Beginning
A Rebuke to Cush
18 Woe to the land of whirring wings
that is beyond the rivers of Cush,[a]
2 which sends envoys by the sea,[b]
in papyrus boats over the water!
Go, swift messengers,
to a tall, smooth-skinned nation,
to a people feared far and wide,
a nation that metes out[c] punishment[d] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
you’ll see it.
When a trumpet sounds,
you’ll hear it!
4 For this is what the Lord told me:
“I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place
like dazzling heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat[e] of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the season of[f] budding is over,
and sour grapes ripen into mature grapes,[g]
he cuts off the shoots with pruning knives,
clearing away the spreading branches
as he lops them off.
6 And[h] they will all be left
for birds of prey that live on the mountains[i]
and for wild animals.[j]
Birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them,
and all the wild animals[k] will pass the winter feeding[l] on them.
7 At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
from[m] a tall and smooth-skinned people,
from a people feared far and wide,
a nation that metes out[n] punishment[o] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide,
to Mount Zion,
the place that bears[p] the name of the Lord.[q]
A Rebuke to Egypt
19 A message[r] about Egypt:
“Watch out! The Lord rides on a swift cloud,
and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
2 I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
and everyone will fight against his brother,
everyone against his neighbor,
city[s] against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirits of the Egyptians within them will be drained of courage,[t]
and I will bring their plans to nothing.
They will consult idols[u] and spirits of the dead,
and mediums and spiritists.
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,”
declares the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.
A Rebuke to Egypt’s Ecology and Industry
5 “The water sources[v] of the Nile[w] will be dried up,
and the river[x] will become dry and parched.
6 The canals will stink,
and[y] the tributaries of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.
Reeds and rushes will wither away.[z]
7 And the bulrushes along the Nile,[aa]
along the mouth of the Nile,[ab] will wither away.
All the sown fields of the Nile will become parched,
and[ac] they will be blown away;
there will be nothing left.[ad]
8 The fishermen will groan,
and all who cast hooks into the Nile will lament;
those who spread nets upon the water
will become weaker and weaker.
9 The workers[ae] in combed flax
and the weavers of white linen
will be in despair.
10 Egypt’s[af] workers in cloth[ag] will be crushed,
and all who work for wages will be sick at heart.”
A Rebuke to Egypt’s Leaders
11 Zoan’s princes are nothing but fools;
the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I’m a descendant of wise men,
a descendant of ancient kings”?
12 Where are your wise men now?
Let them tell you,
let them make known
what the Lord[ah] has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of Memphis deluded;
the leaders[ai] of its tribes
have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed[aj] within them[ak] a spirit of confusion;
so they make Egypt stagger in all that it does,
like a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
15 As a result, there will be nothing for Egypt
that head or tail, palm branch or reed, can do.[al]
Egypt and Syria Will Worship God
16 At that time,[am] the Egyptians will be like women—they[an] will shudder and be afraid before the uplifted hand of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, when he brandishes his hand against her.[ao] 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will be afraid, because of the uplifted hand[ap] of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies that[aq] is turning in their direction.
18 At that time,[ar] there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[as]
19 At that time,[at] there will be an altar to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies[au] in the heart of the land of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord[av] at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior, and he will come down[aw] and rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will acknowledge the Lord.
At that time,[ax] they will worship[ay] with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and carry them out. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, striking but then healing. Then they will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
23 At that time,[az] there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and they[ba] will worship with the Assyrians.
24 At that time,[bb] Israel will be in a triple alliance[bc] with Egypt and Assyria; they will be[bd] a blessing in the midst of the earth. 25 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
The Conquest of Egypt and Cush
20 In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod, attacked it, and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke through Amoz’s son Isaiah: “Go loosen the sackcloth that’s around your waist,[be] and take your sandals[bf] off your feet.” So that’s what he did: he went around naked and barefoot.
3 Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked around naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a warning for Egypt and Ethiopia,[bg] 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and exiles from Cush,[bh] both the young and the old, naked and barefoot—with even their buttocks uncovered—to the shame[bi] of Egypt. 5 Then they will be dismayed and put to shame because of Cush,[bj] their hope, and Egypt, their jewel.[bk] 6 At that time, the inhabitants of this coastland will say, ‘See, this is what has happened to those on whom we counted and relied[bl] for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How, then, can we escape?’”
Elam and Media are Rebuked
21 A message[bm] concerning the pasture[bn] by the Sea.
“Like whirlwinds in the Negev[bo] sweep on,
it comes from the desert,
from a distant[bp] land.
2 A dire vision has been announced to me:
the traitor betrays,
and the plunderer takes loot.
Get up, Elam!
Attack, Media!
I am putting a stop
to all the groaning she has caused.
3 Therefore my body is[bq] racked with pain;
pangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am so upset that I cannot hear;
I am so frightened that I cannot see
while I’m reeling around.[br]
4 And as for my heart,[bs] horror has terrified me;
the twilight I longed for
has started to make me tremble.
5 They set the tables;
they spread the carpets;[bt]
they eat, they drink!
Get up, you officers!
Oil the shields!”
The Fall of Babylon
6 For this is what the Lord told me:
“Go post a lookout.
Have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots, each man[bu] with a pair of horses,
riders on donkeys or riders on[bv] camels,
let him pay attention,
full attention.”
8 Then the lookout[bw] shouted:
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and I am stationed at my post
throughout the night.
9 Look! Here come riders,[bx]
each man with a pair of horses!”
They’re shouting out the answer:
“Babylon has fallen, has fallen,
and they have shattered
all the images of her gods[by] on the ground!
10 O my downtrodden people,[bz] my wall![ca]
I’ll tell you what I have heard
from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel.”
A Message about Dumah
11 A message[cb] concerning Dumah.
“Someone is calling to me from Seir:
‘Watchman, what is left of the night?[cc]
Watchman, what is left of the night?’[cd]
12 The watchman replies:
‘Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you want to ask, then ask;
come back again.’”
A Message about Arabia
13 A message[ce] concerning Arabia.
“You will camp in the thickets in Arabia,
you caravans of the Dedanites.
14 Bring water for the thirsty,
you who live in the land of Tema.
Meet the fugitive with bread,[cf]
15 For he has fled[cg] from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the heat of battle.”
16 For this is what the Lord[ch] is saying to me: “Within three years,[ci] according to the years of a contract worker,[cj] the pomp[ck] of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And there will be few archers, those who are descendants of Kedar, who survive, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
Jerusalem is Rebuked
22 A message[cl] concerning the Valley of Vision.[cm]
“What troubles you,
now that you’ve all gone up
to the rooftops,
2 you who are full of commotion,
you passionate city,
you rollicking town?
Your slain weren’t killed by the sword,
nor are they dead in battle.
3 All your leaders have fled together;
she is captured[cn] without using bows.
All of you who were caught were captured together,
although they had fled
while the enemy was still[co] far away.
4 Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
and let me weep bitter tears;
don’t try to console[cp] me
over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”[cq]
5 For to the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
belongs the day of tumult, trampling, and confusion
in the Valley of Vision,[cr]
and the pulling down of his Temple on[cs] its mountain.
6 Elam takes up the quiver
with chariots and cavalry,
while Kir unsheathes the shield.
7 And it will come about[ct]
that your choicest valleys will be filled with chariots,
and horsemen will take their positions at the gates.
8 He has uncovered the defenses of Judah.”
At that time,[cu] you looked at the arsenal of the Palace of the Forest,[cv] 9 and saw that there were many breaches in the City of David. So you stored up water from the Lower Pool, 10 counted the houses of Jerusalem, tore down certain houses to strengthen the wall, 11 and built a reservoir between the walls to store water from the Old Pool. But you did not look at[cw] the One who did it, nor did you see the One who planned it long ago.
12 On that day the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
called for weeping and mourning,
for shaving heads[cx] and wearing sackcloth.
13 But look!
There is joy and festivity,
slaughtering of cattle
and killing of sheep,
eating meat
and drinking[cy] wine.
“Let us eat and drink, you say,
because we die tomorrow.”
14 “Nevertheless, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies has revealed himself to my hearing:
‘“Surely because of you[cz]
this iniquity will not be forgiven
you until you die,’
says the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.”
The Lord Rebukes Shebna
15 This is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies[da] says:
“Come, go to this steward, to Shebna who is in charge of the household, and ask him: 16 ‘What are you doing here, and who are your relatives here[db] that you could carve out a grave for yourself here—cutting out a tomb at the choicest location,[dc] chiseling out a resting place for yourself out of solid rock? 17 Look Out! The Lord is about to hurl you away violently, my strong fellow! He[dd] will fold you up completely, 18 rolling you up tightly like a ball and throwing you into a large country. There[de] you will die, and there[df] your splendid chariots will lie. You’re a disgrace to your master’s house! 19 I will depose you from your office, ousting you[dg] from your position.
20 “At that time,[dh] I’ll call for my servant, Hilkiah’s[di] son Eliakim, 21 and I’ll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I’ll transfer your authority to him,[dj] and he’ll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 “I’ll place on his shoulder the key to the house of David—what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open. 23 I’ll set him like a peg into a secure place; he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. 24 The entire reputation of his father’s house will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its smaller vessels, from the cups to all the jars. 25 At that time,”[dk] declares the Lord[dl] of the Heavenly Armies, “the peg that was driven into a secure place will give way; it will be sheared and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.”
The Lord has spoken.
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