Isaiah 18-23
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Cush
18 Ah, land of (A)whirring wings
that is beyond the rivers of (B)Cush,[a]
2 which (C)sends ambassadors by the sea,
in vessels of papyrus on the waters!
Go, you swift messengers,
to a nation (D)tall and smooth,
to a people feared near and far,
a nation (E)mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who dwell on the earth,
when (F)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 (G)from my dwelling
like clear heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 (H)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 (I)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.
7 (J)At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts
from a people (K)tall and smooth,
from a people feared near and far,
a nation mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide,
to (L)Mount Zion, the place of the (M)name of the Lord of hosts.
An Oracle Concerning Egypt
19 An (N)oracle concerning (O)Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (P)is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and (Q)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will (R)melt within them.
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
(S)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[b] their (T)counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and (U)the mediums and the necromancers;
4 and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of (V)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 (W)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 (X)combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.
10 Those who are the (Y)pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who (Z)work for pay will be grieved.
11 The princes of (AA)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 (AB)wise men?
Let them tell you
that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of (AC)Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of (AD)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the (AE)cornerstones of her tribes
have made Egypt stagger.
14 The Lord has mingled within her (AF)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
(AG)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt
that (AH)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.
Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed
16 In that day the Egyptians will be (AI)like women, and (AJ)tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.
18 (AK)In that day there will be (AL)five cities in the land of Egypt that (AM)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.[c]
19 In that day there will be an (AN)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a (AO)pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 (AP)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, (AQ)he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 (AR)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day (AS)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 (AT)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
23 (AU)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, (AV)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, (AW)a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt (AX)my people, and Assyria (AY)the work of my hands, and (AZ)Israel my inheritance.”
A Sign Against Egypt and Cush
20 In the year that (BA)the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to (BB)Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking (BC)naked and barefoot.
3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years (BD)as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,[d] 4 so shall the (BE)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 (BF)Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of (BG)this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and (BH)to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
21 The (BI)oracle concerning the wilderness of (BJ)the sea.
(BK)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
2 A stern vision is told to me;
(BL)the traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O (BM)Elam;
lay siege, O (BN)Media;
all the (BO)sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
(BP)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;
(BQ)the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5 (BR)They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,[e]
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
(BS)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:[f]
(BT)“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!”
(BU)And he answered,
(BV)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
(BW)and all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O (BX)my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11 The (BY)oracle concerning (BZ)Dumah.
One is calling to me from (CA)Seir,
“Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?”
12 The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also (CB)the night.
If you will inquire, (CC)inquire;
come back again.”
13 The (CD)oracle concerning (CE)Arabia.
In the thickets in (CF)Arabia you will lodge,
O (CG)caravans of (CH)Dedanites.
14 To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of (CI)Tema.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.
16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, (CJ)according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of (CK)Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of (CL)Kedar will be few, (CM)for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem
22 The (CN)oracle concerning (CO)the valley of vision.
What do you mean that you have gone up,
all of you, to the housetops,
2 you who are full of shoutings,
tumultuous city, (CP)exultant town?
Your slain are (CQ)not slain with the sword
or dead in battle.
3 (CR)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;
(CS)let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 (CT)For the Lord God of hosts has (CU)a day
of tumult and (CV)trampling and (CW)confusion
in (CX)the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
and a shouting to the mountains.
6 And (CY)Elam bore the quiver
with chariots and horsemen,
and (CZ)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 (DA)the covering of Judah.
In that day you looked to (DB)the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that (DC)the breaches of the city of David were many. (DD)You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 (DE)You made a reservoir between (DF)the two walls for the water of (DG)the old pool. But (DH)you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
12 In that day (DI)the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for (DJ)baldness and (DK)wearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
(DL)“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
14 The Lord of hosts (DM)has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely (DN)this iniquity will not be atoned for you (DO)until you die,”
says the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to (DP)Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, (DQ)that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you (DR)who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. (DS)He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be (DT)your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 (DU)I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant (DV)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and (DW)I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be (DX)a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place (DY)on his shoulder (DZ)the key of the house of David. (EA)He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him (EB)like a peg in a secure place, and he will become (EC)a throne of honor to his father's house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, (ED)the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon
23 The (EE)oracle concerning (EF)Tyre.
Wail, O (EG)ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste, (EH)without house or harbor!
From (EI)the land of Cyprus[g]
it is revealed to them.
2 Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
the merchants of (EJ)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 (EK)the merchant of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, O (EL)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[h] over the report about Tyre.
6 (EM)Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
7 Is this your exultant city
(EN)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,
(EO)to defile the pompous pride of all glory,[i]
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 (EP)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 (EQ)Sidon;
arise, (ER)cross over to (ES)Cyprus,
even there you will have no rest.”
13 Behold the land of (ET)the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;[j] Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected (EU)their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.
14 (EV)Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.
15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for (EW)seventy years, like the days[k] of one king. At the end of (EX)seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
16 “Take a harp;
go about the city,
O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.”
17 At the end of (EY)seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and (EZ)will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
- Isaiah 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
- Isaiah 20:3 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 21:5 Or they set the watchman
- Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion
- Isaiah 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12
- Isaiah 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains
- Isaiah 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
- Isaiah 23:13 Or that has become nothing
- Isaiah 23:15 Or lifetime
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Bible Gateway Recommends
