Isaiah 17-20
English Standard Version Anglicised
An Oracle Concerning Damascus
17 An (A)oracle concerning (B)Damascus.
Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
and will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of (C)Aroer are deserted;
they will be for flocks,
which will lie down, and (D)none will make them afraid.
3 The fortress will disappear from (E)Ephraim,
and the kingdom from (F)Damascus;
and the remnant of Syria will be
like (G)the glory of the children of Israel,
declares the Lord of hosts.
4 And in that day (H)the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and (I)the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
5 And it shall be (J)as when the reaper gathers standing corn
and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of corn
in (K)the Valley of Rephaim.
6 (L)Gleanings will be left in it,
as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel.
7 (M)In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 (N)He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the (O)Asherim or the altars of incense.
9 (P)In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.
10 For (Q)you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and have not remembered the (R)Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
11 though you make them grow[a] on the day that you plant them,
and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away[b]
in a day of grief and incurable pain.
12 Ah, (S)the thunder of many peoples;
they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations;
they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13 (T)The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
(U)but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased (V)like chaff on the mountains before the wind
and (W)whirling dust before the storm.
14 (X)At evening time, behold, terror!
Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
and the lot of those who plunder us.
An Oracle Concerning Cush
18 Ah, land of (Y)whirring wings
that is beyond the rivers of (Z)Cush,[c]
2 which (AA)sends ambassadors by the sea,
in vessels of papyrus on the waters!
Go, you swift messengers,
to a nation, (AB)tall and smooth,
to a people feared near and far,
a nation (AC)mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who dwell on the earth,
when (AD)a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
When a trumpet is blown, hear!
4 For thus the Lord said to me:
“I will quietly look (AE)from my dwelling
like clear heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 (AF)For before the harvest, when the blossom is over,
and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he cuts off the shoots with pruning-hooks,
and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.
6 (AG)They shall all of them be left
to the birds of prey of the mountains
and to the beasts of the earth.
And the birds of prey will summer on them,
and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
7 (AH)At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts
from a people (AI)tall and smooth,
from a people feared near and far,
a nation mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide,
to (AJ)Mount Zion, the place of the (AK)name of the Lord of hosts.
An Oracle Concerning Egypt
19 An (AL)oracle concerning (AM)Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (AN)is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and (AO)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will (AP)melt within them.
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
(AQ)and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbour,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound[d] their (AR)counsel;
and they will enquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and (AS)the mediums and the necromancers;
4 and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of (AT)a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
5 And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will be dry and parched,
6 and its canals will become foul,
and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 There will be bare places by the Nile,
on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
will be driven away, and will be no more.
8 The (AU)fishermen will mourn and lament,
all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
who spread nets on the water.
9 The workers in (AV)combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.
10 Those who are the (AW)pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who (AX)work for pay will be grieved.
11 The princes of (AY)Zoan are utterly foolish;
the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your (AZ)wise men?
Let them tell you
that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of (BA)Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of (BB)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the (BC)cornerstones of her tribes
have made Egypt stagger.
14 The Lord has mingled within her (BD)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
(BE)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt
that (BF)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.
Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed
16 In that day the Egyptians will be (BG)like women, and (BH)tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.
18 (BI)In that day there will be (BJ)five cities in the land of Egypt that (BK)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.[e]
19 In that day there will be an (BL)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a (BM)pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 (BN)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, (BO)he will send them a saviour and defender, and deliver them. 21 (BP)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day (BQ)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 (BR)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
23 (BS)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, (BT)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, (BU)a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt (BV)my people, and Assyria (BW)the work of my hands, and (BX)Israel my inheritance.”
A Sign Against Egypt and Cush
20 In the year that (BY)the commander-in-chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to (BZ)Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet”, and he did so, walking (CA)naked and barefoot.
3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years (CB)as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,[f] 4 so shall the (CC)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 (CD)Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of (CE)this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and (CF)to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:11 Or though you carefully fence them
- Isaiah 17:11 Or will be a heap
- Isaiah 18:1 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
- Isaiah 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
- Isaiah 20:3 Probably Nubia
2 Timothy 4
English Standard Version Anglicised
Preach the Word
4 (A)I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, (B)who is to judge the living and the dead, and by (C)his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; (D)reprove, rebuke, and (E)exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 (F)For the time is coming when people will not endure (G)sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and (H)will turn away from listening to the truth and (I)wander off into myths. 5 As for you, (J)always be sober-minded, (K)endure suffering, do the work of (L)an evangelist, (M)fulfil your ministry.
6 For (N)I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my (O)departure has come. 7 (P)I have fought the good fight, (Q)I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is (R)laid up for me (S)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, (T)the righteous judge, will award to me on (U)that Day, and not only to me but also to all (V)who have loved his appearing.
Personal Instructions
9 (W)Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For (X)Demas, (Y)in love with (Z)this present world, (AA)has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,[b] (AB)Titus to Dalmatia. 11 (AC)Luke alone is with me. Get (AD)Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 (AE)Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 (AF)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; (AG)the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defence no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. (AH)May it not be charged against them! 17 But (AI)the Lord stood by me and (AJ)strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and (AK)all the Gentiles might hear it. So (AL)I was rescued (AM)from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. (AN)To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet (AO)Prisca and Aquila, and (AP)the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left (AQ)Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 (AR)Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.[c]
22 The Lord be (AS)with your spirit. (AT)Grace be with you.[d]
Footnotes
- 2 Timothy 4:3 Or healthy
- 2 Timothy 4:10 Some manuscripts Gaul
- 2 Timothy 4:21 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church
- 2 Timothy 4:22 The Greek for you is plural
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.