Isaiah 20
20In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod,H8141H8661H935H795H5623H4428H804H7971H3898H795H3920 2the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.H6256H1696H3068H3027H3470H1121H531H559H3212H6605H8242H4975H2502H5275H7272H6213H1980H6174H3182 3Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign—a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.H3068H559H5650H3470H1980H6174H3182H7969H8141H226H4159H4714H3568 4For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt.H4428H804H5090H4714H7628H3568H1546H5288H2205H6174H3182H8357H2834H6172H4714 5Then the Philistines will be thrown into panic, for they counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt!H2865H954H3568H4007H4714H8597 6They will say, ‘If this can happen to Egypt, what chance do we have? We were counting on Egypt to protect us from the king of Assyria.’”H3427H339H559H3117H3541H4007H5127H5833H5337H6440H4428H804H4422
Isaiah 21
21This message came to me concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea. Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert, like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.H4853H4057H3220H5492H5045H2498H935H4057H3372H7762I see a terrifying vision. I see the betrayer betraying, the destroyer destroying. Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes, attack and lay siege. I will make an end to all the groaning Babylon caused.H7186H2380H5046H898H898H7703H7703H5927H5867H6696H4074H585H76733My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me, like those of a woman in labor. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am too afraid to look.H4975H4390H2479H6735H270H6735H3205H5753H8085H926H72004My mind reels and my heart races. I longed for evening to come, but now I am terrified of the dark.H3824H8582H6427H1204H5399H2837H7760H27315Look! They are preparing a great feast. They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating and drinking. But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle. You are being attacked!H6186H7979H6822H6844H398H8354H6965H8269H4886H40436Meanwhile, the Lord said to me, “Put a watchman on the city wall. Let him shout out what he sees.H136H559H3212H5975H6822H5046H72007He should look for chariots drawn by pairs of horses, and for riders on donkeys and camels. Let the watchman be fully alert.”H7200H7393H6776H6571H7393H2543H7393H1581H7181H7182H7227H71828Then the watchman called out, “Day after day I have stood on the watchtower, my lord. Night after night I have remained at my post.H7121H738H136H5975H8548H4707H3119H5324H4931H39159Now at last—look! Here comes a man in a chariot with a pair of horses!” Then the watchman said, “Babylon is fallen, fallen! All the idols of Babylon lie broken on the ground!”H935H7393H376H6776H6571H6030H559H894H5307H5307H6456H430H7665H77610O my people, threshed and winnowed, I have told you everything the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said, everything the God of Israel has told me.H4098H1121H1637H8085H3068H6635H430H3478H504611This message came to me concerning Edom. Someone from Edom keeps calling to me, “Watchman, how much longer until morning? When will the night be over?”H4853H1746H7121H8165H8104H3915H8104H391512The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but night will soon return. If you wish to ask again, then come back and ask.”H8104H559H1242H857H3915H1158H1158H7725H85713This message came to me concerning Arabia. O caravans from Dedan, hide in the deserts of Arabia.H4853H6152H3293H6152H3885H736H172014O people of Tema, bring water to these thirsty people, food to these weary refugees.H3427H776H8485H857H4325H7125H6771H6923H3899H507415They have fled from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and the terrors of battle.H5074H6440H2719H6440H5203H2719H6440H1869H7198H6440H3514H442116The Lord said to me, “Within a year, counting each day, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.H136H559H8141H8141H7916H3519H6938H361517Only a few of its courageous archers will survive. I, the Lord, the God of Israel, have spoken!”H7605H4557H7198H1368H1121H6938H4591H3068H430H3478H1696
Isaiah 22
22This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision. What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops?H4853H1516H2384H645H5927H14062The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this reveling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease.H4392H8663H1993H5892H5947H7151H2491H2491H2719H4191H44213All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too.H7101H5074H3162H631H7198H4672H631H3162H1272H73504That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.”H559H8159H1065H4843H213H5162H7701H1323H59715Oh, what a day of crushing defeat! What a day of confusion and terror brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, upon the Valley of Vision! The walls of Jerusalem have been broken, and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.H3117H4103H4001H3998H136H3069H6635H1516H2384H6979H7023H7771H20226Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields.H5867H5375H827H7393H120H6571H7024H6168H40437Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates.H4005H6010H4390H7393H6571H7896H7896H81798Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons.H1540H4539H3063H5027H3117H5402H1004H32939You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool.H7200H1233H5892H1732H7231H6908H4325H8481H129510You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls.H5608H1004H3389H1004H5422H1219H234611Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago.H6213H4724H2346H4325H3465H1295H5027H6213H7200H3335H735012At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.H3117H136H3069H6635H7121H1065H4553H7144H2296H824213But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”H8342H8057H2026H1241H7819H6629H398H1320H8354H3196H398H8354H4279H419114The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H1540H241H3068H6635H5771H3722H4191H559H136H3069H663515This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message.H559H136H3069H6635H3212H935H5532H7644H100416“Who do you think you are, and what are you doing here, building a beautiful tomb for yourself—a monument high up in the rock?H2672H6913H6311H2672H6913H4791H2710H4908H555317For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you,H3068H2904H1397H2925H5844H584418crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!H6801H6801H6802H1754H7342H3027H776H4191H4818H3519H7036H113H100419“Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position.H1920H4673H4612H204020And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you.H3117H7121H5650H471H1121H251821I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.H3847H3801H2388H73H5414H4475H3027H1H3427H3389H1004H306322I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.H4668H1004H1732H5414H7926H6605H5462H5462H660523He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall.H8628H3489H539H4725H3519H3678H1H100424They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”H8518H3519H1H1004H6631H6849H3627H6996H3627H101H3627H503525But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H3117H5002H3068H6635H3489H8628H539H4725H4185H1438H5307H4853H3772H3068H1696
Isaiah 23
23This message came to me concerning Tyre. Weep, O ships of Tarshish, for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumors you heard in Cyprus are all true.H4853H6865H3213H591H8659H7703H1004H935H776H3794H1540 2Mourn in silence, you people of the coast and you merchants of Sidon. Your traders crossed the sea,H1826H3427H339H5503H6721H5674H3220H4390 3sailing over deep waters. They brought you grain from Egypt and harvests from along the Nile. You were the marketplace of the world.H7227H4325H2233H7883H7105H2975H8393H5505H1471 4But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon, for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says, “Now I am childless; I have no sons or daughters.”H954H6721H3220H559H4581H3220H559H2342H3205H1431H970H7311H1330 5When Egypt hears the news about Tyre, there will be great sorrow.H8088H4714H2342H8088H6865 6Send word now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live in distant lands!H5674H8659H3213H3427H339 7Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city? What a long history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.H5947H6927H6924H3117H7272H2986H7350H1481 8Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles.H3289H6865H5849H5503H8269H3667H3513H776 9The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility.H3068H6635H3289H2490H1347H6643H7043H3513H776 10Come, people of Tarshish, sweep over the land like the flooding Nile, for Tyre is defenseless.H5674H776H2975H1323H8659H4206 11The Lord held out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia, ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.H5186H3027H3220H7264H4467H3068H6680H3667H8045H4581H4581 12He says, “Never again will you rejoice, O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest.”H559H3254H5937H6231H1330H1323H6721H6965H5674H3794H5117 13Look at the land of Babylonia—the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild animals of the desert. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it to a heap of rubble.H776H3778H5971H804H3245H6728H6965H971H6209H759H7760H4654 14Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor is destroyed!H3213H591H8659H4581H7703 15For seventy years, the length of a king’s life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life as in the song about the prostitute.H3117H6865H7911H7657H8141H3117H259H4428H7093H7657H8141H6865H7892H2181 16Take a harp and walk the streets, you forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody and sing your songs so you will be remembered again.H3947H3658H5437H5892H2181H7911H3190H5059H7235H7892H2142 17Yes, after seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world.H7093H7657H8141H3068H6485H6865H7725H868H2181H4467H776H6440H127 18But in the end her profits will be given to the Lord. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will provide good food and fine clothing for the Lord’s priests.H5504H868H6944H3068H686H2630H5504H3427H6440H3068H398H7654H6266H4374
Isaiah 24
24Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people.H3068H776H1238H1110H5753H6440H6327H34272Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared.H5971H3548H5650H113H8198H1404H7069H4376H3867H3867H5383H834H53783The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken!H776H1238H1238H962H962H3068H1696H16974The earth mourns and dries up, and the crops waste away and wither. Even the greatest people on earth waste away.H776H56H5034H8398H535H5034H4791H5971H776H5355The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant.H776H2610H3427H5674H8451H2498H2706H6565H5769H12856Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive.H423H398H776H3427H816H3427H776H2787H4213H582H76047The grapevines waste away, and there is no new wine. All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.H8492H56H1612H535H8056H3820H5848The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled; the happy cries of celebration are heard no more. The melodious chords of the harp are silent.H4885H8596H7673H7588H5947H2308H4885H3658H76739Gone are the joys of wine and song; alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.H8354H3196H7892H7941H4843H835410The city writhes in chaos; every home is locked to keep out intruders.H7151H8414H7665H1004H5462H93511Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine. Joy has turned to gloom. Gladness has been banished from the land.H6682H3196H2351H8057H6150H4885H776H154012The city is left in ruins, its gates battered down.H5892H7604H8047H8179H3807H759113Throughout the earth the story is the same—only a remnant is left, like the stray olives left on the tree or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.H7130H776H8432H5971H5363H2132H5955H1210H361514But all who are left shout and sing for joy. Those in the west praise the Lord’s majesty.H5375H6963H7442H1347H3068H6670H322015In eastern lands, give glory to the Lord. In the lands beyond the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.H3513H3068H217H8034H3068H430H3478H339H322016We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth, songs that give glory to the Righteous One! But my heart is heavy with grief. Weep for me, for I wither away. Deceit still prevails, and treachery is everywhere.H3671H776H8085H2158H6643H6662H559H7334H7334H188H898H898H898H899H89817Terror and traps and snares will be your lot, you people of the earth.H6343H6354H6341H3427H77618Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap, and those who escape the trap will be caught in a snare. Destruction falls like rain from the heavens; the foundations of the earth shake.H5127H6963H6343H5307H6354H5927H8432H6354H3920H6341H699H4791H6605H4146H776H749319The earth has broken up. It has utterly collapsed; it is violently shaken.H776H7489H7489H776H6565H6565H776H4131H413120The earth staggers like a drunk. It trembles like a tent in a storm. It falls and will not rise again, for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy.H776H5128H5128H7910H5110H4412H6588H3513H5307H6965H325421In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens and the proud rulers of the nations on earth.H3117H3068H6485H6635H4791H4791H4428H127H12722They will be rounded up and put in prison. They will be shut up in prison and will finally be punished.H622H616H626H953H5462H4525H7230H3117H648523Then the glory of the moon will wane, and the brightness of the sun will fade, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people.H3842H2659H2535H954H3068H6635H4427H2022H6726H3389H2205H3519
Dublin, OH
,H8141
