Isaiah 18

New King James Version

Proclamation Against Ethiopia

18 Woe ^(A)to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of ^[a]Ethiopia,
²Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”

³All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
^(B)When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
⁴For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will ^[b]look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
⁵For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
⁶They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

⁷In that time ^(C)a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
^[c]From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
To Mount Zion.

Footnotes

Isaiah 18:1 Heb. Cush
Isaiah 18:4 watch
Isaiah 18:7 So with DSS, LXX, Vg.; MT omits From; Tg. To

Isaiah 19

New King James Version

Proclamation Against Egypt

19 The ^(A)burden^[a] against Egypt.

Behold, the Lord ^(B)rides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
^(C)The idols of Egypt will ^[b]totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.

²“I will ^(D)set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
³The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will ^(E)consult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.
⁴And the Egyptians I will give
^(F)Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

⁵^(G)The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
⁶The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks ^(H)of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
⁷The papyrus reeds by ^[c]the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
⁸The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
⁹Moreover those who work in ^(I)fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
¹⁰And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

¹¹Surely the princes of ^(J)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
^(K)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
¹²^(L)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has ^(M)purposed against Egypt.
¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools;
^(N)The princes of ^[d]Noph are deceived;
They have also ^[e]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the ^[f]mainstay of its tribes.
¹⁴The Lord has mingled ^(O)a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which ^(P)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

¹⁶In that day Egypt will ^(Q)be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, ^(R)which He waves over it. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has ^(S)determined against it.

Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed

¹⁸In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will ^(T)speak the language of Canaan and ^(U)swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of ^[g]Destruction.

¹⁹In that day ^(V)there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the ^(W)Lord at its border. ²⁰And ^(X)it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a ^(Y)Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. ²¹Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will ^(Z)know the Lord in that day, and ^(AA)will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. ²²And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and ^(AB)heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.

²³In that day ^(AC)there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will ^(AD)serve with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, ²⁵whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria ^(AE)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 19:1 oracle, prophecy
Isaiah 19:1 Lit. shake
Isaiah 19:7 The Nile
Isaiah 19:13 Ancient Memphis
Isaiah 19:13 Lit. caused to stagger
Isaiah 19:13 cornerstone
Isaiah 19:18 Some Heb. mss., Arab., DSS, Tg., Vg. Sun; LXX Asedek, lit. Righteousness

Isaiah 20

New King James Version

The Sign Against Egypt and Ethiopia

20 In the year that ^(A)Tartan^[a] came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, ²at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove ^(B)the sackcloth from your ^[b]body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, ^(C)walking naked and barefoot.

³Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years ^(D)for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, ⁴so shall the ^(E)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, ^(F)with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. ⁵^(G)Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. ⁶And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for ^(H)help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’ ”

Footnotes

Isaiah 20:1 Or the Commander in Chief
Isaiah 20:2 Lit. loins

Isaiah 30

New King James Version

Futile Confidence in Egypt

30 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
^(A)“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who ^[a]devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
^(B)That they may add sin to sin;
²^(C)Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And ^(D)have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
³^(E)Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
⁴For his princes were at ^(F)Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
⁵^(G)They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”

⁶^(H)The ^[b]burden against the beasts of the South.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
^(I)The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
⁷^(J)For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
^[c]Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

A Rebellious People

⁸Now go, ^(K)write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
⁹That ^(L)this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
¹⁰^(M)Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
^(N)Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
¹¹Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”

¹²Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you ^(O)despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
¹³Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
^(P)Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking ^(Q)comes suddenly, in an instant.
¹⁴And ^(R)He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
^[d]A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”

¹⁵For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

^(S)“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
^(T)But you would not,
¹⁶And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

¹⁷^(U)One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a ^[e]pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.

God Will Be Gracious

¹⁸Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be ^(V)gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
^(W)Blessed are all those who ^(X)wait for Him.

¹⁹For the people ^(Y)shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall ^(Z)weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will ^(AA)answer you.
²⁰And though the Lord gives you
^(AB)The bread of adversity and the water of ^[f]affliction,
Yet ^(AC)your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
²¹Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you ^(AD)turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
²²^(AE)You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
^(AF)You will say to them, “Get away!”

²³^(AG)Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be ^[g]fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
²⁴Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
²⁵There will be ^(AH)on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the ^(AI)great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
²⁶Moreover ^(AJ)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 that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.

Judgment on Assyria

²⁷Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
²⁸^(AK)His breath is like an overflowing stream,
^(AL)Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be ^(AM)a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.

²⁹You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into ^(AN)the mountain of the Lord,
To ^[h]the Mighty One of Israel.
³⁰^(AO)The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, ^(AP)and hailstones.
³¹For ^(AQ)through the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be ^[i]beaten down,
As He strikes with the ^(AR)rod.
³²And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of ^(AS)brandishing He will fight with it.
³³^(AT)For Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.

Footnotes

Isaiah 30:1 Lit. weave a web
Isaiah 30:6 oracle, prophecy
Isaiah 30:7 Lit. Rahab Sits Idle
Isaiah 30:14 A piece of broken pottery
Isaiah 30:17 A tree stripped of branches
Isaiah 30:20 oppression
Isaiah 30:23 rich
Isaiah 30:29 Lit. the Rock
Isaiah 30:31 Lit. shattered

Isaiah 31

New King James Version

The Folly of Not Trusting God

31 Woe to those ^(A)who go down to Egypt for help,
And ^(B)rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
^(C)Nor seek the Lord!
²Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,
And ^(D)will not ^[a]call back His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers,
And against the help of those who work iniquity.
³Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish ^(E)together.

God Will Deliver Jerusalem

⁴For thus the Lord has spoken to me:

^(F)“As a lion roars,
And a young lion over his prey
(When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him,
He will not be afraid of their voice
Nor be disturbed by their noise),
So the Lord of hosts will come down
To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.
⁵^(G)Like birds flying about,
So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem.
Defending, He will also deliver it;
Passing over, He will preserve it.”

⁶Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have ^(H)deeply revolted. ⁷For in that day every man shall ^(I)throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—^(J)sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

⁸“Then Assyria shall ^(K)fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of mankind shall ^(L)devour him.
But he shall flee from the sword,
And his young men shall become forced labor.
⁹^(M)He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear,
And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,”
Says the Lord,
Whose fire is in Zion
And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.