Isaiah 13-23

English Standard Version

² On a bare hill ^(C)raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for ^(D)them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
    my proudly exulting ones.^[a]

⁴ The sound ^(E)of a tumult is on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
^(F)The Lord of hosts is mustering
    a host for battle.
^5 (G)They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole land.^[b]

^6 (H)Wail, for ^(I)the day of the Lord is near;
    as destruction from the Almighty^[c] it will come!
⁷ Therefore all hands will be feeble,
    and every human heart ^(J)will melt.
⁸ They will be dismayed:
    ^(K)pangs and agony will seize them;
    ^(L)they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
    their faces will be aflame.

⁹ Behold, ^(M)the day of the Lord comes,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
    and ^(N)to destroy its sinners from it.
^10 (O)For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will not give their light;
^(P)the sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish ^(Q)the world for its evil,
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will ^(R)put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
    ^(S)and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make ^(T)people more rare than fine gold,
    and mankind than the ^(U)gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore ^(V)I will make the heavens tremble,
    and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    in the day of his fierce anger.
¹⁴ And like a hunted gazelle,
    or like sheep with none to gather them,
^(W)each will turn to his own people,
    and each will flee to his own land.
¹⁵ Whoever is found will be thrust through,
    and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
^16 (X)Their infants will be dashed in pieces
    before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
    and their wives ravished.

¹⁷ Behold, ^(Y)I am stirring up the Medes against them,
    who have no regard for silver
    and do not delight in gold.
^18 (Z)Their bows will slaughter^[d] the young men;
    they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
    their eyes will not pity children.
¹⁹ And Babylon, ^(AA)the glory of kingdoms,
    the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be ^(AB)like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God overthrew them.
^20 (AC)It will never be inhabited
    or lived in for all generations;
no ^(AD)Arab will pitch his tent there;
    no ^(AE)shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
²¹ But ^(AF)wild animals will lie down there,
    and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
there ^(AG)ostriches^[e] will dwell,
    and there wild goats will dance.
²² Hyenas^[f] will cry in its towers,
    and ^(AH)jackals in ^(AI)the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand
    and its days will not be prolonged.

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    ^(AR)the insolent fury^[h] ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the ^(AS)staff of the wicked,
    the ^(AT)scepter of rulers,
^6 (AU)that struck the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    ^(AV)they break forth into singing.
^8 (AW)(AX)The cypresses rejoice at you,
    ^(AY)the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’
⁹ Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
    all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
    all who were kings of the nations.
^10 (AZ)All of them will answer
    and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!’
¹¹ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covers.

¹² “How ^(BA)you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, ^(BB)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
¹³ You said in your heart,
    ^(BC)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    ^(BD)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;^[i]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
^15 (BE)But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the far reaches of the pit.
¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
‘Is this ^(BF)the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    ^(BG)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;^[j]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
^(BH)clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the pit,
    like a dead body trampled underfoot.
²⁰ You will not be joined with them in burial,
    because you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.

“May ^(BI)the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
²¹ Prepare slaughter for his sons
    ^(BJ)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
    and fill the face of the world with cities.”

²⁶ This is the purpose that is purposed
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is ^(BR)the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
^27 (BS)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
^(BT)His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

²⁹ Rejoice not, ^(BW)O Philistia, all of you,
    that ^(BX)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
    and its fruit will be a ^(BY)flying fiery serpent.
³⁰ And the firstborn of ^(BZ)the poor will graze,
    and ^(CA)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
    and your remnant it will slay.
^31 (CB)Wail, O ^(CC)gate; cry out, O city;
    melt in fear, ^(CD)O Philistia, all of you!
^(CE)For smoke comes out of the north,
    and there is no straggler in his ranks.

³² What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
^(CF)“The Lord has founded Zion,
    and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

Because ^(CI)Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because ^(CJ)Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.
² He has gone up to the temple,^[l] and to ^(CK)Dibon,
    to the high places^[m] to weep;
over ^(CL)Nebo and over ^(CM)Medeba
    Moab ^(CN)wails.
On every head is ^(CO)baldness;
    every beard is shorn;
³ in the streets they wear sackcloth;
    on the housetops and in the squares
    everyone wails and melts in tears.
^4 (CP)Heshbon and ^(CQ)Elealeh cry out;
    their voice is heard as far as ^(CR)Jahaz;
therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
    his soul trembles.
⁵ My heart cries out for Moab;
    her fugitives flee to Zoar,
    to ^(CS)Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ^(CT)ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to ^(CU)Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;
⁶ the waters of ^(CV)Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
    the greenery is no more.
^7 (CW)Therefore the abundance they have gained
    and what they have laid up
they carry away
    over the Brook of the Willows.
⁸ For a cry has gone
    around the land of Moab;
her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
    her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
⁹ For the waters of ^(CX)Dibon^[n] are full of blood;
    for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
^(CY)a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.
16 ^(CZ)Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from ^(DA)Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
² Like fleeing birds,
    like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at ^(DB)the fords of the Arnon.

³ “Give counsel;
    grant justice;
^(DC)make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
    do not reveal the fugitive;
⁴ let ^(DD)the outcasts of Moab
    sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them^[o]
    from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
^5 (DE)then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
    and on it will sit in faithfulness
    in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
    and is swift to do righteousness.”

^6 (DF)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    how proud he is!—
^(DG)of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    in his idle boasting he is not right.
⁷ Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
    ^(DH)let everyone wail.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the ^(DI)raisin cakes of ^(DJ)Kir-hareseth.

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and ^(DK)the vine of Sibmah;
the lords of the nations
    have struck down its branches,
which reached to Jazer
    and strayed to the desert;
its shoots spread abroad
    and passed over the sea.
⁹ Therefore ^(DL)I weep with ^(DM)the weeping of Jazer
    for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for over ^(DN)your summer fruit and your harvest
    the shout has ceased.
^10 (DO)And joy and gladness are taken away from ^(DP)the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no ^(DQ)songs are sung,
    no cheers are raised;
no ^(DR)treader treads out wine ^(DS)in the presses;
    I have put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ Therefore ^(DT)my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
    and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
    and will become a heap of ruins.
² The cities of ^(EB)Aroer are deserted;
    they will be for flocks,
    which will lie down, and ^(EC)none will make them afraid.
³ The fortress will disappear from ^(ED)Ephraim,
    and the kingdom from ^(EE)Damascus;
and the remnant of Syria will be
    like ^(EF)the glory of the children of Israel,
declares the Lord of hosts.

⁴ And in that day ^(EG)the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
    and ^(EH)the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
⁵ And it shall be ^(EI)as when the reaper gathers standing grain
    and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
    in ^(EJ)the Valley of Rephaim.
^6 (EK)Gleanings will be left in it,
    as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
    in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
    on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁰ For ^(EP)you have forgotten the God of your salvation
    and have not remembered the ^(EQ)Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
    and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
¹¹ though you make them grow^[p] on the day that you plant them,
    and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away^[q]
    in a day of grief and incurable pain.

¹² Ah, ^(ER)the thunder of many peoples;
    they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations;
    they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
^13 (ES)The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
    ^(ET)but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased ^(EU)like chaff on the mountains before the wind
    and ^(EV)whirling dust before the storm.
^14 (EW)At evening time, behold, terror!
    Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    and the lot of those who plunder us.

³ All you inhabitants of the world,
    you who dwell on the earth,
when ^(FC)a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
    When a trumpet is blown, hear!
⁴ For thus the Lord said to me:
“I will quietly look ^(FD)from my dwelling
    like clear heat in sunshine,
    like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
^5 (FE)For before the harvest, when the blossom is over,
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,
    and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.
^6 (FF)They shall all of them be left
    to the birds of prey of the mountains
    and to the beasts of the earth.
And the birds of prey will summer on them,
    and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

from a people ^(FH)tall and smooth,
    from a people feared near and far,
a nation mighty and conquering,
    whose land the rivers divide,

Behold, the Lord ^(FM)is riding on a swift cloud
    and comes to Egypt;
and ^(FN)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
    and the heart of the Egyptians will ^(FO)melt within them.
² And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
    ^(FP)and they will fight, each against another
    and each against his neighbor,
    city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
³ and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
    and I will confound^[s] their ^(FQ)counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
    and ^(FR)the mediums and the necromancers;
⁴ and I will give over the Egyptians
    into the hand of ^(FS)a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
    declares the Lord God of hosts.

⁵ And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
    and the river will be dry and parched,
⁶ and its canals will become foul,
    and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
    reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷ There will be bare places by the Nile,
    on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
    will be driven away, and will be no more.
⁸ The ^(FT)fishermen will mourn and lament,
    all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
    who spread nets on the water.
⁹ The workers in ^(FU)combed flax will be in despair,
    and the weavers of white cotton.
¹⁰ Those who are the ^(FV)pillars of the land will be crushed,
    and all who ^(FW)work for pay will be grieved.

¹¹ The princes of ^(FX)Zoan are utterly foolish;
    the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am a son of the wise,
    a son of ancient kings”?
¹² Where then are your ^(FY)wise men?
    Let them tell you
    that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
¹³ The princes of ^(FZ)Zoan have become fools,
    and the princes of ^(GA)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the ^(GB)cornerstones of her tribes
    have made Egypt stagger.
¹⁴ The Lord has mingled within her ^(GC)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
    ^(GD)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵ And there will be nothing for Egypt
    that ^(GE)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

^(HH)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
² A stern vision is told to me;
    ^(HI)the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^(HJ)Elam;
    lay siege, O ^(HK)Media;
all the ^(HL)sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    ^(HM)pangs have seized me,
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
⁴ My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    ^(HN)the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
^5 (HO)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[v]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(HP)oil the shield!
⁶ For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.
⁷ When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
    very diligently.”
⁸ Then he who saw cried out:^[w]
(HQ)“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
    whole nights.
⁹ And behold, here come riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
^(HR)And he answered,
    ^(HS)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^(HT)and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
¹⁰ O ^(HU)my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

One is calling to me from ^(HX)Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
¹² The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also ^(HY)the night.
    If you will inquire, ^(HZ)inquire;
    come back again.”

In the thickets in ^(IC)Arabia you will lodge,
    O ^(ID)caravans of ^(IE)Dedanites.
¹⁴ To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of ^(IF)Tema.
¹⁵ For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

What do you mean that you have gone up,
    all of you, to the housetops,
² you who are full of shoutings,
    tumultuous city, ^(IM)exultant town?
Your slain are ^(IN)not slain with the sword
    or dead in battle.
^3 (IO)All your leaders have fled together;
    without the bow they were captured.
All of you who were found were captured,
    though they had fled far away.
⁴ Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
    ^(IP)let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
    concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

^5 (IQ)For the Lord God of hosts has ^(IR)a day
    of tumult and ^(IS)trampling and ^(IT)confusion
    in ^(IU)the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
    and a shouting to the mountains.
⁶ And ^(IV)Elam bore the quiver
    with chariots and horsemen,
    and ^(IW)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷ Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
    and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
⁸ He has taken away ^(IX)the covering of Judah.

¹² In that day ^(JF)the Lord God of hosts
    called for weeping and mourning,
    for ^(JG)baldness and ^(JH)wearing sackcloth;
¹³ and behold, joy and gladness,
    killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
    eating flesh and drinking wine.
^(JI)“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”
¹⁴ The Lord of hosts ^(JJ)has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely ^(JK)this iniquity will not be atoned for you ^(JL)until you die,”
    says the Lord God of hosts.

Wail, O ^(KD)ships of Tarshish,
    for Tyre is laid waste, ^(KE)without house or harbor!
From ^(KF)the land of Cyprus^[x]
    it is revealed to them.
² Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
    the merchants of ^(KG)Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
³ And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
    the harvest of the Nile;
    you were ^(KH)the merchant of the nations.
⁴ Be ashamed, O ^(KI)Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
    the stronghold of the sea, saying:
“I have neither labored nor given birth,
    I have neither reared young men
    nor brought up young women.”
⁵ When the report comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish^[y] over the report about Tyre.
^6 (KJ)Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
⁷ Is this your exultant city
    ^(KK)whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
    to settle far away?
⁸ Who has purposed this
    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
    whose traders were the honored of the earth?
⁹ The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
    ^(KL)to defile the pompous pride of all glory,^[z]
    to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
¹⁰ Cross over your land like the Nile,
    O daughter of Tarshish;
    there is no restraint anymore.
^11 (KM)He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
    he has shaken the kingdoms;
the Lord has given command concerning Canaan
    to destroy its strongholds.
¹² And he said:
“You will no more exult,
    O oppressed virgin daughter of ^(KN)Sidon;
arise, ^(KO)cross over to ^(KP)Cyprus,
    even there you will have no rest.”

^14 (KS)Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
    for your stronghold is laid waste.

¹⁶ “Take a harp;
    go about the city,
    O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
    sing many songs,
    that you may be remembered.”