Bible in 90 Days
Ariel is Besieged
29 Ariel is as good as dead[a]—
Ariel, the town David besieged![b]
Keep observing your annual rituals;
celebrate your festivals on schedule.[c]
2 I will threaten Ariel,
and she will mourn intensely
and become like an altar hearth[d] before me.
3 I will lay siege to you on all sides;[e]
I will besiege you with troops;[f]
I will raise siege works against you.
4 You will fall;
while lying on the ground[g] you will speak;
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard.[h]
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld;[i]
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.[j]
5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,
the horde of tyrants[k] like chaff that is blown away.
It will happen suddenly, in a flash.
6 Judgment will come from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[l]
accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,
by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.
7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.
There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,
those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,
only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty.[m]
It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,
only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched.[n]
So it will be for the horde from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
God’s People Are Spiritually Insensitive
9 You will be shocked and amazed![o]
You are totally blind![p]
They are drunk, but not because of wine;
they stagger,[q] but not because of beer.
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply.[r]
He has shut your eyes (you prophets),
and covered your heads (you seers).
11 To you this entire prophetic revelation[s] is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read[t] and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.” 12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read[u] and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”[v]
13 The Lord[w] says,
“These people say they are loyal to me;[x]
they say wonderful things about me,[y]
but they are not really loyal to me.[z]
Their worship consists of
nothing but man-made ritual.[aa]
14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people—
an absolutely extraordinary deed.[ab]
Wise men will have nothing to say,
the sages will have no explanations.”[ac]
15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead,[ad]
who do their work in secret and boast,[ae]
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”[af]
16 Your thinking is perverse![ag]
Should the potter be regarded as clay?[ah]
Should the thing made say[ai] about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
Changes Are Coming
17 In just a very short time[aj]
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest.[ak]
18 At that time[al] the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,
and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.[am]
19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delight[an] in the Holy One of Israel.[ao]
20 For tyrants will disappear,
those who taunt will vanish,
and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated[ap]—
21 those who bear false testimony against a person,[aq]
who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate[ar]
and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.[as]
22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, has said to the family of Jacob:[at]
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;
their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.[au]
23 For when they see their children,
whom I will produce among them,[av]
they will honor[aw] my name.
They will honor the Holy One of Jacob;[ax]
they will respect[ay] the God of Israel.
24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding;[az]
those who complain will acquire insight.[ba]
Egypt Will Prove Unreliable
30 “The rebellious[bb] children are as good as dead,”[bc] says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me,[bd]
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,[be]
and thereby compound their sin.[bf]
2 They travel down to Egypt
without seeking my will,[bg]
seeking Pharaoh’s protection,
and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade.[bh]
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,
and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.
4 Though his[bi] officials are in Zoan
and his messengers arrive at Hanes,[bj]
5 all will be put to shame[bk]
because of a nation that cannot help them,
who cannot give them aid or help,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6 This is an oracle[bl] about the animals in the Negev:
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions,[bm]
by snakes and darting adders,[bn]
they transport their wealth on the backs of donkeys,
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them.[bo]
7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping.[bp]
For this reason I call her
“Proud one[bq] who is silenced.”[br]
8 Now go, write it[bs] down on a tablet in their presence,[bt]
inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it might be preserved for a future time
as an enduring witness.[bu]
9 For these are rebellious people—
they are lying children,
children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law.[bv]
10 They[bw] say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”
and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right![bx]
Tell us nice things;
relate deceptive messages.[by]
11 Turn aside from the way;
stray off the path.[bz]
Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.”[ca]
12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“You have rejected this message;[cb]
you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick,[cc]
and rely on that kind of behavior.[cd]
13 So this sin will become your downfall.
You will be like a high wall
that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;
it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.[ce]
14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,
so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged.[cf]
Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough[cg]
to scoop a hot coal from a fire[ch]
or to skim off water from a cistern.”[ci]
15 For this is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered;[cj]
if you calmly trusted in me, you would find strength,[ck]
but you are unwilling.
16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier;[cl]
at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away,[cm]
until the remaining few are as isolated[cn]
as a flagpole on a mountaintop
or a signal flag on a hill.”
The Lord Will Not Abandon His People
18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you.[co]
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.[cp]
19 For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem you will weep no more.[cq]
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you.[cr]
20 The Lord[cs] will give you distress to eat
and suffering to drink;[ct]
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them.[cu]
21 You[cv] will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,
“This is the correct[cw] way, walk in it,”
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols[cx]
and your gold-plated images.[cy]
You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,
saying to them, “Get out!”
23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance.[cz]
At that time[da] your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing[db]
will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork.[dc]
25 On every high mountain
and every high hill
there will be streams flowing with water,
at the time of[dd] great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.
26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare,
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days,[de]
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones[df]
and heals their severe wound.[dg]
27 Look, the name[dh] of the Lord comes from a distant place
in raging anger and awesome splendor.[di]
He speaks angrily,
and his word is like destructive fire.[dj]
28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river[dk]
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff;[dl]
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction.[dm]
29 You will sing
as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.
You will be happy like one who plays a flute
as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel.[dn]
30 The Lord will give a mighty shout[do]
and intervene in power,[dp]
with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire,[dq]
with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria;[dr]
he will beat them with a club.
32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel[ds]
with which the Lord will beat them[dt]
will be accompanied by music from the[du] tambourine and harp,
and he will attack them with his weapons.[dv]
33 For[dw] the burial place is already prepared;[dx]
it has been made deep and wide for the king.[dy]
The firewood is piled high on it.[dz]
The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,
will ignite it.
Egypt Will Disappoint
31 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead;[ea]
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots[eb]
and in their many, many horsemen.[ec]
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel[ed]
and do not seek help from the Lord.
2 Yet he too is wise[ee] and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree.[ef]
He will attack the wicked nation,[eg]
and the nation that helps[eh] those who commit sin.[ei]
3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with[ej] his hand;
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish.[ek]
The Lord Will Defend Zion
4 Indeed, this is what the Lord has said to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey.[el]
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling.[em]
In this same way the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill.[en]
5 Just as birds hover over a nest,[eo]
so the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it;
as he passes over[ep] he will rescue it.”
6 You Israelites! Return to the one you have so blatantly rebelled against![eq] 7 For at that time[er] every one will get rid of[es] the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made.[et]
8 “Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made;[eu]
a sword not made by humankind will destroy them.[ev]
They will run away from this sword[ew]
and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.
9 They will surrender their stronghold[ex] because of fear;[ey]
their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.”[ez]
This is what the Lord says—
the one whose fire is in Zion,
whose firepot is in Jerusalem.[fa]
Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail
32 Look, a king will promote fairness;[fb]
officials will promote justice.[fc]
2 Each of them[fd] will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
3 Eyes[fe] will no longer be blind[ff]
and ears[fg] will be attentive.
4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment,[fh]
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;[fi]
his mind plans out sinful deeds.[fj]
He commits godless deeds[fk]
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite[fl]
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.[fm]
7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;[fn]
he dreams up evil plans[fo]
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right.[fp]
8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security.[fq]
The Lord Will Give True Security
9 You complacent[fr] women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree[fs] daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
10 In a year’s time[ft]
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape harvest[fu] will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves—
put sackcloth around your waists.[fv]
12 Mourn over the field,[fw]
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine.
13 Mourn[fx] over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses[fy]
in the city filled with revelry.[fz]
14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded[ga] city is abandoned.
Hill[gb] and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited.[gc]
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there.[gd]
15 This desolation will continue[ge] until new life is poured out on us from heaven.[gf]
Then the wilderness will become an orchard[gg]
and the orchard will be considered a forest.[gh]
16 Justice will settle down in the wilderness
and fairness will live in the orchard.[gi]
17 Fairness will produce peace[gj]
and result in lasting security.[gk]
18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places.[gl]
19 Even if the forest is destroyed[gm]
and the city is annihilated,[gn]
20 you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,[go]
you who let your ox and donkey graze.[gp]
The Lord Will Restore Zion
33 The destroyer is as good as dead,[gq]
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead,[gr]
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish[gs] deceiving, others will deceive you!
2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.
Give us strength each morning.[gt]
Deliver us when distress comes.[gu]
3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise;[gv]
the nations scatter when you spring into action![gw]
4 Your plunder[gx] disappears as if locusts were eating it;[gy]
they swarm over it like locusts.[gz]
5 The Lord is exalted,[ha]
indeed,[hb] he lives in heaven;[hc]
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
6 He is your constant source of stability;[hd]
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;[he]
he gives all this to those who fear him.[hf]
7 Look, ambassadors[hg] cry out in the streets;
messengers sent to make peace[hh] weep bitterly.
8 Highways are empty,[hi]
there are no travelers.[hj]
Treaties are broken,[hk]
witnesses are despised,[hl]
human life is treated with disrespect.[hm]
9 The land[hn] dries up[ho] and withers away;
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up[hp] and decays.
Sharon[hq] is like the arid rift valley;[hr]
Bashan and Carmel[hs] are parched.[ht]
10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself.[hu]
11 You conceive straw,[hv]
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you.[hw]
12 The nations will be burned to ashes;[hx]
like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
You who are close by, recognize my strength.”
14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic[hy] grips the godless.[hz]
They say,[ia] “Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable[ib] fire?”
15 The one who lives[ic] uprightly[id]
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe;[ie]
the one who does not plot violent crimes[if]
and does not seek to harm others[ig]—
16 this is the person who will live in a secure place;[ih]
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds;[ii]
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
17 You will see a king in his splendor;[ij]
you will see a wide land.[ik]
18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced,[il]
and you will ask yourselves,[im] “Where is the scribe?
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?”[in]
19 You will no longer see a defiant[io] people
whose language you do not comprehend,[ip]
whose derisive speech you do not understand.[iq]
20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You[ir] will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put;[is]
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king.[it]
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it;[iu]
no war galley will enter;[iv]
no large ships will sail through.[iw]
22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king—
he will deliver us.
23 Though at this time your ropes are slack,[ix]
the mast is not secured,[iy]
and the sail[iz] is not unfurled,
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot;[ja]
even the lame will drag off plunder.[jb]
24 No resident of Zion[jc] will say, “I am ill”;
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.
The Lord Will Judge Edom
34 Come near, you nations, and listen!
Pay attention, you people!
The earth and everything it contains must listen,
the world and everything that lives in it.[jd]
2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
3 Their slain will be left unburied,[je]
their corpses will stink;[jf]
the hills will soak up their blood.[jg]
4 All the stars in the sky will fade away,[jh]
the sky will roll up like a scroll;
all its stars will wither,
like a leaf withers and falls from a vine
or a fig withers and falls from a tree.[ji]
5 He says,[jj] “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers.[jk]
Look, it now descends on Edom,[jl]
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered[jm] with fat;
it drips[jn] with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered[jo] with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice[jp] in Bozrah,[jq]
a bloody[jr] slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered[js] along with them,
as well as strong bulls.[jt]
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge,[ju]
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion.[jv]
9 Edom’s[jw] streams will be turned into pitch
and her soil into brimstone;
her land will become burning pitch.
10 Night and day it will burn;[jx]
its smoke will ascend continually.
Generation after generation it will be a wasteland,
and no one will ever pass through it again.
11 Owls and wild animals[jy] will live there,[jz]
all kinds of wild birds[ka] will settle in it.
The Lord[kb] will stretch out over her
the measuring line of ruin
and the plumb line[kc] of destruction.[kd]
12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom,
and all her officials will disappear.[ke]
13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow[kf] in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there.[kg]
14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there;[kh]
wild goats will bleat to one another.[ki]
Yes, nocturnal animals[kj] will rest there
and make for themselves a nest.[kk]
15 Owls[kl] will make nests and lay eggs[km] there;
they will hatch them and protect them.[kn]
Yes, hawks[ko] will gather there,
each with its mate.
16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord![kp]
Not one of these creatures will be missing,[kq]
none will lack a mate.[kr]
For the Lord has issued the decree,[ks]
and his own spirit gathers them.[kt]
17 He assigns them their allotment;[ku]
he measures out their assigned place.[kv]
They will live there[kw] permanently;
they will settle in it through successive generations.
The Land and Its People Are Transformed
35 Let the wilderness and desert be happy;[kx]
let the arid rift valley[ky] rejoice and bloom like a lily!
2 Let it richly bloom;[kz]
let it rejoice and shout with delight![la]
It is given the grandeur[lb] of Lebanon,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake.[lc]
4 Tell those who panic,[ld]
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge;
with divine retribution he comes to deliver you.”[le]
5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will burst forth in the wilderness,
streams in the arid rift valley.[lf]
7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
8 A thoroughfare will be there—
it will be called the Way of Holiness.[lg]
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it[lh]—
fools[li] will not stray into it.
9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it[lj]—
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way.[lk]
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them,[ll]
happiness and joy will overwhelm[lm] them;
grief and suffering will disappear.[ln]
Sennacherib Invades Judah
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,[lo] King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser[lp] from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. The chief adviser[lq] stood at the conduit of the upper pool that is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.[lr] 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.
4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?[ls] 5 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.[lt] In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? 6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! 7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’ 8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you 2,000 horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.[lu] 10 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’”[lv]
11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic,[lw] for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect[lx] in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you.[ly] His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!”[lz]
13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect,[ma] “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you! 15 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.[mb] Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Have any of the gods of the nations rescued their lands from the power of the king of Assyria?[mc] 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?[md] Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power?[me] 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”[mf] 21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”
22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn[mg] and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.
37 When King Hezekiah heard this,[mh] he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,[mi] clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: 3 “This is what Hezekiah says:[mj] ‘This is a day of distress, insults,[mk] and humiliation,[ml] as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.[mm] 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.[mn] When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.[mo] So pray for this remnant that remains.’”[mp]
5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard—these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me.[mq] 7 Look, I will take control of his mind;[mr] he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down[ms] with a sword in his own land.”’”
8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.[mt] 9 The king[mu] heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia[mv] was marching out to fight him.[mw] He again sent[mx] messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands.[my] Do you really think you will be rescued?[mz] 12 Were the nations whom my predecessors[na] destroyed—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar—rescued by their gods?[nb] 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad or the kings of Lair,[nc] Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah took the letter[nd] from the messengers and read it.[ne] Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: 16 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim![nf] You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky[ng] and the earth. 17 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God![nh] 18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations[ni] and their lands. 19 They have burned the gods of the nations,[nj] for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.[nk] 20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”[nl]
21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘As to what you have prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria,[nm] 22 this is what the Lord says about him:[nn]
“‘The virgin daughter Zion[no]
despises you—she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.[np]
23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly?[nq]
At the Holy One of Israel![nr]
24 Through your messengers you taunted the Lord,[ns]
“With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its remotest regions,[nt]
its thickest woods.
25 I dug wells
and drank water.[nu]
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.”’
26 [nv] Certainly you must have heard![nw]
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned[nx] it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.[ny]
27 Their residents are powerless;[nz]
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation.[oa]
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops[ob]
when it is scorched by the east wind.[oc]
28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me.[od]
29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,[oe]
I will put my hook in your nose,[of]
and my bit between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.’
30 [og] “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth:[oh] This year you will eat what grows wild,[oi] and next year[oj] what grows on its own. But the year after that[ok] you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.[ol] 31 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.[om]
32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The zeal of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[on] will accomplish this.
33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.[oo]
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors,[op]
nor will he build siege works against it.
34 He will go back the way he came—
he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
35 I will shield this city and rescue it
for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”[oq]
36 The angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 troops[or] in the Assyrian camp. When they[os] got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses![ot] 37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh.[ou] 38 One day,[ov] as he was worshiping[ow] in the temple of his god Nisroch,[ox] his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword.[oy] They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
The Lord Hears Hezekiah’s Prayer
38 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.[oz] The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you[pa] faithfully and with wholehearted devotion,[pb] and how I have carried out your will.”[pc] Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.[pd]
4 The Lord’s message came to Isaiah, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor[pe] David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will also rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’” 7 Isaiah replied,[pf] “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said: 8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.”[pg] And then the shadow went back ten steps.[ph]
Hezekiah’s Song of Thanks
9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:
10 “I thought,[pi]
‘In the middle of my life[pj] I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived[pk] of the rest of my years.’
11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord[pl] in the land of the living,
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world.[pm]
12 My dwelling place[pn] is removed and taken away[po] from me
as a shepherd’s tent.
I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth;[pp]
from the loom he cuts me off.[pq]
You turn day into night and end my life.[pr]
13 I cry out[ps] until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life.[pt]
14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo[pu] like a dove;
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky.[pv]
O Lord,[pw] I am oppressed;
help me![px]
15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted.[py]
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief.[pz]
16 O Lord, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me.[qa]
Restore my health[qb] and preserve my life.’
17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit.[qc]
You delivered me[qd] from the Pit of oblivion.[qe]
For you removed all my sins from your sight.[qf]
18 Indeed[qg] Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not[qh] praise you.
Those who descend into the Pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is about to deliver me,[qi]
and we will celebrate with music[qj]
for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.”[qk]
21 [ql] (Isaiah ordered, “Let them take a fig cake and apply it to the ulcerated sore and he will get well.” 22 Hezekiah said, “What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”)
Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah
39 At that time Merodach Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah welcomed[qm] them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.[qn] 3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 4 Isaiah[qo] asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything in my treasuries.” 5 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the message of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: 6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors[qp] have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father[qq] will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s message that you have announced is appropriate.”[qr] Then he thought,[qs] “For[qt] there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”
The Lord Returns to Jerusalem
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your[qu] God.
2 “Speak kindly to[qv] Jerusalem and tell her
that her time of warfare is over,[qw]
that her punishment is completed.[qx]
For the Lord has made her pay double[qy] for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
build a level road[qz] through the rift valley[ra] for our God.
4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
5 The splendor[rb] of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people[rc] will see it at the same time.
For[rd] the Lord has decreed it.”[re]
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks,[rf] “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds:[rg] “All people are like grass,[rh]
and all their promises[ri] are like the flowers in the field.
7 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
when the wind sent by the Lord[rj] blows on them.
Surely humanity[rk] is like grass.
8 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”[rl]
9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion.
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem![rm]
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Look, the Sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior;[rn]
his military power establishes his rule.[ro]
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him.[rp]
11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart;[rq]
he leads the ewes along.
The Lord is Incomparable
12 Who has measured out the waters[rr] in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully[rs] measured the sky,[rt]
or carefully weighed[ru] the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales?[rv]
13 Who comprehends[rw] the mind[rx] of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor?[ry]
14 From whom does he receive directions?[rz]
Who[sa] teaches him the correct way to do things,[sb]
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design?[sc]
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts[sd] the coastlands[se] as if they were dust.
16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;[sf]
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.[sg]
17 All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing.[sh]
18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
19 A craftsman casts[si] an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot;[sj]
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make[sk] an idol that will not fall over.
21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon;[sl]
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.[sm]
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,[sn]
and spreads it out[so] like a pitched tent.[sp]
23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.[sq]
26 Look up at the sky![sr]
Who created all these heavenly lights?[ss]
He is the one who leads out their ranks;[st]
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me;[su]
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?[sv]
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the Creator of the whole earth.[sw]
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.[sx]
29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.[sy]
31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help[sz] find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,[ta]
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
The Lord Challenges the Nations
41 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands![tb]
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate.[tc]
2 Who stirs up this one from the east?[td]
Who[te] officially commissions him for service?[tf]
He hands nations over to him,[tg]
and enables him to subdue[th] kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow.[ti]
3 He pursues them and passes by unharmed;[tj]
he advances with great speed.[tk]
4 Who acts and carries out decrees?[tl]
Who[tm] summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end—I am the one.[tn]
5 The coastlands[to] see and are afraid;
the whole earth[tp] trembles;
they approach and come.
6 They help one another;[tq]
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages[tr] the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,[ts]
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.
The Lord Encourages His People
8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,[tt]
9 you whom I am bringing back[tu] from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions—
I told you, ‘You are my servant.’
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God![tv]
I strengthen you—
yes, I help you—
yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand![tw]
11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries[tx] will be reduced to nothing[ty] and perish.
12 When you will look for your opponents,[tz] you will not find them;
your enemies[ua] will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,[ub]
men of[uc] Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your Protector,[ud] the Holy One of Israel.[ue]
15 “Look, I am making you like[uf] a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged.[ug]
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw.[uh]
16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers;[ui]
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
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