An Oracle against Damascus

17 An oracle(A) against Damascus:(B)

Look, Damascus is no longer a city.
It has become a ruined heap.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
they will be places for flocks.
They will lie down without fear.
The fortress disappears from Ephraim,(C)
and a kingdom from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the splendor of the Israelites.
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

Judgment against Israel

On that day
the splendor of Jacob will fade,
and his healthy body[a] will become emaciated.(D)
It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain—
his arm harvesting the heads of grain—
and as if one had gleaned heads of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.(E)
Only gleanings will be left in Israel,(F)
as if an olive tree had been beaten—
two or three berries at the very top of the tree,
four or five on its fruitful branches.
This is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Israel.

On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.(G) They will not look to the altars(H) they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars(I) they made with their fingers.

On that day their strong cities will be
like the abandoned woods and mountaintops[b]
that were abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and you have failed to remember
the rock of your strength;(J)
therefore you will plant beautiful plants
and set out cuttings from exotic vines.
11 On the day that you plant,
you will help them to grow,
and in the morning
you will help your seed to sprout,
but the harvest will vanish
on the day of disease and incurable pain.

Judgment against the Nations

12 Ah! The roar of many peoples—
they roar like the roaring of the seas.
The raging of the nations—
they rage like the raging of mighty waters.(K)
13 The nations rage like the raging of many waters.(L)
He rebukes them, and they flee far away,(M)
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills(N)
and like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14 In the evening—sudden terror!
Before morning—it is gone!
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who ravage us.

The Lord’s Message to Cush

18 Ah! The land of buzzing insect wings[c]
beyond the rivers of Cush(O)
sends couriers by sea,
in reed vessels on the waters.

Go, swift messengers,
to a nation tall and smooth-skinned,
to a people feared far and near,
a powerful nation with a strange language,[d]
whose land is divided by rivers.
All you inhabitants of the world
and you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!
When a trumpet sounds, listen!

For, the Lord said to me:

I will quietly look out from My place,
like shimmering heat in sunshine,
like a rain cloud in harvest heat.
For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over
and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,
and tear away and remove the branches.
They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills
and for the wild animals of the land.
The birds will spend the summer on them,
and all the animals, the winter on them.

At that time a gift will be brought to Yahweh of Hosts from[e] a people tall and smooth-skinned,(P) a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the name of Yahweh of Hosts.

An Oracle against Egypt

19 An oracle(Q) against Egypt:(R)

Look, the Lord rides on a swift cloud(S)
and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble before Him,(T)
and Egypt’s heart will melt within it.(U)
I will provoke Egypt against Egypt;
each will fight against his brother(V)
and each against his friend,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.(W)
Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it,
and I will frustrate its plans.
Then they will seek idols, ghosts,
spirits of the dead, and spiritists.(X)
I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh masters,(Y)
and a strong king will rule it.
This is the declaration of the Lord God of Hosts.

The waters of the sea will dry up,
and the river will be parched and dry.
The channels will stink;
they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched.
Reed and rush will die.[f]
The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river,
and all the cultivated areas of the Nile
will wither, blow away, and vanish.
Then the fishermen will mourn.
All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,
and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up.
Those who work with flax will be dismayed;(Z)
the combers and weavers will turn pale.[g]
10 Egypt’s weavers[h] will be dejected;
all her wage earners will be demoralized.

11 The princes of Zoan are complete fools;(AA)
Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice!
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one[i] of the wise,
a student of eastern[j] kings”?
12 Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you and reveal
what the Lord of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have been fools;
the princes of Memphis are deceived.(AB)
Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion.
The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does,
as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
15 No head or tail, palm or reed,(AC)
will be able to do anything for Egypt.

Egypt Will Know the Lord

16 On that day Egypt will be like women. She will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the Lord of Hosts when He raises it against her. 17 The land of Judah will terrify Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble because of what the Lord of Hosts has planned(AD) against it.

18 On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the Lord of Hosts. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun.[k][l]

19 On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the center of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord near her border.(AE) 20 It will be a sign and witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and leader, and he will rescue them.(AF) 21 The Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know the Lord on that day. They will offer sacrifices and offerings;(AG) they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will return to the Lord and He will hear their prayers and heal them.

23 On that day there will be a highway(AH) from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will go to Egypt, Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria.

24 On that day Israel will form a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing within the land. 25 The Lord of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork,(AI) and Israel My inheritance are blessed.”(AJ)

No Help from Cush or Egypt

20 In the year that the chief commander,(AK) sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod(AL) and attacked and captured it— during that time the Lord had spoken through Isaiah(AM) son of Amoz, saying, “Go, take off your sackcloth[m] and remove the sandals from your feet,” and he did so, going naked and barefoot(AN) the Lord said, “As My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,(AO) so the king of Assyria will lead the captives of Egypt(AP) and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame. Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.(AQ) And the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Look, this is what has happened to those we relied on and fled to for help to rescue us from the king of Assyria! Now, how will we escape?’”

A Judgment on Babylon

21 An oracle(AR) against the desert by the sea:(AS)

Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,(AT)
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all her groaning.”

Therefore I am[n] filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.(AU)
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope[o]
into sheer terror.(AV)
Prepare a table,(AW) and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!

For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
When he sees riders—
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels—
he must pay close attention.”
Then the lookout[p] reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,(AX)
and I stay at my post all night.
Look, riders come—
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen,(AY) has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.”(AZ)

10 My people who have been crushed
on the threshing floor,(BA)
I have declared to you
what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel.

An Oracle against Dumah

11 An oracle(BB) against Dumah:[q](BC)

One calls to me from Seir,(BD)
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman said,
“Morning has come, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask!
Come back again.”

An Oracle against Arabia

13 An oracle against Arabia:(BE)

In the desert[r] brush
you will camp for the night,
you caravans of Dedanites.(BF)
14 Bring water for the thirsty.
The inhabitants of the land of Tema(BG)
meet[s] the refugees with food.
15 For they have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bow that is strung,
and from the stress of battle.

16 For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year,(BH) as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar(BI) will be gone. 17 The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:4 Lit and the fat of his flesh
  2. Isaiah 17:9 Some Hb mss read like the Horesh and the Amir; LXX reads like the Amorites and the Hivites
  3. Isaiah 18:1 Or of sailing ships
  4. Isaiah 18:2 Hb obscure
  5. Isaiah 18:7 DSS, LXX, Vg; MT omits from
  6. Isaiah 19:6 Or wilt, or become black
  7. Isaiah 19:9 DSS, Tg; MT reads weavers of white cloth
  8. Isaiah 19:10 Or foundations
  9. Isaiah 19:11 Lit a son
  10. Isaiah 19:11 Lit a son of ancient
  11. Isaiah 19:18 Some Hb mss, DSS, Sym, Tg, Vg, Arabic; other Hb mss read of Destruction; LXX reads of Righteousness
  12. Isaiah 19:18 = the ancient Egyptian city Heliopolis
  13. Isaiah 20:2 Lit off the sackcloth from your loins
  14. Isaiah 21:3 Lit Therefore my loins are
  15. Isaiah 21:4 Lit my twilight
  16. Isaiah 21:8 DSS, Syr; MT reads Then a lion
  17. Isaiah 21:11 Some Hb mss, LXX read Edom
  18. Isaiah 21:13 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read desert at evening
  19. Isaiah 21:14 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read meet as a command

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