did not go unchallenged. The prophet was told that he had evidently
forgotten that all the nations in Palestine and along the Mediterranean,
except Judah, were parties to this coalition against Tiglath-Pileser.
Isaiah laughed. With fine scorn he cried:

"Ah! The multitude of many peoples
That roar like the roaring of the seas!
And the rushing of nations,
That rush like the rushing of many waters!
But he shall rebuke them and they shall flee far off,
And shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
And like the whirling dust before the storm.
At eventide, behold, terror;
Before the morning, they are no more."

Then, as if addressing himself to all the petty northern countries
that were trying to drag his own beloved fatherland into the whirlpool
of disaster, Isaiah spoke as follows:

"Make an uproar,
And be broken in pieces;
And give ear, all ye of far countries;
Gird yourselves and be broken in pieces,
Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to naught;
Speak the word and it shall not stand;
For God is with us."

And in answer to the appeal of the people as to what ought to be done
in this national crisis, Isaiah replied: