12 “Howa you are fallen from heaven,
O 1Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
a‘I will ascend into heaven,
bI will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the cmount of the congregation
dOn the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
aI will be like the *Most High.’
15 Yet you ashall be brought down to Sheol,
To the 1lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who 1did not open the house of his prisoners?’
18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an 1abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
2Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
aThe brood of evildoers shall never be named.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children
aBecause of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
Babylon Destroyed
22 “For I will rise up against them,” says the LORD of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon athe name and bremnant,
cAnd offspring and posterity,” says the LORD.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the aporcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the LORD of hosts.
Assyria Destroyed
24 The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall astand:
25 That I will break the aAssyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then bhis yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the apurpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the LORD of hosts has apurposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”
Philistia Destroyed
28 This is the 1burden which came in the year that aKing Ahaz died.
29 “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
aBecause the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
bAnd its offspring will be a *fiery flying serpent.
30 The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the *needy will lie down in *safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his 1appointed times.”
32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That athe LORD has founded Zion,
And bthe poor of His people shall take refuge in it.
Proclamation Against Moab
Because in the night bAr of cMoab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the 1temple and Dibon,
To the *high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
aOn all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, aweeping bitterly.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as aJahaz;
Therefore the 1armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.
5 “Mya heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like 1a three-year-old heifer.
For bby the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters aof Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
9 For the waters of 1Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon 1Dimon,
aLions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”
Moab Destroyed
1 Send athe lamb to the ruler of the land,
bFrom 1Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a awandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the bArnon.
3 “Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
4 Let My outcasts *dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the 1spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 In *mercy athe throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
bJudging and seeking justice and hastening crighteousness.”
6 We have heard of the apride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
bBut his 1lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore Moab shall awail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations bof Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.
8 For athe fields of Heshbon languish,
And bthe vine of Sibmah;
The *lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the csea.
9 Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
aO Heshbon and Elealeh;
For 1battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.
10 aGladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No *treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore amy 1heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for 2Kir Heres.
12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on athe high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to *pray;
But he will not prevail.
13 This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning Moab since that time.
14 But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “Within three years, aas the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Proclamation Against Syria and Israel
1 The aburden1 against Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 1The cities of aAroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and bno one will make them afraid.
3 aThe fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
4 “In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will 1wane,
And athe fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 aIt shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
6 aYet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the LORD God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will alook to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his afingers have made,
Nor the 1wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken 1bough
And 2an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten athe God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your 1stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise alike the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will arebuke them and they will flee far away,
And bbe chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.
Proclamation Against Ethiopia
1 Woe ato the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of 1Ethiopia,
2 Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”
3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
aWhen he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
4 For so the LORD said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will 1look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
6 They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
7 In that time aa present will be brought to the LORD of hosts
1From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts,
To Mount Zion.
Proclamation Against Egypt
Behold, the LORD brides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
cThe idols of Egypt will 2totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.
2 “I will aset Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will aconsult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.
4 And the Egyptians I will give
aInto the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 aThe waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
The brooks aof defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
7 The papyrus reeds by 1the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
9 Moreover those who work in afine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
10 And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.
11 Surely the princes of aZoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
bHow do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
12 aWhere are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the LORD of hosts has bpurposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;
aThe princes of 1Noph are deceived;
They have also 2deluded Egypt,
Those who are the 3mainstay of its tribes.
14 The LORD has mingled aa perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which athe head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.
16 In that day Egypt will abe like women, and will be afraid and *fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, bwhich He waves over it.
17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts which He has adetermined against it.
Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will aspeak the language of Canaan and bswear by the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of 1Destruction.
19 In that day athere will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the bLORD at its border.
20 And ait will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a bSavior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them.
21 Then the LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will aknow the LORD in that day, and bwill make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the LORD and perform it.
22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and aheal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
23 In that day athere will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will bserve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land,
25 whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, *“Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria athe work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
The Sign Against Egypt and Ethiopia
1 In the year that aTartan1 came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it,
2 at the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove athe sackcloth from your 1body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, bwalking naked and barefoot.
3 Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years afor a sign and a *wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia,
4 “so shall the aking of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, bwith their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
5 a“Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory.
6 “And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for ahelp to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’ ”
The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed
1 The 1burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.
As awhirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
2 A distressing vision is declared to me;
aThe treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
bGo up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.
3 Therefore amy loins are *filled with pain;
bPangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.
I was 1distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
4 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
aThe night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
5 aPrepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!
6 For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a *watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”
7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,
A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,
And he listened earnestly with great care.
8 1Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord!
I stand *continually on the awatchtower in the daytime;
I have sat at my post every night.
9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”
Then he answered and said,
a“Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And ball the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground.”
10 aOh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!
That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I have declared to you.
Proclamation Against Edom
11 aThe 1burden against Dumah.
He calls to me out of bSeir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
“The morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
Return! Come back!”
Proclamation Against Arabia
13 aThe 1burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies bof Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
16 For thus the LORD has said to me: “Within a year, aaccording to the year of a hired man, all the glory of bKedar will fail;
17 “and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken it.”
Proclamation Against Jerusalem
1 The 1burden against the Valley of Vision.
What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2 You who are full of noise,
A 1tumultuous city, aa joyous city?
Your slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.
3 All your rulers have fled together;
They are captured by the archers.
All who are found in you are bound together;
They have fled from afar.
4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me,
aI will weep bitterly;
Do not labor to comfort me
Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.”
5 aFor it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity
bBy the Lord GOD of hosts
In the Valley of Vision—
Breaking down the walls
And of crying to the mountain.
6 aElam bore the quiver
With chariots of men and horsemen,
And bKir uncovered the shield.
7 It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys
Shall be full of chariots,
And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 aHe removed the 1protection of Judah.
You looked in that day to the armor bof the House of the Forest;
9 aYou also saw the 1damage to the city of David,
That it was great;
And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 You numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
And the houses you broke down
To fortify the wall.
11 aYou also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the water of the old bpool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts
aCalled for weeping and for mourning,
bFor baldness and for girding with sackcloth.
13 But instead, joy and gladness,
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and adrinking wine:
b“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
14 aThen it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts,
“Surely for this iniquity there bwill be no atonement for you,
Even to your death,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.
The Judgment on Shebna
15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts:
“Go, proceed to this steward,
To aShebna, who is over the house, and say:
16 ‘What have you here, and whom have you here,
That you have hewn a sepulcher here,
As he awho hews himself a sepulcher on high,
Who carves a tomb for himself in a rock?
17 Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently,
O mighty man,
aAnd will surely seize you.
18 He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball
Into a large country;
There you shall die, and there ayour glorious chariots
Shall be the shame of your master’s house.
19 So I will drive you out of your office,
And from your position 1he will pull you down.
20 ‘Then it shall be in that day,
That I will call My servant aEliakim the son of Hilkiah;
21 I will clothe him with your robe
And strengthen him with your belt;
I will commit your responsibility into his hand.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
And to the house of Judah.
22 The key of the house of David
I will lay on his ashoulder;
So he shall bopen, and no one shall shut;
And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
23 I will fasten him as aa peg in a secure place,
And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house.
24 ‘They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers.
25 ‘In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the LORD has spoken.’ ”
Proclamation Against Tyre
Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For it is laid waste,
So that there is no house, no harbor;
From the land of 2Cyprus it is *revealed to them.
2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon,
1Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
3 And on great waters the grain of Shihor,
The harvest of 1the River, is her revenue;
And ashe is a marketplace for the nations.
4 Be *ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea has spoken,
The strength of the sea, saying,
“I do not labor, nor bring forth children;
Neither do I rear young men,
Nor bring up virgins.”
5 aWhen the report reaches Egypt,
They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!
7 Is this your ajoyous city,
Whose antiquity is from ancient days,
Whose feet carried her far off to dwell?
8 Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, athe crowning city,
Whose merchants are princes,
Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
9 The LORD of hosts has apurposed it,
To 1bring to dishonor the bpride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
10 Overflow through your land like 1the River,
O daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more 2strength.
11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
The LORD has given a commandment aagainst Canaan
To destroy its strongholds.
12 And He said, “You will rejoice no more,
O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, across over to Cyprus;
There also you will have no rest.”
13 Behold, the land of the aChaldeans,
This people which was not;
Assyria founded it for bwild beasts of the desert.
They set up its towers,
They raised up its palaces,
And brought it to ruin.
14 aWail, you ships of Tarshish!
For your strength is laid waste.
15 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
16 “Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.”
17 And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and acommit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
18 Her gain and her pay awill be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for 1fine clothing.
Impending Judgment on the Earth
1 Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
As with the people, so with the apriest;
As with the servant, so with his *master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
bAs with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3 The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For the LORD has spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The ahaughty1 people of the earth languish.
5 aThe earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have btransgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the ceverlasting covenant.
6 Therefore athe curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are 1desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are bburned,
And few men are left.
7 aThe new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The mirth aof the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
11 There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.
13 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
aIt shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of the LORD
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore aglorify the LORD in the dawning light,
bThe name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!”
But I said, 1“I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
aThe treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
17 aFear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
That he who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be 1caught in the snare;
For athe windows from on high are open,
And bthe foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 aThe earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
20 The earth shall areel1 to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.
21 It shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth athe kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the 1pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
23 Then the amoon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the LORD of hosts will breign
On cMount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His *elders, gloriously.
Praise to God
1 O LORD, You are my God. aI will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
bFor You have done wonderful things;
cYour counsels of old are *faithfulness and truth.
2 For You have made aa city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will aglorify You;
The city of the 1terrible nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be 1diminished.
bThe LORD of hosts will make for call people
A feast of 1choice pieces,
A feast of 2wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
7 And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And athe veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will aswallow up death forever,
And the Lord GOD will bwipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
aWe have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the LORD;
We have waited for Him;
bWe will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
10 For on this mountain the hand of the LORD will rest,
And aMoab shall be trampled down under Him,
As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap.
11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst
As a swimmer reaches out to swim,
And He will bring down their apride
Together with the trickery of their hands.
12 The afortress of the high fort of your walls
He will bring down, lay low,
And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
A Song of Salvation
1 In athat day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
bGod will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
2 aOpen the gates,
That the righteous nation which 1keeps the truth may enter in.
3 You will keep him in perfect apeace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the LORD *forever,
aFor in *YAH, the LORD, is 1everlasting strength.
5 For He brings 1down those who dwell on high,
aThe lofty city;
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust.
6 The foot shall 1tread it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy.”
7 The way of the just is uprightness;
aO Most Upright,
You 1weigh the path of the just.
8 Yes, ain the way of Your judgments,
O LORD, we have bwaited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.
9 aWith my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your *judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 aLet grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In bthe land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11 LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, athey will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For 1their envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
12 LORD, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works 1in us.
13 O LORD our God, amasters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.
14 They are dead, they will not *live;
They are deceased, they will not rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to aperish.
15 You have increased the nation, O LORD,
You have aincreased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the 1borders of the land.
16 LORD, ain trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 As aa woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her 1pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O LORD.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, 1brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have athe inhabitants of the world fallen.
Together with 1my dead body they shall arise.
bAwake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.
Take Refuge from the Coming Judgment
20 Come, my people, aenter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, bfor a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the LORD acomes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her 1blood,
And will no more cover her slain.
1 In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
aLeviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay bthe reptile that is in the sea.
The Restoration of Israel
3 aI, the LORD, keep it,
I water it every moment;
Lest any hurt it,
I keep it night and day.
Who would set abriers and thorns
Against Me in battle?
I would go through them,
I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold aof My strength,
That he may bmake peace with Me;
And he shall make peace with Me.”
6 Those who come He shall cause ato take root in Jacob;
Israel shall blossom and bud,
And fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 aHas He struck 1Israel as He struck those who struck him?
Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
8 aIn measure, by sending it away,
You contended with it.
bHe removes it by His rough wind
In the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered;
And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:
When he makes all the stones of the altar
Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust,
1Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.
10 Yet the fortified city will be adesolate,
The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness;
There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down
And consume its branches.
11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;
The women come and set them on fire.
For ait is a people of no understanding;
Therefore He who made them will bnot have mercy on them,
And cHe who formed them will show them no favor.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will thresh,
From the channel of 1the River to the Brook of Egypt;
And you will be agathered one by one,
O you children of Israel.
13 aSo it shall be in that day:
bThe great *trumpet will be blown;
They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of cEgypt,
And shall dworship* the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Woe to Ephraim and Jerusalem
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the 1verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,
aLike a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,
Will be trampled underfoot;
4 And the glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the 1verdant valley,
Like the first fruit before the summer,
Which an observer sees;
He eats it up while it is still in his hand.
5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
6 For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 But they also ahave erred through wine,
And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;
bThe priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,
They are swallowed up by wine,
They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth;
No place is clean.
9 “Whoma will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
10 aFor precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”
11 For with astammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, “This is the arest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,”
And, “This is the refreshing”;
Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
aFor we have made lies our *refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
A Cornerstone in Zion
16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, I lay in Zion aa stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
19 As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount aPerazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of bGibeon—
That He may do His work, cHis awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His 1unusual act.
22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts,
aA 1destruction determined even upon the whole earth.
Listen to the Teaching of God
23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the 1spelt in its place?
26 For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him.
27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin;
But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick,
And the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread flour must be ground;
Therefore he does not thresh it forever,
Break it with his cartwheel,
Or crush it with his horsemen.
Woe to Jerusalem
1 “Woe ato 1Ariel, to Ariel, the city bwhere David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, aout of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 “Moreover the multitude of your afoes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like bchaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be cin an instant, suddenly.
6 aYou will be punished by the LORD of hosts
With thunder and bearthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
7 aThe multitude of all the nations who fight against 1Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be bas a dream of a night vision.
8 aIt shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”
The Blindness of Disobedience
9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
aThey are drunk, bbut not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For athe LORD has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has bclosed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, cthe seers.
11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a 1book athat is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” bAnd he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12 Then the book is delivered to one who 1is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.”
a“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me bwith their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 aTherefore, behold, I will again *do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
bFor the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15 aWoe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD,
And their works are in the dark;
bThey say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the athing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
Future Recovery of Wisdom
17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till aLebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 aIn that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 aThe humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD,
And bthe poor among men shall *rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the 1terrible one is brought to nothing,
aThe scornful one is consumed,
And all who bwatch for *iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And alay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just bby empty words.
22 Therefore thus says the LORD, awho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be bashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
aThe work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also awho erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”
Futile Confidence in Egypt
1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD,
a“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who 1devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
bThat they may add sin to sin;
2 aWho walk to go down to Egypt,
And bhave not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 aTherefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4 For his princes were at aZoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 aThey were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”
6 aThe 1burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
bThe viper and *fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7 aFor the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
1Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.
A Rebellious People
8 Now go, awrite it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That athis is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the LORD;
10 aWho say to the *seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
bSpeak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you adespise* this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
aLike a *breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking bcomes suddenly, in an instant.
14 And aHe shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
1A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”
15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel:
a“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
bBut you would not,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17 aOne thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a 1pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
God Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may *be agracious to you;
And therefore He will be *exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
bBlessed are all those who cwait for Him.
19 For the people ashall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall bweep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will canswer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you
aThe bread of adversity and the water of 1affliction,
Yet byour teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you aturn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 aYou will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
bYou will say to them, “Get away!”
23 aThen He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be 1fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be aon every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the bgreat slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover athe 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 that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
Judgment on Assyria
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 aHis breath is like an overflowing stream,
bWhich reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be ca bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into athe mountain of the LORD,
To 1the Mighty One of Israel.
30 aThe LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, band hailstones.
31 For athrough the voice of the LORD
Assyria will be 1beaten down,
As He strikes with the brod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the LORD lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of abrandishing He will fight with it.
33 aFor Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The *breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.
The Folly of Not Trusting God
1 Woe to those awho go down to Egypt for help,
And brely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
cNor seek the LORD!
2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,
And awill not 1call back His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers,
And against the help of those who work iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the LORD stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish atogether.
God Will Deliver Jerusalem
4 For thus the LORD has spoken to me:
a“As a lion roars,
And a young lion over his prey
(When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him,
He will not be afraid of their voice
Nor be disturbed by their noise),
So the LORD of hosts will come down
To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.
5 aLike birds flying about,
So will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem.
Defending, He will also deliver it;
Passing over, He will preserve it.”
6 Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have adeeply revolted.
7 For in that day every man shall athrow away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—bsin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.
8 “Then Assyria shall afall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of mankind shall bdevour him.
But he shall flee from the sword,
And his young men shall become forced labor.
9 aHe shall cross over to his stronghold for fear,
And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,”
Says the LORD,
Whose fire is in Zion
And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
A Reign of Righteousness
1 Behold, aa king will *reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And aa 1cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 aThe eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 Also the heart of the 1rash will aunderstand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.
5 The foolish person will no longer be called 1generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
6 For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work ainiquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the LORD,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with alying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
8 But a 1generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.
Consequences of Complacency
9 Rise up, you women awho are at ease,
Hear my voice;
You complacent daughters,
Give ear to my *speech.
10 In a year and some days
You will be troubled, you complacent women;
For the vintage will fail,
The gathering will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
Be troubled, you complacent ones;
Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare,
And gird sackcloth on your waists.
12 People shall mourn upon their breasts
For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 aOn the land of my people will come up thorns and briers,
Yes, on all the happy homes in bthe joyous city;
14 aBecause the palaces will be forsaken,
The bustling city will be deserted.
The forts and towers will become lairs forever,
A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—
15 Until athe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
And bthe wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.
The Peace of God’s Reign
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness *remain in the fruitful field.
17 aThe work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
18 My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet aresting places,
19 aThough hail comes down bon the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.
20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of athe ox and the donkey.
A Prayer in Deep Distress
1 Woe to you awho plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
bWhen you cease plundering,
You will be cplundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.
2 O LORD, *be gracious to us;
aWe have waited for You.
Be 1their arm every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult the people ashall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
4 And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.
5 aThe LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the LORD is His treasure.
7 Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,
aThe ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8 aThe highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
bHe has broken the covenant,
1He has *despised the 2cities,
He regards no *man.
9 aThe earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
Impending Judgment on Zion
10 “Nowa I will rise,” says the LORD;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
11 aYou shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
aLike thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, ayou who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us shall *dwell with the devouring afire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 He who awalks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And bshuts his eyes from seeing evil:
16 He will dwell on 1high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;
Bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.
The Land of the Majestic King