Isaiah 20:2-21:6

English Standard Version

²at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking ^(A)naked and barefoot.

³Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years ^(B)as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,^[a] ⁴so shall the ^(C)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. ⁵^(D)Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. ⁶And the inhabitants of ^(E)this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and ^(F)to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

21 The ^(G)oracle concerning the wilderness of ^(H)the sea.

^(I)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
²A stern vision is told to me;
    ^(J)the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^(K)Elam;
    lay siege, O ^(L)Media;
all the ^(M)sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    ^(N)pangs have seized me,
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
⁴My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    ^(O)the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
⁵^(P)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[b]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(Q)oil the shield!
⁶For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.