Isaiah 10:5-16:14

English Standard Version

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
    and plunder their treasures;
    like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
    the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
    so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
    or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵ Shall ^(T)the axe boast over him who hews with it,
    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord God of hosts
    will send wasting sickness among his ^(U)stout warriors,
and under his glory ^(V)a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
^17 (W)The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and ^(X)his Holy One a flame,
and ^(Y)it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers ^(Z)in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of ^(AA)his forest and of his ^(AB)fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

²⁸ He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through ^(AU)Migron;
    at Michmash he stores ^(AV)his baggage;
²⁹ they have crossed over ^(AW)the pass;
    at ^(AX)Geba they lodge for the night;
^(AY)Ramah trembles;
    ^(AZ)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰ Cry aloud, O daughter of ^(BA)Gallim!
    Give attention, O Laishah!
    O poor ^(BB)Anathoth!
³¹ Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
³² This very day he will halt at ^(BC)Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of ^(BD)the daughter of Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ Behold, the Lord God of hosts
    ^(BE)will lop ^(BF)the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
    and the lofty will be brought low.
³⁴ He will cut down ^(BG)the thickets of the forest with an axe,
    and ^(BH)Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

^6 (BS)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
^9 (BT)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all ^(BU)my holy mountain;
^(BV)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹² He will raise ^(CI)a signal for the nations
    and will assemble ^(CJ)the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
^13 (CK)The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
^14 (CL)But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder ^(CM)the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand ^(CN)against ^(CO)Edom and ^(CP)Moab,
    and ^(CQ)the Ammonites shall obey them.
¹⁵ And the Lord will utterly destroy^{[e]
    (CR)}the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over ^(CS)the River^[f]
    with his scorching breath,^[g]
and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
¹⁶ And there will be ^(CT)a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
^(CU)as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

² “Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for ^(CX)the Lord God^[i] is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

^(DA)“Give thanks to the Lord,
    call upon his name,
^(DB)make known his deeds among the peoples,
    proclaim ^(DC)that his name is exalted.

^5 (DD)“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
    let this be made known^[k] in all the earth.
⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
    for great ^(DE)in your^[l] midst is ^(DF)the Holy One of Israel.”

² On a bare hill ^(DI)raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for ^(DJ)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.^[m]

⁴ The sound ^(DK)of a tumult is on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
^(DL)The Lord of hosts is mustering
    a host for battle.
^5 (DM)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.^[n]

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

⁹ Behold, ^(DS)the day of the Lord comes,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
    and ^(DT)to destroy its sinners from it.
^10 (DU)For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will not give their light;
^(DV)the sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish ^(DW)the world for its evil,
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will ^(DX)put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
    ^(DY)and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make ^(DZ)people more rare than fine gold,
    and mankind than the ^(EA)gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore ^(EB)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,
^(EC)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 (ED)Their infants will be dashed in pieces
    before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
    and their wives ravished.

¹⁷ Behold, ^(EE)I am stirring up the Medes against them,
    who have no regard for silver
    and do not delight in gold.
^18 (EF)Their bows will slaughter^[p] the young men;
    they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
    their eyes will not pity children.
¹⁹ And Babylon, ^(EG)the glory of kingdoms,
    the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be ^(EH)like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God overthrew them.
^20 (EI)It will never be inhabited
    or lived in for all generations;
no ^(EJ)Arab will pitch his tent there;
    no ^(EK)shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
²¹ But ^(EL)wild animals will lie down there,
    and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
there ^(EM)ostriches^[q] will dwell,
    and there wild goats will dance.
²² Hyenas^[r] will cry in its towers,
    and ^(EN)jackals in ^(EO)the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand
    and its days will not be prolonged.

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    ^(EX)the insolent fury^[t] ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the ^(EY)staff of the wicked,
    the ^(EZ)scepter of rulers,
^6 (FA)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;
    ^(FB)they break forth into singing.
^8 (FC)(FD)The cypresses rejoice at you,
    ^(FE)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 (FF)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 ^(FG)you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, ^(FH)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
¹³ You said in your heart,
    ^(FI)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    ^(FJ)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;^[u]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
^15 (FK)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 ^(FL)the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    ^(FM)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;^[v]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
^(FN)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 ^(FO)the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
²¹ Prepare slaughter for his sons
    ^(FP)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 ^(FX)the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
^27 (FY)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
^(FZ)His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

²⁹ Rejoice not, ^(GC)O Philistia, all of you,
    that ^(GD)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
    and its fruit will be a ^(GE)flying fiery serpent.
³⁰ And the firstborn of ^(GF)the poor will graze,
    and ^(GG)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
    and your remnant it will slay.
^31 (GH)Wail, O ^(GI)gate; cry out, O city;
    melt in fear, ^(GJ)O Philistia, all of you!
^(GK)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?
^(GL)“The Lord has founded Zion,
    and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

Because ^(GO)Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because ^(GP)Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.
² He has gone up to the temple,^[x] and to ^(GQ)Dibon,
    to the high places^[y] to weep;
over ^(GR)Nebo and over ^(GS)Medeba
    Moab ^(GT)wails.
On every head is ^(GU)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 (GV)Heshbon and ^(GW)Elealeh cry out;
    their voice is heard as far as ^(GX)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 ^(GY)Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ^(GZ)ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to ^(HA)Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;
⁶ the waters of ^(HB)Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
    the greenery is no more.
^7 (HC)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 ^(HD)Dibon^[z] are full of blood;
    for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
^(HE)a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.
16 ^(HF)Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from ^(HG)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 ^(HH)the fords of the Arnon.

³ “Give counsel;
    grant justice;
^(HI)make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
    do not reveal the fugitive;
⁴ let ^(HJ)the outcasts of Moab
    sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them^[aa]
    from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
^5 (HK)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 (HL)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    how proud he is!—
^(HM)of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    in his idle boasting he is not right.
⁷ Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
    ^(HN)let everyone wail.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the ^(HO)raisin cakes of ^(HP)Kir-hareseth.

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and ^(HQ)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 ^(HR)I weep with ^(HS)the weeping of Jazer
    for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for over ^(HT)your summer fruit and your harvest
    the shout has ceased.
^10 (HU)And joy and gladness are taken away from ^(HV)the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no ^(HW)songs are sung,
    no cheers are raised;
no ^(HX)treader treads out wine ^(HY)in the presses;
    I have put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ Therefore ^(HZ)my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
    and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.