Quaker Bible Index: Isa 29-30

29:1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, $ [G: Ah altar, altar of the] the city where David dwelt [G: that David dwelt in] ! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices [G: sacrifices] . qtext

29:2 Yet I will distress Ariel [G: But I will bring the altar into distress] , and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel [G: like an altar] .

29:3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. [G 29:3 And I will besiege thee as a circle, and fight against thee on a mount, and will cast up ramparts against thee.]

29:4 And thou shalt be brought down [G: So shalt thou be humbled] , and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low [G: as] out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground [G: also shall be out of the ground like him that hath a spirit of divination] , and thy speech [G: talking] shall whisper out of the dust. qtext

[29:5-8 omitted]

29:9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry [G: they are blind, and make you blind] : they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep [G: covered you with a spirit of slumber] , and hath closed [G: shut up] your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the [G: chief] seers hath he covered. qtext

[Isa 29:10G, cf Rom 11:8]

29:11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned [G: can read] , saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith [G: Then shall he say] , I cannot; for it is sealed: qtext

29:12 And the book is delivered to [G: given unto] him that is not learned [G: cannot read;] , saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith [GL: shall say] , I am not learned [G: cannot read] .

(Isa 29:1f)

IP2:48 (1660): There is an appearance and building of God in the spirits of his people, which is to give way to, and be swallowed up in, a fuller and higher appearnce. But the fleshly spirit, getting into this building, will not give way to the further and more inward and spiritual appearance of the Spirit, but will have the first building stand as the building, and will entertain no further apperance of God, than as it can comprehend it, subject it, and afford it a place in the first building. Hereupon God distresseth Ariel, even the city which David built [Isa 29:1f] (saying within his heart: surely "that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted will I pluck up [Jer 45:4], so he causeth the overflowing scourge to pass [Isa 28:15], even over thy whole land, O Emanuel").

(Isa 29:4)

EQ 131 (William Robinson [hanged in Boston], 1659): soon after we were come to the Bar before them, John Endicott called to the keeper of the prison to pull off our hats, which was done accordingly. Then did John Endicott begin to speak unto us as a man out of the dust [Isa 29:4], whose life is departing from him, so faintly did he utter his words unto us....

(Isa 29:10)

DGA 104 (1986): As the Word of God, [Christ] is the author of the outward words of scripture, through the inward inspiration of Moses and the prophets. Yet he is not recognized either as the author or fulfiller of scripture by the Jewish authorities, becasue their minds are gone into the outward words of the law: "and owning not the life of the law, they owned not Christ when he came ... but were blind, and so Isaiah's words [Isa 29:10] came to be fulfilled, which were spoken forth from the life...." [GF4:78]

(Isa 29:11f)

IP4:63 (1671): Query 4. Is not the whole vision of God, the whole vision of life, the whole vision of peace, a book sealed to all sorts (both learned and unlearned [Isa 29:11f] in every age and generation), but those to whom the Lord unseals it?

29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as [G: Because] this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: qtext

[Isa 29:13 LXX (And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.): cf Mat 15:8f, Mark 7:6f; Col 2:22]

29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to [G: again] do a marvellous work among [G: in] this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. qtext

[Isa 29:15 LXX (Therefore behold I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them: and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent.): cf 1 Cor 1:19]

29:15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark [G: darkness] , and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? qtext

29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall [G: Your turning of devices shall it not] be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed [G: formed] say of him that framed [G: fashioned] it, He had no understanding?

[Isa 29:16: cf Isa 45:9, Rom 9:20]

(Isa 29:13)

DGA 173 (1986, continued from under 1 Cor 14:15 ): [Fox's] critique of aesthetics in worship is clearly in the prophetic tradition, as succinctly stated by Amos: "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream" (Amos 5:23f). Artistic inspiration must not be equated with the Spirit of Christ. To sing in the spirit [1 Cor 14:15] may not sound graceful to the world's ears, but if one does not sing "with the grace that comes from Jesus," [GFNJ 35], then one will eventually be found honoring God with the lips while the heart is far off (Isa 29:13). Beautiful choirs and magnificent pipe organs, like sounding brass and tinkling cymbal [1 Cor 13:1] in another era, may seductively displace the crucial experience of God's world- transforming love.

[Other texts citing Isa 29:13: GF4:177 (Isa 10:6), S: JN1:274 (Mat 15:9), JN3:65 (Rom 8:14). IP3:313 (Rev 14:6f), IP3:387 (Isa 33:6)]

GF3:558 (1659): And do ye not take the Lord's name in vain [Exo 20:7] daily in your streets and markets, in your buying and selling? And do you not take the Lord's name in vain, when you call upon him with your lips, but your hearts are in your covetous practices [Isa 29:13], and full of hatred, envy, pride, voluptuousness, ambition, self-honour, and deceit?

IP2:188f (1661): that man who is of a profane spirit, or comes easily by his religion, even by the wisdom, industry, and parts of a man, and not by the gift of God, and is exercised in that fear of God which is taught by the precepts of men [Isa 29:13], but knoweth not that fear which God puts in the heart (from whence the true religion and worship springs), either of these may be drawn to persecute; yea, indeed, it will be hard for either of them to abstain therefrom.

(Isa 29:14)

[Other texts citing Isa 29:14: GFJN 17 (Jas 3:15), GF5:245 (1 Cor 1:19), JN1:197 (Isa 26:18), IP1:232 (Rom 9:33)]

(Isa 29:15)

[Other texts citing Isa 29:15: MFU 16 (Luk 21:19)]

29:17 Is it not yet a very [G: but a] little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field [G: Carmel? and Carmel] shall be esteemed [G: counted] as a forest?

29:18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

29:19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD [G: in the Lord shall receive joy again] , and the poor among [G omits] men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. qtext

29:20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: [G 29:20 For the cruel man shall cease, and the scornful shall be consumed: and all that hasted to iniquity, shall be cut off:]

29:21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. [G 29:21 Which made a man to sin in the word, and took him in a snare: which reproved them in the gate, and made the just to fall without cause.] qtext

29:22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham [G omits] , concerning [G: unto] the house of Jacob [G: even he that redeemed Abraham] : Jacob shall not now be ashamed[G: confounded], neither shall his face now wax [G: now shall his face be] pale.

29:23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

29:24 They also [G: Then they] that erred in spirit shall come to [G: have] understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. qtext

(Isa 29:19)

HPS 427 (Elizabeth Bathurst, 1679): You meek and harmless ones, you shall increase your joy in the Lord [Isa 29:19], and shall inherit the earth, and delight yourselves in abundance of peace [Psa 37:11; Mat 5:5]....

(Isa 29:21)

[Other texts citing Isa 29:21: GF4:52 (1 Pet 2:14), MFU 38 (Rom 8:8)]

GF7:18 (1651): And all take heed to your spirits; that which is hasty, discerns not the good seed. Take heed of being corrupted by flatteries; they that know their God, shall be strong [Dan 11:32]. But take heed of labouring to turn the just aside for a thing of nought [Isa 29:21], but know the precious from the vile [Jer 15:19], the clean from the unclean [Lev 10:10]; ''These shall be as my mouth,'' [Jer 15:19] saith the Lord, for his work is great, and his gifts diverse [1 Cor 12:4].

JN2:43 (1655): Thou tells of magistrates to be nursing fathers [Isa 49:23]: I say, ... the thing they are to nurse is justice, righteousness, and a pure conscience, bearing witness againsst all sin, but what is nursed when snares are laid for them that reprove sin in the gate [Isa 29:21], and for that alone are thei beat and imprisoned, whipped, and their blood shed, when fighters, drunkards, and swearers, and such like are sent free here; that is nursed which God hath cursed, which the sword of the Lord is a terror to [cf Rom 13:3f], and dreadful will be the account of such magistrates when that which they have nursed riseth to judgment.

HPS 105 ("7000 Handmaids of the Lord," women's petitions against tithes, 1659; petition from Gloucestershire): To do equity, to take off this unequal maintenance of the teachers, which do take of people whom they do no work for, who swallows down the needy for a thing of nought [Amos 8:4/Isa 29:21]....

(Isa 29:24)

usually occurs as phrase "erred from the Spirit"

[Other texts citing Isa 29:24: MFS 32 (John 3:5f)]

GF4:257 (1664): Inspiration and revelation, while their minds are erred from the spirit [Isa 29:24] of God in themselves, are hid from them.

GF8:57 (1674): there is but one spirit of truth, which leadeth into all truth [John 16:13]; and this is the one spirit that led the prophets and apostles to give forth the scriptures; and all the instructers that are out of it, cause people to err from the spirit [Isa 29:24?] that the prophets and apostles were in, and so are in confusion.

IP3:44f (1667): Oh! read and consider, that ye who have stumbled and murmured against the truth may stumble or murmur no more, but now at length receive the pure and precious doctrine thereof [Isa 29:24]....

30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to [G: lay sin upon ] sin: qtext

30:2 That walk [G: Which walk forth] to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! qtext

30:3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh [G: But the strength of Pharaoh shall] be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

30:4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.

30:5 They were all ashamed of a [G: shall be all ashamed of the] people that could not [G: cannot] profit them, nor be an help nor profit [G: help nor do them good] , but [G: +shall be] a shame, and also a reproach.

(Isa 30:1)

DGA 151 (1986): The message of early Quaker preaching ... echoes the prophetic call to the people for a direct knowledge of God's will. It pronounces God's indictment against those who have not taken the counsel of the Lord. They are clothed, like Adam and Eve, in their own works, not in God's Spirit; this is why they "add sin to sin" (Isa 30:1).

[Other texts citing Isa 30:1: GF3:148 (Isa 20:2-4), GF4:283 (John 3:5), GF7:35 (Mat 13:26), MFU 470f (Mat 6:28-31), JN1:232 (Luk 13:7), JN1:291 (Isa 8:10) HPS 404f (John 1:48), WPR 623 (Mat 7:29)]

HPS 51 (Sarah Blackborow, 1658): ...bless not yourselves while you are adding sin to sin [Isa 30:1], and drunkenness to thirst [Deu 29:19], living in pride and all manner of ungodliness, suffering every spirit which proceeds from that nature which is accursed, to act and bring forth its fruits in you....

JWJM 175n (1772): To depart from the counsel of Truth is evil. To take counsel and not of God [Isa 30:1] is exceeding dangerous. To do business because the urgency of our affairs demands it, when we feel it is against the purity of Truth, is to go on in that which like Ephraim mixeth amongst the nations [Hos 7:8].

(Isa 30:2f)

GFJN 358 (1659): And all Friends everywhere, dwell in your own, in the power of the Lord God, to keep your minds up to the Lord God, from falling down to the strength of Egypt, and going there for strength, after ye are come out of it [Isa 30:2f], like the children of Israel after they were come out of outward Egypt.

30:6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the [G: in a] land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry [G: against them that shall bear] their riches upon the shoulders of young asses [G: colts] , and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them [G: cannot profit] . qtext

30:7 For the Egyptians [G: +are vanity, and] shall help in vain, and to no purpose [G omits] : therefore have I cried concerning this [G: to her] , Their strength is to sit still. qtext

30:8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come [G: last day] for ever and ever:

30:9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:

30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth [G: flattering] things, prophesy deceits [G: errors] : qtext

30:11 Get you [G: Depart] out of the way, turn [G: go] aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before [G omits] us.

(Isa 30:6)

JN2:265 (unsigned, 1655): Scum off the filth [Ezek 24:11], and come from under the thick clay which ye are laden withal [Hab 2:6]. Ease yourselves of that burden; the beasts of the south [Isa 30:6] are great, which goeth on as the ox to the slaughter [Prov 7:22], to whom the word of the Lord is a sword [Heb 4:12], hammer, and fire [Jer 23:29].

(Isa 30:7)

GF7:52 (1653): And your strength is, to stand still [Isa 30:7], that ye may receive refreshings; that ye may know, how to wait, and how to walk before God, by the spirit of God within you.

(Isa 30:10)

GF5:240 (1676): Now in the time of the prophets, they that were in the form and not in the power [2 Tim 3:5] did forbid the prophet to prophesy, who said unto the seers, "see not," and to the prophets, "prophesy not unto us right things," Isa 30:10, "but speak flattering things unto us [Isa 30:10G]": and there are too many of those speakers nowadays, that cannot abide true prophecy, that will run and speak, and the Lord never sent them [Jer 14:14],... and such as prophesy right things they cannot abide.

30:12 Wherefore [G: Therefore] thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise [G: have cast off] this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness [G: violence and wickedness] , and stay thereon:

30:13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out [G: that falleth, or a swelling] in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant [G: a moment] .

30:14 And he shall break it as [G: the breaking thereof is like] the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it [G: pot which is broken without pity, and in the breaking thereof is not found] a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal [G omits] out of the pit. qtext

30:15 For thus saith [G: said] the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest [G: rest and quietness] shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and [G: but] ye would not.

30:16 But ye [G: For ye have] said, No;for [G: but] we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift [G: swiftest] ; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift [G: your persecuters be swifter] .

30:17 One [G: A] thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon [G: ship mast] upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on [G: a beacon upon] an hill. qtext

30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto [G: have mercy upon] you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy [G: compassion] upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. qtext

(Isa 30:14)

GFJN 355f (1659) Another Friend was moved to go to the Parliament that was envious against Friends and to take a pitcher in her hand and break it to pieces, and tell them so should they be broken to pieces [Isa 30:14], which came to pass presently after.

(Isa 30:17)

[DGA 70, see under Isa 11:10]

(Isa 30:18)

[Other texts citing Isa 30:18: IP1:370 (Luk 9:54-56), HPS 51 (Isa 26:11) HPS 394f (Mat 23:37), HPS 468 (Isa 14:23)]

RBA 133, RBAF 96 (1678, V/VI.19): From this day of visitation that God hath given to everyone, is it that he is said to "wait to be gracious" (Isa 30:18) and to be "long-suffering" (Exod 34:6, Num 14:18, Psa 86:15, Jer 15:15).

(Isa 30:20)

[Other texts citing Isa 30:20: SIW 55 (John 7:46)]

RBA 297 (1678, XI.6): ...this silent waiting upon God ... was not preached, nor can be so practised, but by such as find no outward ceremony, no observations, no words, yea not the best and purest words, even the words of Scripture, able to satisfy their weary and afflicted souls; because where all these may be, the life, power, and virtue which make such things effectual may be wanting. Such, I say, were necessitated to cease from all outwards and to be silent before the Lord, and being directed to that inward principle of Life and Light in themselves as the most excellent teacher, which "can never be removed into a corner" [Isa 30:20], came thereby to be learned to wait upon God in the measure of life and grace received from him, and to cease from their own forward words and actings in the natural willing and comprehension and feel after this inward Seed of Life; that, as it moveth, they may move with it and be acted by its power and influenced, whether to pray, preach or sing.

HPS 131 (Esther Biddle, 1662): Oh, you rulers and judges of these nations! Do you think to overcome us or make us yield by keeping them in prison, which you think are our teachers, and ring- leaders [Acts 24:5]? Nay, Christ is our Teacher, and he cannot be removed into a corner [Isa 30:20], who is the Ancient of Days [Dan 7:9], and will cause us to increase daily; and to grow as calves in the stall [Mal 4:2]....

SBD 61 (1750): Keep close to thy gift, forbearing to appear in the ministry if thee feels any tincture of sourness or resentment; but wait in silence until all that is purged out and taken away by the prevailing power of love in Chirst Jesus, that so the ministry of reconciliation [2 Cor 5:18] from him may fill thy mind. And in this, as thee is kept and preserved, thee will through patience overcome all that may oppose thee. Thus will thee, by divine aid, be able to turn thy water (which has been afflicting [Isa 30:20]) into wine [John 2:1-11], and thy way will be opened, all objections removed, and some whom thee may have looked upon as enemies may appear now thy best friends, who have watched over thee for good [Jer 44:27].

(Isa 30:20f)

[Other texts citing Isa 30:20f: GF4: 148 (DGA 72 (Isa 30:21) MFS 40 (Isa 8:16), MFU 346 (John 4:29), JN2:400 (Mat 18:20)]

WDS 107 (1655): Hearken, every one, diligently to the counsel of the Lord, the light that witnesseth for God in the conscience; give up to be guided by it; then you will need no more to be taught of men [1 Jn 2:27], neither shall your teacher be removed into a corner any more; but thine eye shall see thy teacher, and "thine ear shall hear a voice behind thee, saying This is the way, walk in itg, when thou turnest to the right hand or to the left," as was declared by the prophet [Isaiah 30:20f], which is now witnessed: and that is the living word of God within you, which hath raised desires in you towards God.

(Isa 30:21)

DGA 72 (1986): In hearing and obeying this Word, one's path comes to be cleansed (Psa 119:9), and that path itself becomes a shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day (Prov 4:18). "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it ... " (Isa 30:21). Hence, a new person is known to grow up within, in the power of Christ's revelation. [cites GF6:388, GF4:148]

[Other texts citing Isa 30:21: GF4:129 (John 16:13), GF6:388 (DGA 72), GF7:279 (Heb 13:8), IP1:166 (Luk 11:50f)]

MFU 211 (1656): Friends, your day of calling is come, ye are called out of the world [John 15:19], & separated from the world [2 Cor 6:17] by the call of the living God, the Light which calls out of Sodom & Egypt [Rev 11:8]; but this is but of the many, this is not of the few, ye may look upon this scripture to be spoken to the world but the world is not called yet, therefore do not deceive yourselves, for ye are the many that are called [Mat 22:14], & ye are made partakers of that which calls continually [Heb 3:14], the voice behind which cries "this is the way, walk in it" [Isa 30:21].

IP4:337 (167-?): Oh, come out of the vain, disputing mind, and thou comest out of deceit! Come into the true silence and stilling of the fleshly part thither, where God's voice is heard and understood; and thou comest into true certainty. There thou comest to hear the voice behind thee, calling thee from every false way (which is polluted, and where thy soul's rest is not), to the way of holiness [Isa 35:8], livingly pointing out and saying to thee, "This is the way, walk in it" [Isa 30:21].

30:22 Ye shall defile also [G: And ye shall pollute] the covering of thy graven [G: the] images of silver, and the [G: +rich] ornament of thy molten [G: thine] images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

30:23 Then shall he give the rain of [G: rain unto] thy seed, that [G: when] thou shalt sow the ground withal [G omits] ; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous [G: as oil] : in that day shall thy cattle feed [G: be fed] in large pastures.

30:24 The oxen likewise [G: also] and the young asses that ear [G: till] the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been [G: is] winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

30:25 And there shall be [G omits] upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, [G: + shall there be] rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers [G: +shall] fall.

30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up [G: shall bind up] the breach of his people, and healeth [G: heal] the stroke of their wound. qtext

[30:27-32 omitted]

30:33 For Tophet is ordained [G: prepared] of old; yea, for the king it is prepared [G: it is even prepared for the King] ; he hath made it deep and large: the pile [G: burning] thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream [G: river] of brimstone, doth kindle it. qtext

Quaker Bible Index

ISAIAH 29 - 30