1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
5 Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
15 For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
<html><b>The heavens are My throne</b> I do not need your Temple. <b>which is the house</b> that is fitting for My Shechinah.</html>
<html><b>And all these</b> The heavens and the earth, and for this reason I confined My Shechinah among you when you obeyed Me, for so is My wont, to look at one poor and of crushed spirit, who hastens to do My bidding. But now, I have no desire for you, for whoever slaughters an ox, has smitten its owner and robbed him of it. Therefore, whoever slaughters a lamb seems to Me as one who beheads a dog, and whoever offers up a meal offering is before Me like swine blood, and מַזְכִּיר, he who burns incense. Comp. (Lev. 5:12) “its memorial part (אַזְכָּרָתָהּ).” Also (ibid. 24:7), “and it shall be for the bread as a memorial (לְאַזְכָּרָה).”</html>
<html><b>brings a gift of violence</b> Heb. מְבָרֵךְ, blesses Me with a gift of violence, brings a gift of violence. This is its explanation, and the expression of בְּרָכָה applies to a gift that is for a reception. Comp. (Gen. 33: 11) “Please take my gift (בִּרְכָתִי).” Also (supra 36:16), “Make peace (בְרָכָה) with me and come out to me.” <b>they, too, chose their ways</b> They desire these evil ways, and I, too, will choose and desire their mockeries. Now if you ask the meaning of גַּם, too, so is the style of the Hebrew language to say twice גַּם one next to the other. Comp. (Deut. 32:25) “Both a young man and a virgin (גַּם בָּחוּר גַּם בְּתוּלָה)”; (I Kings 3:26) “neither mine nor yours (גַּם לִי גַּם לָךְ)”; (Ecc. 9:1) “neither love nor hate (גַּם אַהֲבָה גַּם שִׂנְאָה)”; (Num. 18:3) “and neither they nor you shall die (גַּם הֵם גַּם אַתֶּם).” Here, too, both they chose and I will choose.</html>
<html><b>their mockeries</b> Heb. בְּתַעֲלוּלֵיהֶם, to mock them, an expression like (ibid. 22:29) “For you mocked (הִתְעַלַּלְתְּ) me.” <b>and their fears</b> What they fear. <b>since I called</b> Hearken and return to Me. <b>and no one answered</b> saying, “I heard.”</html>
<html><b>who quake at His word</b> The righteous who hasten with quaking to draw near to His words. <b>Your brethren…said</b> The transgressors of Israel mentioned above. Another explanation: <b>Your brethren… who cast you out, said</b> Who said to you (Lam. 4:15), “Turn away, unclean one.” <b>who hate you, who cast you out</b> Who say (supra 65:5), “Keep to yourself, do not come near me.” [Because of the confusion, we quote other readings. Some manuscripts, as well as K’li Paz, read:] <b>Your brethren… said</b> The transgressors of Israel mentioned above. <b>who hate you, who cast you out</b> who say (supra 65: 5), “Keep to yourself, do not come near me.” Another explanation: <b>Your brethren…said</b> The children of Esau. <b>who cast you out</b> Who said to you (Lam. 4:15), “Turn away, unclean one.” <b>For the sake of my name, the Lord shall be glorified</b> With our greatness, the Holy One, blessed be He, is glorified, for we are closer to Him than you are. <b>but we will see your joy</b> The prophet says, But it is not so as their words, for “we will see your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” Why? For sound a sound of their stirring has come before the Holy One, blessed be He, from what they did in His city, and a sound emanates from His Temple and accuses those who destroyed it, and then the voice of the Lord, recompensing His enemies.</html>
<html><b>When she has not yet travailed</b> When Zion has not yet travailed with birth pangs, she has borne her children; that is to say that her children will gather into her midst, which was desolate and bereft of them, and it is as though she bore them now without birth pangs, for all the nations will bring them into her midst. <b>she has been delivered of a male child</b> Heb. וְהִמְלִיטָה. Any emerging of an embedded thing is called הַמְלָטָה. And הַמְלָטָה is esmoucer, or eschamocier in O.F., to allow to escape.</html>
<html><b>Is a land born in one day?</b> Can a pain come to a woman in confinement to bear a land full of sons in one day?</html>
<html><b>Will I bring to the birth stool and not cause to give birth</b> Will I bring a woman to the birth stool and not open her womb to bring out her fetus? That is to say, Shall I commence a thing and not be able to complete it? Am I not the One Who causes every woman in confinement to give birth, and now will I shut the womb? This is a question.</html>
<html><b>from the breast</b> Heb. מִשֹּׁד, an expression of breasts (שָׁדַיִם). <b>you drink deeply</b> Heb. תָּמֹצּוּ, sucer in French, to suck. <b>from her approaching glory</b> Heb. מִזִּיז. From the great glory that is moving and coming nearer to her. זִיז means esmoviment in O.F., movement.</html>
<html><b>and like a flooding stream</b> I extend to her the wealth of the nations. <b>on the side</b> On the sides of your nurses, [in Aramaic,] גִּסְסִין. <b>you shall be dandled</b> You shall be dandled as they dandle an infant. Esbanier in O.F.</html>
<html><b>and the hand of the Lord shall be known</b> When He wreaks His vengeance and His awesome acts, His servants shall know the strength of the might of His hand.</html>
<html><b>shall come with fire</b> With the fury of fire He shall come upon the wicked. <b>to render</b> Heb. לְהָשִׁיב, [lit. to return] to His adversaries with fury His anger.</html>
<html><b>For with fire</b> of Gehinnom will the Lord contend with His adversaries, and since He is the plaintiff and the judge, the expression of contending is appropriate for Him, for He, too, presents His claim to find their iniquity and their transgression. Comp. (Ezekiel 38:22) “And I will contend with him (וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי)”; (Jer. 2:35) “Behold, I contend with you.” It is an expression of debate. Derajjsner in O.F. [And its simple meaning is: For with the fire of the Lord and with His sword, all flesh shall be judged. Similarly, there are many inverted verses in Scriptures.]</html>
<html><b>Those who prepare themselves</b> Heb. הַמִּתְקַדְּשִׁים. Those who prepare themselves, “Let you and me go on such-and-such a day to worship such-and-such an idol.” <b>to the gardens</b> where they plant vegetables, and there they would erect idols. <b>[one] after one</b> As Jonathan renders: a company after a company. They prepare themselves and purify themselves to worship, one company after its fellow has completed its worship. <b>in the middle</b> In the middle of the garden. Such was their custom to erect it.</html>
<html><b>And I - their deeds and their thoughts have come etc.</b> And I What am I to do? Their deeds and their thoughts have come to Me. And that forces Me to gather all the heathens (nations [Mss. and K’li Paz]), and to let them know that their deeds are vanity and the thoughts they are thinking, “For the sake of my name, the Lord shall be glorified,” let them understand that it is false. And where is the gathering? It is the gathering that Zechariah prophesied (14:2): “And I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem.” <b>and they shall see My glory</b> When I wage war with them with the plague of the following description (ibid. 14:12): “Their flesh shall disintegrate…and their eyes…and their tongue.”</html>
<html><b>And I will place a sign upon them etc.</b> Refugees will survive the war, and I will allow them to remain in order to go to report to the distant islands My glory that they saw in the war, and also upon those refugees I will place one of the signs with which their colleagues were punished, in order to let the distant ones know that with this plague, those who gathered about Jerusalem were smitten.</html>
<html><b>and with covered wagons</b> Heb. וּבַצַּבִּים. These are wagons equipped with partitions and a tent. Comp. (Num. 7:3) “Six covered wagons (עֶגְלוֹתצָב).” <b>and with joyous songs</b> Heb. וּבַכִּרְכָּרוֹת. With a song of players and dancers. Comp. (II Sam. 6:14) “And David danced (מְכַרְכֵּר),” treper in O.F. [Menahem (p. 109) explains it as an expression meaning a lamb. Comp. (supra 16:1) “Send lambs (כַּר) of the ruler of the land.”] <b>as…bring</b> an offering in a pure vessel for acceptance, so will they bring your brethren as an acceptable offering.</html>
<html><b>And from them too</b> From the peoples bringing them and from those brought, I will take priests and Levites, for they are now assimilated among the heathens (nations [Mss. and K’li Paz]) under coercion, and before Me the priests and the Levites among them are revealed, and I will select them from among them, and they shall minister before Me, said the Lord. Now where did He say it? (Deut. 29:28) “The hidden things are for the Lord our God.” In this manner it is explained in the Aggadah of Psalms (87:6).</html>
<html><b>their worm</b> The worm that consumes their flesh. <b>and their fire</b> in Gehinnom. <b>and abhorring</b> Heb. דֵרָאוֹן, an expression of contempt. Jonathan, however, renders it as two words: enough (דֵּי) seeing (רְאִיָה), until the righteous say about them, We have seen enough.</html>