The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had (A)a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with (B)choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and (C)he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
(D)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
(E)When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove (F)its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;[a]
(G)I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and (H)briers and thorns shall grow up;
(I)I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

(J)For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;[b]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry![c]

Woe to the Wicked

Woe to those who (K)join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
(L)“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 (M)For ten acres[d] of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a (N)homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”[e]

11 Woe to those who (O)rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
12 (P)They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
(Q)but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people go into exile
    (R)for lack of knowledge;[f]
their (S)honored men go hungry,[g]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has (T)enlarged its appetite
    and opened (U)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem[h] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who (V)exults in her.
15 (W)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty[i] are brought low.
16 (X)But the Lord of hosts is exalted[j] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze (Y)as in their pasture,
    and (Z)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with (AA)cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: (AB)“Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to (AC)those who call evil good
    and good evil,
(AD)who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (AE)wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are (AF)heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who (AG)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

24 Therefore, (AH)as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so (AI)their root will be (AJ)as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have (AK)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have (AL)despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore (AM)the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and (AN)the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were (AO)as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
(AP)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

26 He will (AQ)raise a signal for nations far away,
    and (AR)whistle for them (AS)from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 (AT)None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
28 (AU)their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels (AV)like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and (AW)seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, (AX)darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

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

(BB)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
(BC)the whole earth is full of his glory!”[l]

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

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

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

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

(BK)“‘Keep on hearing,[m] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,[n] but do not perceive.’
10 (BL)Make the heart of this people (BM)dull,[o]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
(BN)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, (BO)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until (BP)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 (BQ)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned[p] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump (BR)remains
    when it is felled.”
(BS)The holy seed[q] is its stump.

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

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

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

(CF)“‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Syria is (CG)Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is (CH)the son of Remaliah.
(CI)If you[v] are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

The Sign of Immanuel

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

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

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

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

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

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

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

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

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

Be broken,[af] you peoples, and (DW)be shattered;[ag]
    give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
    strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
    speak a word, (DX)but it will not stand,
    for God (DY)is with us.[ah]

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5
  2. Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike
  3. Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike
  4. Isaiah 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
  5. Isaiah 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  6. Isaiah 5:13 Or without their knowledge
  7. Isaiah 5:13 Or die of hunger
  8. Isaiah 5:14 Hebrew her nobility
  9. Isaiah 5:15 Hebrew high
  10. Isaiah 5:16 Hebrew high
  11. Isaiah 6:1 Or hem
  12. Isaiah 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth
  13. Isaiah 6:9 Or Hear indeed
  14. Isaiah 6:9 Or see indeed
  15. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew fat
  16. Isaiah 6:13 Or purged
  17. Isaiah 6:13 Or offspring
  18. Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon
  19. Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew his heart
  20. Isaiah 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return
  21. Isaiah 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open
  22. Isaiah 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14
  23. Isaiah 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17
  24. Isaiah 7:13 That is, Isaiah
  25. Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us
  26. Isaiah 7:19 Or watering holes, or brambles
  27. Isaiah 7:20 That is, the Euphrates
  28. Isaiah 7:23 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  29. Isaiah 8:1 Hebrew with a man's stylus
  30. Isaiah 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens
  31. Isaiah 8:7 That is, the Euphrates
  32. Isaiah 8:9 Or Be evil
  33. Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
  34. Isaiah 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel
  35. Isaiah 8:16 Or law; also verse 20
  36. Isaiah 8:21 Hebrew it
  37. Isaiah 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by

The Song of the Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
    and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?(H)
Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
    and it will be trampled.(K)
I will make it a wasteland,(L)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain(N) on it.”

The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,(P) but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness,(Q) but heard cries of distress.(R)

Woes and Judgments

Woe(S) to you who add house to house
    and join field to field(T)
till no space is left
    and you live alone in the land.

The Lord Almighty(U) has declared in my hearing:(V)

“Surely the great houses will become desolate,(W)
    the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine;
    a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”(X)

11 Woe(Y) to those who rise early in the morning
    to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
    till they are inflamed with wine.(Z)
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
    pipes(AA) and timbrels(AB) and wine,
but they have no regard(AC) for the deeds of the Lord,
    no respect for the work of his hands.(AD)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile(AE)
    for lack of understanding;(AF)
those of high rank(AG) will die of hunger
    and the common people will be parched with thirst.(AH)
14 Therefore Death(AI) expands its jaws,
    opening wide its mouth;(AJ)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
    with all their brawlers and revelers.(AK)
15 So people will be brought low(AL)
    and everyone humbled,(AM)
    the eyes of the arrogant(AN) humbled.
16 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted(AO) by his justice,(AP)
    and the holy God will be proved holy(AQ) by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;(AR)
    lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe(AS) to those who draw sin along with cords(AT) of deceit,
    and wickedness(AU) as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry;
    let him hasten(AV) his work
    so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One(AW) of Israel—
    let it approach, let it come into view,
    so we may know it.”(AX)

20 Woe(AY) to those who call evil good(AZ)
    and good evil,(BA)
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,(BB)
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.(BC)

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes(BD)
    and clever in their own sight.

22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine(BE)
    and champions at mixing drinks,(BF)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,(BG)
    but deny justice(BH) to the innocent.(BI)
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire(BJ) lick up straw(BK)
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay(BL)
    and their flowers blow away like dust;(BM)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
    and spurned the word(BN) of the Holy One(BO) of Israel.
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger(BP) burns against his people;
    his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,(BQ)
    and the dead bodies(BR) are like refuse(BS) in the streets.(BT)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,(BU)
    his hand is still upraised.(BV)

26 He lifts up a banner(BW) for the distant nations,
    he whistles(BX) for those at the ends of the earth.(BY)
Here they come,
    swiftly and speedily!
27 Not one of them grows tired(BZ) or stumbles,
    not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt(CA) is loosened at the waist,(CB)
    not a sandal strap is broken.(CC)
28 Their arrows are sharp,(CD)
    all their bows(CE) are strung;
their horses’ hooves(CF) seem like flint,
    their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.(CG)
29 Their roar is like that of the lion,(CH)
    they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize(CI) their prey
    and carry it off with no one to rescue.(CJ)
30 In that day(CK) they will roar over it
    like the roaring of the sea.(CL)
And if one looks at the land,
    there is only darkness(CM) and distress;(CN)
    even the sun will be darkened(CO) by clouds.

Isaiah’s Commission

In the year that King Uzziah(CP) died,(CQ) I saw the Lord,(CR) high and exalted,(CS) seated on a throne;(CT) and the train of his robe(CU) filled the temple. Above him were seraphim,(CV) each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,(CW) and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy(CX), holy is the Lord Almighty;(CY)
    the whole earth(CZ) is full of his glory.”(DA)

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.(DB)

“Woe(DC) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!(DD) For I am a man of unclean lips,(DE) and I live among a people of unclean lips,(DF) and my eyes have seen(DG) the King,(DH) the Lord Almighty.”(DI)

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal(DJ) in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;(DK) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.(DL)

Then I heard the voice(DM) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?(DN) And who will go for us?(DO)

And I said, “Here am I.(DP) Send me!”

He said, “Go(DQ) and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’(DR)
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;(DS)
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.[e](DT)
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,(DU)
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”(DV)

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”(DW)

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined(DX)
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted(DY)
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,(DZ)
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away(EA)
    and the land is utterly forsaken.(EB)
13 And though a tenth remains(EC) in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.(ED)
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps(EE) when they are cut down,
    so the holy(EF) seed will be the stump in the land.”(EG)

The Sign of Immanuel

When Ahaz(EH) son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin(EI) of Aram(EJ) and Pekah(EK) son of Remaliah(EL) king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.

Now the house of David(EM) was told, “Aram has allied itself with[f] Ephraim(EN)”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken,(EO) as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub,[g](EP) to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.(EQ) Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm(ER) and don’t be afraid.(ES) Do not lose heart(ET) because of these two smoldering stubs(EU) of firewood—because of the fierce anger(EV) of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.(EW) Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s(EX) son have plotted(EY) your ruin, saying, “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:(EZ)

“‘It will not take place,
    it will not happen,(FA)
for the head of Aram is Damascus,(FB)
    and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.(FC)
Within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be too shattered(FD) to be a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,(FE)
    and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand(FF) firm in your faith,(FG)
    you will not stand at all.’”(FH)

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign,(FI) whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.(FJ)

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.(FK)

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David!(FL) Is it not enough(FM) to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience(FN) of my God(FO) also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[h] a sign:(FP) The virgin[i](FQ) will conceive and give birth to a son,(FR) and[j] will call him Immanuel.[k](FS) 15 He will be eating curds(FT) and honey(FU) when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows(FV) enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,(FW) the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.(FX) 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away(FY) from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.(FZ)

Assyria, the Lord’s Instrument

18 In that day(GA) the Lord will whistle(GB) for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.(GC) 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices(GD) in the rocks, on all the thornbushes(GE) and at all the water holes. 20 In that day(GF) the Lord will use(GG) a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River(GH)—the king of Assyria(GI)—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard(GJ) also.(GK) 21 In that day,(GL) a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.(GM) 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds(GN) and honey.(GO) 23 In that day,(GP) in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels,[l](GQ) there will be only briers and thorns.(GR) 24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers(GS) and thorns. 25 As for all the hills(GT) once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns;(GU) they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.(GV)

Isaiah and His Children as Signs

The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll(GW) and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”[m](GX) So I called in Uriah(GY) the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses(GZ) for me. Then I made love to the prophetess,(HA) and she conceived and gave birth to a son.(HB) And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.(HC) For before the boy knows(HD) how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus(HE) and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.(HF)

The Lord spoke to me again:

“Because this people has rejected(HG)
    the gently flowing waters of Shiloah(HH)
and rejoices over Rezin
    and the son of Remaliah,(HI)
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
    the mighty floodwaters(HJ) of the Euphrates—
    the king of Assyria(HK) with all his pomp.(HL)
It will overflow all its channels,
    run over all its banks(HM)
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,(HN)
    passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings(HO) will cover the breadth of your land,
    Immanuel[n]!”(HP)

Raise the war cry,[o](HQ) you nations, and be shattered!(HR)
    Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare(HS) for battle, and be shattered!
    Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;(HT)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,(HU)
    for God is with us.[p](HV)

11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,(HW) warning me not to follow(HX) the way of this people:

12 “Do not call conspiracy(HY)
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,(HZ)
    and do not dread it.(IA)
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,(IB)
    he is the one you are to fear,(IC)
    he is the one you are to dread.(ID)
14 He will be a holy place;(IE)
    for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone(IF) that causes people to stumble(IG)
    and a rock that makes them fall.(IH)
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
    a trap and a snare.(II)
15 Many of them will stumble;(IJ)
    they will fall and be broken,
    they will be snared and captured.”

16 Bind up this testimony of warning(IK)
    and seal(IL) up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17 I will wait(IM) for the Lord,
    who is hiding(IN) his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.(IO)

18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.(IP) We are signs(IQ) and symbols(IR) in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.(IS)

The Darkness Turns to Light

19 When someone tells you to consult(IT) mediums and spiritists,(IU) who whisper and mutter,(IV) should not a people inquire(IW) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction(IX) and the testimony of warning.(IY) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light(IZ) of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry,(JA) they will roam through the land;(JB) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse(JC) their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,(JD) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.(JE)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
  2. Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
  3. Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
  4. Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat
  5. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint ‘You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This people’s heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes
  6. Isaiah 7:2 Or has set up camp in
  7. Isaiah 7:3 Shear-Jashub means a remnant will return.
  8. Isaiah 7:14 The Hebrew is plural.
  9. Isaiah 7:14 Or young woman
  10. Isaiah 7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they
  11. Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God with us.
  12. Isaiah 7:23 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms
  13. Isaiah 8:1 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil; also in verse 3.
  14. Isaiah 8:8 Immanuel means God with us.
  15. Isaiah 8:9 Or Do your worst
  16. Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel