Beginning

13 The burden of Babylon, which burden Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

² Raise ye [up] a sign on a misty hill, and enhance ye [the] voice; raise ye the hand, and [the] dukes enter by the gates. (Raise ye up a sign on a misty hill, and lift ye up the voice; raise ye up the hand, and let the leaders enter in by the gates.)

³ I have commanded to mine hallowed men, and I (have) called my strong men in my wrath, that make full out joy in my glory.

⁴ The voice of [the] multitude in hills, as of many peoples; the voice of [the] sound of kings, of heathen men gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the chivalry of [the] battle, (The sound of a multitude in the hills, yea, that of many people; the sound of kings, and of the heathen gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the cavalry, or to the army, preparing for battle,)

⁵ to men coming from a far land. The Lord cometh from the highness of heaven, and (with him) the vessels of his strong vengeance, that he destroy all the land.

⁶ Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is nigh; as wasting, either destroying, it shall come of the Lord. (Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is near, or is soon; it shall come as wasting, or as destruction, from the Lord.)

⁷ For this thing all hands shall be unmighty, and each heart of man shall fail, and shall be all-broken.

⁸ Gnawings and sorrows shall hold Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, as they that travail of child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their cheers shall be burnt faces. (Gnawings and sorrows shall hold the Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, like she who laboureth with child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their faces shall burn with shame.)

⁹ Lo! the day of the Lord shall come, cruel, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and of strong vengeance; to set the land into wilderness, and to all-break the sinners thereof from that land.

¹⁰ For why the stars of heaven and the shining of them shall not spread abroad their light; the sun is made dark in his rising, and the moon shall not shine in her light. (And the stars of the heavens and their shining shall not spread abroad their light; the sun shall be made dark at its rising, and the moon shall not shine with its light.)

¹¹ And I shall visit on the evils of the world, and I shall visit against wicked men the wickedness of them; and I shall make the pride of unfaithful men for to rest, and I shall make low the boast of strong men. (And I shall punish the world for its evil/And I shall bring disaster upon the world, and I shall punish the wicked for their wickedness; and I shall make the pride of the unfaithful to cease, and I shall make low the boast of the strong.)

¹² A man of full age shall be preciouser than gold, and a man shall be preciouser than pure gold and shining. (A person of great age, or maturity, shall be more precious, or more rare, than gold, yea, such a person shall be more precious than the pure gold of Ophir.)

¹³ On this thing I shall trouble (the) heaven(s), and the earth shall be moved from his place (and the earth shall be moved from its place); for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of wrath of his strong vengeance.

¹⁴ And it shall be as a doe fleeing, and as a sheep, and none shall be that shall gather together; each man shall turn to his people, and all by themselves shall flee to their land. (And they shall be like a fleeing doe, or like sheep, and there shall be no one who shall gather them up; each man shall return to his own people, yea, everyone shall flee to their own land.)

¹⁵ Each man that is found, shall be slain; and each man that cometh above, shall fall down by sword. (Each person who is found, shall be killed; and each person who is taken captive, shall fall down by the sword.)

¹⁶ The young children of them shall be hurtled down before the eyes of them; their houses shall be ravished, and their wives shall be defouled. (Their young children shall be hurtled down before their eyes; their houses shall be robbed, and their wives shall be defiled.)

¹⁷ Lo! I shall raise on them Medes, that seek not silver, neither will gold; (Lo! I shall raise up the Medes against them, who seek not silver, nor desire gold;)

¹⁸ but they shall slay little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy on wombs giving milk, and the eye of them shall not spare on sons. (but they shall kill little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy upon wombs, or upon mothers, giving milk, and they shall not spare even one of the sons or daughters.)

¹⁹ And Babylon, that glorious city in realms, noble in the pride of Chaldees, shall be destroyed, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (And Babylon, that most glorious city of all kingdoms, noble in the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be destroyed, like God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

²⁰ It shall not be inhabited till into the end (It shall never be inhabited again), and it shall not be founded till to generation and generation; a man of Arabia shall not set tents there, and shepherds shall not rest there.

²¹ But wild beasts shall rest there, and the houses of them shall be filled with dragons; and ostriches shall dwell there (and owls shall nest there), and hairy beasts shall skip there.

²² And bitterns shall answer there in the houses thereof, and flying serpents in the temples of lust. It is nigh that the time thereof come, and the days thereof shall not be made far; (And bitterns shall cry there in its houses, and flying serpents in its beautiful palaces. It is near, or very soon, when that time shall come, and its days shall not be prolonged;)

14 for why the Lord shall have mercy of Jacob, and he shall choose yet of Israel, and shall make them for to rest on their land; a comeling shall be joined to them, and shall cleave to the house of Jacob. (for the Lord shall have mercy on Jacob, and he shall yet choose Israel, and shall give them rest on their land; a newcomer shall be joined to them, and shall cleave to the house of Jacob.)

² And peoples shall hold them, and shall bring them into their place. And the house of Israel shall have them in possession into servants and handmaids on the land of the Lord; and they shall take those men that took them, and they shall make subject their wrongful askers. (And the peoples, or the nations, shall help them, and shall bring them back to their place. And then the house of Israel shall have them in possession for servants and servantesses in the land of the Lord; and they shall take captive those who took them captive, and they shall make subject their oppressors.)

³ And it shall be in that day, when God shall give to thee rest of thy travail, and of thy shaking, and of hard servage, in which thou servedest before, (And it shall be on that day, when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy fear and trembling, and from the hard servitude, or from the slavery, in which thou servedest before,)

⁴ thou shalt take this parable against the king of Babylon, and thou shalt say, How ceased the wrongful asker, rested [the] tribute? (thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and thou shalt say, How the oppressor hath fallen! the tribute is now ceased!/How the mighty have fallen! the oppression, or the servitude, is now ended!)

⁵ The Lord hath all-broken the staff of wicked men, the rod of lords,

⁶ that beat peoples in indignation, with uncurable wound, that subjected folks in strong vengeance, that pursued cruelly. (they who beat the peoples in anger, with incurable wounds, they who subjected the nations to strong vengeance, and who cruelly pursued them.)

⁷ Each land rested, and was still; it was joyful, and made full out joy.

⁸ Also (the) fir trees and cedars of the Lebanon were glad on thee; (and said,) Since thou sleptest, none ascendeth that cutteth us down.

⁹ Hell under thee is troubled for the meeting of thy coming; he shall raise giants to thee; all the princes of [the] earth have risen from their seats, all the princes of nations. (Sheol under thee is troubled at the meeting of thy coming; it shall raise up the dead for thee; all the kings of the earth have risen up from their thrones, all the leaders of the nations.)

¹⁰ All they shall answer, and they shall say to thee, And thou art wounded as we, thou art made like us. (They all shall answer, and they shall say to thee, And thou art wounded like we be, thou art made like us.)

¹¹ Thy pride is drawn down to hells, thy dead carrion fell down (Thy pride is drawn down to Sheol, or the land of the dead, thy corpses fell down); a moth shall be strewed under thee, and thy covering shall be worms.

¹² A! Lucifer, that risedest early, how fellest thou down from heaven; thou that woundedest folks, felledest down (al)together into [the] earth. (O! Lucifer, who risedest up early, how thou hast fallen down from heaven; thou who hast wounded the nations, fell down to the ground.)

¹³ Which saidest in thine heart, I shall ascend into heaven, I shall enhance my seat above the stars of (the) heaven(s); I shall sit in the hill of (the) testament, in the sides of the north. (Who saidest in thy heart, I shall ascend into heaven, I shall exalt, or I shall set, my throne above the stars of the heavens; I shall sit on the mountain where the gods meet, on the sides of the north.)

¹⁴ I shall ascend on the highness of (the) clouds; I shall be like the Highest.

¹⁵ Nevertheless thou shalt be drawn down to hell, into the depth of the pit.

¹⁶ They that shall see thee, shall be bowed down to thee, and shall behold thee. (And they shall say,) Whether this is the man, that troubled [the] earth, that shook together realms? (And they shall say, Is this the man, who troubled the earth, who shook the kingdoms?)

¹⁷ that setted the world desert, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the prison to the bound men of him? (who turned the world into a desert, and destroyed its cities, and never opened his prison to release his bound?/to release his prisoners?)

¹⁸ All the kings of heathen men, all slept in glory, a man in his house. (All the kings of the heathen, they all slept in glory, each man in his own house, or in his own tomb.)

¹⁹ But thou art cast out of thy sepulchre, as an unprofitable stock, as defouled with rot; and wrapped with them that be slain with sword, and went down to the foundament of the pit. As a rotten carrion (Like a rotten corpse),

²⁰ thou shalt not have fellowship, neither with them in sepulchre, for thou hast lost thy land, thou hast slain the people; the seed of the worst men shall not be called without end. (thou shalt not have fellowship with them in the tomb, or in the grave, for thou hast destroyed thy land, and thou hast killed thy own people; the children, or the descendants, of these evil people shall never be seen again.)

²¹ Make ye ready his sons to slaying, for the wickedness of their fathers; they shall not rise, neither they shall inherit the land, neither they shall fill the face of the roundness (of the earth) of cities. (Prepare ye his sons for killing, for the wickedness of their forefathers; they shall not rise up and inherit the land, nor shall they fill the face of the roundness of the earth with their cities.)

²² And I shall rise [up] on them, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall lose the name of Babylon, and the remnants, and generation, and seed, saith the Lord. (For I shall rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and I shall destroy the name of Babylon, and its remnants, and its children, and its descendants, saith the Lord.)

²³ And I shall set that Babylon into possession of an urchin, and into marishes of waters; and I shall sweep it with a besom, and I shall stamp (it), saith the Lord of hosts. (And I shall give that Babylon into the possession of hedgehogs, or of conies, and to the marshes of water; and I shall sweep it with a broom, and I shall stamp it, saith the Lord of hosts.)

²⁴ The Lord of hosts swore, saying, Whether it shall not be so, as I guessed, and it shall befall so, as I treated in soul? (The Lord of hosts swore, saying, Shall it not be so, just as I thought, and shall it not befall, just as I said?)

²⁵ That I all-break the king of Assyrians in my land, and that I defoul him in mine hills; and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken away from the shoulder of them. (That I all-break the king of Assyria in my land, and that I defile him in my hills; and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulders.)

²⁶ This is the counsel which I thought on all the land, and this is the hand stretched forth on all folks. (This is the plan which I thought up for all the world, and this is the hand stretched forth upon all the nations.)

²⁷ For why the Lord of hosts hath deemed, and who may make unsteadfast? (For the Lord of hosts hath determined, and who can make it unsteadfast?) and his hand is stretched forth, and who shall turn it away?

²⁸ The burden of (the) Philistines. In the year wherein king Ahaz died, this burden was made.

²⁹ All thou Philistia, be not glad, for the rod of thy smiter is made less; for why a cockatrice shall go out of the root of an adder, and his seed shall swallow up a bird (and its fruit, or its children, shall be flying serpents).

³⁰ And the first engendered of poor men shall be fed, and poor men shall rest faithfully; and I shall make thy root to perish in hunger, and I shall slay thy remnants. (And the first begotten of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest peacefully; but I shall make thy roots to perish from hunger, and I shall kill thy remnants.)

³¹ Yell, thou gate; cry, thou city; all Philistia is cast down; for why smoke shall come from the north, and none is that shall escape his host. (Yell, O gate; cry, O city; all Philistia is cast down; and a tumult, or a column of smoke/or a cloud of dust, shall come from the north, and no one shall escape his army.)

³² And what shall be answered to the messengers of [the] folk? for the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor men of his people shall hope in him. (And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nation? that the Lord hath founded Zion, and that the poor among his people shall have hope there.)

15 The burden of Moab. For Ar was destroyed in (the) night, Moab was still; for the wall was destroyed in the night, Moab was still. (The burden of Moab. For Ar was destroyed in the night, Moab is now silent; and for Kir was destroyed in the night, Moab is now silent.)

² The king’s house, and Dibon ascended to high places, into wailing; on Nebo, and on Medeba, Moab shall yell. In all heads thereof shall be baldness, and each beard shall be shaved. (The daughter, or the people, of Dibon go up to the hill shrines to weep; Moab shall yell, or shall wail, about Nebo, and about Medeba. On all their heads shall be baldness, and each beard shall be shaved.)

³ In the meeting of three ways thereof they be girded in a sackcloth, all yelling on the houses thereof, and in the streets thereof; it shall go down into weeping (they shall go down weeping).

⁴ Heshbon shall cry (out), and Elealeh, (and) the voice of them is heard till to Jahaz (and their voice is heard unto Jahaz); on this thing the ready men of Moab shall yell (with fear), the soul thereof shall yell to itself (in fear).

⁵ Mine heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof till to Zoar, a cow calf of three years (My heart shall cry out for Moab, for its barons, or its nobles, have fled unto Zoar, and unto Eglath Shelishiyah). For why a weeper shall go up by the going up of Luhith, and in the way of Horonaim they shall raise (up a) cry of sorrow.

⁶ For why the waters of Nimrim shall be forsaken; for the herb dried up, burgeoning failed, all greenness perished. (For the waters of Nimrim shall dry up; and the herbs shall dry up, and the burgeoning shall fail, and all greenness shall perish.)

⁷ By the greatness of work, and the visiting of them, to the strand of sallows they shall lead them. (And they shall carry their abundance, and all that they possess, over the Stream, or the Valley, of the Willows.)

⁸ For why (their) cry compassed the end of Moab; till to Eglaim the yelling thereof, and the cry thereof till to the well of Elim. (For their cry went about unto the end of Moab; their yelling unto Eglaim, and their cry unto Beerelim.)

⁹ For the waters of Dimon be filled with blood; for I shall set increasings on Dimon, to those men of Moab that fled from the lion, and to the remnants of the land. (And the waters of Dimon be filled with blood; and I shall put more troubles upon Dimon, yea, I shall send lions upon those people who fled from Moab, and upon the remnants of the land.)

16 Lord, send thou out a lamb, (to) the lordly governor of [the] earth, from the stone of desert, to the hill of the daughter of Zion. (Lord, let them send out a lamb, from Sela in the wilderness, to the governor of the land, yea, to the hill of the daughter of Zion.)

² And it shall be, as a fowl flying, and (as) birds flying away from the nest, so shall be the daughters of Moab, in the passing over of Arnon. (And it shall be, that like a flying bird, and like birds flying away from the nest, so shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords, or on the banks, of the Arnon River.)

³ Take thou counsel, constrain thou counsel; set thou as night thy shadow in midday, hide thou them that flee, and betray thou not men of unsteadfast dwelling. (Take thou counsel, or advice, and constrain thou counsel; make thou thy shadow like the night at midday, hide thou them who flee away, and betray thou not those of unsteadfast dwelling.)

⁴ My fleers-away shall dwell at thee. Moab, be thou the hiding place of them from the face of the destroyer. For why dust is ended, the wretched is wasted; he that defouled the land failed. (My fleers-away shall live with thee. Moab, be thou their hiding place from the face of the destroyer. For the destroyer is ended, the wretchful is wasted, he who defiled the land hath failed.)

⁵ And the king’s seat shall be made ready in mercy, and he shall sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, deeming, and seeking doom, and yielding swiftly that that is just. (And the king’s throne shall be prepared in mercy, and he shall sit on it in truth, in the house of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swiftly yielding what is just, or what is right.)

⁶ We have heard the pride of Moab, he is full proud; his pride, and his boast, and his indignation is more than his strength.

⁷ Therefore Moab shall yell to Moab, all Moab shall yell to them that be glad on the walls of baken tilestone; speak ye their wounds. (And so Moab shall yell, or shall wail, for Moab, yea, all Moab shall wail; ye shall mourn for the foundations of Kirhareseth; speak ye of their wounds.)

⁸ For why the suburbs of Heshbon and the vinery of Sibmah be forsaken. The lords of heathen men have cut down the scions thereof; they came unto Jazer, they erred in desert. The boughs thereof be forsaken, they passed (over) the sea. (For the orchards of Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah be deserted. The lords of the heathen have cut down its vines, that once came unto Jazer, and wandered through the wilderness. Now their boughs be forsaken, that before had passed over the sea.)

⁹ On this thing I shall weep in the weeping of Jazer, and on the vinery of Sibmah (And so I shall weep for the vineyard of Sibmah, like I weep for Jazer). Heshbon and Elealeh, I shall fill thee with my tears; for the voice of defoulers fell on thy vintage, and on thy harvest.

¹⁰ And gladness and full out joying shall be taken away from Carmel; and none shall make full out joy, neither shall sing heartily (a) song in vineries. He that was wont to wring out, shall not wring out wine in a presser; I have taken away the voice of [the] wringers-out. (And happiness and rejoicing shall be taken away from the plentiful land; and no one shall rejoice, nor shall heartily sing a song in the vineyards. He who was wont to wring out, shall not wring out wine with a winepress; I have taken away the voice of the wringers-out.)

¹¹ On this thing my womb shall sound as an harp to Moab, and mine entrails to the wall of baken tilestone. (On this thing my womb, or my heart, shall sing like a harp for Moab, and my entrails for Kirhareseth.)

¹² And it shall be, when it shall appear, that Moab hath travailed on his (high) places, it shall enter to his holy things, that it beseech, and it shall not be worth(y). (And it shall be, when it is seen that Moab hath laboured, or hath wearied himself, at his hill shrines, then he shall enter into his holy place/s, so that he can beseech his gods, but he shall gain nothing.)

¹³ This is the word which the Lord spake to Moab from that time.

¹⁴ And now the Lord spake, saying, In three years, that were as the years of an hired man, the glory of Moab shall be taken away on all the much people; and there shall (only) be left in it as a little raisin, and a little, and not much.

17 The burden of Damascus. Lo! Damascus shall fail to be a city, and it shall be as an heap of stones in falling. (The burden of Damascus. Lo! Damascus shall cease to be a city, and it shall become but a heap of fallen stones.)

² The forsaken cities of Aroer shall be to flocks; and they shall rest there, and none shall be that shall make afeared. (The deserted cities of Aroer shall be for flocks; and they shall rest there, and there shall be no one who shall make them afraid.)

³ And help shall cease from Ephraim, and a realm from Damascus; and the remnants of Syria shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. (And no longer shall there be help, or any defence, for Ephraim, and no longer shall there be a kingdom in Damascus; and the remnants of Syria shall be like the glory of the Israelites, saith the Lord of hosts.)

⁴ And it shall be, in that day (And it shall be, on that day), the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall fade.

⁵ And it shall be as (the one) gathering together that that is left in harvest, and his arm shall gather ears of corn, and it shall be as (the one) seeking ears of corn in the valley of Rephaim.

⁶ And there shall be left in it as (but) a raisin, that is, (but) a little bow, with a little fruit, and as the shaking down of the fruit of (an) olive tree, as of two either of three olive trees in the highness of a branch, either of four or of five (like two or three olives on the highness of a branch, or four or five); in the tops thereof shall be the fruit thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

⁷ In that day a man shall be bowed to his maker, and his eyes shall behold to the Holy of Israel. (On that day a person shall bow before his Maker, and his eyes shall behold the Holy One of Israel.)

⁸ And he shall not be bowed to the altars, which his hands made, and which his fingers wrought; he shall not behold (the) woods (dedicated to idols), and [the] temples of idols.

⁹ In that day the cities of strength thereof shall be forsaken as plows, and [the] corns that were forsaken of the face of the sons of Israel; and thou shalt be forsaken. (On that day its strong cities shall be deserted, like the countryside, and also the cornfields that were left for the Israelites, yea, all shall be made desolate.)

¹⁰ For thou hast forgotten God, thy saviour, and haddest not mind on thy strong helper; therefore thou shalt plant a faithful planting, and thou shalt sow an alien seed. (For thou hast forgotten God, thy Saviour, and did not remember thy strong helper; and so thou shalt plant a garden dedicated to idols, and thou shalt sow a strange, or a foreign, seed.)

¹¹ In the day of thy planting (it) shall be a wild vine, and early thy seed shall flower; ripe corn is taken away in the day of heritage, and Israel shall make sorrow grievously. (On the day of thy planting, it shall become a wild vine, and thy seed shall flower the next day; but the ripe corn shall be taken away on the day of harvest, and Israel shall grieve, and shall have sorrow.)

¹² Woe to the multitude of many peoples, as the multitude of the sea sounding, and the noise of companies as the sound of many waters. (Woe to the multitude of many peoples, sounding like the roar of the sea, yea, the noise of their companies sounding like the thunder of many waters.)

¹³ Peoples shall sound as the sound of flowing waters, and God shall blame him; and he shall flee far, and he shall be ravished as the dust of hills from the face of the wind, and as a whirlwind before [the] tempest. (The peoples shall sound like the sound of flowing water, and God shall rebuke them; and they shall flee far away, and they shall be driven like the dust on the hills by the face of the wind, and like a whirlwind before the tempest.)

¹⁴ In the time of eventide, and lo! troubling; in the morrowtide, and he shall not abide. This is the part of them that destroyed us, and the part of them that ravished us. (At the time of evening, and lo! troubling, and by the morning, they all shall be gone. This is the portion for them who destroyed us, and the portion for those who robbed us.)