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Isaiah 28-39
English Standard Version Anglicised
Isaiah 28-39
English Standard Version Anglicised
Judgement on Ephraim and Jerusalem
28 Ah, the proud crown of (A)the drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has (B)one who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like (C)a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
3 (D)The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
4 (E)and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like (F)a first-ripe fig before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.
5 (G)In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,[a]
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
6 and (H)a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgement,
and (I)strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 (J)These also reel with wine
and (K)stagger with strong drink;
the priest and (L)the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by[b] wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgement.
8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.
9 (M)“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11 (N)For by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
(O)“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
(P)that they may go, and fall backwards,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you (Q)scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the (R)overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made (S)lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
(T)“Behold, I am the one who has laid[c] as a foundation (U)in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice (V)the line,
and righteousness (W)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then (X)your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
(Y)for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be (Z)sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up (AA)as on Mount Perazim;
(AB)as in the Valley of (AC)Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not (AD)scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard (AE)a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who ploughs for sowing plough continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 (AF)When he has levelled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer[d] as the border?
26 (AG)For he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it for ever;[e]
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is (AH)wonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
The Siege of Jerusalem
29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city (AI)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[f]
3 (AJ)And I will encamp against you all round,
and will besiege you (AK)with towers
and I will raise siege works against you.
4 (AL)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like (AM)the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like (AN)small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
(AO)And in an instant, suddenly,
6 (AP)you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And (AQ)the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be (AR)like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 (AS)As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves[g] and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
(AT)stagger, but not with strong drink!
10 (AU)For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is (AV)sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because (AW)this people (AX)draw near with their mouth
and honour me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, (AY)I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and (AZ)the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, (BA)you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are (BB)in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 (BC)You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
(BD)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day (BE)the deaf shall hear
(BF)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
(BG)the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 (BH)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and (BI)the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and (BJ)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea (BK)turn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (BL)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
(BM)the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
(BN)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those (BO)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
Do Not Go Down to Egypt
30 “Ah, (BP)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
(BQ)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make (BR)an alliance,[h] but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 (BS)who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 (BT)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at (BU)Zoan
and (BV)his envoys reach (BW)Hanes,
5 everyone comes to shame
through (BX)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 An (BY)oracle on (BZ)the beasts of (CA)the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the (CB)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt's (CC)help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
(CD)“Rahab who sits still.”
A Rebellious People
8 And now, go, (CE)write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness for ever.[i]
9 (CF)For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 (CG)who say to (CH)the seers, “Do not see”,
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us (CI)smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
and trust in (CJ)oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
(CK)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is (CL)like that of a potter's vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In (CM)returning[j] and (CN)rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
“No! We will flee upon (CO)horses”;
therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 (CP)A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
The Lord Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the Lord (CQ)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he (CR)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
(CS)blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell (CT)in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the (CU)bread of adversity and the (CV)water of affliction, (CW)yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 (CX)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is (CY)the way, walk in it”, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. (CZ)You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
23 (DA)And he will give (DB)rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. (DC)In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and (DD)the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And (DE)on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, (DF)when the towers fall. 26 (DG)Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when (DH)the Lord binds up (DI)the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[k]
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 (DJ)his breath is (DK)like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples (DL)a bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, (DM)as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to (DN)the mountain of the Lord, to (DO)the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord (DP)will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger (DQ)and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst (DR)and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, (DS)when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them (DT)will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. (DU)Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For (DV)a burning place[l] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, (DW)its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; (DX)the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulphur, kindles it.
Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt
31 Woe to (DY)those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who (DZ)trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but (EA)do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2 And (EB)yet he is wise and brings disaster;
(EC)he does not call back his words,
but (ED)will arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of (EE)those who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses (EF)are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
(EG)“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
(EH)so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight[m] on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 (EI)Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
6 (EJ)Turn to him from whom people[n] have (EK)deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day (EL)everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
8 (EM)“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be (EN)put to forced labour.
9 (EO)His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose (EP)fire is in Zion,
and whose (EQ)furnace is in Jerusalem.
A King Will Reign in Righteousness
32 Behold, (ER)a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 (ES)Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
(ET)like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 (EU)Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
(EV)and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 (EW)The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honourable.
6 For (EX)the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practise ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
(EY)to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel—(EZ)his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 (FA)Rise up, you women (FB)who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women (FC)who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
(FD)strip, and make yourselves bare,
(FE)and tie sackcloth round your waist.
12 (FF)Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 (FG)for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
(FH)yes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens for ever,
(FI)a joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
15 until (FJ)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and (FK)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 (FL)And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust[o] for ever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.
19 (FM)And it will hail when the forest falls down,
(FN)and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 (FO)Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
O Lord, Be Gracious to Us
33 (FP)Ah, you destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; (FQ)we wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 (FR)At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
(FS)as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 (FT)The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 (FU)and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion's[p] treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
(FV)the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 (FW)The highways lie waste;
the traveller ceases.
(FX)Covenants are broken;
cities[q] are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 (FY)The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 (FZ)“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
11 (GA)You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is (GB)a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
(GC)like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
(GD)“Who among us can dwell (GE)with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 (GF)He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
(GG)and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defence will be the fortresses of rocks;
(GH)his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17 (GI)Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
(GJ)they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 (GK)Your heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is (GL)he who weighed the tribute?
Where is (GM)he who counted the towers?”
19 (GN)You will see no more the insolent people,
the people (GO)of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
(GP)Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an (GQ)immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of (GR)broad rivers and streams,
(GS)where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our (GT)judge; the Lord is our (GU)lawgiver;
the Lord is our (GV)king; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
(GW)Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even (GX)the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, (GY)“I am sick”;
(GZ)the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Judgement on the Nations
34 Draw near, (HA)O nations, to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has (HB)devoted them to destruction,[r] has given them over for slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and (HC)the stench of their corpses shall rise;
(HD)the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 (HE)All the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
as leaves fall from the vine,
like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgement upon (HF)Edom,
upon the people (HG)I have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
it is gorged with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
(HH)For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 (HI)Wild oxen shall (HJ)fall with them,
and (HK)young steers with (HL)the mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 (HM)For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 (HN)And the streams of Edom[s] shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulphur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day (HO)it shall not be quenched;
(HP)its smoke shall go up for ever.
(HQ)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11 (HR)But the hawk and the porcupine[t] shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
(HS)He shall stretch the line of (HT)confusion[u] over it,
and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 (HU)Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of (HV)jackals,
an abode for ostriches.[v]
14 (HW)And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird[w] settles
and finds for herself a resting-place.
15 There the owl nests and lays
and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there (HX)the hawks are gathered,
each one with her mate.
16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
Not one of these shall be missing;
none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 (HY)He has cast the lot for them;
his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
they shall possess it for ever;
from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
The Ransomed Shall Return
35 (HZ)The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
(IA)the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
(IB)The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of (IC)Carmel and (ID)Sharon.
(IE)They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 (IF)Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
(IG)Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
5 (IH)Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 (II)then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
(IJ)For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 (IK)the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of (IL)jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 (IM)And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
(IN)the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.[x]
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 (IO)And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
(IP)everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Sennacherib Invades Judah
36 (IQ)In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, (IR)Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 (IS)And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh[y] from (IT)Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood (IU)by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 3 And there came out to him (IV)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and (IW)Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the (IX)great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 (IY)Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God”, is it not he (IZ)whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse (JA)a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when (JB)you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? (JC)The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants (JD)in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: (JE)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me[z] and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until (JF)I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 (JG)Where are the gods of (JH)Hamath and (JI)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? (JJ)Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 (JK)Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 (JL)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
37 (JM)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet (JN)Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a (JO)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; (JP)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 (JQ)It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for (JR)the remnant that is left.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, (JS)I will put a spirit in him, so that (JT)he shall hear a rumour and return to his own land, and (JU)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (JV)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (JW)Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of (JX)Cush,[aa] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: (JY)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 (JZ)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (KA)Gozan, (KB)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (KC)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, (KD)enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; (KE)you have made heaven and earth. 17 (KF)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear (KG)all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, (KH)the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
(KI)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (KJ)the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (KK)With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
(KL)to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all (KM)the streams (KN)of Egypt.
26 (KO)“‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted[ab] before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 (KP)Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (KQ)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah (KR)shall again take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. 32 (KS)For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. (KT)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or (KU)cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 (KV)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for (KW)the sake of my servant David.”
36 (KX)And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at (KY)Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of (KZ)Ararat, (LA)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery
38 (LB)In those days Hezekiah became (LC)sick and was at the point of death. And (LD)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”[ac] 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how (LE)I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add (LF)fifteen years to your life.[ad] 6 (LG)I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8 (LH)Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[ae]
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, (LI)In the middle[af] of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
the Lord (LJ)in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
(LK)like a shepherd's tent;
(LL)like a weaver (LM)I have rolled up my life;
(LN)he cuts me off from the loom;
(LO)from day to night you bring me to an end;
13 (LP)I calmed myself[ag] until morning;
like a lion (LQ)he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like (LR)a swallow or a crane I chirp;
(LS)I moan like a dove.
(LT)My eyes are weary with looking upwards.
O Lord, I am oppressed; (LU)be my pledge of safety!
15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
(LV)I walk slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 (LW)O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
Oh restore me to health and make me live!
17 (LX)Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
(LY)but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
(LZ)for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18 (MA)For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
(MB)the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
(MC)at the house of the Lord.
21 (MD)Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
Envoys from Babylon
39 (ME)At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, (MF)sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, (MG)the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armoury, all that was found in his storehouses. (MH)There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
- Isaiah 28:7 Or confused by
- Isaiah 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying
- Isaiah 28:25 A type of wheat
- Isaiah 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not for ever
- Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15-16)
- Isaiah 29:9 Or Linger awhile
- Isaiah 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web
- Isaiah 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text for ever and ever
- Isaiah 30:15 Or repentance
- Isaiah 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds
- Isaiah 30:33 Or For Topheth
- Isaiah 31:4 The Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike
- Isaiah 31:6 Hebrew they
- Isaiah 32:17 Or security
- Isaiah 33:6 Hebrew his
- Isaiah 33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses
- Isaiah 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5
- Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew her streams
- Isaiah 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain
- Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew formlessness
- Isaiah 34:13 Or owls
- Isaiah 34:14 Identity uncertain
- Isaiah 35:8 Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it
- Isaiah 36:2 Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer
- Isaiah 36:16 Hebrew Make a blessing with me
- Isaiah 37:9 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts like a field
- Isaiah 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21
- Isaiah 38:5 Hebrew to your days
- Isaiah 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
- Isaiah 38:10 Or In the quiet
- Isaiah 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help
Isaiah 28-39
New International Version
Isaiah 28-39
New International Version
Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah
28 Woe(A) to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s(B) drunkards,
to the fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley(C)—
to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!(D)
2 See, the Lord has one who is powerful(E) and strong.
Like a hailstorm(F) and a destructive wind,(G)
like a driving rain and a flooding(H) downpour,
he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
3 That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s(I) drunkards,
will be trampled(J) underfoot.
4 That fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley,(K)
will be like figs(L) ripe before harvest—
as soon as people see them and take them in hand,
they swallow them.
5 In that day(M) the Lord Almighty
will be a glorious(N) crown,(O)
a beautiful wreath
for the remnant(P) of his people.
6 He will be a spirit of justice(Q)
to the one who sits in judgment,(R)
a source of strength
to those who turn back the battle(S) at the gate.
7 And these also stagger(T) from wine(U)
and reel(V) from beer:
Priests(W) and prophets(X) stagger from beer
and are befuddled with wine;
they reel from beer,
they stagger when seeing visions,(Y)
they stumble when rendering decisions.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit(Z)
and there is not a spot without filth.
9 “Who is it he is trying to teach?(AA)
To whom is he explaining his message?(AB)
To children weaned(AC) from their milk,(AD)
to those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that[a];
a little here, a little there.(AE)”
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues(AF)
God will speak to this people,(AG)
12 to whom he said,
“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;(AH)
and, “This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
13 So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there(AI)—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured(AJ) and snared and captured.(AK)
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(AL) you scoffers(AM)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,(AN)
with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(AO)
it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie(AP) our refuge
and falsehood[b] our hiding place.(AQ)”
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,(AR) a tested stone,(AS)
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;(AT)
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.(AU)
17 I will make justice(AV) the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;(AW)
hail(AX) will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow(AY) your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled;
your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.(AZ)
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(BA)
you will be beaten down(BB) by it.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away;(BC)
morning after morning,(BD) by day and by night,
it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message
will bring sheer terror.(BE)
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on,
the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.(BF)
21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,(BG)
he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon(BH)—
to do his work,(BI) his strange work,
and perform his task, his alien task.
22 Now stop your mocking,(BJ)
or your chains will become heavier;
the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me
of the destruction decreed(BK) against the whole land.(BL)
23 Listen(BM) and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear what I say.
24 When a farmer plows for planting,(BN) does he plow continually?
Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
25 When he has leveled the surface,
does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?(BO)
Does he not plant wheat in its place,[c]
barley(BP) in its plot,[d]
and spelt(BQ) in its field?
26 His God instructs him
and teaches(BR) him the right way.
27 Caraway is not threshed(BS) with a sledge,(BT)
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,(BU)
and cumin with a stick.
28 Grain must be ground to make bread;
so one does not go on threshing it forever.
The wheels of a threshing cart(BV) may be rolled over it,
but one does not use horses to grind grain.
29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
whose plan is wonderful,(BW)
whose wisdom is magnificent.(BX)
Woe to David’s City
29 Woe(BY) to you, Ariel, Ariel,(BZ)
the city(CA) where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals(CB) go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;(CC)
she will mourn and lament,(CD)
she will be to me like an altar hearth.[e](CE)
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle(CF) you with towers
and set up my siege works(CG) against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble(CH) out of the dust.(CI)
Your voice will come ghostlike(CJ) from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.(CK)
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(CL)
the ruthless(CM) hordes like blown chaff.(CN)
Suddenly,(CO) in an instant,
6 the Lord Almighty will come(CP)
with thunder(CQ) and earthquake(CR) and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest(CS) and flames of a devouring fire.(CT)
7 Then the hordes of all the nations(CU) that fight against Ariel,(CV)
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,(CW)
with a vision in the night—
8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens(CX) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.(CY)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.(CZ)
9 Be stunned and amazed,(DA)
blind yourselves and be sightless;(DB)
be drunk,(DC) but not from wine,(DD)
stagger,(DE) but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(DF)
He has sealed your eyes(DG) (the prophets);(DH)
he has covered your heads (the seers).(DI)
11 For you this whole vision(DJ) is nothing but words sealed(DK) in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says:
“These people(DL) come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,(DM)
but their hearts are far from me.(DN)
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[f](DO)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;(DP)
the wisdom of the wise(DQ) will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(DR)”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide(DS) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us?(DT) Who will know?”(DU)
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(DV)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(DW) it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(DX)
“You know nothing”?(DY)
17 In a very short time,(DZ) will not Lebanon(EA) be turned into a fertile field(EB)
and the fertile field seem like a forest?(EC)
18 In that day(ED) the deaf(EE) will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness(EF)
the eyes of the blind will see.(EG)
19 Once more the humble(EH) will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy(EI) will rejoice in the Holy One(EJ) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(EK) will vanish,(EL)
the mockers(EM) will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil(EN) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court(EO)
and with false testimony(EP) deprive the innocent of justice.(EQ)
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(ER) Abraham,(ES) says to the descendants of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(ET)
no longer will their faces grow pale.(EU)
23 When they see among them their children,(EV)
the work of my hands,(EW)
they will keep my name holy;(EX)
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(EY) of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward(EZ) in spirit will gain understanding;(FA)
those who complain will accept instruction.”(FB)
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe(FC) to the obstinate children,”(FD)
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance,(FE) but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt(FF)
without consulting(FG) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(FH)
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(FI)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade(FJ) will bring you disgrace.(FK)
4 Though they have officials in Zoan(FL)
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people(FM) useless(FN) to them,
who bring neither help(FO) nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.(FP)”
6 A prophecy(FQ) concerning the animals of the Negev:(FR)
Through a land of hardship and distress,(FS)
of lions(FT) and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,(FU)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(FV) backs,
their treasures(FW) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(FX)
Therefore I call her
Rahab(FY) the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet(FZ) for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,(GA)
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.(GB)
9 For these are rebellious(GC) people, deceitful(GD) children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.(GE)
10 They say to the seers,(GF)
“See no more visions(GG)!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,(GH)
prophesy illusions.(GI)
11 Leave this way,(GJ)
get off this path,
and stop confronting(GK) us
with the Holy One(GL) of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy One(GM) of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,(GN)
relied on oppression(GO)
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall,(GP) cracked and bulging,
that collapses(GQ) suddenly,(GR) in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,(GS)
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereign(GT) Lord, the Holy One(GU) of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest(GV) is your salvation,
in quietness and trust(GW) is your strength,
but you would have none of it.(GX)
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(GY) on horses.’(GZ)
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five(HA)
you will all flee(HB) away,
till you are left(HC)
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner(HD) on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longs(HE) to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.(HF)
For the Lord is a God of justice.(HG)
Blessed are all who wait for him!(HH)
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.(HI) How gracious he will be when you cry for help!(HJ) As soon as he hears, he will answer(HK) you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread(HL) of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers(HM) will be hidden(HN) no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice(HO) behind you, saying, “This is the way;(HP) walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols(HQ) overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;(HR) you will throw them away like a menstrual(HS) cloth and say to them, “Away with you!(HT)”
23 He will also send you rain(HU) for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich(HV) and plentiful.(HW) In that day(HX) your cattle will graze in broad meadows.(HY) 24 The oxen(HZ) and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder(IA) and mash, spread out with fork(IB) and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter,(IC) when the towers(ID) fall, streams of water will flow(IE) on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun,(IF) and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals(IG) the wounds he inflicted.
27 See, the Name(IH) of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger(II) and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,(IJ)
and his tongue is a consuming fire.(IK)
28 His breath(IL) is like a rushing torrent,(IM)
rising up to the neck.(IN)
He shakes the nations in the sieve(IO) of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit(IP) that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;(IQ)
your hearts will rejoice(IR)
as when people playing pipes(IS) go up
to the mountain(IT) of the Lord,
to the Rock(IU) of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice(IV)
and will make them see his arm(IW) coming down
with raging anger(IX) and consuming fire,(IY)
with cloudburst, thunderstorm(IZ) and hail.(JA)
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;(JB)
with his rod he will strike(JC) them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club(JD)
will be to the music of timbrels(JE) and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.(JF)
33 Topheth(JG) has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath(JH) of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,(JI)
sets it ablaze.(JJ)
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt
31 Woe(JK) to those who go down to Egypt(JL) for help,
who rely on horses,(JM)
who trust in the multitude of their chariots(JN)
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One(JO) of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.(JP)
2 Yet he too is wise(JQ) and can bring disaster;(JR)
he does not take back his words.(JS)
He will rise up against that wicked nation,(JT)
against those who help evildoers.
3 But the Egyptians(JU) are mere mortals and not God;(JV)
their horses(JW) are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,(JX)
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped(JY) will fall;
all will perish together.(JZ)
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
“As a lion(KA) growls,
a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds(KB)
is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
or disturbed by their clamor(KC)—
so the Lord Almighty will come down(KD)
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5 Like birds hovering(KE) overhead,
the Lord Almighty will shield(KF) Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver(KG) it,
he will ‘pass over’(KH) it and will rescue it.”
6 Return,(KI) you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted(KJ) against. 7 For in that day(KK) every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold(KL) your sinful hands have made.(KM)
8 “Assyria(KN) will fall by no human sword;
a sword, not of mortals, will devour(KO) them.
They will flee before the sword
and their young men will be put to forced labor.(KP)
9 Their stronghold(KQ) will fall because of terror;
at the sight of the battle standard(KR) their commanders will panic,(KS)”
declares the Lord,
whose fire(KT) is in Zion,
whose furnace(KU) is in Jerusalem.
The Kingdom of Righteousness
32 See, a king(KV) will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.(KW)
2 Each one will be like a shelter(KX) from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,(KY)
like streams of water(KZ) in the desert(LA)
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,(LB)
and the ears(LC) of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,(LD)
and the stammering tongue(LE) will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool(LF) be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,(LG)
their hearts are bent on evil:(LH)
They practice ungodliness(LI)
and spread error(LJ) concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty(LK)
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,(LL)
they make up evil schemes(LM)
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy(LN) is just.(LO)
8 But the noble make noble plans,
and by noble deeds(LP) they stand.(LQ)
The Women of Jerusalem
9 You women(LR) who are so complacent,
rise up and listen(LS) to me;
you daughters who feel secure,(LT)
hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year(LU)
you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,(LV)
and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble,(LW) you complacent women;
shudder, you daughters who feel secure!(LX)
Strip off your fine clothes(LY)
and wrap yourselves in rags.(LZ)
12 Beat your breasts(MA) for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines(MB)
13 and for the land of my people,
a land overgrown with thorns and briers(MC)—
yes, mourn(MD) for all houses of merriment
and for this city of revelry.(ME)
14 The fortress(MF) will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;(MG)
citadel and watchtower(MH) will become a wasteland forever,
the delight of donkeys,(MI) a pasture for flocks,(MJ)
15 till the Spirit(MK) is poured on us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,(ML)
and the fertile field seems like a forest.(MM)
16 The Lord’s justice(MN) will dwell in the desert,(MO)
his righteousness(MP) live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of that righteousness(MQ) will be peace;(MR)
its effect will be quietness and confidence(MS) forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful(MT) dwelling places,
in secure homes,(MU)
in undisturbed places of rest.(MV)
19 Though hail(MW) flattens the forest(MX)
and the city is leveled(MY) completely,
20 how blessed you will be,
sowing(MZ) your seed by every stream,(NA)
and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.(NB)
Distress and Help
33 Woe(NC) to you, destroyer,
you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed;(ND)
when you stop betraying,
you will be betrayed.(NE)
2 Lord, be gracious(NF) to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength(NG) every morning,
our salvation(NH) in time of distress.(NI)
3 At the uproar of your army,(NJ) the peoples flee;(NK)
when you rise up,(NL) the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder,(NM) O nations, is harvested(NN) as by young locusts;(NO)
like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5 The Lord is exalted,(NP) for he dwells on high;(NQ)
he will fill Zion with his justice(NR) and righteousness.(NS)
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation(NT) and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear(NU) of the Lord is the key to this treasure.[g](NV)
7 Look, their brave men(NW) cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys(NX) of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
no travelers(NY) are on the roads.(NZ)
The treaty is broken,(OA)
its witnesses[h] are despised,
no one is respected.
9 The land dries up(OB) and wastes away,
Lebanon(OC) is ashamed and withers;(OD)
Sharon(OE) is like the Arabah,
and Bashan(OF) and Carmel(OG) drop their leaves.
10 “Now will I arise,(OH)” says the Lord.
“Now will I be exalted;(OI)
now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive(OJ) chaff,
you give birth(OK) to straw;
your breath is a fire(OL) that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;(OM)
like cut thornbushes(ON) they will be set ablaze.(OO)”
13 You who are far away,(OP) hear(OQ) what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners(OR) in Zion are terrified;
trembling(OS) grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?(OT)
Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who walk righteously(OU)
and speak what is right,(OV)
who reject gain from extortion(OW)
and keep their hands from accepting bribes,(OX)
who stop their ears against plots of murder
and shut their eyes(OY) against contemplating evil—
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,(OZ)
whose refuge(PA) will be the mountain fortress.(PB)
Their bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail(PC) them.
17 Your eyes will see the king(PD) in his beauty(PE)
and view a land that stretches afar.(PF)
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:(PG)
“Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
Where is the officer in charge of the towers?(PH)”
19 You will see those arrogant people(PI) no more,
people whose speech is obscure,
whose language is strange and incomprehensible.(PJ)
20 Look on Zion,(PK) the city of our festivals;
your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful abode,(PL) a tent(PM) that will not be moved;(PN)
its stakes will never be pulled up,
nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty(PO) One.
It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.(PP)
No galley with oars will ride them,
no mighty ship(PQ) will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,(PR)
the Lord is our lawgiver,(PS)
the Lord is our king;(PT)
it is he who will save(PU) us.
23 Your rigging hangs loose:
The mast is not held secure,
the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
and even the lame(PV) will carry off plunder.(PW)
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;(PX)
and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.(PY)
Judgment Against the Nations
34 Come near, you nations, and listen;(PZ)
pay attention, you peoples!(QA)
Let the earth(QB) hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!(QC)
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath(QD) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[i](QE) them,
he will give them over to slaughter.(QF)
3 Their slain(QG) will be thrown out,
their dead bodies(QH) will stink;(QI)
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(QJ)
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved(QK)
and the heavens rolled up(QL) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall(QM)
like withered(QN) leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword(QO) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,(QP)
the people I have totally destroyed.(QQ)
6 The sword(QR) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice(QS) in Bozrah(QT)
and a great slaughter(QU) in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen(QV) will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.(QW)
Their land will be drenched with blood,(QX)
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day(QY) of vengeance,(QZ)
a year of retribution,(RA) to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;(RB)
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(RC) night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.(RD)
From generation to generation(RE) it will lie desolate;(RF)
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[j](RG) and screech owl[k] will possess it;
the great owl[l] and the raven(RH) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(RI)
the measuring line of chaos(RJ)
and the plumb line(RK) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes(RL) will vanish(RM) away.
13 Thorns(RN) will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.(RO)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(RP)
a home for owls.(RQ)
14 Desert creatures(RR) will meet with hyenas,(RS)
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(RT) will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;(RU)
there also the falcons(RV) will gather,
each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll(RW) of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing,(RX)
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(RY) that has given the order,(RZ)
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(SA)
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.(SB)
Joy of the Redeemed
35 The desert(SC) and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.(SD)
Like the crocus,(SE) 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.(SF)
The glory of Lebanon(SG) will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel(SH) and Sharon;(SI)
they will see the glory(SJ) of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.(SK)
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees(SL) that give way;
4 say(SM) to those with fearful hearts,(SN)
“Be strong, do not fear;(SO)
your God will come,(SP)
he will come with vengeance;(SQ)
with divine retribution
he will come to save(SR) you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened(SS)
and the ears of the deaf(ST) unstopped.
6 Then will the lame(SU) leap like a deer,(SV)
and the mute tongue(SW) shout for joy.(SX)
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams(SY) in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground(SZ) bubbling springs.(TA)
In the haunts where jackals(TB) once lay,
grass and reeds(TC) and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway(TD) will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;(TE)
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean(TF) will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion(TG) will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;(TH)
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed(TI) will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued(TJ) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;(TK)
everlasting joy(TL) will crown their heads.
Gladness(TM) and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.(TN)
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(TO)
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s(TP) reign, Sennacherib(TQ) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(TR) 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish(TS) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,(TT) 3 Eliakim(TU) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,(TV) Shebna(TW) the secretary,(TX) and Joah(TY) son of Asaph the recorder(TZ) went out to him.
4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(UA) against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending(UB) on Egypt,(UC) that splintered reed(UD) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending(UE) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(UF) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(UG)
8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses(UH)—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(UI) for chariots(UJ) and horsemen[m]?(UK) 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told(UL) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah(UM) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(UN) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?(UO)”
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,(UP) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!(UQ) 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(UR) you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(US) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(UT)
16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(UU) and drink water from your own cistern,(UV) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(UW)—a land of grain and new wine,(UX) a land of bread and vineyards.
18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(UY) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(UZ) Have they rescued Samaria(VA) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(VB) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(VC)
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”(VD)
22 Then Eliakim(VE) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder(VF) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(VG) and told him what the field commander had said.
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(VH)
37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes(VI) and put on sackcloth(VJ) and went into the temple(VK) of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(VL) the palace administrator, Shebna(VM) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(VN) 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress(VO) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth(VP) and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(VQ) the living God,(VR) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.(VS) Therefore pray(VT) for the remnant(VU) that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(VV) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(VW) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(VX) I will make him want(VY) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down(VZ) with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(WA) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(WB)
9 Now Sennacherib(WC) received a report(WD) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[n](WE) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(WF) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(WG) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(WH) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(WI) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(WJ) Rezeph and the people of Eden(WK) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(WL) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(WM) Hena and Ivvah?”(WN)
Hezekiah’s Prayer(WO)
14 Hezekiah received the letter(WP) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(WQ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(WR) to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(WS) between the cherubim,(WT) you alone are God(WU) over all the kingdoms(WV) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(WW) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(WX) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(WY) listen to all the words Sennacherib(WZ) has sent to ridicule(XA) the living God.(XB)
18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(XC) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(XD) and destroyed them,(XE) for they were not gods(XF) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(XG) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(XH) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(XI) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[o](XJ)”
Sennacherib’s Fall(XK)
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(XL) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
“Virgin Daughter(XM) Zion(XN)
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head(XO) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(XP)
Against whom have you raised your voice(XQ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(XR)
Against the Holy One(XS) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
‘With my many chariots(XT)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights(XU) of Lebanon.(XV)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.(XW)
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[p]
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up(XX) all the streams of Egypt.(XY)’
26 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained(XZ) it.
In days of old I planned(YA) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.(YB)
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass(YC) sprouting on the roof,(YD)
scorched[q] before it grows up.
28 “But I know where you are
and when you come and go(YE)
and how you rage(YF) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence(YG) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(YH) in your nose(YI)
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.(YJ)
30 “This will be the sign(YK) for you, Hezekiah:
“This year(YL) you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(YM) sow and reap,
plant vineyards(YN) and eat their fruit.(YO)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root(YP) below and bear fruit(YQ) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(YR)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(YS)
The zeal(YT) of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city(YU)
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp(YV) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(YW)
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(YX) this city and save it,
for my sake(YY) and for the sake of David(YZ) my servant!”
36 Then the angel(ZA) of the Lord went out and put to death(ZB) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(ZC) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(ZD) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(ZE) and stayed there.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(ZF) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(ZG) And Esarhaddon(ZH) his son succeeded him as king.(ZI)
Hezekiah’s Illness(ZJ)
38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz(ZK) went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order,(ZL) because you are going to die; you will not recover.”(ZM)
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked(ZN) before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion(ZO) and have done what is good in your eyes.(ZP)” And Hezekiah wept(ZQ) bitterly.
4 Then the word(ZR) of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David,(ZS) says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears;(ZT) I will add fifteen years(ZU) to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(ZV) this city.
7 “‘This is the Lord’s sign(ZW) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.(ZX)
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the prime of my life(ZY)
must I go through the gates of death(ZZ)
and be robbed of the rest of my years?(AAA)”
11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself(AAB)
in the land of the living;(AAC)
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent(AAD) my house
has been pulled down(AAE) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled(AAF) up my life,
and he has cut me off from the loom;(AAG)
day and night(AAH) you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently(AAI) till dawn,
but like a lion he broke(AAJ) all my bones;(AAK)
day and night(AAL) you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
I moaned like a mourning dove.(AAM)
My eyes grew weak(AAN) as I looked to the heavens.
I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”(AAO)
15 But what can I say?(AAP)
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.(AAQ)
I will walk humbly(AAR) all my years
because of this anguish of my soul.(AAS)
16 Lord, by such things people live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.(AAT)
17 Surely it was for my benefit(AAU)
that I suffered such anguish.(AAV)
In your love you kept me
from the pit(AAW) of destruction;
you have put all my sins(AAX)
behind your back.(AAY)
18 For the grave(AAZ) cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;(ABA)
those who go down to the pit(ABB)
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise(ABC) you,
as I am doing today;
parents tell their children(ABD)
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will sing(ABE) with stringed instruments(ABF)
all the days of our lives(ABG)
in the temple(ABH) of the Lord.
21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign(ABI) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”
Envoys From Babylon(ABJ)
39 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon(ABK) sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys(ABL) gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold,(ABM) the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures.(ABN) There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:10 Hebrew / sav lasav sav lasav / kav lakav kav lakav (probably meaningless sounds mimicking the prophet’s words); also in verse 13
- Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods
- Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
- Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules
- Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
- Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities
- Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers
- Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
- Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
- Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields
English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
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