Isaiah 19-22

English Standard Version

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

19 An ^(A)oracle concerning ^(B)Egypt.

Behold, the Lord ^(C)is riding on a swift cloud
    and comes to Egypt;
and ^(D)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
    and the heart of the Egyptians will ^(E)melt within them.
²And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
    ^(F)and they will fight, each against another
    and each against his neighbor,
    city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
³and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
    and I will confound^[a] their ^(G)counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
    and ^(H)the mediums and the necromancers;
⁴and I will give over the Egyptians
    into the hand of ^(I)a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
    declares the Lord God of hosts.

⁵And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
    and the river will be dry and parched,
⁶and its canals will become foul,
    and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
    reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷There will be bare places by the Nile,
    on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
    will be driven away, and will be no more.
⁸The ^(J)fishermen will mourn and lament,
    all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
    who spread nets on the water.
⁹The workers in ^(K)combed flax will be in despair,
    and the weavers of white cotton.
¹⁰Those who are the ^(L)pillars of the land will be crushed,
    and all who ^(M)work for pay will be grieved.

¹¹The princes of ^(N)Zoan are utterly foolish;
    the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am a son of the wise,
    a son of ancient kings”?
¹²Where then are your ^(O)wise men?
    Let them tell you
    that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
¹³The princes of ^(P)Zoan have become fools,
    and the princes of ^(Q)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the ^(R)cornerstones of her tribes
    have made Egypt stagger.
¹⁴The Lord has mingled within her ^(S)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
    ^(T)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt
    that ^(U)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will be ^(V)like women, and ^(W)tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.

¹⁸^(X)In that day there will be ^(Y)five cities in the land of Egypt that ^(Z)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.^[b]

¹⁹In that day there will be an ^(AA)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ^(AB)pillar to the Lord at its border. ²⁰^(AC)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, ^(AD)he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. ²¹^(AE)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day ^(AF)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. ²²^(AG)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

²³^(AH)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, ^(AI)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, ^(AJ)a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt ^(AK)my people, and Assyria ^(AL)the work of my hands, and ^(AM)Israel my inheritance.”

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that ^(AN)the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to ^(AO)Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 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 ^(AP)naked and barefoot.

³Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years ^(AQ)as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,^[c] ⁴so shall the ^(AR)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^(AS)Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. ⁶And the inhabitants of ^(AT)this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and ^(AU)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 ^(AV)oracle concerning the wilderness of ^(AW)the sea.

^(AX)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
²A stern vision is told to me;
    ^(AY)the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^(AZ)Elam;
    lay siege, O ^(BA)Media;
all the ^(BB)sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    ^(BC)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;
    ^(BD)the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
⁵^(BE)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[d]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(BF)oil the shield!
⁶For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.
⁷When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
    very diligently.”
⁸Then he who saw cried out:^[e]
^(BG)“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
    whole nights.
⁹And behold, here come riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
^(BH)And he answered,
    ^(BI)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^(BJ)and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
¹⁰O ^(BK)my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

¹¹The ^(BL)oracle concerning ^(BM)Dumah.

One is calling to me from ^(BN)Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
¹²The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also ^(BO)the night.
    If you will inquire, ^(BP)inquire;
    come back again.”

¹³The ^(BQ)oracle concerning ^(BR)Arabia.

In the thickets in ^(BS)Arabia you will lodge,
    O ^(BT)caravans of ^(BU)Dedanites.
¹⁴To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of ^(BV)Tema.
¹⁵For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

¹⁶For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, ^(BW)according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of ^(BX)Kedar will come to an end. ¹⁷And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of ^(BY)Kedar will be few, ^(BZ)for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

22 The ^(CA)oracle concerning ^(CB)the valley of vision.

What do you mean that you have gone up,
    all of you, to the housetops,
²you who are full of shoutings,
    tumultuous city, ^(CC)exultant town?
Your slain are ^(CD)not slain with the sword
    or dead in battle.
³^(CE)All your leaders have fled together;
    without the bow they were captured.
All of you who were found were captured,
    though they had fled far away.
⁴Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
    ^(CF)let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
    concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

⁵^(CG)For the Lord God of hosts has ^(CH)a day
    of tumult and ^(CI)trampling and ^(CJ)confusion
    in ^(CK)the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
    and a shouting to the mountains.
⁶And ^(CL)Elam bore the quiver
    with chariots and horsemen,
    and ^(CM)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
    and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
⁸He has taken away ^(CN)the covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to ^(CO)the weapons of the House of the Forest, ⁹and you saw that ^(CP)the breaches of the city of David were many. ^(CQ)You collected the waters of the lower pool, ¹⁰and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. ¹¹^(CR)You made a reservoir between ^(CS)the two walls for the water of ^(CT)the old pool. But ^(CU)you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

¹²In that day ^(CV)the Lord God of hosts
    called for weeping and mourning,
    for ^(CW)baldness and ^(CX)wearing sackcloth;
¹³and behold, joy and gladness,
    killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
    eating flesh and drinking wine.
^(CY)“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”
¹⁴The Lord of hosts ^(CZ)has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely ^(DA)this iniquity will not be atoned for you ^(DB)until you die,”
    says the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁵Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to ^(DC)Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: ¹⁶What have you to do here, and whom have you here, ^(DD)that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you ^(DE)who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? ¹⁷Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. ^(DF)He will seize firm hold on you ¹⁸and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be ^(DG)your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. ¹⁹^(DH)I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. ²⁰In that day I will call my servant ^(DI)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, ²¹and ^(DJ)I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be ^(DK)a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ²²And I will place ^(DL)on his shoulder ^(DM)the key of the house of David. ^(DN)He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. ²³And I will fasten him ^(DO)like a peg in a secure place, and he will become ^(DP)a throne of honor to his father's house. ²⁴And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. ²⁵In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, ^(DQ)the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
Isaiah 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
Isaiah 20:3 Probably Nubia
Isaiah 21:5 Or they set the watchman
Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion

1 Peter 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of ^(A)the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²according to ^(B)the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(C)in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and ^(D)for sprinkling with his blood:

May ^(E)grace and ^(F)peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

³^(G)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ^(H)According to his great mercy, ^(I)he has caused us to be born again to a living hope ^(J)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to ^(K)an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and ^(L)unfading, ^(M)kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God's power are being guarded ^(N)through faith for a salvation ^(O)ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by ^(P)various trials, ⁷so that ^(Q)the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes ^(R)though it is tested by ^(S)fire—may be found to result in ^(T)praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸^(U)Though you have not seen him, you love him. ^(V)Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹obtaining ^(W)the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, ^(X)the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹inquiring ^(Y)what person or time^[a] ^(Z)the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating ^(AA)when he predicted ^(AB)the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹²^(AC)It was revealed to them that ^(AD)they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you ^(AE)by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, ^(AF)things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

¹³Therefore, ^(AG)preparing your minds for action,^[b] and ^(AH)being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴As obedient children, ^(AI)do not be conformed to the passions ^(AJ)of your former ignorance, ¹⁵but ^(AK)as he who called you is holy, you also be holy ^(AL)in all your conduct, ¹⁶since it is written, ^(AM)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷And if you ^(AN)call on him as Father who ^(AO)judges ^(AP)impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves ^(AQ)with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you ^(AR)were ransomed from ^(AS)the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but ^(AT)with the precious blood of Christ, like that of ^(AU)a lamb ^(AV)without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but ^(AW)was made manifest ^(AX)in the last times for the sake of you ²¹^(AY)who through him are believers in God, ^(AZ)who raised him from the dead and ^(BA)gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for ^(BB)a sincere brotherly love, ^(BC)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³^(BD)since you have been born again, ^(BE)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through ^(BF)the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴for

^(BG)“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
²⁵^(BH)but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word ^(BI)is the good news that was preached to you.