Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings.
The above, Isaiah 7:15 & 16, is speaking of the LORD correcting us, leading us to make the right choice. He says “before” we understanding, gain this wisdom, the land shall be forsaken of her kings. These kings are leaders whose voices we’ve (the nation) followed, which we will (after what comes before) understand is the evil. The LORD’s leading, His voice, is the good, His word feeding us with butter and honey (perfected thought: understanding; and their resulting strength: the wisdom to assert them: raise them to their rightful throne).
Isaiah 41
10 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
The word “dismayed” is the Hebrew sha’ah, meaning, “to gaze at or about (properly, for help); by implication, to inspect, consider, compassionate, be nonplussed (as looking around in amazement) or bewildered.” It is defining the result of following good and evil words; good from following, looking to, the LORD; or evil from following the vain words of corrupt men.
The word (sha’ah) is used fifteen times, the first two, in Genesis 4:4 & 5, saying the LORD had “respect” for Abel and had no “respect” for Cain.
Friends, the result of following men’s evil advice, is dismay. Their advice is blind and blinding confusion, without foresight, reacting to events (krisis – crisis, decision points) hoping to shape their outcome, and failing to reach their desired evil end. The LORD is the opposite, following with eyes wide open, knowing and trusting His leading, knowing He is working all things “together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.
34 Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD.
This point, following His leading, having faith in Him who now, again, says to us, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you. So that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”
When the above says our hearts are established with grace and not meats, it is referring us to Isaiah 1:11 & 12, and Hosea 6:6, which are necessary for understanding Isaiah 7 & 8 and how His grace and mercy come.
Isaiah 1
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? says the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths [when I interrupt for correcting], the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Your silver is become dross, your wine mixed with water:
23 Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loves gifts, and follows after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore says the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will turn my hand upon you, and purely purge away your dross, and take away all your tin:
26 And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning: afterward you shall be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Hosea 6
1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
4 O Ephraim [God’s people at large in this last day], what shall I do unto you? O Judah [the living elect remnant that haven’t been defiled by following corrupt leaders], what shall I do unto you? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goes away.
5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and your judgments are as the light that goes forth.
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
8 Gilead [the place where God’s word is heaped – heard] is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood [by adding their mire to His word, it now drains life from man and brings him to death].
9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man [robbing God’s People of His authorized/authentic word], so the company of priests murder in the way by consent [blindly agreeing that their ways are right and God’s are wrong]: for they commit lewdness.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah [God’s undefiled elect remnant], he has set a harvest for you, when I returned the captivity of my people.
Now, ask a sign from the LORD, either in heaven or earth, and if you choose, or not, you will see (have seen) the sign in the earth as in heaven, which is Immanuel. When mentioned in Isaiah 7, it’s to Ahaz, meaning it’s to those He, the LORD, has grasped (to pull {harpazo} them from the fires).
Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 10:2, calls us to hear the word of the LORD, who says, “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.” Verse 7, contrasting what is seen in heaven against the foolishness of the wise, the idol and false gods, of the world, says, “Who would not fear you, O King of nations? for to you does it appertain [it all pertains to the LORD revealing His presence]: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto you.”
Then, describing the sign seen in heaven, John, in Revelation 15:4 quote Jeremiah 10:7. He tells us this is after we, God’s elect remnant He has just described, in Revelation 14, saying the corrupted doctrine hasn’t defiled them, get the victory. He says there is no guile, deception, in their (our) mouth, and instead, we sing the new song, the same he describes, in Revelation 15:3, as the song of Moses and Lamb.
This singing comes (after we’ve gotten the victory) after the manifestation of the LORD’s judgments. John says it’s when we realize (when he looked and beheld) the sign is “the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened,” meaning God’s word reserved there, is released. This victory is, in Revelation 14:8, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
As we know, Babylon, meaning confusion (dismay), is the mark of the beast, confusion marking the ideas in the head, realized by their misleading words, and the works (in hand) they incite and inspire. Revelation 15:2 says these (ideas, words, and works of evil) are what the victory is over.
Jeremiah 10
1 Hear you the word which the LORD speaks unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus says the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs [‘owth – these signs] of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might [gbuwrah]. [Judges 5:31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might {gbuwrah}. And the land had rest forty years {shanah}. Micah 3:8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might {gbuwrah}, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Micah 7:16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might {gbuwrah}: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.]
7 Who would not fear you, O King of nations? for to you does it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto you.
8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish [from those who abandoned and fled their vow], and gold from Uphaz [whose desire is gold], the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
12 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
13 When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning [understanding] with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures [the cloud].
14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
17 Gather up your wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 For thus says the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps.
24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out your fury upon the heathen that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
Revelation 14
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.
12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the LORD from henceforth: Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in your sickle, and reap: for the time is come for you to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
Revelation 15
1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, LORD God Almighty; just and true are your ways, you King of saints.
4 Who shall not fear you, O LORD, and glorify your name? for you only are holy: for all nations shall come and worship before you; for your judgments are made manifest.
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Isaiah 7
11 Ask you a sign [‘owth] of the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
13 And he said, Hear you now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?
14 Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign [‘owth]; Behold, a virgin [those who haven’t been defiled by the corruption of men’s misleading] shall conceive, and bear a son [become God’s many children], and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings.
17 The LORD shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt [our captivity under our oppressors], and for the bee [the maker of honey] that is in the land of Assyria [their strength {honey} is in communism].
19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
20 In the same day shall the LORD shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river [their words of death], by the king of Assyria [the communists shall remove all growth], the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard [stop {censor} the word of God from being given or heard].
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man {I am, the LORD in me} shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter [the milk congealed, teaching brought together into understanding] and honey [true strength] shall every one eat that is left in the land.
23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and with bows shall men [the living] come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear [that pulls from the fires caused by the misleaders] of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen [the elect to do God’s work], and for the treading of lesser cattle.
Isaiah 8
…O Immanuel [into this God has manifested His presence, through this {His} word, His sound advice, which His people refuse to hear].
9 Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all you of far countries: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together [‘uwts], and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us [O Immanuel].
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way [derek] of this people, saying,
12 Say you not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid [as it is obvious is their objective, which they have now almost in totally accomplished].
13 Sanctify [separate yourselves to] the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary [the safety of those who do come to Him]; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem [because they stumble and are offended at this word].
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16 Bind up the [this] testimony, seal the law among my disciples [as in Revelation 7 where we are told of the elect remnant who have now been sealed].
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob [the houses of those who still unknowingly wrestle with God and His word – as many will continue, to their own destruction – 2 Peter 3:16 saying this is their perdition {apoleia}], and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs [‘owth] and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits [whose advice is the way to death], and unto wizards [this world’s so-called experts broad-casting spells] that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? [Should they be looking] for the living to the dead?
20 [Or] To the law and to the testimony[?]: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light [understanding] in them.
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
Isaiah 41
1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6 They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the chief men thereof, and said unto you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.
10 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with you: they that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13 For I the LORD your God will hold your right hand, saying unto you, Fear not; I will help you.
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, saith the LORD, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.
16 You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the LORD, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 Produce your cause, says the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination is he that chooses you.
Psalms 65
1 Praise waits for you, O God, in Zion: and unto you shall the vow be performed.
2 O you that hears prayer, unto you shall all flesh come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, you shall purge them away.
4 Blessed is the man whom you choose, and causes to approach unto you, that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
5 By terrible things in righteousness wilt you answer us, O God of our salvation; who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:
6 Which by his strength sets fast the mountains; being girded with power:
7 Which stills the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at your tokens [‘owth – signs]: you makes the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
9 You visit the earth, and water it: you greatly enriches it with the river of God, which is full of water: you prepare [kuwn] them corn, when you have so provided [kuwn] for it.
10 You water the ridges thereof abundantly: you settle the furrows thereof: you make it soft with showers: you bless the springing thereof.
11 You crown the year [shaneh – meaning, “a year (as a revolution of time)” at which the heathen are dismayed, sha’ah] with your goodness; and your paths drop fatness.
12 They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.
