Isaiah 18-23

New American Standard Bible 1995

18 Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of ^[a](A)Cush,
² Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in ^(B)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation ^[b](C)tall and smooth,
To a people ^(D)feared ^[c]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
^3 (E)All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, ^(F)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

“I will look ^[d]from My ^(G)dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the ^[e](H)sunshine,
Like a cloud of ^(I)dew in the heat of harvest.”
⁵ For ^(J)before the harvest, as soon as the bud ^[f]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
⁶ They will be left together for mountain birds ^(K)of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
⁷ At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
^[g]From a ^(L)people ^[h]tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared ^[i]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the ^(M)place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.

Behold, the Lord is ^(P)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The ^(Q)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the ^(R)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
² “So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will ^(S)each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
³ “Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confound their strategy,
So that ^(T)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead
And to ^[k]mediums and spiritists.
⁴ “Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a ^(U)cruel master,
And a ^[l]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord ^[m]God of hosts.

As ^(BR)windstorms in the ^[al]Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
² A ^(BS)harsh vision has been shown to me;
The ^(BT)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, ^(BU)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all ^[am]the groaning she has caused.
³ For this reason my ^(BV)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^(BW)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
⁴ My ^[an]mind reels, ^[ao]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been ^(BX)turned for me into trembling.
⁵ They ^(BY)set the table, they ^[ap]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

“Go, station the lookout, let him ^(BZ)report what he sees.
⁷ “When he sees ^(CA)riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

“^(CB)O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
⁹ “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “^(CC)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the ^(CD)images of her gods ^[ar]are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰ O my ^(CE)threshed people, and my ^[as]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

One keeps calling to me from ^(CG)Seir,
“Watchman, ^[av]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, ^[aw]how far gone is the night?”
¹² The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

In the thickets of Arabia you ^[ay]must spend the night,
O caravans of ^(CI)Dedanites.
¹⁴ Bring water ^[az]for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of ^(CJ)Tema,
Meet the fugitive with bread.
¹⁵ For they have ^(CK)fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
And from the press of battle.

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the ^(CQ)housetops?
² You who were full of noise,
You boisterous town, you ^(CR)exultant city;
Your slain were ^(CS)not slain with the sword,
Nor ^[bc]did they die in battle.
^3 (CT)All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured ^[bd]without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
^[be]Though they had fled far away.
⁴ Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me,
Let me ^(CU)weep bitterly,
Do not ^[bf]try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
^5 (CV)For the Lord ^[bg]God of hosts has a ^(CW)day of panic, ^(CX)subjugation and confusion
^(CY)In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying ^[bh]to the mountain.
^6 (CZ)Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, ^[bi]infantry and horsemen;
And ^(DA)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷ Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
⁸ And He removed the ^[bj]defense of Judah.
In that day you ^[bk]depended on the weapons of the ^(DB)house of the forest,
⁹ And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you ^(DC)collected the waters of the lower pool.
¹⁰ Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
¹¹ And you made a reservoir ^(DD)between the two walls
For the waters of the ^(DE)old pool.
But you did not ^[bl]depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you ^[bm]take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

“Come, go to this steward,
To ^(DM)Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household,
¹⁶ ‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have ^(DN)hewn a tomb for yourself here,
You who hew a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for ^[bs]yourself in the rock?
¹⁷ ‘Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you headlong, O man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
¹⁸ And roll you tightly like a ball,
To be ^(DO)cast into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
¹⁹ “I will ^(DP)depose you from your office,
And ^[bt]I will pull you down from your station.
²⁰ “Then it will come about in that day,
That I will summon My servant ^(DQ)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
²¹ And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely about him.
I will entrust him with your ^[bu]authority,
And he will become a ^(DR)father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
²² “Then I will set ^(DS)the key of the ^(DT)house of David on his shoulder,
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will ^(DU)open.
²³ “I will drive him like a ^(DV)peg in a firm place,
And he will become a ^(DW)throne of glory to his father’s house.

Wail, O ^(EB)ships of ^(EC)Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or ^[bx](ED)harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of ^[by](EE)Cyprus.
^2 (EF)Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
^[bz]Your messengers crossed the sea
³ And were on many waters.
^(EG)The grain of the ^[ca](EH)Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the ^(EI)market of nations.
⁴ Be ashamed, O ^(EJ)Sidon;
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither travailed nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
⁵ When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in ^(EK)anguish at the report of Tyre.
⁶ Pass over to ^(EL)Tarshish;
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.
⁷ Is this your ^(EM)jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her to ^[cb]colonize distant places?

¹⁴ Wail, O ^(FA)ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.

¹⁶ Take your harp, walk about the city,
O forgotten harlot;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.