6] In the parts of the torrent is thy portion, this is thy lot: and thou hast poured out libations to them, thou hast offered sacrifice. Shall I not be angry at these things? [7] Upon a high and lofty mountain thou hast laid thy bed, and hast gone up thither to offer victims. [8] And behind the door, and behind the post thou hast set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself near me, and hast received an adulterer: thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made a covenant with them: thou hast loved their bed with open hand.

[9] And thou hast adorned thyself for the king with ointment, and hast multiplied thy perfumes. Thou hast sent thy messengers far off, and wast debased even to hell. [10] Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy ways: yet thou saidst not: I will rest: thou hast found life of thy hand, therefore thou hast not asked.

[11] For whom hast thou been solicitous and afraid, that thou hast lied, and hast not been mindful of me, nor thought on me in thy heart? for I am silent, and as one that seeth not, and thou hast forgotten me.

[12] I will declare thy justice, and thy works shall not profit thee. [13] When thou shalt cry, let thy companies deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all off, a breeze shall take them away, but he that putteth his trust in me, shall inherit the land, and shall possess my holy mount.

[14] And I will say: Make a way: give free passage, turn out of the path, take away the stumblingblocks out of the way of my people. [15] For thus saith the High and the Eminent that inhabiteth eternity: and his name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, and with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

[16] For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be angry unto the end: because the spirit shall go forth from my face, and breathings I will make.

[17] For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and I struck him: I hid my face from thee, and was angry: and he went away wandering in his own heart. [18] I saw his ways, and I healed him, and brought him back, and restored comforts to him, and to them that mourn for him. [19] I created the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, said the Lord, and I healed him.

[20] But the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire. [21] There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God.

Chapter 58 is covered in full in the Mass Readings sometime at least every three years.

Chapter 59 verses 1-21 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. [2] But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear.

[3] For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue uttereth iniquity. [4] There is none that calleth upon justice, neither is there any one that judgeth truly: but they trust in a mere nothing, and speak vanities: they have conceived labour, and brought forth iniquity.

[5] They have broken the eggs of asps, and have woven the webs of spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs, shall die: and that which is brought out, shall be hatched into a basilisk. [6] Their webs shall not be for clothing, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are unprofitable works, and the work of iniquity is in their hands. [7] Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts: wasting and destruction are in their ways. [8] They have not known the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps: their paths are become crooked to them, every one that treadeth in them, knoweth no peace.

[9] Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark. [10] We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places as dead men. [11] We shall roar all of us like bears, and shall lament as mournful doves. We have looked for judgment, and there is none: for salvation, and it is far from us.

[12] For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and we have known our iniquities: [13] In sinning and lying against the Lord: and we have turned away so that we went not after our God, but spoke calumny and transgression: we have conceived, and uttered from the heart, words of falsehood.

[14] And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath stood far off: because truth bath fallen down in the street, and equity could not come in. [15] And truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from evil, lay open to be a prey: and the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment.

[16] And he saw that there is not a man: and he stood astonished, because there is none to oppose himself: and his own arm brought salvation to him, and his own justice supported him. [17] He put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head: he put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as with a cloak. [18] As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his adversaries, and a reward to his enemies: he will repay the like to the islands.

[19] And they from the west, shall fear the name of the Lord: and they from the rising of the sun, his glory: when he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on: [20] And there shall come a, redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord.

[21] This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, 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.

Chapter 60 verses 7-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[7] All the flocks of Cedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nabaioth shall minister to thee: they shall be offered upon my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty.

[8] Who are these, that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows? [9] For, the islands wait for me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning: that I may bring thy sons from afar: 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.

[10] And the children of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister to thee: for in my wrath have I struck thee, and in my reconciliation have I had mercy upon thee. [11] And thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee, and their kings may be brought. [12] For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish: and the Gentiles shall be wasted with desolation.

[13] The glory of Libanus shall come to thee, the Ar tree, and the box tree, and the pine tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary: and I will glorify the place of my feet. [14] And the children of them that afflict thee, shall come bowing down to thee, and all that slandered thee shall worship the steps of thy feet, and shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Sion of the Holy One of Israel.

[15] Because thou wast forsaken, and hated, and there was none that passed through thee, I will make thee to be an everlasting glory, a joy unto generation and generation:

[16] And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and thou shalt be nursed with the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

[17] For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver: and for wood brass, and for stones iron: and I will make thy visitation peace, and thy overseers justice.

[18] Iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction in thy borders, and salvation shall possess thy walls, and praise thy gates. [19] Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory. [20] Thy sun shall go down no more, and thy moon shall not decrease: for the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

[21] And thy people shall be all just, they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hand to glorify me.

[22] The least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most strong nation: I the Lord will suddenly do this thing in its time.

Chapter 61 verses 3b-5, 6b-8a have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[3] ... and to give them a crown for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit of grief: and they shall be called in it the mighty ones of justice, the planting of the Lord to glorify hint.

[4] And they shall build the places that have been waste from of old, and shall raise up ancient ruins, and shall repair the desolate cities, that were destroyed for generation and generation. [5] And strangers shall stand and shall feed your flocks: and the sons of strangers shall be your husbandmen, and the dressers of your vines.

[6] ... to you it shall be said: Ye ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and you shall pride yourselves in their glory. [7] For your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their part: therefore shall they receive double in their land, everlasting joy shall be unto them.

[8] For I am the Lord that love judgment, and hate robbery in a holocaust: ...

Chapter 62 verses 6-10 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[6] Upon thy wails, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, and all the night, they shall never hold their peace. You that are mindful of the Lord, hold not your peace, [7] And give him no silence till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

[8] The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thy enemies: and the sons of the strangers shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast laboured. [9] For they that gather it, shall eat it, and shall praise the Lord: and they that bring it together, shall drink it in my holy courts.

[10] Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, make the road plain, pick out the stones, and lift up the standard to the people.

Chapter 63 verses 1-16a, 18-19 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save.

[2] Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress? [3] I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel.

[4] For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come. [5] I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. [6] And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and have made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their strength to the earth.

[7] I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and for the multitude of his good things to the house of Israel, which he hath given them according to his kindness, and according to the multitude of his mercies.

[8] And he said: Surely they are my people, children that will not deny: so he became their saviour. [9] In all their affliction he was not troubled, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love, and in his mercy he redeemed them, and he carried them and lifted them up all the days of old. [10] But they provoked to wrath, and afflicted the spirit of his Holy One: and he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

[11] And he remembered the days of old of Moses, and of his people: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea, with the shepherds of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One? [12] He that brought out Moses by the right hand, by the arm of his majesty: that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. [13] He that led them out through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness that stumbleth not. [14] As a beast that goeth down in the field, the spirit of the Lord was their leader: so didst thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name.

[15] Look down from heaven, and behold from thy holy habitation and the place of thy glory: where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the multitude of thy bowels, and of thy mercies? they have held back themselves from me. [16] For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: ... .

[18] They have possessed thy holy people as nothing: our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary. [19] We are become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when we were not called by thy name.

Chapter 64 verses 2-3a, 9-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[2] They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence. [3] When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: ... .

[9] Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, see we are all thy people. [10] The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate.

[11] The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins. [12] Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us vehemently?

Chapter 65 verses 1-16, 22-25 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] They have sought me that before asked not for me, they have found me that sought me not. I said: Behold me, behold me, to a nation that did not call upon my name. [2] I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts. [3] A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face: that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks. [4] That dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temple of idols: that eat swine's flesh, and profane broth is in their vessels. [5] That say: Depart from me, come not near me, because thou art unclean:

these shall be smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day. [6] Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will render and repay into their bosom. [7] Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, who have sacrificed upon the mountains, and have reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their first work in their bosom.

[8] Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and it be said: Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole. [9] And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Juda a possessor of my mountains: and my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. [10] And the plains shall be turned to folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

[11] And you, that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my holy mount, that set a table for fortune, and offer libations upon it, [12] I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter: because I called and you did not answer: I spoke, and you did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me.

[13] Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty. [14] Behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded: behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit. [15] And you shall leave your name for an execration to my elect: and the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name. [16] In which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God, amen: and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.

[22] They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall be of long continuance.

[23] My elect shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them. [24] And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear; as they are yet speaking, I will hear.

[25] The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion and the ox shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent's food: they shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

Chapter 66 verses 1-9, 14d-17, 22-24 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: what is this house that you will build to me? and what is this place of my rest? [2] My hand made all these things, and all these things were made, saith the Lord. But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words?

[3] He that sacrificeth an ox, is as if he slew a man: he that killeth a sheep in sacrifice, as if he should brain a dog: he that offereth an oblation, as if he should offer swine's blood; he that remembereth incense, as if he should bless an idol. All these things have they chosen in their ways, and their soul is delighted in their abominations. [4] Wherefore I also will choose their mockeries, and will bring upon them the things they feared: because I called, and there was none that would answer; I have spoken, and they heard not; and they have done evil in my eyes, and have chosen the things that displease me.

[5] Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name's sake, have said: Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy: but they shall be confounded.

[6] A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies.

[7] Before she was in labour, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered, she brought forth a man child. [8] Who hath ever heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like to this? shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be brought forth at once, because Sion hath been in labour, and hath brought forth her children?

[9] Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God?

[14] ... and he shall be angry with his enemies.

[15] For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind, to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire. [16] For the Lord shall judge by fire, and by his sword unto all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

[17] They that were sanctified, and thought themselves clean in the gardens behind the gate within, they that did eat swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.

[22] For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name. [23] And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: and all flesh shall come to adore before my face, saith the Lord.

[24] And they shall go out, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched: and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh.



Researched and Digitally Processed by Mrs. R.M., Puerto Rico

Published on May 2015


© Copyright 2015 - 2016 by The M+G+R Foundation. All rights reserved. However, you may freely reproduce and distribute this document as long as: (1) Appropriate credit is given as to its source; (2) No changes are made in the text without prior written consent; and (3) No charge is made for it.

The M+G+R Foundation
About Us and Frequently Asked Questions


PAGE of INTRODUCTION to DOMAIN

HOME PAGE

HOME PAGE - Español

HOME PAGE - Portugues

Back Up HOME PAGE


Our Research Department

To Search for Information Within Our Domain Click Here

Index of Documents Sorted by File Name


Future Use

Please Note: If the above dated image does not appear on this document, it means that you are not viewing the original document from our servers. Should you have reason to doubt the authenticity of the document, we recommend that you access our server again and click on the "Refresh" or "Reload" button of your Browser to view the original document.

If you wish to contact The M+G+R Foundation, please Click Here and follow the instructions.