Chronological
A message about Cush[a]
18 It will be very bad for that land beyond the rivers of Cush. Their ships seem to have wings and fly everywhere! 2 They send messages over the sea in boats that they make from reeds. Their boats sail quickly on the water.
Go now! Take a message quickly.
Go to a country where the people are tall
and their skin has no hair.
Everyone is afraid of that nation's people.
They are a powerful and strong nation.
Many rivers cross their land.
3 All you people who live in the world, listen to this! You will see a battle flag on the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet.
4 This is what the Lord said to me: ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will work quietly, like the heat that comes from the sun. I will be as quiet as the mist that comes at harvest time.’[b]
5 Then, when the grapes on the vines are nearly ready for harvest, the Lord will cut them off! He will use his knife to cut off the branches.[c]
6 Like those branches, the dead bodies of the soldiers will lie in the fields. The wild animals and the vultures will come to eat them. The vultures will feed on them all through the summer. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.
7 At that time, the Lord Almighty will receive gifts from the people of that land. Many rivers cross that land. Its people are tall and their skin has no hair. Everyone is afraid of them. Their nation is strong and powerful. Those people will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That is the place that the Lord Almighty has chosen for people to worship him there.
A message about Egypt
19 This is a message about Egypt.
Look! The Lord is coming to Egypt! He is riding quickly on a cloud and he will soon arrive! The idols of Egypt will shake with fear when he comes. All the people in Egypt will be very afraid.
2 ‘I will cause Egypt's people to fight against each other. People will fight against their own family. They will fight against their neighbours. Cities and kingdoms will fight against each other. 3 The Egyptians will become afraid, so that they do not know what to do. They will ask for help from their idols. They will ask the spirits of dead people to tell them what to do. They will ask magicians to talk to those spirits on their behalf. 4 I will cause a cruel master to have power over Egypt. A powerful king will rule over its people.’
That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord.
5 The water of the sea will become dry. The Nile river will also become dry and it will have no water in it. 6 The streams will have a bad smell. All the streams and rivers will slowly become dry. The reeds and the river grasses will die. 7 The plants beside the river will die, as well as the crops in the fields along the shore. Everything will become dry and the wind will blow it all away.
8 The people who catch fish in the Nile river will be very sad. Yes, everyone who throws a hook into the river will cry. The people who throw nets into the river will not catch any fish.
9 The people who make linen cloth will not know what to do. There will be no flax for them to use. 10 They will be very upset. All the people who work to get money will be sad.
11 The royal officers in Zoan are fools! Pharaoh's wise leaders tell him to do stupid things! They should not boast to Pharaoh that they are wise. They should not say that they are descendants of wise kings from long ago.
12 Pharaoh, where have your wise men gone? Call them to come! Ask them to tell you what the Lord Almighty has decided to do against Egypt.
13 The officers in Zoan are fools. The officers in Memphis have confused each other. The leaders of Egypt's clans have led their people in the wrong direction.
14 The Lord has sent among the people in Egypt a spirit that confuses them. They go the wrong way in everything that they do. They are like drunk people who have been sick. They cannot walk in a straight line.
15 Nobody in Egypt will be able to do anything. They may be Egypt's head or its tail, a palm branch or a reed.[d] There is nothing that anyone can do.
16 At that time, the Egyptians will be weak, like women. They will shake with fear because the Lord Almighty is ready to punish them. 17 The people of Judah will frighten the Egyptians very much. If anyone says Judah's name, everyone who hears it will be afraid. They will be very afraid of the punishment that the Lord Almighty will bring to them.
18 At that time, five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan.[e] The people in those cities will promise to obey the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will have the name ‘Sun City’.
19 At that time, there will be an altar in the middle of Egypt's land, where people will worship the Lord. There will also be a tall stone for the Lord at Egypt's border. 20 Those two things will be signs to tell everyone in Egypt about the Lord Almighty. Because of those signs, the Egyptians will remember that the Lord is powerful. When their enemies are cruel to them, they will call out to the Lord for help. Then he will send a strong saviour to rescue them. 21 The Lord will cause the Egyptians to know him. They will agree to serve him. They will worship the Lord with sacrifices and offerings. They will make promises to the Lord, and they will do what they have promised to do. 22 The Lord himself will punish the Egyptians. But after that, they will turn to the Lord. He will answer their prayers, and he will make them well again.
23 At that time, there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. People from Assyria will travel to Egypt and Egyptians will travel to Assyria. Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
24 At that time, Israel will join Egypt and Assyria as a third important nation. They will bring blessing to the whole world. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them all. He will say, ‘I will bless Egypt, who are now my people. I will bless Assyria, the people that I have made. And I will bless Israel, the people that I have chosen to belong to me.’
A message about Egypt and Cush
20 One year, Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent the leader of his army to attack Ashdod.[f] His army fought against Ashdod and they took the city. 2 At that time, the Lord gave this message to Isaiah, the son of Amoz. He said, ‘Go and remove the rough clothes that you are wearing. Take your shoes off your feet.’ Isaiah did what the Lord told him to do. He walked about without clothes and without shoes.[g]
3 After three years, the Lord said, ‘My servant Isaiah has walked without clothes and without shoes for three years. That is a sign to warn Egypt and Cush about what will happen to them. 4 The king of Assyria will take away people from Egypt as prisoners. He will do the same thing to the people of Cush. Young people and old people will go as prisoners to Assyria. They will not wear any clothes or shoes. People will see their bare bodies. The Egyptians will be very ashamed. 5 Anyone who trusted that Cush or Egypt would be strong enough to save them will be ashamed. They will be afraid. 6 At that time, the people who live on this coast will say, “Look! This has happened to the people that we trusted to help us. We thought that they would rescue us from the king of Assyria. Now we will never escape from his power.” ’
A message about Babylon
21 This is a message about the desert near the sea.
Trouble is coming from the desert, like a strong wind that blows from the south. It comes from a land of great fear.
2 The Lord showed me a vision of terrible things.
‘People are deceiving one another!
People are destroying one another!
Elam, go to attack Babylon!
People from Media, attack all round the city!
I will stop all the tears that Babylon's armies have caused.’
3 Because of that vision, I am very upset. Bad pains attack me, like the pains of a woman who is giving birth. My body hurts because of the things that I have heard. I am afraid to look! 4 It confuses my mind. I shake with fear. I wanted a quiet evening, but instead there is terror.
5 Look! They are preparing a feast. They put down carpets for people to sit on. They are eating and they are drinking. Officers, stand up! Make your shields ready for battle!
6 This is what the Lord God has said to me:
‘Go! Put someone on the city wall to watch.
Tell him to report what he sees.
7 If he sees chariots that two horses are pulling,
or riders on donkeys,
or riders on camels,
he must watch very carefully.’
8 Then the guard shouted, ‘Lord God, I am standing every day on the tower where I watch. I stand at my place every night. 9 And look! Something is coming! It is a chariot that two horses are pulling!’ The rider reports, ‘An enemy has completely destroyed Babylon! All the idols of its people's gods lie in pieces on the ground!’
10 Yes, my people, Babylon's army has hurt you very much. But now I have reported to you the message from the Lord Almighty, Israel's God.
A message about Edom
11 This is a message about Dumah.
Someone is shouting to me from Seir.[h] They are asking, ‘Guard, how soon will the night finish? Please tell me.’
12 The guard replies, ‘The morning will come soon. But the night will quickly follow. If you want to ask again, then come back. Come and ask!’
A message about Arabia
13 This is a message about Arabia.
Traders from Dedan, you put up your tents in Arabia's wilderness. 14 You must bring some water for the thirsty people to drink. You people who live in Tema, bring food to give to the hungry people who are running away from danger.[i] 15 They are running away from the weapons of war. They are running from the swords, bows and arrows of a dangerous battle.
16 This is what the Lord God has said to me: ‘In one year's time, all Kedar's glory will have gone. Count every day, as if you are working to receive money. 17 Only a few of Kedar's brave soldiers will remain, with their bows and arrows.’
That is what the Lord, Israel's God, has said.
A message about Jerusalem
22 This is a message about the city that is called ‘Vision Valley’.[j]
What are you doing? You have all climbed up on the roofs of your houses![k]
2 Your city is full of the noise of parties, and people are shouting. It was not war that killed the people who are lying in your streets. They did not die in a battle.
3 When the enemy came, all your leaders ran far away. The enemy caught all your people. They caught them all and they did not need to shoot any arrows!
4 So I say, ‘Leave me alone! Let me weep with many tears. The enemy has killed many of my people, so do not try to comfort me.’
5 The Lord, the Almighty Lord, has decided to bring great trouble to Vision Valley. It is a day of fear. People run here and there because they do not know what to do. The enemy knocks down the city's walls. People shout to the hills for help. 6 Elam's soldiers came with bows and arrows. They came with chariots and riders on horses. Kir's soldiers prepared their shields to fight. 7 So your beautiful valleys were full of chariots. Soldiers on horses prepared to attack your city's gates.
8 The enemy destroyed Judah's strong places where people could be safe. In that day, you looked for weapons in the House of the Forest.[l] 9 You saw that there were many holes in the walls of the City of David. You stored water in the Lower Pool. 10 You counted the houses in Jerusalem and you knocked down some of them. You used the stones to make the city's wall stronger.
11 You built a place between the city's walls to store water from the Old Pool. But you did not trust the One who made the city. You did not think about the One who decided to build it a long time ago.
12 At that time, the Lord Almighty told you to be very sad and weep. He told you to cut all the hair off your heads and to wear rough clothes.
13 But instead, you are happy and you dance! You kill cows and sheep for a feast! You eat lots of meat and you drink lots of wine. You say, ‘We will have a big feast today, because tomorrow we will be dead!’
14 But the Lord Almighty has told me this: ‘I will never forgive this sin of my people for as long as they live.’
That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord has said.
15 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Now go and speak to Shebna, the officer with authority in the king's palace.[m] 16 Say to him, “You should not be here in the palace. You have cut a grave in the rock here for yourself, but you do not have the authority to do that! You have made a beautiful grave high up on the hill, as if you belong with the kings.
17 But look! The Lord will catch you and he will throw you out! You are just a man. He will take hold of you with all his strength. 18 He will hold you in his hand like a ball and he will throw you far away. You will die in that large, open country. Your great chariots will be useless there with you. You have brought shame to your master's family.”
19 I will remove you from your job. You will no longer be an important officer in the palace.
20 At that time, I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, to come. 21 I will put on him your special clothes. I will tie your belt round him. I will give your authority to him. Then Eliakim will become like a father to the people in Jerusalem and the people in Judah. 22 I will give the key of David's royal family to him. He will have complete authority. Any door that he opens, nobody may close it. Any door that he closes, nobody may open it.
23 I will fix him strongly in his place, like a peg in a strong wall. Because of him, people will respect and praise his father's family. 24 His children and his family will become more important because of him. They will be like bowls, cups and jars that hang on him as the strong peg.’
25 The Lord Almighty says, ‘When the time comes, the strong peg will fall out of the wall. I will cut it down and it will fall. Then all the things that hang on it will fall down as well.’
That is what the Lord has said.
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