Beginning
18 1 Of the enemies of the Church. 7 And of the vocation of the Gentiles.
1 Oh, the [a]land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
2 Sending ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of [b]reeds upon the waters, saying, [c]Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation that is scattered abroad, and spoiled, unto a terrible [d]people from their beginning even hitherto: a nation by little and little even trodden under foot: whose land the [e]floods have spoiled.
3 All ye the inhabitants of the world, and dwellers in the earth, shall see when [f]he setteth up a sign in the mountains, and when he bloweth the trumpet, ye shall hear.
4 For so the Lord said unto me, I will [g]rest and behold in my tabernacle, as [h]the heat drying up the rain, and as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5 For afore the harvest, when the flour is finished, and the fruit is ripening in the flour, then he shall cut down the branches with hooks, and shall take away, and cut off the boughs:
6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the [i]beasts of the earth: for the fowl shall summer upon it, and every beast of the earth shall winter upon it.
7 At that time shall a [j]present be brought unto the Lord of hosts (a people that is scattered abroad, and spoiled, and of a terrible people from their beginning hitherto, a nation by little and little even trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled) to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even the mount Zion.
19 1 The destruction of the Egyptians by the Assyrians. 18 Of their conversion to the Lord.
1 The [k]burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord [l]rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of her.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: so everyone shall [m]fight against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the [n]spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of her, and I will destroy their counsel, and they shall seek at the idols, and at the sorcerers, and at them that have spirits of divination, and at the soothsayers.
4 And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of the cruel lords, and a mighty king shall rule over them, saith the Lord God of hosts.
5 Then the waters of the sea shall [o]fail, and the river shall be dried up, and wasted.
6 And the [p]rivers shall go far away: the rivers of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall be cut down.
7 The grass in the river, and at the [q]head of the rivers, and all that groweth by the river shall wither, and be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishers also shall [r]mourn, and all they that cast angle into the river, shall lament, and they that spread their net upon the waters, shall be weakened.
9 Moreover, they that work in flax of divers sorts, shall be confounded, and they that weave nets.
10 For their nets shall be broken, and all they that make ponds shall be heavy in heart.
11 Surely the princes of [s]Zoan are fools: the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh, is become foolish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I [t]am the son of the wise? I am the son of the ancient kings?
12 Where are now the wise men, that they may tell thee, or may know what the Lord of hosts hath determined against Egypt?
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools: the princes of [u]Noph are deceived, they have deceived Egypt, even the [v]corners of the tribes thereof.
14 The Lord hath mingled among them the spirits [w]of errors: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man erreth in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be any work in Egypt, which the head may [x]do, nor the tail, the branch nor the rush.
16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: for it shall be afraid and fear because of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
17 And the land of Judah shall be a fear [y]unto Egypt: everyone that maketh mention of it, shall be afraid thereat, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined upon it.
18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt [z]speak the language of Canaan, and shall [aa]swear by the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the city of [ab]destruction.
19 In that day shall the altar of the Lord be in the midst of the land of Egypt, and [ac]a pillar by the border thereof unto the Lord.
20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord, because of the oppressors, and he shall send them [ad]a Savior, and a great man, and shall deliver them.
21 And the Lord shall be known of the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and do [ae]sacrifice and oblation, and shall vow vows unto the Lord, and perform them.
22 So the Lord shall smite Egypt, he shall smite and heal it: for he shall return unto the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them and shall heal them.
23 In that day shall there be a path from [af]Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria: so the Egyptians shall worship with Assyria.
24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria: even a blessing in the midst of the land.
25 For the Lord of hosts shall bless it, saying, Blessed be my people Egypt and Assyria, the work of mine hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
20 2 The three years captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia described by the three years going naked of Isaiah.
1 In the year that [ag]Tartan came to [ah]Ashdod, (when [ai]Sargon king of Assyria sent him) and had fought against Ashdod, and taken it,
2 At the same time spake the Lord by the hand of Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the [aj]sackcloth from thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3 And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years as a sign and wonder upon Egypt, and Ethiopia,
4 So shall the king of Assyria take away the captivity of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, both young men and old men, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
5 And they shall fear, and be ashamed of [ak]Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their [al]glory.
6 Then shall the inhabitants of this [am]isle say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria, and how shall we be delivered?
21 1 Of the destruction of Babylon by the Persians and Medes. 11 The ruin of Idumea, 13 and of Arabia.
1 The burden of the [an]desert sea. As the whirlwinds in the South used to pass from the wilderness, so shall it [ao]come from the horrible land.
2 A grievous vision was showed unto me, The [ap]Transgressor against a transgressor, and the destroyer against a destroyer. Go up [aq]Elam, besiege Media: I have caused all the mourning [ar]thereof to cease.
3 Therefore are my [as]loins filled with sorrow: sorrows have taken me as the sorrows of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down when I heard it, and I was amazed when I saw it.
4 Mine heart failed: fearfulness troubled me: the night [at]of my pleasures hath he turned into fear unto me.
5 Prepare thou the table: watch in the watch tower: eat, drink: [au]arise, ye princes, anoint the shield:
6 For thus hath the [av]Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, to tell what he seeth.
7 And he saw a chariot with two horsemen: [aw]a chariot of an ass, and a chariot of a camel: and he hearkened and took diligent heed.
8 And he cried, A [ax]lion: my Lord, I stand continually upon the watch tower in the daytime, and I am set in my watch every night:
9 And behold, this man’s chariot cometh with two horsemen. And [ay]he answered and said, (A)Babel is fallen: it is fallen, and all the images of her gods hath he broken unto the ground.
10 O [az]my threshing, and the [ba]corn of my floor. That which I have heard of the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, have I showed unto you.
11 ¶ The burden of [bb]Dumah, he calleth unto me out of [bc]Seir, Watchman, what was in the night? Watchman, what was in the night?
12 The watchman said, The [bd]morning cometh, and also the night. If ye will as he, inquire: return and come.
13 ¶ The burden against Arabia. In [be]the forest of Arabia shall ye tarry all night, even in the ways of Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema, bring forth [bf]water to meet the thirsty, and prevent him that fleeth with his bread.
15 For they flee from the drawn swords, even from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Yet a year [bg]according to the years of an [bh]hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail.
17 And the residue of the number of the strong archers of the sons of [bi]Kedar shall be few: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.
22 1 He prophesieth of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 15 A threatening against Shebna. 20 To whose office Eliakim is preferred.
1 The burden of the [bj]valley of vision. What [bk]aileth thee now that thou art wholly gone up unto the house tops?
2 Thou that art full of [bl]noise, a city full of brute, a joyous city, thy slain men shall not be slain [bm]with sword, nor die in battle.
3 All thy princes shall flee together from the bow: they shall be [bn]bound: all that shall be found in thee, shall be bound together, which have fled from [bo]far.
4 Therefore said I, Turn away from me, I will weep [bp]bitterly: labor not to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of ruin, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the city: and a [bq]crying unto the mountains.
6 ¶ And Elam [br]bare the quiver in a man’s chariot with horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 And thy chief valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array against the gate.
8 And he discovered the [bs]covering of Judah: and thou didst look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest.
9 And ye have seen [bt]the breaches of the city of David: for they were many, and ye gathered the waters of the lower pool.
10 And ye numbered the houses [bu]of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall,
11 And have also made a ditch between the two walls, for the [bv]waters of the old pool, and have not looked unto the maker [bw]thereof, neither had respect unto him that formed it of old.
12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call unto weeping and mourning, and to baldness and girding with sackcloth.
13 And behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine, [bx]eating and drinking, for tomorrow we shall die.
14 And it was declared in the ears of the Lord of hosts. Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you, till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee to that [by]treasurer, to Shebna, the steward of the house, and say,
16 What hast thou to do here? and whom hast thou [bz]here? that thou shouldest here hew thee out a sepulcher, as he that heweth out his sepulcher in a high place, or that graveth an habitation [ca]for himself in a rock?
17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a great captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely roll and turn thee like a ball in a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the [cb]shame of thy lord’s house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and out of thy dwelling will he destroy thee.
20 And in that day will I [cc]call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21 And with thy garments will I clothe him, and with thy girdle will I strengthen him: thy power also will I commit into his hand, and he shall be a father of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the house of Judah.
22 And the [cd]key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder: so he shall open, and no man shall shut: and he shall shut, and no man shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a [ce]nail in a sure place, and he shall be for the throne of glory to his father’s house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, even of the nephews and posterity [cf]all small vessels, from the vessels of the cups, even to all the instruments of music.
25 In that day saith the Lord of hosts, shall the [cg]nail that is fastened in the sure place, depart and shall be broken and fall, and the burden that was upon it, shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.