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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on [to] power, They come nigh, then they speak, 'Together to judgment we draw near.' |
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| 2 Who stirred up from the east a righteous one He calleth him to His foot, He giveth before him nations, And kings He causeth him to rule, He giveth [them] as dust [to] his sword, As driven stubble [to] his bow. |
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| 3 He pursueth them, he passeth over in safety A path with his feet he entereth not. |
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| 4 Who hath wrought and done, Calling the generations from the first I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last I [am] He. |
The first, and with the last – God is the only one that should be recognized. Q361:1; CR276:5
All others go into forgetfulness. I will be the God eventually, in the end. Q361:1
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| 5 Seen have isles and fear, ends of the earth tremble, They have drawn near, yea, they come. |
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| 6 Each his neighbour they help, And to his brother he saith, 'Be strong.' |
Of good courage – A right kind of courage, a godly courage. R5330:1
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| 7 And strengthen doth an artizan the refiner, A smoother [with] a hammer, Him who is beating [on] an anvil, Saying, 'For joining it [is] good,' And he strengtheneth it with nails, it is not moved! |
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| 8 And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover, |
Abraham my friend – Being in heart accord with God, Abraham was granted a measure of covenant relationship. R4595:3
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| 9 Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou [art], I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee. |
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| 10 Be not afraid, for with thee I [am], Look not around, for I [am] thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness. |
Fear thou not – He who exercises much faith may have quietude. R5345:5
For I am with thee – We need this assurance to carry out the responsibilities of the Lord's service. R1652:1
Hand of my righteousness – With the power of his truth. R1307:6
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| 11 Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee. |
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| 12 Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee. |
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| 13 For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, 'Fear not, I have helped thee.' |
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| 14 Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. |
Thy redeemer – The Father. All that our Redeemer has done for us has been the carrying out of the Plan of Jehovah. R4085:3
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| 15 Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest. |
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| 16 Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself. |
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| 17 The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel I forsake them not. |
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| 18 I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water. |
I will open rivers – Now commencing to be fulfilled. R1379:6*
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| 19 I give in a wilderness the cedar, Shittah, and myrtle, and oil-tree, I set in a desert the fir-pine and box-wood together. |
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| 20 So that they see, and know, And regard, and act wisely together, For the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And the Holy One of Israel hath prepared it. |
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| 21 Bring near your cause, saith Jehovah, Bring nigh your mighty ones, saith the king of Jacob. |
Produce your cause – To scoffers we say: Account for the peculiar fitness of the testimony of the "stone witness" by your worldly wisdom. C374
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| 22 They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things what they [are] declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear. |
Let them – The fallen angels. R2172:6
Shew us what shall happen – Scoffers: Venture to prophesy of the future and see how well your prophecies will result. C374
The former things – Things before, or to come. R2172:6
Things for to come – Scoffers: Prove that it requires no inspiration to foretell future events. C374
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| 23 Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye [are] gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see [it] together. |
That ye are gods – Mighty ones. C374; R2172:6
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| 24 Lo, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of nought, An abomination it fixeth on you. |
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| 25 I have stirred up [one] from the north, And he cometh, From the rising of the sun he calleth in My name, And he cometh in [on] prefects as [on] clay, And as a potter treadeth down mire. |
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| 26 Who hath declared from the first, and we know And beforetime, and we say, 'Righteous ' yea, there is none declaring, Yea, there is none proclaiming, Yea, there is none hearing your sayings. |
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| 27 First to Zion, Behold, behold them, And to Jerusalem one proclaiming tidings I give, |
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| 28 And I see that there is no man, Yea, of these that there is no counsellor, And I ask them, and they return word: |
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| 29 'Lo, all of them [are] vanity, Nought [are] their works, Wind and emptiness their molten images!' |
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