The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

Woe to the Wicked

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

6 In the year that ^(AY)King Uzziah died I ^(AZ)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[k] of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had ^(BA)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

⁴ And ^(BD)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and ^(BE)the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! ^(BF)For I am lost; ^(BG)for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the ^(BH)King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he ^(BI)touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for ^(BJ)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(BT)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(BU)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(BV)Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David was told, ^(BW)“Syria is in league with^{[r] (BX)}Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[s] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(BY)Shear-jashub^[t] your son, at the end of ^(BZ)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴ And say to him, ^(CA)‘Be careful, ^(CB)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(CC)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(CD)the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(CE)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[u] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ “Ask ^(CJ)a sign of the Lord your^[w] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he^[x] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(CK)weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the ^(CL)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(CM)Behold, the ^(CN)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(CO)Immanuel.^{[y] 15} He shall eat ^(CP)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16 (CQ)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(CR)deserted. ^17 (CS)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(CT)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(CU)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(CV)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[z]

²⁰ In that day ^(CW)the Lord will ^(CX)shave with a razor that is ^(CY)hired beyond ^(CZ)the River^[aa]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (DA)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(DB)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[ab] of silver, will become ^(DC)briers and thorns. ^24 (DD)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (DE)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(DF)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^(DG)and write on it in common characters,^[ac] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’^{[ad] 2} And ^(DH)I will get reliable witnesses, ^(DI)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

³ And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ^(DJ)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ^4 (DK)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^(DL)wealth of ^(DM)Damascus and the spoil of ^(DN)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵ The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶ “Because this people has refused the waters of ^(DO)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^(DP)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^(DQ)the waters of ^(DR)the River,^[ae] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^(DS)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, ⁸ and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, ^(DT)reaching even to the neck, and its ^(DU)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^(DV)O Immanuel.”

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(DZ)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call ^(EA)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(EB)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, ^(EC)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a ^(ED)sanctuary and ^(EE)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many ^(EF)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶ Bind up ^(EG)the testimony; ^(EH)seal the teaching^[ai] among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will ^(EI)wait for the Lord, who is ^(EJ)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ^18 (EK)Behold, I and ^(EL)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹ And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^(EM)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(EN)the dead on behalf of the living? ^20 (EO)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(EP)dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land,^[aj] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[ak] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ^22 (EQ)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(ER)thick darkness.

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

21 And when ^(A)we had parted from them and set sail, we ^(B)came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.^{[a] 2} And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³ When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And ^(C)through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, ^(D)accompanied us until we were outside the city. And ^(E)kneeling down on the beach, we prayed ⁶ and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted ^(F)the brothers^[b] and stayed with them for one day. ⁸ On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of ^(G)Philip ^(H)the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters, ^(I)who prophesied. ¹⁰ While we were staying for many days, a prophet named ^(J)Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ And coming to us, he ^(K)took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ^(L)“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ^(M)‘This is how the Jews^[c] at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and ^(N)deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹² When we heard this, we and the people there ^(O)urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, ^(P)“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For ^(Q)I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem ^(R)for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ And since he would not be persuaded, ^(S)we ceased and said, ^(T)“Let the will of the Lord be done.”

¹⁵ After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Paul Visits James

¹⁷ When we had come to Jerusalem, ^(U)the brothers received us gladly. ¹⁸ On the following day Paul went in with us to ^(V)James, and all ^(W)the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, ^(X)he related one by one ^(Y)the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ^(Z)ministry. ²⁰ And when they heard it, they ^(AA)glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all ^(AB)zealous for the law, ²¹ and they have been told about you that you teach all ^(AC)the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, ^(AD)telling them ^(AE)not to circumcise their children or ^(AF)walk according to ^(AG)our customs. ²² What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men ^(AH)who are under a vow; ²⁴ take these men and ^(AI)purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, ^(AJ)so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. ²⁵ But as for the Gentiles who have believed, ^(AK)we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,^[d] and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶ Then Paul took the men, and the next day ^(AL)he purified himself along with them and ^(AM)went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and ^(AN)the offering presented for each one of them.

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷ When ^(AO)the seven days were almost completed, ^(AP)the Jews from Asia, ^(AQ)seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who ^(AR)is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and ^(AS)the law and ^(AT)this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and ^(AU)has defiled ^(AV)this holy place.” ²⁹ For they had previously seen ^(AW)Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰ Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and ^(AX)dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. ^31 (AY)And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of ^(AZ)the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ^32 (BA)He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him ^(BB)to be bound ^(BC)with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. ^34 (BD)Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ^(BE)the barracks. ³⁵ And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, ³⁶ for the mob of the people followed, crying out, ^(BF)“Away with him!”

Paul Speaks to the People

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Are you not ^(BG)the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(BH)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ Paul replied, ^(BI)“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, ^(BJ)motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in ^(BK)the Hebrew language,^[e] saying: