Bible in 90 Days
Woe to Jerusalem
29 Woe to Ariel,[a] Ariel,
the city where David camped!(A)
Continue year after year;
let the festivals recur.
2 I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to Me like an Ariel.[b]
3 I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with earth ramps,
and I will set up my siege towers against you.
4 You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;(B)
your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 Your many foes[c] will be like fine dust,(C)
and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,(D)
6 you will be visited by the Lord of Hosts
with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,
storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.(E)
7 All the many nations(F)
going out to battle against Ariel—
all the attackers, the siege works against her,
and those who oppress her—
will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.(G)
8 It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9 Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk,[d] but not with wine;
they stagger,[e] but not with beer.(H)
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
an overwhelming urge to[f] sleep;(I)
He has shut your eyes—the prophets,
and covered your heads—the seers.(J)
11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document.(K) If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,[g] he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” 12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,[h] he will say, “I can’t read.”
13 The Lord said:
Because these people approach Me with their mouths(L)
to honor Me with lip-service[i]—
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship consists of man-made rules
learned by rote—
14 therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.(M)
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,(N)
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.
15 Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the Lord.(O)
They do their works in darkness,
and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”(P)
16 You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?(Q)
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?
17 Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?(R)
18 On that day the deaf will hear(S)
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will have joy
after joy in the Lord,
and the poor people will rejoice(T)
in the Holy One of Israel.(U)
20 For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,(V)
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed—
21 those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap at the gate for the mediator,
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.(W)
22 Therefore, the Lord who redeemed Abraham(X) says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed
and his face will no longer be pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
the work of My hands within his nation,
they will honor My name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob(Y)
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.(Z)
24 Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
Condemnation of the Egyptian Alliance
30 Woe to the rebellious children!(AA)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They carry out a plan,(AB) but not Mine;
they make an alliance,
but against My will,
piling sin on top of sin.
2 They set out to go down to Egypt(AC)
without asking My advice,
in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.(AD)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.(AE)
4 For though his[j] princes are at Zoan(AF)
and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,
5 everyone will be ashamed
because of a people who can’t help.
They are of no benefit, they are no help;
they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.(AG)
6 An oracle(AH) about the animals of the Negev:[k]
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,(AI)
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
7 Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits.(AJ)
8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
9 They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,(AK)
children who do not want to obey the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.(AL)
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”(AM)
12 Therefore the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message
and have trusted in oppression and deceit,
and have depended on them,
13 this iniquity(AN) of yours will be
like a spreading breach,
a bulge in a high wall
whose collapse will come in an instant—suddenly!
14 Its collapse will be like the shattering
of a potter’s jar,(AO) crushed to pieces,
so that not even a fragment of pottery
will be found among its shattered remains—
no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth
or scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.”
16 You say, “No!
We will escape on horses”—
therefore you will escape!—
and, “We will ride on fast horses”—
but those who pursue you will be faster.(AP)
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one,(AQ)
at the threat of five you will flee,
until you alone remain
like a solitary pole on a mountaintop
or a banner on a hill.
The Lord’s Mercy to Israel
18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,
and is rising up to show you compassion,(AR)
for the Lord is a just God.
All who wait patiently for Him are happy.
19 For you people will live on Zion in Jerusalem and will never cry again. He will show favor to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears, He will answer you. 20 The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression,(AS) but your Teacher[l] will not hide Himself[m] any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher,[n] 21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”(AT) 22 Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.
23 Then He will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.(AU) 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder scattered with winnowing shovel(AV) and fork. 25 Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall. 26 The moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter(AW)—like the light of seven days—on the day(AX) that the Lord bandages His people’s injuries and heals the wounds He inflicted.(AY)
Annihilation of the Assyrians
27 Look, Yahweh[o] comes from far away,
His anger burning and heavy with smoke.[p]
His lips are full of fury,
and His tongue is like a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent(AZ)
that rises to the neck.(BA)
He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction
and to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoples
to lead them astray.(BB)
29 Your singing will be like that
on the night of a holy festival,
and your heart will rejoice
like one who walks to the music of a flute,
going up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.(BC)
30 And the Lord will make the splendor of His voice heard
and reveal His arm(BD) striking in angry wrath
and a flame of consuming fire,
in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones.
31 Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the Lord.
He will strike with a rod.
32 And every stroke of the appointed[q] staff
that the Lord brings down on him
will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres;
He will fight against him with brandished weapons.
33 Indeed! Topheth has been ready(BE)
for the king for a long time now.
Its funeral pyre is deep and wide,
with plenty of fire and wood.
The breath of the Lord,(BF) like a torrent of brimstone,
kindles it.
The Lord, the Only Help
31 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help(BG)
and who depend on horses!
They trust in the abundance of chariots
and in the large number of horsemen.(BH)
They do not look(BI) to the Holy One of Israel
and they do not seek the Lord’s help.
2 But He also is wise and brings disaster.(BJ)
He does not go back on what He says;(BK)
He will rise up against the house of wicked men
and against the allies of evildoers.
3 Egyptians are men, not God;
their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord raises His hand to strike,
the helper will stumble
and the one who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.
4 For this is what the Lord said to me:
As a lion or young lion growls over its prey(BL)
when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
and is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their noise,
so the Lord of Hosts will come down
to fight on Mount Zion
and on its hill.(BM)
5 Like hovering birds,
so the Lord of Hosts will protect Jerusalem(BN)—
by protecting it, He will rescue it,
by sparing it, He will deliver it.
6 Return to the One the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.(BO) 7 For on that day, every one of you will reject the silver and gold idols that your own hands have sinfully made.(BP)
8 Then Assyria will fall,
but not by human sword;
a sword will devour him,
but not one made by man.(BQ)
He will flee from the sword;
his young men will be put to forced labor.(BR)
9 His rock[r] will pass away because of fear,(BS)
and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag.(BT)
This is the Lord’s declaration—whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.(BU)
The Righteous Kingdom Announced
32 Indeed, a king will reign righteously,
and rulers will rule justly.(BV)
2 Each will be like a shelter from the wind,
a refuge from the rain,(BW)
like streams of water(BX) in a dry land
and the shade of a massive rock in an arid land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.(BY)
4 The reckless mind will gain knowledge,
and the stammering tongue(BZ) will speak clearly and fluently.
5 A fool will no longer be called a noble,(CA)
nor a scoundrel said to be important.
6 For a fool speaks foolishness
and his mind plots iniquity.
He lives in a godless way
and speaks falsely about the Lord.
He leaves the hungry empty
and deprives the thirsty of drink.(CB)
7 The scoundrel’s weapons are destructive;
he hatches plots to destroy the needy with lies,
even when the poor says what is right.
8 But a noble person plans noble things;
he stands up for noble causes.
9 Stand up, you complacent women;(CC)
listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say,
you overconfident daughters.
10 In a little more than a year
you overconfident ones will shudder,
for the vintage will fail
and the harvest will not come.
11 Shudder, you complacent ones;
tremble, you overconfident ones!
Strip yourselves bare(CD)
and put sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts in mourning(CE)
for the delightful fields and the fruitful vines,(CF)
13 for the ground of my people
growing thorns and briers,(CG)
indeed, for every joyous house in the joyful city.
14 For the palace will be forsaken,
the busy city abandoned.
The hill and the watchtower will become
barren places forever,
the joy of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for flocks,
15 until the Spirit from heaven is poured out on us.(CH)
Then the desert will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest.(CI)
16 Then justice will inhabit the wilderness,
and righteousness will dwell in the orchard.
17 The result of righteousness will be peace;(CJ)
the effect of righteousness
will be quiet confidence forever.
18 Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place,
in safe and secure dwellings.
19 But hail will level the forest,[s](CK)
and the city will sink into the depths.(CL)
20 Those who sow seed are happy
beside abundant waters;(CM)
they let ox and donkey range freely.(CN)
The Lord Rises Up
33 Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.(CO)
2 Lord, be gracious to us! We wait for You.(CP)
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.(CQ)
3 The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;(CR)
the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.
4 Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered;
people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.
5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 There will be times of security for you—
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.(CS)
7 Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets;
the messengers of peace weep bitterly.(CT)
8 The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
An agreement has been broken,(CU)
cities[t] despised,
and human life disregarded.
9 The land mourns and withers;(CV)
Lebanon is ashamed and decayed.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 “Now I will rise up,”(CW) says the Lord.
“Now I will lift Myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
11 You will conceive chaff;(CX)
you will give birth to stubble.
Your breath is fire that will consume you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes,
like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.
13 You who are far off, hear what I have done;
you who are near,(CY) know My strength.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling seizes the ungodly:
“Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire?(CZ)
Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?”
15 The one who lives righteously
and speaks rightly,(DA)
who refuses gain from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots[u]
and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil[v](DB)—
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his refuge will be the rocky fortresses,
his food provided, his water assured.
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;(DC)
you will see a vast land.(DD)
18 Your mind will meditate on the past terror:
“Where is the accountant?[w]
Where is the tribute collector?[x]
Where is the one who spied out our defenses?”[y]
19 You will no longer see the barbarians,
a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend—
who stammer in a language that is not understood.(DE)
20 Look at Zion, the city of our festival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture,(DF) a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up
nor will any of its cords be loosened.(DG)
21 For the majestic One, our Lord, will be there,(DH)
a place of rivers and broad streams
where ships that are rowed will not go,
and majestic vessels will not pass.(DI)
22 For the Lord is our Judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,(DJ)
the Lord is our King.
He will save us.(DK)
23 Your ropes are slack;
they cannot hold the base of the mast
or spread out the flag.
Then abundant spoil will be divided,
the lame will plunder it,
24 and none there will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven(DL) their iniquity.(DM)
The Judgment of the Nations
34 You nations, come here and listen;
you peoples, pay attention!(DN)
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it,
the world and all that comes from it.(DO)
2 The Lord is angry with all the nations—
furious with all their armies.(DP)
He will set them apart for destruction,(DQ)
giving them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
and the stench of their corpses will rise;(DR)
the mountains will flow[z] with their blood.(DS)
4 All[aa] the heavenly bodies(DT) will dissolve.
The skies will roll up like a scroll,(DU)
and their stars will all wither
as leaves wither on the vine,
and foliage on the fig tree.(DV)
The Judgment of Edom
5 When My sword has drunk its fill[ab](DW) in the heavens,
it will then come down on Edom(DX)
and on the people I have set apart for destruction.
6 The Lord’s sword is covered with blood.
It drips with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.(DY)
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,(DZ)
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 The wild oxen will be struck[ac] down with them,
and young bulls with the mighty bulls.
Their land will be soaked with[ad] blood,
and their soil will be saturated with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,(EA)
a time of paying back Edom
for its hostility against Zion.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her soil into sulfur;(EB)
her land will become burning pitch.
10 It will never go out—day or night.
Its smoke will go up forever.(EC)
It will be desolate, from generation to generation;
no one will pass through it forever and ever.(ED)
11 The desert owl[ae] and the screech owl[af] will possess it,
and the great owl and the raven will dwell there.(EE)
The Lord will stretch out a measuring line
and a plumb line over her
for her destruction and chaos.(EF)
12 No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,
and all her princes will come to nothing.
13 Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;
her fortified cities, with thistles and briers.(EG)
She will become a dwelling for jackals,
an abode[ag] for ostriches.(EH)
14 The desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
Indeed, the screech owl will stay there
and will find a resting place for herself.
15 The sand partridge[ah] will make her nest there;
she will lay and hatch her eggs
and will gather her brood under her shadow.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.(EI)
16 Search and read the scroll of the Lord:(EJ)
Not one of them will be missing,
none will be lacking its mate,
because He has ordered it by my[ai] mouth,
and He will gather them by His Spirit.
17 He has ordained a lot for them;
His hand allotted their portion with a measuring line.
They will possess it forever;(EK)
they will dwell in it from generation to generation.
The Ransomed Return to Zion
35 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;
the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.[aj][ak](EL)
2 It will blossom abundantly
and will also rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.(EM)
They will see the glory of the Lord,(EN)
the splendor of our God.(EO)
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
steady the shaking knees!(EP)
4 Say to the cowardly:
“Be strong; do not fear!
Here is your God; vengeance is coming.(EQ)
God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.”(ER)
5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.(ES)
6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,(ET)
and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,(EU)
for water will gush in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;(EV)
7 the parched ground will become a pool of water,
and the thirsty land springs of water.(EW)
In the haunt of jackals,(EX) in their lairs,
there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.
8 A road will be there and a way;(EY)
it will be called the Holy Way.(EZ)
The unclean will not travel on it,(FA)
but it will be for the one who walks the path.(FB)
Even the fool will not go astray.
9 There will be no lion there,
and no vicious beast will go up on it;
they will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk on it,
10 and the redeemed of the Lord will return(FC)
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.(FD)
Sennacherib’s Invasion
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,(FE) Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, along with a massive army, from Lachish(FF) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Fuller’s Field.(FG) 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,(FH) and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to him.
4 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on?[al] 5 I[am] say that your strategy and military preparedness are mere words. What are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me?(FI) 6 Look, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff(FJ) that will enter and pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him.(FK) 7 Suppose you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God.’ Isn’t He the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You are to worship at this altar’?(FL)
8 Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses if you’re able to supply riders for them! 9 How then can you drive back a single officer among the weakest of my master’s officers and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?(FM) 10 Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s approval? The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(FN) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew[an] within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”
12 But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew:[ao]
Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: “Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you,(FO) for he cannot deliver you. 15 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will certainly deliver us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’”
16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace[ap] with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree(FP) and drink water from his own cistern 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’(FQ) Has any one of the gods of the nations(FR) delivered his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(FS) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my power?(FT) 20 Who among all the gods of these lands ever delivered his land from my power? So will the Lord deliver Jerusalem.”
21 But they kept silent; they didn’t say anything, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.”(FU) 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
37 When King Hezekiah heard their report,(FV) he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth,(FW) and went to the Lord’s temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace,(FX) for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.(FY) 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God,(FZ) and will rebuke him for the words that Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”(GA)
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6 who said to them, “Tell your master this, ‘The Lord says: Don’t be afraid(GB) because of the words you have heard, which the king of Assyria’s attendants have blasphemed Me with.(GC) 7 I am about to put a spirit(GD) in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”(GE)
Sennacherib’s Letter
8 When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(GF) he returned and found him fighting against Libnah.(GG) 9 The king had heard this about Tirhakah king of Cush:(GH) “He has set out to fight against you.” So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, whom you trust, deceive you(GI) by promising that Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: they completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations(GJ) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—Gozan,(GK) Haran,(GL) Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.(GM) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed(GN) to the Lord:
16 Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim,(GO) You are God(GP)—You alone(GQ)—of all the kingdoms of the earth.(GR) You made the heavens and the earth.(GS) 17 Listen closely, Lord, and hear;(GT) open Your eyes, Lord, and see.(GU) Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(GV) 18 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods(GW) but made by human hands(GX)—wood and stone.(GY) So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord(GZ)—You alone.(HA)
God’s Answer through Hezekiah
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
Virgin Daughter Zion(HB)
despises you and scorns you:
Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head(HC)
behind your back.[aq]
23 Who is it you have mocked(HD) and blasphemed?
Who have you raised your voice against
and lifted your eyes in pride?(HE)
Against the Holy One of Israel!(HF)
24 You have mocked the Lord through[ar] your servants.
You have said, “With my many chariots(HG)
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its distant heights,
its densest forest.
25 I dug wells[as] and drank water.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt
with the soles of my feet.”(HH)
26 Have you not heard?(HI)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.(HJ)
I have now brought it to pass,
and you have crushed fortified cities(HK)
into piles of rubble.
27 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind.[at]
28 But I know[au] your sitting down,
your going out and your coming in,(HL)
and your raging against Me.
29 Because your raging against Me
and your arrogance have reached My ears,(HM)
I will put My hook in your nose(HN)
and My bit in your mouth;(HO)
I will make you go back
the way you came.
30 “‘This will be the sign for you:(HP) This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root(HQ) downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant(HR) will go out from Jerusalem and survivors, from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.’(HS)
33 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow there
or come before it with a shield
or build up an assault ramp against it.
34 He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
36 Then(HV) the angel of the Lord(HW) went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(HX)
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(HY) Then his son Esar-haddon(HZ) became king in his place.
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
38 In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill.(IA) The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your affairs in order,[av](IB) for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”[aw]
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3 He said, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly,(IC) and have done what pleases You.”[ax](ID) And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life.[ay](IE) 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.(IF) 7 This is the sign to you(IG) from the Lord that He will do what[az] He has promised:[ba] 8 I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.”(IH) So the sun’s shadow[bb] went back the 10 steps it had descended.
9 A poem by Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10 I said: In the prime[bc] of my life[bd](II)
I must go to the gates of Sheol;(IJ)
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11 I said: I will never see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;(IK)
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.[be]
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.(IL)
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;(IM)
He cuts me off from the loom.[bf](IN)
You make an end of me from day until night.(IO)
13 I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion;
You make an end of me day and night.
14 I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.(IP)
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.(IQ)
15 What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and He Himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years(IR)
because of the bitterness of my soul,(IS)
16 Lord, because of these promises people live,(IT)
and in all of them is the life of my spirit as well;
You have restored me to health(IU)
and let me live.(IV)
17 Indeed, it was for my own welfare
that I had such great bitterness;(IW)
but Your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,(IX)
for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back.(IY)
18 For Sheol cannot thank You;
Death cannot praise You.(IZ)
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 The living, only the living can thank You,
as I do today;
a father will make Your faithfulness known to children.(JA)
20 The Lord will[bg] save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the Lord.(JB)
21 Now Isaiah(JC) had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”
Hezekiah’s Folly
39 At that time(JD) Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.(JE) There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(JF)
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”
Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”
4 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”
Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts:(JG) 6 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.(JH) 7 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.(JI)
God’s People Comforted
40 “Comfort, comfort My people,”(JJ)
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to[bh] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of forced labor is over,
her iniquity(JK) has been pardoned,(JL)
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.”(JM)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(JN)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(JO)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(JP)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(JQ)
and all humanity[bi] together will see it,(JR)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(JS)
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another[bj] said, “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,(JT)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(JU)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[bk] of the Lord blows on them;[bl]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(JV)
but the word of our God remains forever.”(JW)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(JX)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(JY)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”(JZ)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and His power establishes His rule.(KA)
His reward is with Him,(KB)
and His gifts accompany Him.
11 He protects His flock like a shepherd;(KC)
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them in the fold of His garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(KD)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance
and the hills in the scales?
13 Who has directed[bm] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave Him His counsel?(KE)
14 Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding(KF)
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(KG)
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness.(KH)
18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?(KI)
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?(KJ)
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?[bn]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(KK)
21 Do you not know?(KL)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(KM)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(KN)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(KO)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(KP)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(KQ)
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(KR)
25 “Who will you compare Me to,(KS)
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up[bo] and see:
who created(KT) these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.(KU)
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?(KV)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,(KW)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never grows faint or weary;
there is no limit to His understanding.(KX)
29 He gives strength to the weary
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may faint and grow weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(KY)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(KZ)
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
The Lord versus the Nations’ Gods
41 “Be silent before Me, islands!(LA)
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them testify;
let us come together for the trial.
2 Who has stirred him up from the east?(LB)
He calls righteousness to his feet.[bp](LC)
The Lord hands nations over to him,(LD)
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, am the first,
and with the last(LE)—I am He.”(LF)
5 The islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.(LG)
They approach and arrive.
6 Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage!”
7 The craftsman encourages the metalworker;(LH)
the one who flattens with the hammer
supports the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.(LI)
8 But you, Israel, My servant,(LJ)
Jacob, whom I have chosen,(LK)
descendant of Abraham, My friend(LL)—
9 I brought[bq] you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are My servant;
I have chosen you and not rejected you.(LM)
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;(LN)
do not be afraid, for I am your God.(LO)
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.(LP)
11 Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;(LQ)
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12 You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13 For I, Yahweh your God,(LR)
hold your right hand
and say to you: Do not fear,
I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,(LS)
you men[br] of Israel:
I will help you—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer(LT) is the Holy One of Israel.(LU)
15 See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.(LV)
16 You will winnow them(LW)
and a wind will carry them away,
a gale will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them;(LX)
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights,(LY)
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and dry land into springs of water.(LZ)
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