SECTION I .

God and Israel characterized.

O lofty heav'ns! give ear, I'll speak;
O stupid earth! attend;
To the instructions of my mouth
An ear devoutly lend.

My doctrine down like rain shall drop,
My speech distil like dew;
As small rain cheers the tender herb
And show'rs the grass renew.

Because aloud I publish will
Jehovah's name abroad,
Ascribe ye glory to the Lord,
And greatness to our God.

The Rock whose work most perfect is,
His ways all judgment be!
A God of truth, and without sin,
Both just and right is he.

But they have stain'd themselves, their spot
Is not the spot of sons;
For they a crooked nation are,
A race of perverse ones.

O! do you thus requite the Lord,
Unwise and foolish ye?
Is not the Lord thy Father kind,
That bought, made, settled thee?

SECTION II .

The great things God hath done for Israel.

Mind days of old, mark what the years
From age to age befel:
Thy father ask, he will thee show;
Thy elders, they will tell.

That when the highest did divide
To nations all their lot,
When Adam's sons he set apart,
To each their proper spot.

He wisely set the people's bounds,
Just to the number'd race
Of Israel's seed, whom he design'd
To occupy their place.

Because Jehoviah's portion is
His people, whom he found;
The lot of his inheritance
Is Jacob's seed renown'd

He found him in a desart waste,
In howling desarts dry;
He led him round, him taught, him kept,
As th' apple of his eye.

As th' eagle fond stirs up her nest,
And flutters o'er her young,
Spreads out, and then upon her wings,
Them takes and bears along:

Ev'n so the Lord alone him led,
No helper else was nigh;
As an assistant joined with him,
No foreign god could vie.

On earth's high places, forts, and holds,
He made him ride in state,
That of the increase of the fields,
He might with pleasure eat.

Of honey sweet, for him to suck,
He made the rock to soil;
And made, for him, the flinty rock
Produce the finest oil.

Butter of kine, and milk of sheep,
Were ready thee to feed;
With fat of lambs, and goats, and rams,
That were of Bashan's breed:

With fat of wheaten kidneys fine,
So plump and large the shapes;
And for thy drink unmixed wine,
The purest blood of grapes.

SECTION III .

Jeshurun's Ingratitude and Sin.

But, ah! Jeshurun when possest
Of plenty, soon withdrew
From God; and like a pamper'd beast,
Both fat and vicious grew.

Ungrateful he forsook the God
Did make and him redeem;
The rock of his salvation, thus,
He lightly did esteem.

Yea, with strange gods they stirred up
His jealousy like fire:
And with abominations great
Provoked him to ire.

Altars to devils, not to God,
For sacrifice they rear'd:
To gods unknown, new upstart gods,
Their father's never fear'd.

The mighty Rock, that thee begat,
Is from thy mind remote;
Thou hast the God, that formed thee,
Ungratefully forgot.

When this Jehovah's eye beheld,
He did them slight and loathe,
For the provoking of his sons,
And of his daughters both.

He said, I'll hide from them my face,
See what their end shall be,
For they're a very froward race,
A faithless progeny.

They have me mov'd to jealousy,
With that which is no god;
To wrath they have provoked me,
With idols vain and odd:

So them to wrath I'll move with these
That are no people now;
And, with a foolish nation, will
Provoke and vex them too.

SECTION IV .

God's Indignation against Israel for their sins.

For in my indignation hot
Enkindled is a fire,
Which to the lowest hell shall burn,
With unappeased ire:

It shall consume the earth, with all
The increase she distills;
And, flaming fierce, shall set on fire
The bottoms of the hills.

Mischiefs I will upon them heap,
Mine arrows on them spend.
With hunger burn, with heat devour,
With ruin sharp contend.

I'll send on them the cruel teeth
Of beasts, with cruel gust;
The poison likewise of the snakes,
That lurk among the dust.

The sword without, and dread within
Shall youths and maids destroy;
The sucking children also reave,
And hoary heads annoy.

Thus said I, I will scatter them
To corners out of ken;
And make their whole remembrance cease
Among the sons of men:

But that I fear'd their wrathful foes,
To strange behaviour prone,
Would proudly say, Our hand is high,
Not J AH all this hath done.

For they a foolish nation are,
So void of counsel sound;
No understanding is in them,
Nor knowledge to be found.

But, O that they were wise in heart,
That this they understood,
That they would mind their latter end,
To their eternal good;

For, how shall one a thousand chase,
And two a thousand rout,
Had not the Lord, their rock, them sold,
And shut up round about?

For their rock cannot equal ours,
Whose pow'r superior known,
Our foes themselves are, to their cost,
As judges, forc'd to own.

For, lo! their vines of Sodom are
And of Gomorrah's fields;
Their grapes are loathsome, grapes of gall,
That bitter clusters yield.

Like to the dragon's poison is
The wine which they produce,
And like the cruel gall of asps,
For killing, not for use.

And is not this laid up in store,
Recorded in my mind,
Seal'd up among my treasures hid,
Until the time design'd?

To me belongeth vengeance just,
And recompense of wrong;
Their foot shall therefore surely slide
In season due ere long:

The day of their calamity
Is very near at hand;
The woeful things to come on them,
Make haste at my command.

But yet the righteous Lord will judge
His people with allay;
And for his servants will himself
Repenting, change his way:

When he observes their pow'r is gone,
And they, of help bereft,
Are to the last extreme reduc'd,
And none shut up or left.

Then to disgrace their idols vain,
Where are their gods? he'll say,
Their rock on whom they basely threw
Their confidence away;

Which ate their sacrifices fat,
Drank their wine-off'rings too?
Let them rise up to be your help,
And your protection now.

SECTION V .

Conclusion of the Song; including Glory to God, Terror to his Enemies, and Comfort to his People.

See then that I now, ev'n I am,
No God there is with me:
I kill and quicken, wound and heal,
None can my fury flee:

From lashes of my lifted hand,
There's none that can deliver:
For I lift up my hand to heav'n,
And say I live for ever.

If I but whet my glitt'ring sword,
On judgment to take hold:
I'll render vengeance to my foes,
Reward my haters bold.

I'll make my arrows drunk with blood,
(My sword with flesh inclose.)
With blood of slain, and captives both,
From first revenge of foes.

O! joy and sing, ye nations all,
With people that are his:
For he'll avenge his servant's blood,
Which to him precious is;

He'll render vengeance to his foes,
With his uplifted hand;
But favour to his people show,
And mercy to his land.