Bible in 90 Days
1 The vision about Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw in the days of Judah’s kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Rebels condemned
2 Hear you heavens, and listen earth,
for the Lord has spoken:
I reared children; I raised them,
and they turned against me!
3 An ox knows its owner,
and a donkey its master’s feeding trough.
But Israel doesn’t know;
my people don’t behave intelligently.
4 Doom! Sinful nation, people weighed down with crimes,
evildoing offspring, corrupt children!
They have abandoned the Lord,
despised the holy one of Israel;
they turned their backs on God.
5 Why do you invite further beatings?
Why continue to rebel?
Everyone’s head throbs,
and everyone’s heart fails.
6 From head to toe, none are well—
only bruises, cuts, and raw wounds,
not treated, not bandaged,
not soothed with oil.
7 Your country is deserted,
your cities burned with fire;
your land—strangers are devouring it in plain sight.
It’s a wasteland, as when foreigners raid.
8 Daughter Zion is left like a small shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city besieged.[a]
9 If the Lord of heavenly forces had not spared a few of us,
we would be like Sodom; we would resemble Gomorrah.
Hands filled with bloodshed
10 Hear the Lord’s word, you leaders of Sodom.
Listen to our God’s teaching,
people of Gomorrah!
11 What should I think about all your sacrifices?
says the Lord.
I’m fed up with entirely burned offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts.
I don’t want the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from you,
this trampling of my temple’s courts?
13 Stop bringing worthless offerings.
Your incense repulses me.
New moon, sabbath, and the calling of an assembly—
I can’t stand wickedness with celebration!
14 I hate your new moons and your festivals.
They’ve become a burden that I’m tired of bearing.
15 When you extend your hands,
I’ll hide my eyes from you.
Even when you pray for a long time,
I won’t listen.
Your hands are stained with blood.
16 Wash! Be clean!
Remove your ugly deeds from my sight.
Put an end to such evil;
17 learn to do good.
Seek justice:
help the oppressed;[b]
defend the orphan;
plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let’s settle this,
says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they will be white as snow.
If they are red as crimson,
they will become like wool.
19 If you agree and obey,
you will eat the best food of the land.
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.
The Lord has said this.
Zion will be redeemed
21 This faithful town has become a prostitute!
She was full of justice;
righteousness lived in her—
but now murderers.
22 Your silver has become impure;
your beer is diluted with water.
23 Your princes are rebels,
companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe and pursues gifts.
They don’t defend the orphan,
and the widow’s cause never reaches them.
24 Therefore, says the Lord God of heavenly forces,
the mighty one of Israel:
Doom! I will vent my anger against my foes;
I will take it out on my enemies,
25 and I will turn my hand against you.
I will refine your impurities as with lye,
and remove all your cinders.
26 Then I will restore your judges as in earlier times,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
After this you will be called Righteous City, Faithful Town.
27 Zion will be redeemed by justice,
and those who change their lives by righteousness.
28 But God will shatter rebels and sinners alike;
those who abandon the Lord will be finished.
29 You will be ashamed of the oaks you once desired,
and embarrassed by the gardens you once chose.
30 You will be like an oak with withering leaves,
like a garden without water.
31 The strong will be like dry twigs,
their deeds like sparks;
the two will burn together,
with no one to extinguish them.
The Lord’s mountain
2 This is what Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of the mountains.
It will be lifted above the hills;
peoples will stream to it.
3 Many nations will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of Jacob’s God
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will come from Zion;
the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
4 God will judge between the nations,
and settle disputes of mighty nations.
Then they will beat their swords into iron plows
and their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword against nation;
they will no longer learn how to make war.
5 Come, house of Jacob,
let’s walk by the Lord’s light.
Everyone is brought low
6 You have abandoned your people,
house of Jacob.
They are full of sorcerers from the east and fortune-tellers like the Philistines;
they hold hands with foreigners’ children.[c]
7 Their land is full of silver and gold;
they have countless treasures.
Their land is filled with horses;
they have countless chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they worship their handiwork,
what their own fingers have made.
9 Humanity will be brought down;
each person laid low—don’t lift them up![d]
10 Go into the rocks,
and hide yourself in the dust from the terror of the Lord,
from the splendor of God’s majesty!
11 People’s proud gazing will be stopped
and humanity’s arrogance brought down;
the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
12 The Lord of heavenly forces has planned a day:
against all that is prideful and haughty;
against all that is lofty, and it will be laid low;[e]
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, high and lofty;
against all the oaks of Bashan;
14 against all the high mountains;
against all the lofty hills;
15 against every tall tower;
against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish;
against all the wonderful boats.[f]
17 People’s pride will be brought down
and human arrogance humiliated.
The Lord alone will be exalted on that day;
18 the idols will completely pass away.
19 Go into caves in the rocks
and holes in the dust
before the terror of the Lord
and the splendor of God’s majesty,
when he arises to terrify the earth.
20 On that day, people will toss
to the rodents[g] and to the bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship.
21 They will hide in fissures of rocks and in crevices of cliffs
before the terror of the Lord
and the splendor of God’s majesty
when he arises to terrify the earth.
22 Quit admiring the human race,
who breathe through their nostrils.
Why should they be admired?
Your leaders mislead you
3 Now the Lord God of heavenly forces is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah every form of support:
all rations of food and water;
2 soldier and warrior;
judge and prophet;
fortune-teller and elder;
3 commander and celebrity;
counselor, clever craftsman, and cunning charmer.
4 I will make youths their commanders;
mischief makers will rule over them.
5 The people will oppress each other,
each one against the other, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will bully the old,
the rogue, and the respectable.
6 Someone will seize a family member, saying, “You have clothing! You be our leader!
This mess will be your responsibility!”
7 Someone else will cry out on that day,
“I’m no healer!
I have neither food nor clothing in my house!
Don’t make me the leader of the people!”
8 Yes, Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen,
because the way they talk and act in word and deed insults the Lord,
defying his brilliant glory.
9 Their bias in judgment gives them away;
like Sodom, they display their sins in public.
Doom to them, for they have done themselves in!
10 Tell the righteous how blessed they are;
they will eat the fruit of their labors.
11 Doom to the wicked; they are evil.
What they have done will be done to them.
12 As for my people—oppressors strip them
and swindlers[h] rule them.
My people—your leaders mislead you and confuse your paths.
13 The Lord arises to accuse;
he stands to judge the peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment
with the elders and princes of his people:
You yourselves have devoured the vineyard;
the goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
15 How dare you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor?
says the Lord God of heavenly forces.
16 The Lord says:
Because Zion’s daughters applaud themselves,
walking with their chins in the air,
flirting with their eyes,
tiptoeing as they walk, feet jingling—
17 the Lord will shave the heads of Zion’s daughters,
and will expose their scalps.
18 On that day, the Lord will remove:
the splendid ankle chains; headbands and moon-shaped pendants;
19 the earrings, bracelets, and veils;
20 the hats, bangles, and sashes;
the amulets and charms;
21 the signet rings and nose rings;
22 the robes and capes;
the shawls and handbags;
23 the mirrors and linen garments;
the turbans and the veils.
24 Instead of perfume there will be a disgusting odor;
instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of styled hair, shaved heads;
instead of expensive clothes, rags as mourning clothes;
instead of beauty, shame.[i]
25 Your men will fall by the sword,
your warriors in battle!
26 Her gates will lament and mourn;
desolate, she will sit on the ground.
4 Seven women will grab one man on that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes—only let us take your name; take away our disgrace.”
Zion’s glorious future
2 On that day, the Lord’s branch will become beautiful and glorious. The earth’s fruit will be the pride and splendor of Israel’s survivors. 3 Whoever remains in Zion and is left in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is on the list of those living in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord washes the filth from Zion’s daughters, and cleanses Jerusalem’s bloodguilt from within it by means of a wind of judgment and a searing wind, 5 then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the light of a blazing fire by night. Over all the glory there will be a canopy, 6 which will be a booth by day for shade from the heat and a hiding place and shelter from a stormy downpour.
Song of the vineyard
5 Let me sing for my loved one
a love song for his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it,
cleared away its stones,
planted it with excellent vines,
built a tower inside it,
and dug out a wine vat in it.
He expected it to grow good grapes—
but it grew rotten grapes.
3 So now, you who live in Jerusalem, you people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I haven’t done for it?
When I expected it to grow good grapes,
why did it grow rotten grapes?
5 Now let me tell you what I’m doing to my vineyard.
I’m removing its hedge,
so it will be destroyed.
I’m breaking down its walls,
so it will be trampled.
6 I’ll turn it into a ruin;
it won’t be pruned or hoed,
and thorns and thistles will grow up.
I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
7 The vineyard of the Lord of heavenly forces is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are the plantings in which God delighted.
God expected justice, but there was bloodshed;
righteousness, but there was a cry of distress!
Sayings of doom
8 Doom to those who acquire house after house,
who annex field to field until there is no more space left
and only you live alone in the land.
9 I heard the Lord of heavenly forces say this:[j]
Many houses will become total ruins,
large, fine houses, with no one living in them.
10 Ten acres of vineyard
will produce just one bath,[k]
and a homer of seed
will produce only an ephah.
11 Doom to those who wake up early in the morning to run after beer,
to those who stay up late, lit up by wine.
12 They party with lyre and harp, tambourine, flute, and wine;
but they ignore the Lord’s work;
they can’t see what God is doing.
13 Therefore, my people go into exile since they didn’t understand—
their officials are dying of hunger;
so many of them are dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore, the grave[l] opens wide its jaws,
opens its mouth beyond all bounds,
and the splendid multitudes will go down, with all their uproar and cheering.
15 Humanity will be humiliated;
each person laid low,
the eyes of the exalted laid low.
16 But the Lord of heavenly forces will be exalted in justice,
and the holy God will show himself holy in righteousness.
17 Lambs will graze as if in their pasture;
young goats[m] will feed among the ruins of the rich.[n]
18 Doom to those who drag guilt along with cords of fraud,
and haul sin as if with cart ropes,
19 who say, “God should hurry and work faster so we can see;
let the plan of Israel’s holy one come quickly, so we can understand it.”
20 Doom to those who call evil good and good evil,
who present darkness as light and light as darkness,
who make bitterness sweet and sweetness bitter.
21 Doom to those
who consider themselves wise,
who think of themselves as clever.
22 Doom to the wine-swigging warriors,
mighty at mixing drinks,
23 who spare the guilty for bribes,
and rob the innocent of their rights.
24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble,
and as hay shrivels in a flame,
so their roots will rot,
and their blossoms turn to dust,
for they have rejected the teaching of the Lord of heavenly forces,
and have despised the word of Israel’s holy one.
God’s powerful hand
25 This is why the Lord’s anger burned against the people:
he extended his hand to strike them,
the mountains trembled,
and their corpses lay in the middle of the streets like dung.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
God’s hand was still extended.
26 God will raise a signal to a nation from far away
and whistle to them from the end of the earth—
now look—hurrying, swiftly they come!
27 Not one is tired; not one stumbles;
they don’t rest or sleep;
no belt is loose; no sandal broken;
28 their arrows are sharp;
all their bows drawn;
their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their wheels like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like the lion;
they roar like young lions;
they growl, seize their prey,
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30 On that day, they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks toward the land, there’s darkness.
Tyre and the Nile will be darkened by the clouds.[o]
The divine throne room
6 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple. 2 Winged creatures were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about. 3 They shouted to each other, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces!
All the earth is filled with God’s glory!”
4 The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 I said, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!”
6 Then one of the winged creatures flew to me, holding a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has departed, and your sin is removed.”
8 Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?”
I said, “I’m here; send me.”
9 God said, “Go and say to this people:
Listen intently, but don’t understand;
look carefully, but don’t comprehend.
10 Make the minds of this people dull.
Make their ears deaf and their eyes blind,
so they can’t see with their eyes
or hear with their ears,
or understand with their minds,
and turn, and be healed.”
11 I said, “How long, Lord?”
And God said, “Until cities lie ruined with no one living in them, until there are houses without people and the land is left devastated.” 12 The Lord will send the people far away, and the land will be completely abandoned. 13 Even if one-tenth remain there, they will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, which when it is cut down leaves a stump. Its stump is a holy seed.
Reassurance to King Ahaz
7 In the days of Ahaz (Jotham’s son and grandson of Judah’s King Uzziah), Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah (Remaliah’s son) came up to attack Jerusalem, but they couldn’t overpower it.
2 When the house of David was told that Aram had become allies with Ephraim, their hearts and the hearts of their people shook as the trees of a forest shake when there is a wind. 3 But the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub,[p] at the end of the channel of the Upper Pool, by the road to the field where laundry is washed, 4 and say to him, ‘Be careful and stay calm. Don’t fear, and don’t lose heart over these two pieces of smoking torches, over the burning anger of Rezin, Aram, and Remaliah’s son. 5 Aram has planned evil against you with Ephraim and Remaliah’s son, saying, 6 “Let’s march up against Judah, tear it apart, capture it for ourselves, and install Tabeel’s son as its king.” 7 But the Lord God says: It won’t happen; it won’t take place. 8 The chief of Aram is Damascus; the chief of Damascus is Rezin (in sixty-five more years Ephraim will be shattered as a nation); 9 the chief of Ephraim is Samaria; and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you don’t believe this, you can’t be trusted.’”
The sign of Immanuel
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign from the Lord your God. Make it as deep as the grave[q] or as high as heaven.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask; I won’t test the Lord.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Isn’t it enough for you to be tiresome for people that you are also tiresome before my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign. The young woman is pregnant and is about to give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.[r] 15 He will eat butter and honey, and learn to reject evil and choose good. 16 Before the boy learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring upon you, upon your people, and upon your families days unlike any that have come since the day Ephraim broke away from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
The devastated land
18 On that day, the Lord will whistle for the flies from the remotest streams of Egypt and for the bees that are in the land of Assyria. 19 They will come and settle in the steep ravines, in the cracks of the cliffs, in all the thornbushes, and in all the watering holes.
20 On that day, the Lord will shave with a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—with the king of Assyria—the head and the pubic hair, and will cut off the beard as well.
21 On that day, one will raise a young cow and two sheep 22 and will eat butter because of the abundance of milk, for all who remain in the land will eat butter and honey.
23 On that day, there will be thorns and thistles in every place where a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels once grew. 24 Only those with bows and arrows will go there, because the entire land will become thorns and thistles. 25 As for the hills that were once farmed with hoes, you won’t go there for fear of the thorns and thistles. They will become places where cattle are turned loose and sheep wander.
Isaiah’s testimonies
8 The Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it in ordinary letters,[s] For Maher-shalal-hash-baz.[t] 2 Summon trusted people, Uriah the priest and Zechariah, Jeberechiah’s son, to witness it.”
3 I then had sex with the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘my father’ and ‘my mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke again to me: 6 Since this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and instead rejoices over[u] Rezin and Remaliah’s son— 7 therefore, look, the Lord is raising up against them the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates, the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will rise up over all its channels, overflowing all its banks, 8 and sweep into Judah, flooding, overflowing, and reaching up to the neck. But God is with us;[v] the span of his wings will cover the width of the land.
9 Unite[w] yourselves, peoples, and be shattered!
Listen, all distant places of the earth!
Prepare to be shattered!
Prepare to be shattered!
10 Create a plan, but be frustrated!
Speak a word, but it won’t stand, for God is with us.[x]
11 The Lord spoke to me, taking hold of me and warning me not to walk in the way of this people: 12 Don’t call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. Don’t fear what they fear, and don’t be terrified. 13 It is the Lord of heavenly forces whom you should hold sacred, whom you should fear, and whom you should hold in awe.
14 God will become a sanctuary—
but he will be a stone to trip over and a rock to stumble on for the two houses of Israel;
a trap and a snare for those living in Jerusalem.
15 Many of them will stumble and fall,
and be broken, snared, and captured.
16 Bind up the testimony; seal up the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in God. 18 Look! I and the children the Lord gave me are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of heavenly forces, who lives on Mount Zion.
19 If they say to you: “Consult the ghosts and the spirits that chirp and mutter. (Shouldn’t a people consult its gods?) Consult the dead on behalf of the living 20 for instruction and for testimony”—they will surely say such things, but they will never see the dawn.[y]
21 They will pass through the land,[z] dejected and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and God. They will turn toward heaven 22 and look to the earth, but they will see only distress and darkness, random movement, and the anguish and doom of banishment.[aa]
A great light
9 [ab] Nonetheless, those who were in distress won’t be exhausted. At an earlier time, God cursed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but later he glorified the way of the sea, the far side of the Jordan, and the Galilee of the nations.[ac]
2 [ad] The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned.
3 You have made the nation great;
you have increased its joy.
They rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest,
as those who divide plunder rejoice.
4 As on the day of Midian, you’ve shattered the yoke that burdened them,
the staff on their shoulders,
and the rod of their oppressor.
5 Because every boot of the thundering warriors,
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned, fuel for the fire.
6 A child is born to us, a son is given to us,
and authority will be on his shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be vast authority and endless peace
for David’s throne and for his kingdom,
establishing and sustaining it
with justice and righteousness
now and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of heavenly forces will do this.
God’s hand still stretched out
8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob;
it fell upon Israel;
9 the people all knew it—
Ephraim and the one who rules in Samaria.
But with a proud and arrogant heart they said,
10 “Bricks have fallen,
but let’s rebuild with stones.
Sycamores were cut down,
but let’s replace them with cedars.”
11 So the Lord raised up their foes against them,[ae]
and stirred up their enemies—
12 Aram from the east and the Philistines from the west—
and they devoured Israel with an open mouth.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
God’s hand was still extended.
13 But the people didn’t turn to the one who struck them.
They didn’t seek the Lord of heavenly forces.
14 So the Lord cut off head and tail,
palm branch and reed from Israel in one day.
15 (Elders and celebrities are the head;
prophets who teach lies are the tail.)
16 But this people’s leaders were misleading,
and those being led were confused.
17 So the Lord showed their youth no pity,
and showed their orphans and widows no mercy;
for everyone was godless and evil;
every mouth spoke nonsense.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
God’s hand was still extended.
18 Wickedness burned like fire,
devouring thorn and thistle.
It kindled the thickets of the forest;
they swirled in rising smoke.
19 The land was scorched by the rage of the Lord of heavenly forces;
the people were like fuel for the fire.
Not one person pitied another:
20 they consumed on the right, but remained hungry;
devoured on the left, and weren’t satisfied.
They devoured the flesh of their own children.[af]
21 Manasseh devoured Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh;
together they turned against Judah.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
God’s hand was still extended.
Wicked laws
10 Doom to those who pronounce wicked decrees,
and keep writing harmful laws
2 to deprive the needy of their rights
and to rob the poor among my people of justice;
to make widows their loot;
to steal from orphans!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment
when disaster comes from far away?
To whom will you flee for help;
where will you stash your wealth?
4 How will you avoid crouching among the prisoners
and falling among the slain?
Even so, God’s anger hasn’t turned away;
God’s hand is still extended.
Assyria as God’s punishing weapon
5 Doom to Assyria, rod of my anger,
in whose hand is the staff of my fury!
6 Against a godless nation I send him;
against an infuriating people
I direct him to seize spoil, to steal plunder,
and to trample them like mud in the streets.
7 But he has other plans;
he schemes in secret;
destruction is on his mind,
extermination of nation after nation.
8 He says: Aren’t my commanders all kings?
9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?
10 Just as I took control of idolatrous kingdoms
with more images than Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 just as I did to Samaria and her false gods,
won’t I also do this to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 But when the Lord has finished all this work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will punish[ag] the Assyrian king’s arrogant actions and the boasting of his haughty eyes.
13 He said, “By my own strength I have achieved it,
and by my wisdom, since I’m so clever.
I disregarded national boundaries; I raided their treasures;
I knocked down their rulers like a bull.
14 My hand found the wealth of the peoples
as if it were in a nest.
Just as one gathers abandoned eggs,
I have gathered the entire earth;
no creature fluttered a wing or opened a mouth to chirp.”
15 Will the ax glorify itself over the one who chops with it?
Or will the saw magnify itself over its user?
As if a rod could wave the one who lifts it!
As if a staff could lift up the one not made of wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord God of heavenly forces
will make the well-fed people waste away;
and among his officials,
a blaze will burn like scorching fire.
17 The light of Israel will become a fire,
its holy one a flame,
which will burn and devour
its thorns and thistles
in a single day.
18 Its abundant forest and farmland
will be finished completely,[ah]
as when a sick person wastes away;
19 its forest’s remaining trees will be no more than a child can count.
A few will return
20 On that day, what’s left of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who beat them. Instead, they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the holy one of Israel. 21 A few will return, what’s left of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 Although your people, Israel, were like the sand of the sea, only a few survivors will return. The end is announced, overflowing with justice. 23 Yes, destruction has been announced; the Lord God of heavenly forces will carry it out against the entire land.
24 Therefore, the Lord God of heavenly forces says: My people who live in Zion, don’t fear Assyria, which strikes you with the rod and raises its staff against you as Egypt did. 25 In a very short time my fury will end, and my anger at the world will be finished.[ai]
26 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces will crack a whip against Assyria,
as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise a rod over the sea,
as he did in Egypt.
27 On that day, God will remove the burden from your shoulder
and destroy the yoke on your neck.[aj]
The exalted laid low
He has gone up from Samaria,
28 come against Aiath,
passed to Migron.
At Michmash he stored his equipment.
29 They crossed at the pass: “We’ll camp at Geba!”
Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, Daughter Gallim!
Listen, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has flown.
Gebim’s inhabitants sought refuge.
32 This very day he will stand at Nob
and shake his fist[ak] at Daughter Zion’s mountain,
the hill of Jerusalem!
33 Look! The Lord God of heavenly forces
is chopping off the branches with terrible power.
The loftiest ones are about to be cut down
and the exalted laid low.
34 He will strike down the forest thickets with an ax,
and mighty Lebanon will fall.
A shoot from Jesse’s stump
11 A shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse;
a branch will sprout[al] from his roots.
2 The Lord’s spirit will rest upon him,
a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a spirit of planning and strength,
a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in fearing the Lord.
He won’t judge by appearances,
nor decide by hearsay.
4 He will judge the needy with righteousness,
and decide with equity for those who suffer in the land.
He will strike the violent[am] with the rod of his mouth;
by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be the belt around his hips,
and faithfulness the belt around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the young goat;
the calf and the young lion will feed[an] together,
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow and the bear will graze.
Their young will lie down together,
and a lion will eat straw like an ox.
8 A nursing child will play over the snake’s hole;
toddlers will reach right over the serpent’s den.
9 They won’t harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain.
The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the Lord,
just as the water covers the sea.
A signal to the peoples
10 On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.
11 On that day, the Lord will extend his hand a second time to reclaim the survivors of God’s people who are left from Assyria and from Egypt, from Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the coastlands[ao] of the sea.
12 God will raise a signal for the nations and gather the outcast men of Israel.
God will collect the dispersed women of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will cease,
and Judah’s harassment will be eliminated.
Ephraim won’t be jealous of Judah,
and Judah won’t harass Ephraim.
14 But they will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
Edom and Moab will be under their power,
and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
15 The Lord will split the tongue of the Egyptian sea. God will wave a hand over the Euphrates with a powerful[ap] wind and break it into seven streams so that it can be crossed in sandals. 16 Then there will be a highway from Assyria for the survivors of God’s people who are left from Assyria, just as there was for Israel on the day they went up from the land of Egypt.
Hymn of trust
12 You will say on that day:
“I thank you, Lord.
Though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away and you comforted me.
2 God is indeed my salvation;
I will trust and won’t be afraid.
Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my shield;
he has become my salvation.”
3 You will draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.
4 And you will say on that day:
“Thank the Lord; call on God’s name;
proclaim God’s deeds among the peoples;
declare that God’s name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, who has done glorious things;
proclaim this throughout all the earth.”
6 Shout and sing for joy, city of Zion,
because the holy one of Israel is great among you.
Babylon falls
13 An oracle about Babylon, which Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw.
2 On a bare mountain raise a signal;
cry aloud to them;
wave a hand;
let them enter the officials’ gates.
3 I have commanded my holy ones;
I have called my warriors,
my proud, jubilant ones,
to execute my wrath.
4 Listen![aq] A roar on the mountains like that of a great crowd.
Listen! An uproar of kingdoms,
of nations coming together.
The Lord of heavenly forces is mustering an army for battle.
5 They are coming from a distant land,
from the faraway heavens,
the Lord and the instruments of his fury, to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near.
Like destruction from the Almighty[ar] it will come.
7 Then all hands will fall limp;
every human heart will melt,
8 and they will be terrified.
Like a woman writhing in labor,
they will be seized by spasms and agony.
They will look at each other aghast,
their faces blazing.
9 Look, the day of the Lord is coming with cruel rage and burning anger,
making the earth a ruin,
and wiping out its sinners.
10 Heaven’s stars and constellations won’t show their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises;
the moon will no longer shine.
11 I will bring disaster upon the world for its evil,
and bring their own sin upon the wicked.
I will end the pride of the insolent,
and the conceit of tyrants I will lay low.
12 I will make humans scarcer than fine gold;
people rarer than the gold of Ophir.
13 I will rattle the heavens;
the earth will shake loose from its place—because of the rage
of the Lord of heavenly forces
on the day his anger burns.
14 They will be like hunted gazelles, like sheep without a shepherd;
all will turn to their own people
and flee to their own lands.
15 Whoever is found will be stabbed;
whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be crushed before their eyes;
their houses plundered, their women raped.
17 Look! I’m rousing the Medes against them;
the Medes pay no mind to silver, no desire for gold.
18 Their bows will smash youths;
they will be merciless to newborns, pitiless to children.
19 So Babylon, a jewel among kingdoms,
the Chaldeans’ splendor and pride,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah,
destroyed by God.
20 No one will ever resettle
or live there for generations.
No Arab will camp there;
no shepherds will rest flocks there.
21 Wildcats will rest there;
houses will be filled with owls.
Ostriches will live there,
and goat demons will dance there.
22 Hyenas will howl in its strongholds,
and jackals in its luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s[as] time is coming soon;
its days won’t drag on.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible