John Calvin on Isaiah 32:20

20. Blessed are ye. He shews how great will be the change, when Christ shall begin to reign; for he had formerly said that so great would be the desolation, that “thorns and briers” would overspread the holy land, costly houses would be thrown down, and cities and palaces would be levelled with the earth. This would happen, when the incessant attacks of enemies should lay that country desolate. But now he says that they shall be blessed, because God will give them abundant produce of all fruits. That fertility which might have been described in simple language, he illustrates by figures, that they shall “sow in marshes,” and shall “send forth their cattle” into the fields without dread of losing them.

By waters some understand a rich and fertile soil; but the universal particle כל, (chōl,) all, leads me to take a different view; as if he had said, “Places which were overrun with waters shall be fit for sowing, and there will be no reason to fear that the water shall spoil our fields.” We are accustomed also to drive away oxen, and asses, and other animals, from fields, and especially from sown fields, that they may not eat the corn. But here he says that the corn will grow so thick and plentifully, that it shall be necessary to send oxen and asses to crop the early blade, as is commonly done when the corn is luxuriant. {Bogus footnote}

He calls them blessed, in accordance with the usage of the Hebrew language, because their labor will never be unprofitable. If it be objected that, under the reign of Christ, such fertility has never been seen, I acknowledge that, even when God has shewn the highest kindness to his people, still there have always been visible marks of the curse, which was entailed on mankind by the fall and revolt of Adam. (Genesis 3:17.) But since Christ has restored to believers the inheritance of the world, with good reason do the prophets assert that he would renew the earth, so as to remove its filthiness and restore that beauty which it had lost. They who complain that it is not yet fulfilled, ought to consider whether or not they themselves are purified from every stain of sin. And if they are still at a great distance from spiritual righteousness, let them be satisfied with enjoying the blessing of God according to the measure of regeneration, the full enjoyment of which we must not expect to obtain, till, freed from the pollution of the flesh, we shall bear the perfect image of God.

A TRANSLATION OF

CALVIN’S VERSION OF

THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH

CHAPTERS 1—16

CHAPTER 1

1 The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Hear, O heavens, And hearken, O earth, For thus the Lord speaketh: I have nourished and brought up children; Yet they have acted wickedly towards me. Or, Have rebelled against me; or, Have revolted against me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his masters crib; Israel doth not know; My people doth not understand.

4 O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, Seed of evil-doers, degenerate children! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have despised Or, Have provoked to anger. the Holy One of Israel, They are estranged backwards.

5 Why should I strike you any more? Ye will add faithlessness. The whole head is sickness, And the whole heart is faintness.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head There is no soundness in it; A wound, a swelling, And a purifying sore; And they have not been plastered, nor bound up, Nor softened with ointment.

7 Your country is desolation; Your cities are burnt with fire; Your land do strangers devour in your presence, It is reduced to solitude, like the destruction of foreigners.

8 And the daughter of Zion shall be left, As a cottage in a vineyard, As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, As a city laid waste.

9 Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant, We should have been as Sodom, And like Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom! Give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah! Of what value to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Saith the Lord.

11 I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, And of the fat of fed beasts; And in the blood of oxen, or of sheep, or of he-goats, I delight not.

12 When you come that you may appear before my face, Who hath required this at your hand? Even to tread my courts.

13 Do not continue to bring an offering of vanity. Incense is an abomination to me. The new-moon, And the sabbath, And the yearly assemblies, I cannot endure, (It is a vain thing,) Nor the assembly.

14 Your new-moons And your yearly festivals My soul hateth; They have been a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Even though you multiply prayer, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean; Take away the wickedness of your practices from before mine eyes; Cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well: Seek judgment, restore Or, Guide. the oppressed; Plead for the orphan, defend the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, Hath the Lord said: If your sins be as scarlet, They shall be white as snow; If they be red like purple, They shall be as wool.

19 If ye shall be willing and shall hearken, Ye shall eat the good of the land.

20 But if ye shall refuse and rebel, Ye shall be consumed by the sword; For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! She was full of judgment, And righteousness lodged by night Or, Dwelt. in her; But now murderers.

22 Thy silver is become dross, And thy wine is mixed with water.

23 Thy princes are rebellious, And are companions of thieves; Every one loveth a gift, And seeketh eagerly for rewards. They judge not the cause of the fatherless, Nor doth the cause of the widow come to them.

24 Therefore saith the Lord, Or, The Governor. Jehovah of hosts, The mighty One of Israel; Alas! I will take consolation on mine adversaries, I will be avenged of mine enemies.

25 I will turn my hand upon thee; I will purely purge away thy dross, And I will take away all thy tin.

26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, And thy counsellors as at the beginning. Then shall it be said of thee, The city of righteousness, The faithful city.

27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, And they who shall be brought back to her with righteousness.

28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, And they who have revolted from the Lord shall be consumed.

29 Yea, they shall be ashamed Of the trees which ye have desired, And they shall be covered with disgrace By the groves which ye have chosen.

30 Ye shall surely be as a tree whose leaf fadeth, And as a grove that hath no water.

31 And your strong man Otherwise, Your god. shall be as tow, And the maker of it as a spark; And they shall both be burnt, And there shall be none to quench them.

CHAPTER 2

1 The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah And Jerusalem.

2 And it shall come to pass in the last of the days, That the mountain of the house of Jehovah Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.

3 And many peoples shall come, and shall say, Come, and we shall go up To the mountain of Jehovah, To the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us in his ways, And we shall walk in his paths; For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 And he will judge among the nations, And will rebuke many peoples: And they shall beat their swords into spades, And their spears into pruning-hooks; And nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they practise war any more.

5 O house of Jacob, come ye, And we shall walk in the light of the Lord.

6 Verily thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob; Because they are filled with the east Or, With antiquity.

And with soothsayers, like the Philistines; And they have delighted in the children of foreigners.

7 Their land is full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures. Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end to their chariots.

8 Their land is also full of idols, And they have bowed down Before the work of their own hands, Before that which their fingers have made.

9 And the man of low degree boweth down, And the man of rank humbleth himself; Therefore do not thou forgive them. Or, Thou wilt not forgive them.

10 Enter into the rock, Hide thee in the dust, From before the fear of the Lord And the glory of his majesty.

11 The loftiness of the eyes of men shall be humbled, And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; And Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.

12 For the day of Jehovah of hosts shall be On every one that is proud and lofty, And on all that is lifted up, And it shall be brought low.

13 Even on all the cedars of Lebanon high and lifted up, On all the oaks of Bashan,

14 And on all the lofty mountains, And on all the high hills,

15 And on every lofty tower, And on every fortified wall;

16 On all the ships of Tarshish, And on delightful pictures.

17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be humbled; And Jehovah alone shall be exalted on that day.

18 And he will utterly abolish the idols.

19 And they shall enter into caverns of the rocks, And into clefts of the earth, From the presence of the terror of Jehovah, And from the glory of his majesty, When he shall arise to shake the earth.

20 In that day shall a man cast away His idols of silver, And his idols of gold, Which they made for him to worship, Into the cavern of the moles and of the bats;

21 And they shall enter into the clefts of the rocks, And into the tops of the ragged rocks, From before the fear of the Lord, And from the glory of his majesty, When he shall arise to shake the earth.

22 Cease then from man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For in what respect Or, To what? or, How much? is he valued?

CHAPTER 3

1 For, behold, the Governor, Jehovah of hosts, Will take away from Jerusalem and Judah The stay and the strength; The whole stay of bread; The whole stay of water;

2 The strong man and the man of war, The judge and the prophet, And the diviner and the elder;

3 The captain of fifty, and the man of rank, The senator, and the skilful artificer, and the eloquent. Or, Skilled in mysterious style.

4 And I will appoint boys to be their rulers, And babes shall rule over them.

5 The people shall violently oppress each other, A man his neighbour; The youth shall behave insolently towards the old man, The despicable towards the honourable.

6 When every man shall take hold of his brother Of the family of his father, saying, Thou hast raiment; Be thou our ruler; Let this ruin be under thy hand;

7 He shall swear in that day, saying, I will not be a healer; For in my house is neither bread nor raiment; Therefore make me not a ruler of the people.

8 Verily Jerusalem is ruined, And Judah is fallen; Because their tongue And their practices are against Jehovah, To provoke the eyes of his glory.

9 The proof of their countenance answereth in them; Or, Against them.

They have declared their sin, as Sodom, And have not hid it. Wo to their soul! For they have brought evil on them.

10 Say ye to the righteous man, It shall be well; For they shall eat the fruit of their hands.

11 Wo to the wicked man! It shall be ill; For according to the works of his hands Shall it be rewarded to him.

12 Of my people children are oppressors, And women rule over them. O my people! They who govern thee lead thee astray, And pervert the way of thy paths.

13 Jehovah standeth to plead, And standeth up to judge the people.

14 Jehovah will enter into judgment With the elders of his people, And with their rulers; And ye have destroyed the vineyard, And the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

15 What mean ye that ye crush my people, And grind the faces of the poor? Saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

16 Jehovah also saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with stretched-forth neck, And with wandering eyes, And walk and mince as they go, And make a tinkling with their feet.

17 Therefore will the Lord make bald The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the Lord will expose their shame.

18 In that day will the Lord take away Ornaments that tinkled, or were made of net-work, or like a half-moon,

19 Perfumes, bracelets, and head-hands;

20 Bonnets, ornaments of the legs, Chaplets, neck-amulets, and ear-rings;

21 Rings and nose-jewels,

22 Changeable dresses, mantles, Upper garments, and hair-ties,

23 Mirrors and fine linens, Hoods and veils.

24 And instead of a sweet odour there shall be rottenness, And instead of a girdle, a rent, And instead of curled locks, baldness; Instead of a belt, a girdle of sackcloth, Instead of beauty, burning.

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, And thy might in the battle.

26 Her gates shall lament and mourn, And she, desolate, shall sit on the ground.

CHAPTER 4

1 In that day, therefore, shall seven women Take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, We will wear our own raiment; Only let thy name be called on us, Or, Let us be called by thy name.

And take thou away our reproach.

2 In that day shall the branch of Jehovah Be for beauty and glory, And the fruit of the earth Be for excellence and comeliness, To the escaped of Israel.

3 And it shall come to pass That he who shall be left in Zion, And shall remain in Jerusalem, Shall be called holy, And all shall be enrolled Among the living Or, To life. at Jerusalem.

4 When the Lord shall have washed away The filth of the daughter of Zion, And shall have cleansed the blood of Jerusalem From the midst of her, Both by the Spirit of judgment, And by the Spirit of burning.

5 And Jehovah will create On every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, And on all her assemblies, A cloud and darkness by day, And the brightness of a flaming fire by night; For on all the glory shall be a defence.

6 And a covering shall be by day For a shadow from the heat, and for refuge, And for a covert from storm and from rain.

CHAPTER 5

1 Come, I will sing for my beloved A song of my beloved to his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard On a hill, the son of oil.

2 He fenced it, and gathered out the stones, And planted it as a choice vine; He reared a tower in the midst of it, And built a wine-press in it: He therefore hoped that it would yield grapes, And it yieldeth wild grapes.

3 Now then, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, And man of Judah, Judge ye between me and my vineyard.

4 What more ought to have been done to my vineyard, Which I have not done