The Returning Remnant of Israel

20 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
(A)Will never again depend on him who [a]defeated them,
But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the (B)Mighty God.
22 (C)For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
(D)A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 (E)For the Lord God of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, (F)do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of (G)Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while (H)and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of hosts will [b]stir up (I)a scourge for him like the slaughter of (J)Midian at the rock of Oreb; (K)as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.

27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of (L)the anointing oil.

28 He has come to Aiath,
He has passed Migron;
At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
29 They have gone [c]along (M)the ridge,
They have taken up lodging at Geba.
Ramah is afraid,
(N)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 [d]Lift up your voice,
O daughter (O)of Gallim!
Cause it to be heard as far as (P)Laish—
[e]O poor Anathoth!
31 (Q)Madmenah has fled,
The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32 As yet he will remain (R)at Nob that day;
He will (S)shake his fist at the mount of (T)the daughter of Zion,
The hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord,
The Lord of hosts,
Will lop off the bough with terror;
(U)Those of high stature will be hewn down,
And the haughty will be humbled.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring(V)

11 There (W)shall come forth a [f]Rod from the [g]stem of (X)Jesse,
And (Y)a Branch shall [h]grow out of his roots.
(Z)The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
But (AA)with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall (AB)strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

“The(AC) wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
(AD)They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For (AE)the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

10 “And(AF) in that day (AG)there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a (AH)banner to the people;
For the (AI)Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”

11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
(AJ)From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the [i]islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will [j]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together (AK)the dispersed of Judah
From the four [k]corners of the earth.
13 Also (AL)the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the [l]people of the East;
(AM)They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord (AN)will utterly [m]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over [n]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over [o]dry-shod.
16 (AO)There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
(AP)As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

A Hymn of Praise

12 And (AQ)in that day you will say:

“O Lord, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
(AR)‘For (AS)Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’ ”

Therefore with joy you will draw (AT)water
From the wells of salvation.

And in that day you will say:

(AU)“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
(AV)Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His (AW)name is exalted.
(AX)Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
(AY)Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is (AZ)the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

Proclamation Against Babylon

13 The (BA)burden[p] against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

“Lift(BB) up a banner (BC)on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
(BD)Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded My [q]sanctified ones;
I have also called (BE)My mighty ones for My anger—
Those who (BF)rejoice in My exaltation.”

The (BG)noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts musters
The army for battle.
They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven—
The (BH)Lord and His [r]weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole (BI)land.

Wail, (BJ)for the day of the Lord is at hand!
(BK)It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,
And they will be afraid.
(BL)Pangs[s] and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.

Behold, (BM)the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy (BN)its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be (BO)darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

11 “I will (BP)punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
(BQ)I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the [t]terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 (BR)Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in (BS)the day of His fierce anger.
14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle,
And as a sheep that no man [u]takes up;
(BT)Every man will turn to his own people,
And everyone will flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through,
And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their children also will be (BU)dashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives (BV)ravished.

17 “Behold,(BW) I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not [v]regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.
19 (BX)And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew (BY)Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 (BZ)It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
21 (CA)But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of [w]owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.
22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
(CB)Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged.”

Mercy on Jacob

14 For the Lord (CC)will have mercy on Jacob, and (CD)will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. (CE)The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them (CF)and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, (CG)and rule over their oppressors.

Fall of the King of Babylon

It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you (CH)will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
The (CI)golden[x] city ceased!
The Lord has broken (CJ)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
(CK)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you [y]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’

“Hell(CL)[z] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall (CM)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’

The Fall of Lucifer

12 “How(CN) you are fallen from heaven,
O [aa]Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
(CO)‘I will ascend into heaven,
(CP)I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the (CQ)mount of the congregation
(CR)On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
(CS)I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you (CT)shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the [ab]lowest depths of the Pit.

16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who [ac]did not open the house of his prisoners?’

18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an [ad]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
[ae]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
(CU)The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children
(CV)Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Babylon Destroyed

22 “For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon (CW)the name and (CX)remnant,
(CY)And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the (CZ)porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.

Assyria Destroyed

24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall (DA)stand:
25 That I will break the (DB)Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then (DC)his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the (DD)purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has (DE)purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”

Philistia Destroyed

28 This is the [af]burden which came in the year that (DF)King Ahaz died.

29 “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
(DG)Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
(DH)And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
30 The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
31 Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his [ag]appointed times.”

32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That (DI)the Lord has founded Zion,
And (DJ)the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.

Proclamation Against Moab

15 The (DK)burden[ah] against Moab.

Because in the night (DL)Ar of (DM)Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
He has gone up to the [ai]temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
(DN)On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, (DO)weeping bitterly.
Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as (DP)Jahaz;
Therefore the [aj]armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.

“My(DQ) heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like [ak]a three-year-old heifer.
For (DR)by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
For the waters (DS)of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
For the waters of [al]Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
(DT)Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”

Moab Destroyed

16 Send (DU)the lamb to the ruler of the land,
(DV)From [am]Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
For it shall be as a (DW)wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the (DX)Arnon.

“Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the [an]spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
In mercy (DY)the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
(DZ)Judging and seeking justice and hastening (EA)righteousness.”

We have heard of the (EB)pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
(EC)But his [ao]lies shall not be so.
Therefore Moab shall (ED)wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations (EE)of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.

For (EF)the fields of Heshbon languish,
And (EG)the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the (EH)sea.
Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
(EI)O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For [ap]battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.

10 (EJ)Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore (EK)my [aq]heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for [ar]Kir Heres.

12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on (EL)the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, (EM)as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”

Proclamation Against Syria and Israel

17 The (EN)burden[as] against Damascus.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
[at]The cities of (EO)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and (EP)no one will make them afraid.
(EQ)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

“In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will [au]wane,
And (ER)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
(ES)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
(ET)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.

In that day a man will (EU)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his (EV)fingers have made,
Nor the [av]wooden images nor the incense altars.

In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken [aw]bough
And [ax]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

10 Because you have forgotten (EW)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your [ay]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise (EX)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will (EY)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And (EZ)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.

Proclamation Against Ethiopia

18 Woe (FA)to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of [az]Ethiopia,
Which 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.”

All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
(FB)When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will [ba]look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
For 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.
They 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.

In that time (FC)a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[bb]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.

Proclamation Against Egypt

19 The (FD)burden[bc] against Egypt.

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

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

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

11 Surely the princes of (FM)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
(FN)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
12 (FO)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has (FP)purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;
(FQ)The princes of [bf]Noph are deceived;
They have also [bg]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the [bh]mainstay of its tribes.
14 The Lord has mingled (FR)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.
15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which (FS)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

16 In that day Egypt will (FT)be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, (FU)which He waves over it. 17 And 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 (FV)determined against it.

Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed

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

19 In that day (FY)there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the (FZ)Lord at its border. 20 And (GA)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 (GB)Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. 21 Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will (GC)know the Lord in that day, and (GD)will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and (GE)heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.

23 In that day (GF)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 (GG)serve with the Assyrians.

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

The Sign Against Egypt and Ethiopia

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

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

The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed

21 The [bl]burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.

As (GQ)whirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
A distressing vision is declared to me;
(GR)The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
(GS)Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.

Therefore (GT)my loins are filled with pain;
(GU)Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.
I was [bm]distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
(GV)The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
(GW)Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!

For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”
And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,
A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,
And he listened earnestly with great care.
[bn]Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord!
I stand continually on the (GX)watchtower in the daytime;
I have sat at my post every night.
And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”
Then he answered and said,
(GY)“Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And (GZ)all the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground.”

10 (HA)Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!
That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I have declared to you.

Proclamation Against Edom

11 (HB)The [bo]burden against Dumah.

He calls to me out of (HC)Seir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
12 The watchman said,
“The morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
Return! Come back!”

Proclamation Against Arabia

13 (HD)The [bp]burden against Arabia.

In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies (HE)of Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.

16 For thus the Lord has said to me: “Within a year, (HF)according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of (HG)Kedar will fail; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.

Proclamation Against Jerusalem

22 The [bq]burden against the Valley of Vision.

What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
You who are full of noise,
A [br]tumultuous city, (HH)a joyous city?
Your slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.
All your rulers have fled together;
They are captured by the archers.
All who are found in you are bound together;
They have fled from afar.
Therefore I said, “Look away from me,
(HI)I will weep bitterly;
Do not labor to comfort me
Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.”

(HJ)For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity
(HK)By the Lord God of hosts
In the Valley of Vision—
Breaking down the walls
And of crying to the mountain.
(HL)Elam bore the quiver
With chariots of men and horsemen,
And (HM)Kir uncovered the shield.
It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys
Shall be full of chariots,
And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

(HN)He removed the [bs]protection of Judah.
You looked in that day to the armor (HO)of the House of the Forest;
(HP)You also saw the [bt]damage to the city of David,
That it was great;
And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 You numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
And the houses you broke down
To fortify the wall.
11 (HQ)You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the water of the old (HR)pool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.

12 And in that day the Lord God of hosts
(HS)Called for weeping and for mourning,
(HT)For baldness and for girding with sackcloth.
13 But instead, joy and gladness,
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and (HU)drinking wine:
(HV)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

14 (HW)Then it was revealed in my hearing by the Lord of hosts,
“Surely for this iniquity there (HX)will be no atonement for you,
Even to your death,” says the Lord God of hosts.

The Judgment on Shebna

15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts:

“Go, proceed to this steward,
To (HY)Shebna, who is over the house, and say:
16 ‘What have you here, and whom have you here,
That you have hewn a sepulcher here,
As he (HZ)who hews himself a sepulcher on high,
Who carves a tomb for himself in a rock?
17 Indeed, the Lord will throw you away violently,
O mighty man,
(IA)And will surely seize you.
18 He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball
Into a large country;
There you shall die, and there (IB)your glorious chariots
Shall be the shame of your master’s house.
19 So I will drive you out of your office,
And from your position [bu]he will pull you down.

20 ‘Then it shall be in that day,
That I will call My servant (IC)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;
21 I will clothe him with your robe
And strengthen him with your belt;
I will commit your responsibility into his hand.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
And to the house of Judah.
22 The key of the house of David
I will lay on his (ID)shoulder;
So he shall (IE)open, and no one shall shut;
And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
23 I will fasten him as (IF)a peg in a secure place,
And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house.

24 ‘They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. 25 In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the Lord has spoken.’ ”

Proclamation Against Tyre

23 The (IG)burden[bv] against Tyre.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For it is laid waste,
So that there is no house, no harbor;
From the land of [bw]Cyprus it is revealed to them.

Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon,
[bx]Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
And on great waters the grain of Shihor,
The harvest of [by]the River, is her revenue;
And (IH)she is a marketplace for the nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea has spoken,
The strength of the sea, saying,
“I do not labor, nor bring forth children;
Neither do I rear young men,
Nor bring up virgins.”
(II)When the report reaches Egypt,
They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!
Is this your (IJ)joyous city,
Whose antiquity is from ancient days,
Whose feet carried her far off to dwell?
Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, (IK)the crowning city,
Whose merchants are princes,
Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
The Lord of hosts has (IL)purposed it,
To [bz]bring to dishonor the (IM)pride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

10 Overflow through your land like [ca]the River,
O daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more [cb]strength.
11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a commandment (IN)against Canaan
To destroy its strongholds.
12 And He said, “You will rejoice no more,
O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, (IO)cross over to Cyprus;
There also you will have no rest.”

13 Behold, the land of the (IP)Chaldeans,
This people which was not;
Assyria founded it for (IQ)wild beasts of the desert.
They set up its towers,
They raised up its palaces,
And brought it to ruin.

14 (IR)Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For your strength is laid waste.

15 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

16 “Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.”

17 And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and (IS)commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her gain and her pay (IT)will be set apart for the Lord; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for [cc]fine clothing.

Impending Judgment on the Earth

24 Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the (IU)priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
(IV)As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For the Lord has spoken this word.

The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The (IW)haughty[cd] people of the earth languish.
(IX)The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have (IY)transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the (IZ)everlasting covenant.
Therefore (JA)the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are [ce]desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are (JB)burned,
And few men are left.

(JC)The new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
The mirth (JD)of the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
11 There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.
13 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
(JE)It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.

14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of the Lord
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore (JF)glorify the Lord in the dawning light,
(JG)The name of the Lord God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!”
But I said, [cf]“I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
(JH)The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”

17 (JI)Fear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall be
That he who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be [cg]caught in the snare;
For (JJ)the windows from on high are open,
And (JK)the foundations of the earth are shaken.

19 (JL)The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
20 The earth shall (JM)reel[ch] to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.

21 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth (JN)the kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the [ci]pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
23 Then the (JO)moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the Lord of hosts will (JP)reign
On (JQ)Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.

Praise to God

25 O Lord, You are my God.
(JR)I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
(JS)For You have done wonderful things;
(JT)Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
For You have made (JU)a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
Therefore the strong people will (JV)glorify You;
The city of the [cj]terrible nations will fear You.
For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
(JW)A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be [ck]diminished.

And in (JX)this mountain
(JY)The Lord of hosts will make for (JZ)all people
A feast of [cl]choice pieces,
A feast of [cm]wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And (KA)the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will (KB)swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will (KC)wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.

And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
(KD)We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
(KE)We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

10 For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest,
And (KF)Moab shall be trampled down under Him,
As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap.
11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst
As a swimmer reaches out to swim,
And He will bring down their (KG)pride
Together with the trickery of their hands.
12 The (KH)fortress of the high fort of your walls
He will bring down, lay low,
And bring to the ground, down to the dust.

A Song of Salvation

26 In (KI)that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
(KJ)God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
(KK)Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which [cn]keeps the truth may enter in.
You will keep him in perfect (KL)peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
(KM)For in Yah, the Lord, is [co]everlasting strength.
For He brings [cp]down those who dwell on high,
(KN)The lofty city;
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust.
The foot shall [cq]tread it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy.”

The way of the just is uprightness;
(KO)O Most Upright,
You [cr]weigh the path of the just.
Yes, (KP)in the way of Your judgments,
O Lord, we have (KQ)waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.
(KR)With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 (KS)Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In (KT)the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, when Your hand is lifted up, (KU)they will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For [cs]their envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.

12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works [ct]in us.
13 O Lord our God, (KV)masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
They are deceased, they will not rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to (KW)perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have (KX)increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the [cu]borders of the land.

16 Lord, (KY)in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 As (KZ)a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her [cv]pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, [cw]brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have (LA)the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 (LB)Your dead shall live;
Together with [cx]my dead body they shall arise.
(LC)Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Take Refuge from the Coming Judgment

20 Come, my people, (LD)enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, (LE)for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the Lord (LF)comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her [cy]blood,
And will no more cover her slain.

Israel Will Be Restored

27 In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
(LG)Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay (LH)the reptile that is in the sea.

The Restoration of Israel

In that day (LI)sing to her,
(LJ)“A vineyard of [cz]red wine!
(LK)I, the Lord, keep it,
I water it every moment;
Lest any hurt it,
I keep it night and day.
Fury is not in Me.
Who would set (LL)briers and thorns
Against Me in battle?
I would go through them,
I would burn them together.
Or let him take hold (LM)of My strength,
That he may (LN)make peace with Me;
And he shall make peace with Me.”

Those who come He shall cause (LO)to take root in Jacob;
Israel shall blossom and bud,
And fill the face of the world with fruit.

(LP)Has He struck [da]Israel as He struck those who struck him?
Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
(LQ)In measure, by sending it away,
You contended with it.
(LR)He removes it by His rough wind
In the day of the east wind.
Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered;
And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:
When he makes all the stones of the altar
Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust,
[db]Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.

10 Yet the fortified city will be (LS)desolate,
The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness;
There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down
And consume its branches.
11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;
The women come and set them on fire.
For (LT)it is a people of no understanding;
Therefore He who made them will (LU)not have mercy on them,
And (LV)He who formed them will show them no favor.

12 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord will thresh,
From the channel of [dc]the River to the Brook of Egypt;
And you will be (LW)gathered one by one,
O you children of Israel.

13 (LX)So it shall be in that day:
(LY)The great trumpet will be blown;
They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of (LZ)Egypt,
And shall (MA)worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Woe to Ephraim and Jerusalem

28 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the [dd]verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!
Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,
(MB)Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.
The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,
Will be trampled underfoot;
And the glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the [de]verdant valley,
Like the first fruit before the summer,
Which an observer sees;
He eats it up while it is still in his hand.

In that day the Lord of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

But they also (MC)have erred through wine,
And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;
(MD)The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,
They are swallowed up by wine,
They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
For all tables are full of vomit and filth;
No place is clean.

“Whom(ME) will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
10 (MF)For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”

11 For with (MG)stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, “This is the (MH)rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,”
And, “This is the refreshing”;
Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the Lord was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
(MI)For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

A Cornerstone in Zion

16 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I lay in Zion (MJ)a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
19 As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”

20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount (MK)Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of (ML)Gibeon—
That He may do His work, (MM)His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His [df]unusual act.
22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts,
(MN)A [dg]destruction determined even upon the whole earth.

Listen to the Teaching of God

23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the [dh]spelt in its place?
26 For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him.

27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin;
But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick,
And the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread flour must be ground;
Therefore he does not thresh it forever,
Break it with his cartwheel,
Or crush it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
(MO)Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in [di]guidance.

Woe to Jerusalem

29 “Woe (MP)to [dj]Ariel, to Ariel, the city (MQ)where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, (MR)out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

“Moreover the multitude of your (MS)foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like (MT)chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be (MU)in an instant, suddenly.
(MV)You will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and (MW)earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
(MX)The multitude of all the nations who fight against [dk]Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be (MY)as a dream of a night vision.
(MZ)It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”

The Blindness of Disobedience

Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
(NA)They are drunk, (NB)but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For (NC)the Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has (ND)closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, (NE)the seers.

11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a [dl]book (NF)that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”

(NG)And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

12 Then the book is delivered to one who [dm]is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”

And he says, “I am not literate.”

13 Therefore the Lord said:

(NH)“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me (NI)with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 (NJ)Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
(NK)For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

15 (NL)Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
(NM)They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the (NN)thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

Future Recovery of Wisdom

17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till (NO)Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 (NP)In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 (NQ)The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And (NR)the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the [dn]terrible one is brought to nothing,
(NS)The scornful one is consumed,
And all who (NT)watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And (NU)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just (NV)by empty words.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (NW)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be (NX)ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
(NY)The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also (NZ)who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”

Futile Confidence in Egypt

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

(OH)The [dp]burden against the beasts of the South.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
(OI)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;
(OJ)For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
[dq]Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

A Rebellious People

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

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you (OO)despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
(OP)Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking (OQ)comes suddenly, in an instant.
14 And (OR)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
[dr]A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”

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

(OS)“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
(OT)But you would not,
16 And 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 (OU)One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a [ds]pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.

God Will Be Gracious

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

19 For the people (OY)shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall (OZ)weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will (PA)answer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you
(PB)The bread of adversity and the water of [dt]affliction,
Yet (PC)your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you (PD)turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 (PE)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;
(PF)You will say to them, “Get away!”

23 (PG)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 [du]fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be (PH)on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the (PI)great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover (PJ)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

27 Behold, 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 (PK)His breath is like an overflowing stream,
(PL)Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be (PM)a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.

29 You 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 (PN)the mountain of the Lord,
To [dv]the Mighty One of Israel.
30 (PO)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, (PP)and hailstones.
31 For (PQ)through the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be [dw]beaten down,
As He strikes with the (PR)rod.
32 And 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 (PS)brandishing He will fight with it.
33 (PT)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.

The Folly of Not Trusting God

31 Woe to those (PU)who go down to Egypt for help,
And (PV)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,
(PW)Nor seek the Lord!
Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,
And (PX)will not [dx]call back His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers,
And against the help of those who work iniquity.
Now 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 (PY)together.

God Will Deliver Jerusalem

For thus the Lord has spoken to me:

(PZ)“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.
(QA)Like birds flying about,
So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem.
Defending, He will also deliver it;
Passing over, He will preserve it.

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

“Then Assyria shall (QE)fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of mankind shall (QF)devour him.
But he shall flee from the sword,
And his young men shall become forced labor.
(QG)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.

A Reign of Righteousness

32 Behold, (QH)a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And (QI)a [dy]cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
(QJ)The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
Also the heart of the [dz]rash will (QK)understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

The foolish person will no longer be called [ea]generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work (QL)iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the Lord,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with (QM)lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
But a [eb]generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.

Consequences of Complacency

Rise up, you women (QN)who are at ease,
Hear my voice;
You complacent daughters,
Give ear to my speech.
10 In a year and some days
You will be troubled, you complacent women;
For the vintage will fail,
The gathering will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
Be troubled, you complacent ones;
Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare,
And gird sackcloth on your waists.

12 People shall mourn upon their breasts
For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 (QO)On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers,
Yes, on all the happy homes in (QP)the joyous city;
14 (QQ)Because the palaces will be forsaken,
The bustling city will be deserted.
The forts and towers will become lairs forever,
A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—
15 Until (QR)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
And (QS)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.

The Peace of God’s Reign

16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 (QT)The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
18 My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet (QU)resting places,
19 (QV)Though hail comes down (QW)on the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.

20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of (QX)the ox and the donkey.

A Prayer in Deep Distress

33 Woe to you (QY)who plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
(QZ)When you cease plundering,
You will be (RA)plundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.

O Lord, be gracious to us;
(RB)We have waited for You.
Be [ec]their arm every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
At the noise of the tumult the people (RC)shall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.

(RD)The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure.

Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,
(RE)The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
(RF)The highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
(RG)He has broken the covenant,
[ed]He has despised the [ee]cities,
He regards no man.
(RH)The earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

Impending Judgment on Zion

10 “Now(RI) I will rise,” says the Lord;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
11 (RJ)You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
(RK)Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, (RL)you who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring (RM)fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 He who (RN)walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And (RO)shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
16 He will dwell on [ef]high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;
Bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

The Land of the Majestic King

17 Your eyes will see the King in His (RP)beauty;
They will see the land that is very far off.
18 Your heart will meditate on terror:
(RQ)“Where is the scribe?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 (RR)You will not see a fierce people,
(RS)A people of obscure speech, beyond perception,
Of a [eg]stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

20 (RT)Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see (RU)Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
(RV)Not one of (RW)its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the majestic Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no [eh]galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
22 (For the Lord is our (RX)Judge,
The Lord is our (RY)Lawgiver,
(RZ)The Lord is our King;
He will save us);
23 Your tackle is loosed,
They could not strengthen their mast,
They could not spread the sail.

Then the prey of great plunder is divided;
The lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”;
(SA)The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.

Judgment on the Nations

34 Come (SB)near, you nations, to hear;
And heed, you people!
(SC)Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
The world and all things that come forth from it.
For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations,
And His fury against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to the (SD)slaughter.
Also their slain shall be thrown out;
(SE)Their stench shall rise from their corpses,
And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
(SF)All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;
(SG)All their host shall fall down
As the leaf falls from the vine,
And as (SH)fruit falling from a fig tree.

“For (SI)My sword shall be bathed in heaven;
Indeed it (SJ)shall come down on Edom,
And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
The (SK)sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It is made [ei]overflowing with fatness,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For (SL)the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
The wild oxen shall come down with them,
And the young bulls with the mighty bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
And their dust [ej]saturated with fatness.”

For it is the day of the Lord’s (SM)vengeance,
The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
(SN)Its streams shall be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone;
Its land shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night or day;
(SO)Its smoke shall ascend forever.
(SP)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
No one shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 (SQ)But the [ek]pelican and the [el]porcupine shall possess it,
Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
And (SR)He shall stretch out over it
The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom,
But none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 And (SS)thorns shall come up in its palaces,
Nettles and brambles in its fortresses;
(ST)It shall be a habitation of jackals,
A courtyard for ostriches.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the [em]jackals,
And the wild goat shall bleat to its companion;
Also [en]the night creature shall rest there,
And find for herself a place of rest.
15 There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs
And hatch, and gather them under her shadow;
There also shall the hawks be gathered,
Every one with her mate.

16 “Search from (SU)the book of the Lord, and read:
Not one of these shall fail;
Not one shall lack her mate.
For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:20 Lit. struck
  2. Isaiah 10:26 arouse
  3. Isaiah 10:29 Or over the pass
  4. Isaiah 10:30 Or Cry shrilly
  5. Isaiah 10:30 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. Listen to her, O Anathoth
  6. Isaiah 11:1 Shoot
  7. Isaiah 11:1 stock or trunk
  8. Isaiah 11:1 be fruitful
  9. Isaiah 11:11 Or coastlands
  10. Isaiah 11:12 gather
  11. Isaiah 11:12 Lit. wings
  12. Isaiah 11:14 Lit. sons
  13. Isaiah 11:15 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. dry up
  14. Isaiah 11:15 The Euphrates
  15. Isaiah 11:15 Lit. in sandals
  16. Isaiah 13:1 oracle, prophecy
  17. Isaiah 13:3 consecrated or set apart
  18. Isaiah 13:5 Or instruments
  19. Isaiah 13:8 Sharp pains
  20. Isaiah 13:11 Or tyrants
  21. Isaiah 13:14 gathers
  22. Isaiah 13:17 esteem
  23. Isaiah 13:21 Or howling creatures
  24. Isaiah 14:4 Or insolent
  25. Isaiah 14:8 have lain down
  26. Isaiah 14:9 Or Sheol
  27. Isaiah 14:12 Lit. Day Star
  28. Isaiah 14:15 Lit. recesses
  29. Isaiah 14:17 Would not release
  30. Isaiah 14:19 despised
  31. Isaiah 14:19 Pierced
  32. Isaiah 14:28 oracle, prophecy
  33. Isaiah 14:31 Or ranks
  34. Isaiah 15:1 oracle, prophecy
  35. Isaiah 15:2 Heb. bayith, lit. house
  36. Isaiah 15:4 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. loins
  37. Isaiah 15:5 Or The Third Eglath, an unknown city, Jer. 48:34
  38. Isaiah 15:9 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Vg. Dibon; LXX Rimon
  39. Isaiah 16:1 Lit. Rock
  40. Isaiah 16:4 devastator
  41. Isaiah 16:6 Lit. vain talk
  42. Isaiah 16:9 Or shouting has
  43. Isaiah 16:11 Lit. belly
  44. Isaiah 16:11 Kir Hareseth, v. 7
  45. Isaiah 17:1 oracle, prophecy
  46. Isaiah 17:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX It shall be forsaken forever; Tg. Its cities shall be forsaken and desolate
  47. Isaiah 17:4 fade
  48. Isaiah 17:8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
  49. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Hivites; Tg. laid waste; Vg. as the plows
  50. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Amorites; Tg. in ruins; Vg. corn
  51. Isaiah 17:10 refuge
  52. Isaiah 18:1 Heb. Cush
  53. Isaiah 18:4 watch
  54. Isaiah 18:7 So with DSS, LXX, Vg.; MT omits From; Tg. To
  55. Isaiah 19:1 oracle, prophecy
  56. Isaiah 19:1 Lit. shake
  57. Isaiah 19:7 The Nile
  58. Isaiah 19:13 Ancient Memphis
  59. Isaiah 19:13 Lit. caused to stagger
  60. Isaiah 19:13 cornerstone
  61. Isaiah 19:18 Some Heb. mss., Arab., DSS, Tg., Vg. Sun; LXX Asedek, lit. Righteousness
  62. Isaiah 20:1 Or the Commander in Chief
  63. Isaiah 20:2 Lit. loins
  64. Isaiah 21:1 oracle, prophecy
  65. Isaiah 21:3 Lit. bowed
  66. Isaiah 21:8 DSS Then the observer cried, “My Lord!
  67. Isaiah 21:11 oracle, prophecy
  68. Isaiah 21:13 oracle, prophecy
  69. Isaiah 22:1 oracle, prophecy
  70. Isaiah 22:2 boisterous
  71. Isaiah 22:8 Lit. covering
  72. Isaiah 22:9 Lit. breaches in the city walls
  73. Isaiah 22:19 LXX omits he will pull you down; Syr., Tg., Vg. I will pull you down
  74. Isaiah 23:1 oracle, prophecy
  75. Isaiah 23:1 Heb. Kittim, western lands, especially Cyprus
  76. Isaiah 23:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Tg. Passing over the water; DSS Your messengers passing over the sea
  77. Isaiah 23:3 The Nile
  78. Isaiah 23:9 pollute
  79. Isaiah 23:10 The Nile
  80. Isaiah 23:10 restraint, lit. belt
  81. Isaiah 23:18 choice
  82. Isaiah 24:4 proud
  83. Isaiah 24:6 Or held guilty
  84. Isaiah 24:16 Lit. Leanness to me, leanness to me
  85. Isaiah 24:18 Lit. taken
  86. Isaiah 24:20 stagger
  87. Isaiah 24:22 dungeon
  88. Isaiah 25:3 terrifying
  89. Isaiah 25:5 humbled
  90. Isaiah 25:6 Lit. fat things
  91. Isaiah 25:6 wines matured on the sediment
  92. Isaiah 26:2 Or remains faithful
  93. Isaiah 26:4 Or Rock of Ages
  94. Isaiah 26:5 low
  95. Isaiah 26:6 trample
  96. Isaiah 26:7 Or make level
  97. Isaiah 26:11 Or Your zeal for the people
  98. Isaiah 26:12 Or for us
  99. Isaiah 26:15 Or ends
  100. Isaiah 26:17 sharp pains
  101. Isaiah 26:18 given birth to
  102. Isaiah 26:19 So with MT, Vg.; Syr., Tg. their dead bodies; LXX those in the tombs
  103. Isaiah 26:21 Or bloodshed
  104. Isaiah 27:2 So with MT (Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica), Bg., Vg.; MT (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia), some Heb. mss., LXX delight; Tg. choice vineyard
  105. Isaiah 27:7 Lit. him
  106. Isaiah 27:9 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
  107. Isaiah 27:12 The Euphrates
  108. Isaiah 28:1 Lit. valleys of fatness
  109. Isaiah 28:4 Lit. valley of fatness
  110. Isaiah 28:21 Lit. foreign
  111. Isaiah 28:22 Lit. complete end
  112. Isaiah 28:25 rye
  113. Isaiah 28:29 sound wisdom
  114. Isaiah 29:1 Jerusalem, lit. Lion of God
  115. Isaiah 29:7 Jerusalem
  116. Isaiah 29:11 scroll
  117. Isaiah 29:12 Lit. does not know books
  118. Isaiah 29:20 terrifying
  119. Isaiah 30:1 Lit. weave a web
  120. Isaiah 30:6 oracle, prophecy
  121. Isaiah 30:7 Lit. Rahab Sits Idle
  122. Isaiah 30:14 A piece of broken pottery
  123. Isaiah 30:17 A tree stripped of branches
  124. Isaiah 30:20 oppression
  125. Isaiah 30:23 rich
  126. Isaiah 30:29 Lit. the Rock
  127. Isaiah 30:31 Lit. shattered
  128. Isaiah 31:2 retract
  129. Isaiah 32:2 shelter
  130. Isaiah 32:4 hasty
  131. Isaiah 32:5 noble
  132. Isaiah 32:8 noble
  133. Isaiah 33:2 LXX omits their; Syr., Tg., Vg. our
  134. Isaiah 33:8 Tg. They have been removed from their cities
  135. Isaiah 33:8 So with MT, Vg.; DSS witnesses; LXX omits cities
  136. Isaiah 33:16 Lit. heights
  137. Isaiah 33:19 Unintelligible speech
  138. Isaiah 33:21 ship
  139. Isaiah 34:6 Lit. fat
  140. Isaiah 34:7 Lit. made fat
  141. Isaiah 34:11 Or owl
  142. Isaiah 34:11 Or hedgehog
  143. Isaiah 34:14 Lit. howling creatures
  144. Isaiah 34:14 Heb. lilith

The Remnant of Israel

20 In that day(A) the remnant of Israel,
    the survivors(B) of Jacob,
will no longer rely(C) on him
    who struck them down(D)
but will truly rely(E) on the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.(F)
21 A remnant(G) will return,[a](H) a remnant of Jacob
    will return to the Mighty God.(I)
22 Though your people be like the sand(J) by the sea, Israel,
    only a remnant will return.(K)
Destruction has been decreed,(L)
    overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out
    the destruction decreed(M) upon the whole land.(N)

24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“My people who live in Zion,(O)
    do not be afraid(P) of the Assyrians,
who beat(Q) you with a rod(R)
    and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25 Very soon(S) my anger against you will end
    and my wrath(T) will be directed to their destruction.(U)

26 The Lord Almighty will lash(V) them with a whip,
    as when he struck down Midian(W) at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff(X) over the waters,(Y)
    as he did in Egypt.
27 In that day(Z) their burden(AA) will be lifted from your shoulders,
    their yoke(AB) from your neck;(AC)
the yoke(AD) will be broken
    because you have grown so fat.[b]

28 They enter Aiath;
    they pass through Migron;(AE)
    they store supplies(AF) at Mikmash.(AG)
29 They go over the pass, and say,
    “We will camp overnight at Geba.(AH)
Ramah(AI) trembles;
    Gibeah(AJ) of Saul flees.(AK)
30 Cry out, Daughter Gallim!(AL)
    Listen, Laishah!
    Poor Anathoth!(AM)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the people of Gebim take cover.
32 This day they will halt at Nob;(AN)
    they will shake their fist(AO)
at the mount of Daughter Zion,(AP)
    at the hill of Jerusalem.

33 See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will lop off(AQ) the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,(AR)
    the tall(AS) ones will be brought low.(AT)
34 He will cut down(AU) the forest thickets with an ax;
    Lebanon(AV) will fall before the Mighty One.(AW)

The Branch From Jesse

11 A shoot(AX) will come up from the stump(AY) of Jesse;(AZ)
    from his roots a Branch(BA) will bear fruit.(BB)
The Spirit(BC) of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom(BD) and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,(BE)
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord
and he will delight in the fear(BF) of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,(BG)
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;(BH)
but with righteousness(BI) he will judge the needy,(BJ)
    with justice(BK) he will give decisions for the poor(BL) of the earth.
He will strike(BM) the earth with the rod of his mouth;(BN)
    with the breath(BO) of his lips he will slay the wicked.(BP)
Righteousness will be his belt(BQ)
    and faithfulness(BR) the sash around his waist.(BS)

The wolf will live with the lamb,(BT)
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[c] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.(BU)
The infant(BV) will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s(BW) nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy(BX)
    on all my holy mountain,(BY)
for the earth(BZ) will be filled with the knowledge(CA) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day(CB) the Root of Jesse(CC) will stand as a banner(CD) for the peoples; the nations(CE) will rally to him,(CF) and his resting place(CG) will be glorious.(CH) 11 In that day(CI) the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant(CJ) of his people from Assyria,(CK) from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,(CL) from Cush,[d](CM) from Elam,(CN) from Babylonia,[e] from Hamath(CO) and from the islands(CP) of the Mediterranean.(CQ)

12 He will raise a banner(CR) for the nations
    and gather(CS) the exiles of Israel;(CT)
he will assemble the scattered people(CU) of Judah
    from the four quarters of the earth.(CV)
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
    and Judah’s enemies[f] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
    nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.(CW)
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia(CX) to the west;
    together they will plunder the people to the east.(CY)
They will subdue Edom(CZ) and Moab,(DA)
    and the Ammonites(DB) will be subject to them.(DC)
15 The Lord will dry up(DD)
    the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind(DE) he will sweep his hand(DF)
    over the Euphrates River.(DG)
He will break it up into seven streams
    so that anyone can cross over in sandals.(DH)
16 There will be a highway(DI) for the remnant(DJ) of his people
    that is left from Assyria,(DK)
as there was for Israel
    when they came up from Egypt.(DL)

Songs of Praise

12 In that day(DM) you will say:

“I will praise(DN) you, Lord.
    Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away(DO)
    and you have comforted(DP) me.
Surely God is my salvation;(DQ)
    I will trust(DR) and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself,(DS) is my strength(DT) and my defense[g];
    he has become my salvation.(DU)
With joy you will draw water(DV)
    from the wells(DW) of salvation.

In that day(DX) you will say:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;(DY)
    make known among the nations(DZ) what he has done,
    and proclaim that his name is exalted.(EA)
Sing(EB) to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;(EC)
    let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy,(ED) people of Zion,
    for great(EE) is the Holy One of Israel(EF) among you.(EG)

A Prophecy Against Babylon

13 A prophecy(EH) against Babylon(EI) that Isaiah son of Amoz(EJ) saw:(EK)

Raise a banner(EL) on a bare hilltop,
    shout to them;
beckon to them
    to enter the gates(EM) of the nobles.
I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
    I have summoned my warriors(EN) to carry out my wrath(EO)
    those who rejoice(EP) in my triumph.

Listen, a noise on the mountains,
    like that of a great multitude!(EQ)
Listen, an uproar(ER) among the kingdoms,
    like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty(ES) is mustering(ET)
    an army for war.
They come from faraway lands,
    from the ends of the heavens(EU)
the Lord and the weapons(EV) of his wrath(EW)
    to destroy(EX) the whole country.

Wail,(EY) for the day(EZ) of the Lord is near;
    it will come like destruction(FA) from the Almighty.[h](FB)
Because of this, all hands will go limp,(FC)
    every heart will melt with fear.(FD)
Terror(FE) will seize them,
    pain and anguish will grip(FF) them;
    they will writhe like a woman in labor.(FG)
They will look aghast at each other,
    their faces aflame.(FH)

See, the day(FI) of the Lord is coming
    —a cruel(FJ) day, with wrath(FK) and fierce anger(FL)
to make the land desolate
    and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
    will not show their light.(FM)
The rising sun(FN) will be darkened(FO)
    and the moon will not give its light.(FP)
11 I will punish(FQ) the world for its evil,
    the wicked(FR) for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty(FS)
    and will humble(FT) the pride of the ruthless.(FU)
12 I will make people(FV) scarcer than pure gold,
    more rare than the gold of Ophir.(FW)
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;(FX)
    and the earth will shake(FY) from its place
at the wrath(FZ) of the Lord Almighty,
    in the day of his burning anger.(GA)

14 Like a hunted(GB) gazelle,
    like sheep without a shepherd,(GC)
they will all return to their own people,
    they will flee(GD) to their native land.(GE)
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
    all who are caught will fall(GF) by the sword.(GG)
16 Their infants(GH) will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
    their houses will be looted and their wives violated.(GI)

17 See, I will stir up(GJ) against them the Medes,(GK)
    who do not care for silver
    and have no delight in gold.(GL)
18 Their bows(GM) will strike down the young men;(GN)
    they will have no mercy(GO) on infants,
    nor will they look with compassion on children.(GP)
19 Babylon,(GQ) the jewel of kingdoms,(GR)
    the pride and glory(GS) of the Babylonians,[i]
will be overthrown(GT) by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.(GU)
20 She will never be inhabited(GV)
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads(GW) will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures(GX) will lie there,
    jackals(GY) will fill her houses;
there the owls(GZ) will dwell,
    and there the wild goats(HA) will leap about.
22 Hyenas(HB) will inhabit her strongholds,(HC)
    jackals(HD) her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,(HE)
    and her days will not be prolonged.(HF)

14 The Lord will have compassion(HG) on Jacob;
    once again he will choose(HH) Israel
    and will settle them in their own land.(HI)
Foreigners(HJ) will join them
    and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
Nations will take them
    and bring(HK) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(HL)
    and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(HM) of their captors
    and rule over their oppressors.(HN)

On the day the Lord gives you relief(HO) from your suffering and turmoil(HP) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(HQ) you will take up this taunt(HR) against the king of Babylon:(HS)

How the oppressor(HT) has come to an end!
    How his fury[j] has ended!
The Lord has broken the rod(HU) of the wicked,(HV)
    the scepter(HW) of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples(HX)
    with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(HY) nations
    with relentless aggression.(HZ)
All the lands are at rest and at peace;(IA)
    they break into singing.(IB)
Even the junipers(IC) and the cedars of Lebanon
    gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
    no one comes to cut us down.”(ID)

The realm of the dead(IE) below is all astir
    to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(IF) to greet you—
    all those who were leaders(IG) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
    all those who were kings over the nations.(IH)
10 They will all respond,
    they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
    you have become like us.”(II)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(IJ)
    along with the noise of your harps;(IK)
maggots are spread out beneath you
    and worms(IL) cover you.(IM)

12 How you have fallen(IN) from heaven,
    morning star,(IO) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(IP)
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend(IQ) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(IR)
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(IS)
    on the utmost heights(IT) of Mount Zaphon.[k]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(IU)
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(IV)
15 But you are brought down(IW) to the realm of the dead,(IX)
    to the depths(IY) of the pit.(IZ)

16 Those who see you stare at you,
    they ponder your fate:(JA)
“Is this the man who shook(JB) the earth
    and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(JC)
    who overthrew(JD) its cities
    and would not let his captives go home?”(JE)

18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
    each in his own tomb.(JF)
19 But you are cast out(JG) of your tomb
    like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(JH)
    with those pierced by the sword,(JI)
    those who descend to the stones of the pit.(JJ)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20     you will not join them in burial,(JK)
for you have destroyed your land
    and killed your people.

Let the offspring(JL) of the wicked(JM)
    never be mentioned(JN) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(JO)
    for the sins of their ancestors;(JP)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
    and cover the earth with their cities.

22 “I will rise up(JQ) against them,”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(JR) and survivors,
    her offspring and descendants,(JS)
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(JT)
    and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(JU)
    declares the Lord Almighty.(JV)

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(JW)

“Surely, as I have planned,(JX) so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(JY)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(JZ) in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(KA) will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.(KB)

26 This is the plan(KC) determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand(KD) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(KE) and who can thwart him?
    His hand(KF) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(KG)

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28 This prophecy(KH) came in the year(KI) King Ahaz(KJ) died:

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(KK)
    that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(KL)
    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(KM)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy(KN) will lie down in safety.(KO)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(KP)
    it will slay(KQ) your survivors.(KR)

31 Wail,(KS) you gate!(KT) Howl, you city!
    Melt away, all you Philistines!(KU)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(KV)
    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(KW)
32 What answer shall be given
    to the envoys(KX) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(KY)
    and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(KZ)

A Prophecy Against Moab(LA)

15 A prophecy(LB) against Moab:(LC)

Ar(LD) in Moab is ruined,(LE)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(LF) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Dibon(LG) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places(LH) to weep;
    Moab wails(LI) over Nebo(LJ) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved(LK)
    and every beard cut off.(LL)
In the streets they wear sackcloth;(LM)
    on the roofs(LN) and in the public squares(LO)
they all wail,(LP)
    prostrate with weeping.(LQ)
Heshbon(LR) and Elealeh(LS) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(LT)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out(LU) over Moab;(LV)
    her fugitives(LW) flee as far as Zoar,(LX)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim(LY)
    they lament their destruction.(LZ)
The waters of Nimrim are dried up(MA)
    and the grass is withered;(MB)
the vegetation is gone(MC)
    and nothing green is left.(MD)
So the wealth they have acquired(ME) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(MF) Elim.
The waters of Dimon[l] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[m]
a lion(MG) upon the fugitives of Moab(MH)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

16 Send lambs(MI) as tribute(MJ)
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,(MK) across the desert,
    to the mount of Daughter Zion.(ML)
Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,(MM)
so are the women of Moab(MN)
    at the fords(MO) of the Arnon.(MP)

“Make up your mind,” Moab says.
    “Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
    at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,(MQ)
    do not betray the refugees.
Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
    be their shelter(MR) from the destroyer.”

The oppressor(MS) will come to an end,
    and destruction will cease;(MT)
    the aggressor will vanish from the land.
In love a throne(MU) will be established;(MV)
    in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
    one from the house[n] of David(MW)
one who in judging seeks justice(MX)
    and speeds the cause of righteousness.

We have heard of Moab’s(MY) pride(MZ)
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
    but her boasts are empty.
Therefore the Moabites wail,(NA)
    they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
    for the raisin cakes(NB) of Kir Hareseth.(NC)
The fields of Heshbon(ND) wither,(NE)
    the vines of Sibmah(NF) also.
The rulers of the nations
    have trampled down the choicest vines,(NG)
which once reached Jazer(NH)
    and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out(NI)
    and went as far as the sea.[o](NJ)
So I weep,(NK) as Jazer weeps,
    for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,(NL)
    I drench you with tears!(NM)
The shouts of joy(NN) over your ripened fruit
    and over your harvests(NO) have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;(NP)
    no one sings or shouts(NQ) in the vineyards;
no one treads(NR) out wine at the presses,(NS)
    for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moab(NT) like a harp,(NU)
    my inmost being(NV) for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place,(NW)
    she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine(NX) to pray,
    it is to no avail.(NY)

13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,(NZ) as a servant bound by contract(OA) would count them,(OB) Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,(OC) and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”(OD)

A Prophecy Against Damascus

17 A prophecy(OE) against Damascus:(OF)

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
    but will become a heap of ruins.(OG)
The cities of Aroer(OH) will be deserted
    and left to flocks,(OI) which will lie down,(OJ)
    with no one to make them afraid.(OK)
The fortified(OL) city will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory(OM) of the Israelites,”(ON)
declares the Lord Almighty.

“In that day(OO) the glory(OP) of Jacob will fade;
    the fat of his body will waste(OQ) away.
It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
    gathering(OR) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(OS)
    in the Valley of Rephaim.(OT)
Yet some gleanings will remain,(OU)
    as when an olive tree is beaten,(OV)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

In that day(OW) people will look(OX) to their Maker(OY)
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One(OZ) of Israel.
They will not look to the altars,(PA)
    the work of their hands,(PB)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[p](PC)
    and the incense altars their fingers(PD) have made.

In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(PE) And all will be desolation.

10 You have forgotten(PF) God your Savior;(PG)
    you have not remembered the Rock,(PH) your fortress.(PI)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,(PJ)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning(PK) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(PL) will be as nothing(PM)
    in the day of disease and incurable(PN) pain.(PO)

12 Woe to the many nations that rage(PP)
    they rage like the raging sea!(PQ)
Woe to the peoples who roar(PR)
    they roar like the roaring of great waters!(PS)
13 Although the peoples roar(PT) like the roar of surging waters,
    when he rebukes(PU) them they flee(PV) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(PW) on the hills,
    like tumbleweed before a gale.(PX)
14 In the evening, sudden(PY) terror!(PZ)
    Before the morning, they are gone!(QA)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    the lot of those who plunder us.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe(QB) to the land of whirring wings[q]
    along the rivers of Cush,[r](QC)
which sends envoys(QD) by sea
    in papyrus(QE) boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(QF)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(QG) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.(QH)

All you people of the world,(QI)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner(QJ) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet(QK) sounds,
    you will hear it.
This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet(QL) and will look on from my dwelling place,(QM)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(QN)
    like a cloud of dew(QO) in the heat of harvest.”
For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(QP) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(QQ)
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(QR)
    and to the wild animals;(QS)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts(QT) will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(QU)
    from a people feared(QV) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers(QW)

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(QX)

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19 A prophecy(QY) against Egypt:(QZ)

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud(RA)
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt(RB) with fear.

“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,(RC)
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.(RD)
The Egyptians will lose heart,(RE)
    and I will bring their plans(RF) to nothing;(RG)
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.(RH)
I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king(RI) will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

The waters of the river will dry up,(RJ)
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.(RK)
The canals will stink;(RL)
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.(RM)
The reeds(RN) and rushes will wither,(RO)
    also the plants(RP) along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field(RQ) along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.(RR)
The fishermen(RS) will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks(RT) into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
Those who work with combed flax(RU) will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen(RV) will lose hope.
10 The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

11 The officials of Zoan(RW) are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors(RX) of Pharaoh give senseless advice.(RY)
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,(RZ)
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?

12 Where are your wise men(SA) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned(SB) against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan(SC) have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis(SD) are deceived;
the cornerstones(SE) of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;(SF)
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers(SG) around in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.(SH)

16 In that day(SI) the Egyptians will become weaklings.(SJ) They will shudder with fear(SK) at the uplifted hand(SL) that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified,(SM) because of what the Lord Almighty is planning(SN) against them.

18 In that day(SO) five cities(SP) in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance(SQ) to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[s](SR)

19 In that day(SS) there will be an altar(ST) to the Lord in the heart of Egypt,(SU) and a monument(SV) to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness(SW) to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior(SX) and defender, and he will rescue(SY) them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge(SZ) the Lord. They will worship(TA) with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.(TB) 22 The Lord will strike(TC) Egypt with a plague;(TD) he will strike them and heal them. They will turn(TE) to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal(TF) them.

23 In that day(TG) there will be a highway(TH) from Egypt to Assyria.(TI) The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship(TJ) together. 24 In that day(TK) Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,(TL) a blessing[t](TM) on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless(TN) them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,(TO) Assyria my handiwork,(TP) and Israel my inheritance.(TQ)

A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that the supreme commander,(TR) sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod(TS) and attacked and captured it— at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz.(TT) He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth(TU) from your body and the sandals(TV) from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped(TW) and barefoot.(TX)

Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant(TY) Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years,(TZ) as a sign(UA) and portent(UB) against Egypt(UC) and Cush,[u](UD) so the king(UE) of Assyria will lead away stripped(UF) and barefoot the Egyptian captives(UG) and Cushite(UH) exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared(UI)—to Egypt’s shame.(UJ) Those who trusted(UK) in Cush(UL) and boasted in Egypt(UM) will be dismayed and put to shame.(UN) In that day(UO) the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened(UP) to those we relied on,(UQ) those we fled to for help(UR) and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?(US)’”

A Prophecy Against Babylon

21 A prophecy(UT) against the Desert(UU) by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds(UV) sweeping through the southland,(UW)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.

A dire(UX) vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays,(UY) the looter takes loot.
Elam,(UZ) attack! Media,(VA) lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

At this my body is racked with pain,(VB)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;(VC)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered(VD) by what I see.
My heart(VE) falters,
    fear makes me tremble;(VF)
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror(VG) to me.

They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!(VH)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!(VI)

This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout(VJ)
    and have him report what he sees.
When he sees chariots(VK)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,(VL)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

And the lookout[v](VM) shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
Look, here comes a man in a chariot(VN)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon(VO) has fallen,(VP) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(VQ)
    lie shattered(VR) on the ground!’”

10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(VS)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

A Prophecy Against Edom

11 A prophecy against Dumah[w]:(VT)

Someone calls to me from Seir,(VU)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
    “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
    and come back yet again.”

A Prophecy Against Arabia

13 A prophecy(VV) against Arabia:(VW)

You caravans of Dedanites,(VX)
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,(VY)
    bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee(VZ) from the sword,(WA)
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
    and from the heat of battle.

16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract(WB) would count it, all the splendor(WC) of Kedar(WD) will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.(WE)” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.(WF)

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

22 A prophecy(WG) against the Valley(WH) of Vision:(WI)

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,(WJ)
you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult(WK) and revelry?(WL)
Your slain(WM) were not killed by the sword,(WN)
    nor did they die in battle.
All your leaders have fled(WO) together;
    they have been captured(WP) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep(WQ) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”(WR)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day(WS)
    of tumult and trampling(WT) and terror(WU)
    in the Valley of Vision,(WV)
a day of battering down walls(WW)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
Elam(WX) takes up the quiver,(WY)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir(WZ) uncovers the shield.
Your choicest valleys(XA) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.(XB)

The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day(XC)
    to the weapons(XD) in the Palace of the Forest.(XE)
You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through(XF) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.(XG)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses(XH) to strengthen the wall.(XI)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(XJ)
    for the water of the Old Pool,(XK)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard(XL) for the One who planned(XM) it long ago.

12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day(XN)
to weep(XO) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair(XP) and put on sackcloth.(XQ)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(XR)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!(XS)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”(XT)

14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(XU) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(XV) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna(XW) the palace(XX) administrator:(XY)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave(XZ) for yourself(YA) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl(YB) you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw(YC) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots(YD) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted(YE) from your position.(YF)

20 “In that day(YG) I will summon my servant,(YH) Eliakim(YI) son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash(YJ) around him and hand your authority(YK) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder(YL) the key(YM) to the house of David;(YN) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(YO) 23 I will drive him like a peg(YP) into a firm place;(YQ) he will become a seat[x] of honor(YR) for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

25 “In that day,(YS)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg(YT) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.(YU)

A Prophecy Against Tyre

23 A prophecy against Tyre:(YV)

Wail,(YW) you ships(YX) of Tarshish!(YY)
    For Tyre is destroyed(YZ)
    and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
    word has come to them.

Be silent,(ZA) you people of the island
    and you merchants(ZB) of Sidon,(ZC)
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
On the great waters
    came the grain of the Shihor;(ZD)
the harvest of the Nile[y](ZE) was the revenue of Tyre,(ZF)
    and she became the marketplace of the nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon,(ZG) and you fortress of the sea,
    for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;(ZH)
    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
When word comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish(ZI) at the report from Tyre.(ZJ)

Cross over to Tarshish;(ZK)
    wail, you people of the island.
Is this your city of revelry,(ZL)
    the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
    to settle in far-off lands?
Who planned this against Tyre,
    the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants(ZM) are princes,
    whose traders(ZN) are renowned in the earth?
The Lord Almighty planned(ZO) it,
    to bring down(ZP) her pride in all her splendor
    and to humble(ZQ) all who are renowned(ZR) on the earth.

10 Till[z] your land as they do along the Nile,
    Daughter Tarshish,
    for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand(ZS) over the sea
    and made its kingdoms tremble.(ZT)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
    that her fortresses be destroyed.(ZU)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,(ZV)
    Virgin Daughter(ZW) Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;(ZX)
    even there you will find no rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[aa](ZY)
    this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians(ZZ) have made it
    a place for desert creatures;(AAA)
they raised up their siege towers,(AAB)
    they stripped its fortresses bare
    and turned it into a ruin.(AAC)

14 Wail, you ships(AAD) of Tarshish;(AAE)
    your fortress is destroyed!(AAF)

15 At that time Tyre(AAG) will be forgotten for seventy years,(AAH) the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
    you forgotten prostitute;(AAI)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
    so that you will be remembered.”

17 At the end of seventy years,(AAJ) the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution(AAK) and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.(AAL) 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;(AAM) they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,(AAN) for abundant food and fine clothes.(AAO)

The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth

24 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth(AAP)
    and devastate(AAQ) it;
he will ruin its face
    and scatter(AAR) its inhabitants—
it will be the same
    for priest as for people,(AAS)
    for the master as for his servant,
    for the mistress as for her servant,
    for seller as for buyer,(AAT)
    for borrower as for lender,
    for debtor as for creditor.(AAU)
The earth will be completely laid waste(AAV)
    and totally plundered.(AAW)
The Lord has spoken(AAX) this word.

The earth dries up(AAY) and withers,(AAZ)
    the world languishes and withers,
    the heavens(ABA) languish with the earth.(ABB)
The earth is defiled(ABC) by its people;
    they have disobeyed(ABD) the laws,
violated the statutes
    and broken the everlasting covenant.(ABE)
Therefore a curse(ABF) consumes the earth;
    its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,(ABG)
    and very few are left.
The new wine dries up(ABH) and the vine withers;(ABI)
    all the merrymakers groan.(ABJ)
The joyful timbrels(ABK) are stilled,
    the noise(ABL) of the revelers(ABM) has stopped,
    the joyful harp(ABN) is silent.(ABO)
No longer do they drink wine(ABP) with a song;
    the beer is bitter(ABQ) to its drinkers.
10 The ruined city(ABR) lies desolate;(ABS)
    the entrance to every house is barred.
11 In the streets they cry out(ABT) for wine;(ABU)
    all joy turns to gloom,(ABV)
    all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
12 The city is left in ruins,(ABW)
    its gate(ABX) is battered to pieces.
13 So will it be on the earth
    and among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,(ABY)
    or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.(ABZ)

14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;(ACA)
    from the west(ACB) they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore in the east(ACC) give glory(ACD) to the Lord;
    exalt(ACE) the name(ACF) of the Lord, the God of Israel,
    in the islands(ACG) of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth(ACH) we hear singing:(ACI)
    “Glory(ACJ) to the Righteous One.”(ACK)

But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!(ACL)
    Woe(ACM) to me!
The treacherous(ACN) betray!
    With treachery the treacherous betray!(ACO)
17 Terror(ACP) and pit and snare(ACQ) await you,
    people of the earth.(ACR)
18 Whoever flees(ACS) at the sound of terror
    will fall into a pit;(ACT)
whoever climbs out of the pit
    will be caught in a snare.(ACU)

The floodgates of the heavens(ACV) are opened,
    the foundations of the earth shake.(ACW)
19 The earth is broken up,(ACX)
    the earth is split asunder,(ACY)
    the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth reels like a drunkard,(ACZ)
    it sways like a hut(ADA) in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion(ADB)
    that it falls(ADC)—never to rise again.(ADD)

21 In that day(ADE) the Lord will punish(ADF)
    the powers(ADG) in the heavens above
    and the kings(ADH) on the earth below.
22 They will be herded together
    like prisoners(ADI) bound in a dungeon;(ADJ)
they will be shut up in prison
    and be punished[ab] after many days.(ADK)
23 The moon will be dismayed,
    the sun(ADL) ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty will reign(ADM)
    on Mount Zion(ADN) and in Jerusalem,
    and before its elders—with great glory.(ADO)

Praise to the Lord

25 Lord, you are my God;(ADP)
    I will exalt you and praise your name,(ADQ)
for in perfect faithfulness(ADR)
    you have done wonderful things,(ADS)
    things planned(ADT) long ago.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:21 Hebrew shear-jashub (see 7:3 and note); also in verse 22
  2. Isaiah 10:27 Hebrew; Septuagint broken / from your shoulders
  3. Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed
  4. Isaiah 11:11 That is, the upper Nile region
  5. Isaiah 11:11 Hebrew Shinar
  6. Isaiah 11:13 Or hostility
  7. Isaiah 12:2 Or song
  8. Isaiah 13:6 Hebrew Shaddai
  9. Isaiah 13:19 Or Chaldeans
  10. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  11. Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
  12. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  13. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  14. Isaiah 16:5 Hebrew tent
  15. Isaiah 16:8 Probably the Dead Sea
  16. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
  17. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
  18. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region
  19. Isaiah 19:18 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Symmachus and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text City of Destruction
  20. Isaiah 19:24 Or Assyria, whose names will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or Assyria, who will be seen by others as blessed
  21. Isaiah 20:3 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verse 5
  22. Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
  23. Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.
  24. Isaiah 22:23 Or throne
  25. Isaiah 23:3 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile,
  26. Isaiah 23:10 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through
  27. Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans
  28. Isaiah 24:22 Or released