David and Isaiah Bear Witness

After him David will stand up, worthy of his descendant the Lord, and declare: “Lord, I proclaimed you in every way. I taught that your name alone was to be worshiped. I said, ‘Blessed is the man who fears the Lord’; I said too, ‘The saints will rejoice in glory’; and I said, ‘The desire of the wicked will perish,’ so that these people might acknowledge you and stop sinning. When I had come to royal power, I put on sackcloth, spread dust beneath me, laid aside the signs of my greatness, and lay down in my clothes, so that these people might be given an example of gentleness and humility. I spared my enemies who wanted to kill me, so that these people might approve my mercy as worth imitating.” [a]

After him Isaiah, who was worthy of the Spirit of God, will not keep silent, but will say: “Lord, while you were speaking through my mouth, I gave this warning: ‘Woe to those who join house to house,’ so that I might set a limit to greed. I bore witness that your anger came upon the wicked, so that fear of punishment at least, if not hope of reward, might keep these people back from their evil deeds.”