Isaiah 13-23

New American Standard Bible

^2 (D)Lift up a flag on the ^[a](E)bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
^(F)Wave the hand that they may ^(G)enter the doors of the nobles.
³ I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have also called for My ^(H)warriors
Who boast in My eminence,
To execute My anger.
⁴ A ^(I)sound of a roar on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The Lord of armies is mustering the army for battle.
⁵ They are coming from a distant country,
From the ^[b](J)farthest horizons,
The Lord and the weapons of His ^(K)indignation,
To ^(L)destroy the whole land.

⁶ Wail, for the ^(M)day of the Lord is near!
It will come as ^(N)destruction from ^[c]the Almighty.
⁷ Therefore ^(O)all hands will fall limp,
And every human ^(P)heart will melt.
⁸ They will be ^(Q)terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will ^(R)writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.
⁹ Behold, ^(S)the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
¹⁰ For the ^(T)stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash their light;
The ^(U)sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ So I will ^(V)punish the world for its evil
And the ^(W)wicked for their wrongdoing;
I will also put an end to the ^(X)audacity of the proud
And humiliate the ^(Y)arrogance of the ^[d](Z)tyrants.
¹² I will make mortal man ^(AA)scarcer than pure gold
And mankind than the ^(AB)gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the ^(AC)heavens tremble,
And ^(AD)the earth will be shaken from its place
At the fury of the Lord of armies
In ^(AE)the day of His burning anger.
¹⁴ And it will be that, like a hunted gazelle,
Or like ^(AF)sheep with no one to gather them,
Each of them will turn to his own people,
And each of them will flee to his own land.
¹⁵ Anyone who is found will be ^(AG)thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
¹⁶ Their ^(AH)little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives raped.

¹⁷ Behold, I am going to ^(AI)stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not value silver or ^(AJ)take pleasure in gold.
¹⁸ And their bows will ^[e]mow down the ^(AK)young men,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their ^(AL)eye pity ^[f]children.
¹⁹ And ^(AM)Babylon, the ^(AN)beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God ^(AO)overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
²⁰ It will ^(AP)never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the ^(AQ)Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds allow their flocks to lie down there.
²¹ But ^(AR)desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of ^[g]owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and ^[h]shaggy goats will frolic there.
^22 [i]Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious ^(AS)palaces.
Her fateful time also ^[j]will soon come,
And her days will not be prolonged.

“How ^(BA)the oppressor has ceased,
And how the ^[m]onslaught has ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of rulers,
^6 (BB)Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which ^[n]subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They ^(BC)break forth into shouts of joy.
⁸ Even the ^(BD)juniper trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you have been laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’
^9 (BE)Sheol below is excited about you, to meet you when you come;
It stirs the ^[o]spirits of the dead for you, all the ^[p]leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
^10 (BF)They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have become weak as we,
You have become like us.
¹¹ Your ^(BG)pride and the music of your harps
Have been brought down to Sheol;
Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
And worms are your covering.’
¹² How you have ^(BH)fallen from heaven,
You ^[q](BI)star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who defeated the nations!
¹³ But you said in your heart,
‘I will ^(BJ)ascend to heaven;
I will ^(BK)raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
^(BL)I will make myself like the Most High.’
¹⁵ Nevertheless you ^(BM)will be brought down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you,
They will ^[r]closely examine you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ Who made the world like a ^(BN)wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who ^(BO)did not ^[s]allow his prisoners to go home?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
Each in his own ^[t]tomb.
¹⁹ But you have been ^(BP)hurled out of your tomb
Like ^[u]a rejected branch,
^[v]Clothed with those killed who have been pierced with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the ^(BQ)pit
Like a ^(BR)trampled corpse.
²⁰ You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have killed your people.
May the ^(BS)descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.
²¹ Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
Because of the ^(BT)wrongdoing of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the surface of the world with cities.”

²⁹ “Do not rejoice, ^(CG)Philistia, all of you,
Because the rod that ^(CH)struck you is broken;
For from the serpent’s root a ^(CI)viper will come out,
And its fruit will be a ^(CJ)winged serpent.
^30 [x]Those who are most ^(CK)helpless will eat,
And the poor will lie down in security;
I will kill your root with ^(CL)famine,
And it will kill your survivors.
³¹ Wail, you ^(CM)gate; cry, you city;
^[y]Melt away, ^(CN)Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes from the ^(CO)north,
And ^(CP)there is no straggler in his ranks.
³² What answer will one give the ^(CQ)messengers of the nation?
That ^(CR)the Lord has founded Zion,
And ^(CS)the poor of His people will take refuge in it.”

Certainly in a night ^(CU)Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;
Certainly in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.
^2 [z]The people have gone up to the ^[aa]temple and to ^(CV)Dibon, to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
Everyone’s head is ^(CW)bald and every beard is cut off.
³ In their streets they have put on ^(CX)sackcloth;
^(CY)On their housetops and in their public squares
Everyone is wailing, ^[ab](CZ)overcome with weeping.
^4 (DA)Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out,
Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz;
Therefore the ^[ac]armed men of Moab cry aloud;
His soul trembles within him.
⁵ My heart cries out for Moab;
His fugitives are as far as ^(DB)Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah,
For they go up the ^(DC)ascent of Luhith weeping;
Indeed, on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress ^(DD)over their collapse.
⁶ For the ^(DE)waters of Nimrim are ^[ad]desolate.
Indeed, the grass is withered, the new growth has died,
There is ^(DF)no greenery.
⁷ Therefore the ^(DG)abundance which they have acquired and stored up,
They carry it off over the brook of ^[ae]Arabim.
⁸ For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab,
Its wailing goes as far as Eglaim and its howling to Beer-elim.
⁹ For the waters of Dimon are full of ^[af]blood;
I will certainly bring added woes upon Dimon,
A ^(DH)lion upon the fugitives of Moab and the remnant of the land.

16 ^(DI)Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,
From ^[ag](DJ)Sela by way of the wilderness to the ^(DK)mountain of the daughter of Zion.
² Then, like ^(DL)fluttering birds or scattered nestlings,
The daughters of ^(DM)Moab will be at the crossing places of the ^(DN)Arnon.
³ “^[ah]Give us advice, make a decision;
^[ai]Cast your ^(DO)shadow like night ^[aj]at high noon;
^(DP)Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.
⁴ Let the ^[ak]outcasts of Moab stay with you;
Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”
For the oppressor has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
^(DQ)Oppressors have been removed from the land.
⁵ A ^(DR)throne will be established in faithfulness,
And a judge will sit on it in trustworthiness in the tent of ^(DS)David;
Moreover, he will seek justice,
And be prompt in righteousness.

“Behold, Damascus is about to be ^(EO)removed from being a city
And will become a ^(EP)fallen ruin.
² The cities ^[as]of ^(EQ)Aroer are abandoned;
They will be for ^(ER)herds ^[at]to lie down in,
And there will be ^(ES)no one to frighten them.
³ The ^[au](ET)fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And ^[av]sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the ^(EU)glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of armies.

18 Woe, land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of ^[be](FP)Cush,
² Which sends messengers by the sea,
Even in ^(FQ)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation ^[bf](FR)tall and smooth,
To a people ^(FS)feared ^[bg]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
^3 (FT)All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth,
As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, ^(FU)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

“I will quietly look ^[bh]from My ^(FV)dwelling place
Like dazzling heat in the ^[bi](FW)sunshine,
Like a cloud of ^(FX)dew in the heat of harvest.”
⁵ For ^(FY)before the harvest, as soon as the bud ^[bj]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
And remove and tear away the spreading branches.
⁶ They will be left together for mountain birds ^(FZ)of prey,
And for the animals of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
⁷ At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies
^[bk]From a ^(GA)people ^[bl]tall and smooth,
From a people feared ^[bm]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the ^(GB)place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.

Behold, the Lord is ^(GE)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The ^(GF)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the ^(GG)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
² “So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will fight, ^(GH)each against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
³ Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that ^(GI)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead,
And to ^[bn]mediums and spiritists.
⁴ Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a ^(GJ)cruel master,
And a ^[bo]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord ^[bp]God of armies.

As ^(IG)windstorms in the ^[ci]Negev come in turns,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
² A ^(IH)harsh vision has been shown to me;
The ^(II)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, ^(IJ)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have put an end to all ^[cj]the groaning she has caused.
³ For this reason my ^(IK)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^(IL)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
⁴ My ^[ck]mind reels, ^[cl]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been ^(IM)turned into trembling for me.
⁵ They ^(IN)set the table, they ^[cm]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”

“Go, station the lookout, have him ^(IO)report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees ^[cn]a ^(IP)column of chariots, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”

“^(IQ)Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
⁹ Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “^(IR)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the ^(IS)images of her gods ^[cp]are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰ My ^(IT)downtrodden people, and my ^[cq]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

One keeps calling to me from ^(IV)Seir,
“Watchman, ^[cs]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, ^[ct]how far gone is the night?”
¹² The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

In the thickets of Arabia you ^[cu]must spend the night,
You caravans of ^(IX)Dedanites.
¹⁴ Bring water ^[cv]for the thirsty,
You inhabitants of the land of ^(IY)Tema;
Meet the fugitive with bread.
¹⁵ For they have ^(IZ)fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow,
And from the press of battle.

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the ^(JF)housetops?
² You who were full of noise,
You tumultuous town, you ^(JG)jubilant city;
Your dead were ^(JH)not killed with the sword,
Nor ^[cx]did they die in battle.
^3 (JI)All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured ^[cy]without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
^[cz]Though they had fled far away.
⁴ Therefore I say, “Look away from me,
Let me ^(JJ)weep bitterly,
Do not ^[da]try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
^5 (JK)For the Lord ^[db]God of armies has a ^(JL)day of panic, ^(JM)subjugation, and confusion
^(JN)In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying ^[dc]to the mountain.
^6 (JO)Elam picked up the quiver,
With the chariots, ^[dd]infantry, and horsemen;
And ^(JP)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷ Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took positions at the gate.
⁸ And He removed the ^[de]defense of Judah.
On that day you ^[df]depended on the weapons of the ^(JQ)house of the forest,
⁹ And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you ^(JR)collected the waters of the lower pool.
¹⁰ Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
¹¹ And you made a reservoir ^(JS)between the two walls
For the waters of the ^(JT)old pool.
But you did not ^[dg]depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you ^[dh]take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

“Come, go to this steward,
To ^(KB)Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,
¹⁶ ‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have ^(KC)cut out a tomb for yourself here,
You who cut out a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for ^[dn]yourself in the rock?
¹⁷ Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you violently, you strong man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
¹⁸ And wrap you up tightly like a ball,
To be ^(KD)driven into a vast country;
There you will die,
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house!’
¹⁹ I will ^(KE)depose you from your office,
And ^[do]I will pull you down from your position.
²⁰ Then it will come about on that day,
That I will summon My servant ^(KF)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
²¹ And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will hand your ^[dp]authority over to him,
And he will become a ^(KG)father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
²² Then I will put ^(KH)the key of the ^(KI)house of David on his shoulder;
When he opens, no one will shut,
When he shuts, no one will ^(KJ)open.
²³ I will drive him like a ^(KK)peg in a firm place,
And he will become a ^(KL)throne of glory to his father’s house.

Wail, you ^(KQ)ships of ^(KR)Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or ^[dr](KS)harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of ^[ds](KT)Cyprus.
^2 (KU)Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
^[dt]Your messengers crossed the sea
³ And were on many waters.
^(KV)The grain of the ^[du](KW)Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the ^(KX)market of nations.
⁴ Be ashamed, ^(KY)Sidon,
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor raised virgins.”
⁵ When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in ^(KZ)anguish over the report of Tyre.
⁶ Pass over to ^(LA)Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland.
⁷ Is this your ^(LB)jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to bring her to ^[dv]colonize distant places?

¹⁴ Wail, you ^(LP)ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.

¹⁶ Take your harp, wander around the city,
You forgotten prostitute;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.