Isaiah 30-40
English Standard Version
Do Not Go Down to Egypt
30 “Ah, (A)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
(B)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make (C)an alliance,[a] but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 (D)who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 (E)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at (F)Zoan
and (G)his envoys reach (H)Hanes,
5 everyone comes to shame
through (I)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 An (J)oracle on (K)the beasts of (L)the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the (M)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt's (N)help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
(O)“Rahab who sits still.”
A Rebellious People
8 And now, go, (P)write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.[b]
9 (Q)For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 (R)who say to (S)the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us (T)smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
and trust in (U)oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
(V)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is (W)like that of a potter's vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In (X)returning[c] and (Y)rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
“No! We will flee upon (Z)horses”;
therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 (AA)A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
The Lord Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the Lord (AB)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he (AC)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
(AD)blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell (AE)in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the (AF)bread of adversity and the (AG)water of affliction, (AH)yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 (AI)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is (AJ)the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. (AK)You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
23 (AL)And he will give (AM)rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. (AN)In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and (AO)the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And (AP)on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, (AQ)when the towers fall. 26 (AR)Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when (AS)the Lord binds up (AT)the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[d]
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 (AU)his breath is (AV)like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples (AW)a bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, (AX)as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to (AY)the mountain of the Lord, to (AZ)the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord (BA)will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger (BB)and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst (BC)and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, (BD)when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them (BE)will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. (BF)Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For (BG)a burning place[e] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, (BH)its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; (BI)the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt
31 Woe[f] to (BJ)those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who (BK)trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but (BL)do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2 And (BM)yet he is wise and brings disaster;
(BN)he does not call back his words,
but (BO)will arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of (BP)those who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses (BQ)are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
(BR)“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
(BS)so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight[g] on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 (BT)Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
6 (BU)Turn to him from whom people[h] have (BV)deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day (BW)everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
8 (BX)“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be (BY)put to forced labor.
9 (BZ)His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose (CA)fire is in Zion,
and whose (CB)furnace is in Jerusalem.
A King Will Reign in Righteousness
32 Behold, (CC)a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 (CD)Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
(CE)like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 (CF)Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
(CG)and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 (CH)The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
6 For (CI)the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
(CJ)to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel—(CK)his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 (CL)Rise up, you women (CM)who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women (CN)who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
(CO)strip, and make yourselves bare,
(CP)and tie sackcloth around your waist.
12 (CQ)Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 (CR)for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
(CS)yes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
(CT)a joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
15 until (CU)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and (CV)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 (CW)And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust[i] forever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 (CX)And it will hail when the forest falls down,
(CY)and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 (CZ)Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
O Lord, Be Gracious to Us
33 (DA)Ah, you destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; (DB)we wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 (DC)At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
(DD)as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 (DE)The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 (DF)and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion's[j] treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
(DG)the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 (DH)The highways lie waste;
the traveler ceases.
(DI)Covenants are broken;
cities[k] are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 (DJ)The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 (DK)“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
11 (DL)You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is (DM)a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
(DN)like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
(DO)“Who among us can dwell (DP)with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 (DQ)He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
(DR)and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
(DS)his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17 (DT)Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
(DU)they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 (DV)Your heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is (DW)he who weighed the tribute?
Where is (DX)he who counted the towers?”
19 (DY)You will see no more the insolent people,
the people (DZ)of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
(EA)Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an (EB)immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of (EC)broad rivers and streams,
(ED)where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our (EE)judge; the Lord is our (EF)lawgiver;
the Lord is our (EG)king; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
(EH)Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even (EI)the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, (EJ)“I am sick”;
(EK)the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Judgment on the Nations
34 Draw near, (EL)O nations, to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has (EM)devoted them to destruction,[l] has given them over for slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and (EN)the stench of their corpses shall rise;
(EO)the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 (EP)All the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
as leaves fall from the vine,
like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgment upon (EQ)Edom,
upon the people (ER)I have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
it is gorged with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
(ES)For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 (ET)Wild oxen shall (EU)fall with them,
and (EV)young steers with (EW)the mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 (EX)For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 (EY)And the streams of Edom[m] shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day (EZ)it shall not be quenched;
(FA)its smoke shall go up forever.
(FB)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 (FC)But the hawk and the porcupine[n] shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
(FD)He shall stretch the line of (FE)confusion[o] over it,
and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 (FF)Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of (FG)jackals,
an abode for ostriches.[p]
14 (FH)And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird[q] settles
and finds for herself a resting place.
15 There the owl nests and lays
and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there (FI)the hawks are gathered,
each one with her mate.
16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 (FJ)He has cast the lot for them;
his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
they shall possess it forever;
from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
The Ransomed Shall Return
35 (FK)The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
(FL)the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
(FM)The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of (FN)Carmel and (FO)Sharon.
(FP)They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 (FQ)Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
(FR)Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
5 (FS)Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 (FT)then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
(FU)For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 (FV)the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of (FW)jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 (FX)And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
(FY)the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.[r]
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 (FZ)And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
(GA)everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Sennacherib Invades Judah
36 (GB)In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, (GC)Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 (GD)And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh[s] from (GE)Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood (GF)by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 3 And there came out to him (GG)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and (GH)Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the (GI)great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 (GJ)Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he (GK)whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse (GL)a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when (GM)you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? (GN)The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants (GO)in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: (GP)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me[t] and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until (GQ)I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 (GR)Where are the gods of (GS)Hamath and (GT)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? (GU)Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 (GV)Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 (GW)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
37 (GX)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet (GY)Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a (GZ)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; (HA)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 (HB)It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for (HC)the remnant that is left.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, (HD)I will put a spirit in him, so that (HE)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and (HF)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (HG)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (HH)Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of (HI)Cush,[u] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: (HJ)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 (HK)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (HL)Gozan, (HM)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (HN)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, (HO)enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; (HP)you have made heaven and earth. 17 (HQ)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear (HR)all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, (HS)the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
(HT)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (HU)the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (HV)With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
(HW)to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all (HX)the streams (HY)of Egypt.
26 (HZ)“‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted[v] before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 (IA)Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (IB)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah (IC)shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 (ID)For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. (IE)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or (IF)cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 (IG)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for (IH)the sake of my servant David.”
36 (II)And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at (IJ)Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of (IK)Ararat, (IL)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery
38 (IM)In those days Hezekiah became (IN)sick and was at the point of death. And (IO)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”[w] 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how (IP)I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add (IQ)fifteen years to your life.[x] 6 (IR)I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8 (IS)Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[y]
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, (IT)In the middle[z] of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
the Lord (IU)in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
(IV)like a shepherd's tent;
(IW)like a weaver (IX)I have rolled up my life;
(IY)he cuts me off from the loom;
(IZ)from day to night you bring me to an end;
13 (JA)I calmed myself[aa] until morning;
like a lion (JB)he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like (JC)a swallow or a crane I chirp;
(JD)I moan like a dove.
(JE)My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; (JF)be my pledge of safety!
15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
(JG)I walk slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 (JH)O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
Oh restore me to health and make me live!
17 (JI)Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
(JJ)but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
(JK)for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18 (JL)For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
(JM)the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
(JN)at the house of the Lord.
21 (JO)Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
Envoys from Babylon
39 (JP)At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, (JQ)sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, (JR)the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. (JS)There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 (JT)Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 (JU)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, (JV)“There will be peace and security in my days.”
Comfort for God's People
40 (JW)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 (JX)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that (JY)her warfare[ab] is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
3 (JZ)A voice cries:[ac]
(KA)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
(KB)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 (KC)Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 (KD)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
(KE)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,[ad] “What shall I cry?”
(KF)All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty[ae] is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 (KG)The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, (KH)herald of good news;[af]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[ag]
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 (KI)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
(KJ)behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 (KK)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
(KL)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
(KM)he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 (KN)Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 (KO)Who has measured[ah] the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
(KP)Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted (KQ)as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up (KR)the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are (KS)its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 (KT)All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18 (KU)To whom then will you liken God,
(KV)or what likeness compare with him?
19 (KW)An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 (KX)He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood[ai] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 (KY)Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are (KZ)like grasshoppers;
(LA)who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 (LB)who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
(LC)and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 (LD)To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
(LE)He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
(LF)“My way is hidden from the Lord,
(LG)and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is (LH)the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
(LI)his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but (LJ)they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings (LK)like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web
- Isaiah 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever
- Isaiah 30:15 Or repentance
- Isaiah 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds
- Isaiah 30:33 Or For Topheth
- Isaiah 31:1 Or Ah,
- Isaiah 31:4 The Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike
- Isaiah 31:6 Hebrew they
- Isaiah 32:17 Or security
- Isaiah 33:6 Hebrew his
- Isaiah 33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses
- Isaiah 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5
- Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew her streams
- Isaiah 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain
- Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew formlessness
- Isaiah 34:13 Or owls
- Isaiah 34:14 Identity uncertain
- Isaiah 35:8 Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it
- Isaiah 36:2 Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer
- Isaiah 36:16 Hebrew Make a blessing with me
- Isaiah 37:9 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field
- Isaiah 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21
- Isaiah 38:5 Hebrew to your days
- Isaiah 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
- Isaiah 38:10 Or In the quiet
- Isaiah 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help
- Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
- Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying
- Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
- Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem
- Isaiah 40:13 Or has directed
- Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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