Isaiah
Book of ISAIAH
Chapter 1
1The Vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For the LORD hath spoken: Children I have reared, and brought up, And they have rebelled against Me.
3The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master’s crib; But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
4Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children that deal corruptly; They have forsaken the LORD, They have contemned the Holy One of Israel, They are turned away backward.
5On what part will ye yet be stricken, Seeing ye stray away more and more? The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faint;
6From the sole of the foot even unto the head There is no soundness in it; But wounds, and bruises, and festering sores: They have not been pressed, neither bound up, Neither mollified with oil.
7Your country is desolate; Your cities are burned with fire; Your land, strangers devour it in your presence, And it is desolate, as overthrown by floods.
8And the daughter of Zion is left As a booth in a vineyard, As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.
9Except the LORD of hosts Had left unto us a very small remnant, We should have been as Sodom, We should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD, Ye rulers of Sodom; Give ear unto the law of our God, Ye people of Gomorrah.
11To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? Saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, And the fat of fed beasts; And I delight not in the blood Of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
12When ye come to appear before Me, Who hath required this at your hand, To trample My courts?
13Bring no more vain oblations; It is an offering of abomination unto Me; New moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.
14Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; They are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.
15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; Your hands are full of blood.
16Wash you, make you clean, Put away the evil of your doings From before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil;
17Learn to do well; Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18Come now, and let us reason together, Saith the LORD; Though your sins be as scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
19If ye be willing and obedient, Ye shall eat the good of the land;
20But if ye refuse and rebel, Ye shall be devoured with the sword; For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken.
21How is the faithful city Become a harlot! She that was full of justice, Righteousness lodged in her, But now murderers.
22Thy silver is become dross, Thy wine mixed with water.
23Thy princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Every one loveth bribes, And followeth after rewards; They judge not the fatherless, Neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, And avenge Me of Mine enemies;
25And I will turn My hand upon thee, And purge away thy dross as with lye, And will take away all thine alloy;
26And I will restore thy judges as at the first, And thy counsellors as at the beginning; Afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, The faithful city.
27Zion shall be redeemed with justice, And they that return of her with righteousness.
28But the destruction of the transgressors and the sinners shall be together, And they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths which ye have desired, And ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30For ye shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fadeth, And as a garden that hath no water.
31And the strong shall be as tow, And his work as a spark; And they shall both burn together, And none shall quench them.
Chapter 2
1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2And it shall come to pass in the end of days, That the mountain of the LORD’S house Shall be established as the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow unto it.
3And many peoples shall go and say: ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; And He will teach us of His ways, And we will walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4And He shall judge between the nations, And shall decide for many peoples; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruninghooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more.
5O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk In the light of the LORD.
6For Thou hast forsaken Thy people the house of Jacob; For they are replenished from the east, And with soothsayers like the Philistines, And they please themselves in the brood of aliens.
7Their land also is full of silver and gold, Neither is there any end of their treasures; Their land also is full of horses, Neither is there any end of their chariots.
8Their land also is full of idols; Every one worshippeth the work of his own hands, That which his own fingers have made.
9And man boweth down, And man lowereth himself; And Thou canst not bear with them.
10Enter into the rock, And hide thee in the dust, From before the terror of the LORD, And from the glory of His majesty.
11The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12For the LORD of hosts hath a day Upon all that is proud and lofty, And upon all that is lifted up, and it shall be brought low;
13And upon all the cedars of Lebanon That are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14And upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
15And upon every lofty tower, And upon every fortified wall;
16And upon all the ships of Tarshish, And upon all delightful imagery.
17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19And men shall go into the caves of the rocks, And into the holes of the earth, From before the terror of the LORD, And from the glory of His majesty, When He ariseth to shake mightily the earth.
20In that day a man shall cast away His idols of silver, and his idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, To the moles and to the bats;
21To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crevices of the crags, From before the terror of the LORD, And from the glory of His majesty, When he ariseth to shake mightily the earth.
22Cease ye from man, in whose nostrils is a breath; For how little is he to be accounted!
Chapter 3
1For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, Doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah Stay and staff, Every stay of bread, and every stay of water;
2The mighty man, and the man of war; The judge, and the prophet, And the diviner, and the elder;
3The captain of fifty, and the man of rank, And the counsellor, and the cunning charmer, and the skilful enchanter.
4And I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them.
5And the people shall oppress one another, Every man his fellow, and every man his neighbour; The child shall behave insolently against the aged, And the base against the honourable,
6For a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father: ‘Thou hast a mantle, Be thou our ruler, And let this ruin be under thy hand.’
7In that day shall he swear, saying: ‘I will not be a healer; For in my house is neither bread nor a mantle; Ye shall not make me ruler of a people.’
8For Jerusalem is ruined, And Judah is fallen; Because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory.
9The show of their countenance doth witness against them; And they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have wrought evil unto themselves.
10Say ye of the righteous, that it shall be well with him; For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; For the work of his hands shall be done to him.
12As for My people, a babe is their master, And women rule over them. O My people, they that lead thee cause thee to err, And destroy the way of thy paths.
13The LORD standeth up to plead, And standeth to judge the peoples.
14The LORD will enter into judgment With the elders of His people, and the princes thereof: ‘It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard; The spoil of the poor is in your houses;
15What mean ye that ye crush My people, And grind the face of the poor?’ Saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts.
16Moreover the LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with stretched-forth necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, And making a tinkling with their feet;
17Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.
18In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their anklets, and the fillets, and the crescents;
19the pendants, and the bracelets, and the veils;
20the headtires, and the armlets, and the sashes, and the corselets, and the amulets;
21the rings, and the nose-jewels;
22the aprons, and the mantelets, and the cloaks, and the girdles;
23and the gauze robes, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the mantles.
24And it shall come to pass, that Instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness; And instead of a girdle rags; And instead of curled hair baldness; And instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; Branding instead of beauty.
25Thy men shall fall by the sword, And thy mighty in the war.
26And her gates shall lament and mourn; And utterly bereft she shall sit upon the ground.
Chapter 4
1And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying:
‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name; take thou away our reproach.’
2In that day shall the growth of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, And the fruit of the land excellent and comely For them that are escaped of Israel.
3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written unto life in Jerusalem;
4when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of destruction.
5And the LORD will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a canopy.
6And there shall be a pavilion for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain.
Chapter 5
1Let me sing of my well-beloved, A song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard In a very fruitful hill;
2And he digged it, and cleared it of stones, And planted it with the choicest vine, And built a tower in the midst of it, And also hewed out a vat therein; And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, And it brought forth wild grapes. 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4What could have been done more to my vineyard, That I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, Brought it forth wild grapes?
5And now come, I will tell you What I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, And it shall be eaten up; I will break down the fence thereof, And it shall be trodden down;
6And I will lay it waste: It shall not be pruned nor hoed, But there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain upon it.
7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah the plant of His delight; And He looked for justice, but behold violence; For righteousness, but behold a cry.
8Woe unto them that join house to house, That lay field to field, Till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell Alone in the midst of the land!
9In mine ears said the LORD of hosts: Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, Even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, And the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
11Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, That they may follow strong drink; That tarry late into the night, Till wine inflame them!
12And the harp and the psaltery, the tabret and the pipe, And wine, are in their feasts; But they regard not the work of the LORD, Neither have they considered the operation of His hands.
13Therefore My people are gone into captivity, For want of knowledge; And their honourable men are famished, And their multitude are parched with thirst.
14Therefore the nether-world hath enlarged her desire, And opened her mouth without measure; And down goeth their glory, and their tumult, and their uproar, And he that rejoiceth among them.
15And man is bowed down, And man is humbled, And the eyes of the lofty are humbled;16But the LORD of hosts is exalted through justice, And God the Holy One is sanctified through righteousness.
17Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, And the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.
18Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as it were with a cart rope,
19That say: ‘Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, That we may know it! ’
20Woe unto them that call evil good, And good evil; That change darkness into light, And light into darkness; That change bitter into sweet, And sweet into bitter!
21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, And men of strength to mingle strong drink;
23That justify the wicked for a reward, And take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
24Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, And as the chaff is consumed in the flame, So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom shall go up as dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And contemned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against His people, And He hath stretched forth His hand against them, and hath smitten them, And the hills did tremble, And their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
26And He will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, And will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; And, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly;
27None shall be weary nor stumble among them; None shall slumber nor sleep; Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken;
28Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses’hoofs shall be counted like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind;
29Their roaring shall be like a lion, They shall roar like young lions, yea, they shall roar, And lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, And there shall be none to deliver.
30And they shall roar against them in that day Like the roaring of the sea; And if one look unto the land, Behold darkness and distress,
Chapter 6
1And the light is darkened in the skies thereof. In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.
2Above Him stood the seraphim; each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3And one called unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.
4And the posts of the door were moved at the voice of them that called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5Then said I: Woe is me! for I am undone; Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For mine eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.
6Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, with a glowing stone in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;
7and he touched my mouth with it, and said: Lo, this hath touched thy lips; And thine iniquity is taken away, And thy sin expiated.
8And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, And who will go for us? Then I said: ‘Here am I; send me.’
9And He said: ‘Go, and tell this people: Hear ye indeed, but understand not; And see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10Make the heart of this people fat, And make their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they, seeing with their eyes, And hearing with their ears, And understanding with their heart, Rreturn, and be healed.’
11Then said I: ‘Lord, how long?’ And He answered: ‘Until cities be waste without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the land become utterly waste,
12And the LORD have removed men far away, And the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land.
13And if there be yet a tenth in it, it shall again be eaten up; as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they cast their leaves, so the holy seed shall be the stock thereof.’
Chapter 7
1And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it; but could not prevail against it.
2And it was told the house of David, saying: ‘Aram is confederate with Ephraim.’ And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.
3Then said the LORD unto Isaiah:
‘Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and aShear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fullers’field;
4and say unto him: Keep calm, and be quiet; fear not, neither let thy heart be faint, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and of the son of Remaliah.
5Because Aram hath counselled evil against thee, Ephraim also, and the son of Remaliah, saying:
6Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set up a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel;
7thus saith the Lord GOD: a That is, A remnant shall return. It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
8For the head of Aram is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin; And within threescore and five years Shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people;
9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not have faith, surely ye shall not be established.’
10And the LORD spoke again unto Ahaz, saying:11’Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God: ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.’
12But Ahaz said: ‘I will not ask, neither will I try the LORD.’
13And he said: ‘Hear ye now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that ye will weary my God also?
14Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name bImmanuel.
15Curd and honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16Yea, before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings thou hast a horror of shall be forsaken.
17The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.’ b That is, God is with us.
18And it shall come to pass in that day, That the LORD shall hiss for the fly That is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19And they shall come, and shall rest all of them In the rugged valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, And upon all thorns, and upon all brambles.
20In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also sweep away the beard.
21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall rear a young cow, and two sheep;
22and it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, he shall eat curd; for curd and honey shall every one eat that is left in the midst of the land.
23And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, shall even be for briers and thorns.
24With arrows and with bow shall one come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
25And all the hills that were digged with the mattock, thou shalt not come thither for fear of briers and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.
Chapter 8
1And the LORD said unto me: ‘Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it in common script: The spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth;
2and I will take unto Me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.’
3And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the LORD unto me: ‘Call his name aMaher-shalal-hashbaz.
4For before the child shall have knowledge to cry: My father, and: My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.’ a That is, The spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth.
5And the LORD spoke unto me yet again, saying:
6Forasmuch as this people hath refused The waters of Shiloah that go softly, And rejoiceth with Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
7Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them The waters of the River, mighty and many, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And he shall come up over all his channels, And go over all his banks;
8And he shall sweep through Judah Overflowing as he passeth through He shall reach even to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings Shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
9Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and ye shall be broken in pieces; And give ear, all ye of far countries; Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
10Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to nought; Speak the word, and it shall not stand; For God is with us.
11For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, admonishing me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:12’Say ye not: A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people do say: A conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor account it dreadful.
13The LORD of hosts, Him shall ye sanctify; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.
14And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.’
16’Bind up the testimony, seal the instruction among My disciples.’
17And I will wait for the LORD, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.
18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me shall be for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.
19And when they shall say unto you: ‘Seek unto the ghosts and the familiar spirits, that chirp and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living unto the dead
20for instruction and for testimony?’—Surely they will speak according to this word, wherein there is no light.—
21And they shall pass this way that are sore bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and, whether they turn their faces upward,
22or look unto the earth, behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and outspread thick darkness.
23For is there no gloom to her that was stedfast? Now the former hath lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but the latter hath dealt a more grievous blow by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in the district of the nations.
Chapter 9
1The people that walked in darkness Have seen a great light; They that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them hath the light shined.
2Thou hast multiplied the nation, Thou hast increased their joy; They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
3For the yoke of his burden, And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, Thou hast broken as in the day of Midian. For every boot stamped with fierceness, And every cloak rolled in blood, Shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire.
5For a child is born unto us, A son is given unto us; And the government is upon his shoulder; And his name is called aPele-joez-el-gibbor- a That is, Wonderful in counsel is God, the Mighty, the Everlasting Father, the Ruler of peace. Abi-ad-sar-shalom;
6That the government may be increased, And of peace there be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, To establish it, and to uphold it Through justice and through righteousness From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts doth perform this.
7The Lord sent a word into Jacob, And it hath lighted upon Israel.
8And all the people shall know, Even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, That say in pride and in arrogancy of heart:
9‘The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, but cedars will we put in their place.’
10Therefore the LORD doth set upon high the adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies;
11The Arameans on the east, and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
12Yet the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, Neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
13Therefore the LORD doth cut off from Israel head and tail, Palm-branch and rush, in one day.
14The elder and the man of rank, he is the head; And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
15For they that lead this people cause them to err; And they that are led of them are destroyed.
16Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, Neither shall He have compassion on their fatherless and widows; For every one is ungodly and an evil-doer, And every mouth speaketh wantonness. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire; It devoureth the briers and thorns; Yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest, And they roll upward in thick clouds of smoke.
18Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land burnt up; The people also are as the fuel of fire; No man spareth his brother.
19And one snatcheth on the right hand, and is hungry; And he eateth on the left hand, and is not satisfied; They eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
20Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; And they together are against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
Chapter 10
1Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, And to the writers that write iniquity;
2To turn aside the needy from judgment, And to take away the right of the poor of My people, That widows may be their spoil, And that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3And what will ye do in the day of visitation, And in the ruin which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? And where will ye leave your glory?
4They can do nought except crouch under the captives, And fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
5O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, In whose hand as a staff is Mine indignation!
6I do send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath do I give him a charge, To take the spoil, and to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7Howbeit he meaneth not so, Neither doth his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And to cut off nations not a few.
8For he saith: ‘Are not my princes all of them kings?
9Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
10As my hand hath reached the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images did exceed them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, So do to Jerusalem and her idols?’
12Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.
13For he hath said: By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom, for I am prudent; In that I have removed the bounds of the peoples, And have robbed their treasures, And have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants;
14And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; And as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, Have I gathered all the earth; And there was none that moved the wing, Or that opened mouth, or chirped.
15Should the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? As if a rod should move them that lift it up, Or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood.
16Therefore will the Lord, the LORD of hosts, Send among his fat ones leanness; And under his glory there shall be kindled A burning like the burning of fire.
17And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame; And it shall burn and devour his thorns And his briers in one day.
18And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, He will consume both soul and body; And it shall be as when a sick man wasteth away.
19And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, That a child may write them down.
20And it shall come to pass in that day, That the remnant of Israel, And they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, Shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; But shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. aA remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob,
a Heb. shear jashub. Unto God the Mighty.
22For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, Only a remnant of them shall return; An extermination is determined, overflowing with righteousness.23For an extermination wholly determined Shall the Lord, the GOD of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.
24Therefore thus saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts: O My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
25For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and Mine anger shall be to their destruction.
26And the LORD of hosts shall stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb; and as His rod was over the sea, so shall He lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
27And it shall come to pass in that day, that His burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, And his yoke from off thy neck, And the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.
28He is come to Aiath, He is passed through Migron; At Michmas he layeth up his baggage;
29They are gone over the pass; They have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembleth; Gibeath-shaul is fled.
30Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laish! O thou poor Anathoth!
31Madmenah is in mad flight; The inhabitants of Gebim flee to cover.
32This very day shall he halt at Nob, Shaking his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem.
33Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, Shall lop the boughs with terror; And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, And the lofty shall be laid low.
34And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Chapter 11
1And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, And a twig shall grow forth out of his roots.
2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD; And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, Neither decide after the hearing of his ears;
4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the land; And he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
6And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
7And the cow and the bear feed; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, And the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den.
9They shall not hurt nor destroy In all My holy mountain; For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.
10And it shall come to pass in that day, That the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, Unto him shall the nations seek; And his resting-place shall be glorious.
11And it shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord will set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people, That shall remain from Assyria, and from Egypt, And from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, And from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12And He will set up an ensign for the nations, And will assemble the dispersed of Israel, And gather together the scattered of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
13The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, And they that harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
14And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; Together shall they spoil the children of the east; They shall put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab; And the children of Ammon shall obey them.
15And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; And with His scorching wind will He shake His hand over the River, And will smite it into seven streams, And cause men to march over dry-shod.
16And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people, That shall remain from Assyria, Like as there was for Israel In the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
Chapter 12
1And in that day thou shalt say: ‘I will give thanks unto Thee, O LORD; For though Thou was angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me.
2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; For GOD the LORD is my strength and song; And He is become my salvation.’
3Therefore with joy shall ye draw water Out of the wells of salvation.
4And in that day shall ye say: ‘Give thanks unto the LORD, proclaim His name, Declare His doings among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted.
5Sing unto the LORD; for He hath done gloriously; This is made known in all the earth.
6Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.’
Chapter 13
1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2Set ye up an ensign upon the high mountain, Lift up the voice unto them, Wave the hand, that they may go Into the gates of the nobles.
3I have commanded My consecrated ones, Yea, I have called My mighty ones for mine anger, Even My proudly exulting ones.
4Hark, a tumult in the mountains, Like as of a great people! Hark, the uproar of the kingdoms Of the nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts mustereth The host of the battle.
5They come from a far country, From the end of heaven, Even the LORD, and the weapons of His indignation, To destroy the whole earth.
6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; As destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
7Therefore shall all hands be slack, And every heart of man shall melt.
8And they shall be affrighted; Pangs and throes shall take hold of them; They shall be in pain as a woman in travail; They shall look aghast one at another; Their faces shall be faces of flame.
9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, Cruel, and full of wrath and fierce anger; To make the earth a desolation, And to destroy the sinners thereof out of it,
10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof Shall not give their light; The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, And the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11And I will visit upon the world their evil, And upon the wicked their iniquity; And I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, And will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants.
12I will make man more rare than fine gold, Even man than the pure gold of Ophir.
13Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, And the earth shall be shaken out of her place, For the wrath of the LORD of hosts, And for the day of His fierce anger.
14And it shall come to pass, that as the chased gazelle, And as sheep that no man gathereth, They shall turn every man to his own people, And shall flee every man to his own land.
15Every one that is found shall be thrust through; And every one that is caught shall fall by the sword.
16Their babes also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; Their houses shall be spoiled, And their wives ravished.
17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who shall not regard silver, And as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; And they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye shall not spare children.
19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans’pride, Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20It shall never be inhabited, Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; Neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21But wild-cats shall lie there; And their houses shall be full of ferrets; And ostriches shall dwell there, And satyrs shall dance there.
22And jackals shall howl in their castles, And wild-dogs in the pleasant palaces; And her time is near to come, And her days shall not be prolonged.
Chapter 14
1For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the stranger shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
2And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and for handmaids; and they shall take them captive, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy travail, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve,
4that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say: How hath the oppressor ceased! The exactress of gold ceased!
5The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, The sceptre of the rulers,
6That smote the peoples in wrath With an incessant stroke, That ruled the nations in anger, With a persecution that none restrained.
7The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; They break forth into singing.
8Yea, the cypresses rejoice at thee, And the cedars of Lebanon: ‘Since thou art laid down, No feller is come up against us.’
9The nether-world from beneath is moved for thee To meet thee at thy coming; The shades are stirred up for thee, Even all the chief ones of the earth; All the kings of the nations Are raised up from their thrones.
10All they do answer And say unto thee: ‘Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?
11Thy pomp is brought down to the nether-world, And the noise of thy psalteries; The maggot is spread under thee, And the worms cover thee.’
12How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, That didst cast lots over the nations!
13And thou saidst in thy heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, Above the stars of God Will I exalt my throne, And I will sit upon the mount of meeting, In the uttermost parts of the north;
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’
15Yet thou shalt be brought down to the nether-world, To the uttermost parts of the pit.
16They that saw thee do narrowly look upon thee, They gaze earnestly at thee: ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, That did shake kingdoms;
17That made the world as a wilderness, And destroyed the cities thereof; That opened not the house of his prisoners?’
18All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Every one in his own house.
19But thou art cast forth away from thy grave Like an abhorred offshoot, In the raiment of the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, That go down to the pavement of the pit, As a carcass trodden under foot.
20Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, Bbecause thou hast destroyed thy land, Thou hast slain thy people; The seed of evil-doers shall not Be named for ever.
21Prepare ye slaughter for his children For the iniquity of their fathers; That they rise not up, and possess the earth, And fill the face of the world with cities.
22And I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and offshoot and offspring, saith the LORD.
23I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
24The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; And as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
25That I will break Asshur in My land, And upon My mountains tread him under foot; Then shall his yoke depart from off them, And his burden depart from off their shoulder.
26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, And who shall disannul it? And His hand is stretched out, And who shall turn it back?
28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
29Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, Because the rod that smote thee is broken: For out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a basilisk, And his fruit shall be a flying serpent.
30And the first-born of the poor shall feed, And the needy shall lie down in safety; And I will kill thy root with famine, And thy remnant shall be slain
31Howl, O gate; cry, O city; Melt away, O Philistia, all of thee; For there cometh a smoke out of the north, And there is no straggler in his ranks.
32What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, And in her shall the afflicted of His people take refuge.
Chapter 15
1The burden of Moab. For in the night that Ar of Moab is laid waste, He is brought to ruin; For in the night that Kir of Moab is laid waste, He is brought to ruin.
2He is gone up to Baith, and to Dibon, Tto the high places, to weep; Upon Nebo, and upon Medeba, Moab howleth; On all their heads is baldness, Every beard is shaven.
3In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; On their housetops, and in their broad places, Every one howleth, weeping profusely.
4And Heshbon crieth out, and Elealeh; Their voice is heard even unto Jahaz; Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; His soul is faint within him.
5My heart crieth out for Moab; Her fugitives reach unto Zoar, A heifer of three years old; For by the ascent of Luhith With weeping they go up; For in the way of Horonaim They raise up a cry of destruction.
6For the Waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; For the grass is withered away, the herbage faileth, There is no green thing.
7Therefore the abundance they have gotten, And that which they have laid up, Shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
8For the cry is gone round about The borders of Moab; The howling thereof unto Eglaim, And the howling thereof unto Beer-elim.
9For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; For I will bring yet more upon Dimon, A lion upon him that escapeth of Moab, And upon the remnant of the land.
Chapter 16
1Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land From the crags that are toward the wilderness, Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2For it shall be that, as wandering birds, As a scattered nest, So shall the daughters of Moab be At the fords of Arnon.
3’Give counsel, execute justice; Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; Hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive.
4Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; As for Moab, be thou a covert to him from the face of the spoiler.’ For the extortion is at an end, spoiling ceaseth, They that trampled down are consumed out of the land;
5And a throne is established through mercy, And there sitteth thereon in truth, in the tent of David, One that judgeth, and seeketh justice, and is ready in righteousness.
6We have heard of the pride of Moab; He is very proud; Even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his arrogancy, His ill-founded boastings.
7Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, Every one shall wail; for the sweet cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, Sorely stricken.
8For the fields of Heshbon languish, And the vine of Sibmah, Whose choice plants did overcome The lords of nations; They reached even unto Jazer, They wandered into the wilderness; Her branches were spread abroad, They passed over the sea.
9Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer For the vine of Sibmah; I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh; For upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest The battle shout is fallen.
10And gladness and joy are taken away Out of the fruitful field; And in the vineyards there shall be no singing, Neither shall there be shouting; No treader shall tread out wine in the presses; I have made the vintage shout to cease.
11Wherefore my heart moaneth like a harp for Moab, And mine inward parts for Kir-heres.
12And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab hath wearied himself upon the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail
13This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in time past.
14But now the LORD hath spoken, saying: ‘Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall wax contemptible for all his great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and without strength.’
Chapter 17
1The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, And it shall be a ruinous heap.
2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They shall be for flocks, Which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
3The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus; And the remnant of Aram shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, Sith the LORD of hosts.
4And it shall come to pass in that day, That the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, And the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing corn, And reapeth the ears with his arm; Yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears In the valley of Rephaim.
6Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, As at the beating of an olive-tree, Two or three berries In the top of the uppermost bough, Four or five in the branches of the fruitful tree, Saith the LORD, the God of Israel.
7In that day shall a man regard his Maker, And his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.
8And he shall not regard the altars, The work of his hands, Neither shall he look to that which his fingers have made, Either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
9In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken places, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel, after the manner of woods and lofty forests; and it shall be a desolation.
10For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And thou hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy stronghold; Therefore thou didst plant plants of pleasantness, And didst set it with slips of a stranger;
11In the day of thy planting thou didst make it to grow, And in the morning thou didst make thy seed to blossom— A heap of boughs in the day of grief And of desperate pain.
12Ah, the uproar of many peoples, That roar like the roaring of the seas; And the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!
13The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters; But He shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, And shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, And like the whirling dust before the storm.
14At eventide behold terror; And before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, And the lot of them that rob us.
Chapter 18
1Ah, land of the buzzing of wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, Even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters! Go, ye swift messengers, To a nation tall and of glossy skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward; A nation that is sturdy and treadeth down, Whose land the rivers divide!
3All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, When an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; And when the horn is blown, hear ye.
4For thus hath the LORD said unto me: I will hold Me still, and I will look on in My dwelling-place, Like clear heat in sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, And the bud becometh a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, And the shoots will He take away and lop off.
6They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, And to the beasts of the earth; And the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, And all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7In that time shall a present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people tall and of glossy skin, and from a people terrible from their beginning onward; a nation that is sturdy and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
Chapter 19
1The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, And cometh unto Egypt; And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, And the heart of Egypt shall melt within it.
2And I will spur Egypt against Egypt; And they shall fight every one against his brother, And everyone against his neighbour; City against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3And the spirit of Egypt shall be made empty within it; And I will make void the counsel thereof; And they shall seek unto the idols, and to the whisperers, And to the ghosts, and to the familiar spirits.
4And I will give over the Egyptians Iinto the hand of a cruel lord; And a fierce king shall rule over them, Saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5And the waters shall fail from the sea, And the river shall be drained dry,
6And the rivers shall become foul; The streams of Egypt shall be minished and dried up; The reeds and flags shall wither.
7The mosses by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, And all that is sown by the Nile, Shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8The fishers also shall lament, And all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, And they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
9Moreover they that work in combed flax, And they that weave cotton, shall be ashamed.
10And her foundations shall be crushed, All they that make dams shall be grieved in soul.
11The princes of Zoan are utter fools; The wisest counsellors of Pharaoh are a senseless counsel; How can ye say unto Pharaoh: ‘I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings’?
12Where are they, then, thy wise men? And let them tell thee now; And let them know what the LORD of hosts Hath purposed concerning Egypt.
13The princes of Zoan are become fools, The princes of Noph are deceived; They have caused Egypt to go astray, That are the corner-stone of her tribes.
14The LORD hath mingled within her A spirit of dizziness; And they have caused Egypt to stagger in every work thereof, As a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
15Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, Which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
16In that day shall Egypt be like unto women; and it shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He shaketh over it.
17And the land of Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt, whensoever one maketh mention thereof to it; it shall be afraid, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts, which He purposeth against it.
18In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.
19In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
20And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a saviour, and a defender, who will deliver them.
21And the LORD shall make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day; yea, they shall worship with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and shall perform it.
22And the LORD will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto the LORD, and He will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
23In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians.
24In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
25for that the LORD of hosts hath blessed him, saying: ‘Blessed be Egypt My people and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance.’
Chapter 20
1In the year that Tartan came into Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;
2at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying: ‘Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put thy shoe from off thy foot.’ And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3And the LORD said: ‘Like as My servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot to be for three years a sign and a wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia,
4so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
5And they shall be dismayed and ashamed, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
6And the inhabitant of this coast-land shall say in that day: Behold, such is our expectation, whither we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’
Chapter 21
1The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweeping on, It cometh from the wilderness, from a dreadful land.
2A grievous vision is declared unto me: ‘The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam! besiege, O Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease.’
3Therefore are my loins filled with convulsion; Pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail; I am bent so that I cannot hear; I am affrighted so that I cannot see.
4My heart is bewildered, terror hath overwhelmed me; The twilight that I longed for hath been turned for me into trembling.
5They prepare the table, they light the lamps, they eat, they drink— ’Rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.’
6For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman; let him declare what he seeth!
7And when he seeth a troop, horsemen by pairs, A troop of asses, a troop of camels, He shall hearken diligently with much heed.
8And he cried as a lion: ‘Upon the watch-tower, O Lord, I stand continually in the daytime, And I am set in my ward all the nights.’
9And, behold, there came a troop of men, horsemen by pairs. And he spoke and said: ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.’
10O thou my threshing, and the winnowing of my floor, That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
11The burden of Dumah. One calleth unto me out of Seir: ‘Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?’
12The watchman said: ‘The morning cometh, and also the night— If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.’
13The burden upon Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites.
14Unto him that is thirsty bring ye water! The inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitive with his bread.
15For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, And from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
16For thus hath the Lord said unto me:
‘Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail;
17and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished; for the LORD, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.’
Chapter 22
1The burden concerning the Valley of Vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops,
2Thou that art full of uproar, a tumultuous city, a joyous town? Thy slain are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
3All thy rulers are fled together, Without the bow they are bound; All that are found of thee are bound together, they are fled afar off.
4Therefore said I: ‘Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; Strain not to comfort me, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.’
5For it is a day of trouble, and of trampling, and of perplexity, From the Lord, the GOD of hosts, in the Valley of Vision; Kir shouting, and Shoa at the mount.
6And Elam bore the quiver, with troops of men, even horsemen; And Kir uncovered the shield.
7And it came to pass, when thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate,
8And the covering of Judah was laid bare, that thou didst look in that day to the armour in the house of the forest.
9And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10And ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye broke down the houses to fortify the wall;
11ye made also a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool— But ye looked not unto Him that had done this, Neither had ye respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago.
12And in that day did the Lord, the GOD of hosts, call To weeping, and to lamentation, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth;
13And behold joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating flesh and drinking wine— ’Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die! ’
14And the LORD of hosts revealed Himself in mine ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you till ye die, Saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts.
15Thus saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts: Go, get thee unto this steward, Even unto Shebna, who is over the house:
16What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, That thou hast hewed thee out here a sepulchre, Thou that hewest thee out a sepulchre on high, And gravest a habitation for thyself in the rock?
17Behold, the LORD will hurl thee up and down with a man’s throw; Yea, He will wind thee round and round;
18He will violently roll and toss thee like a ball into a large country; There shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, Thou shame of the lord’s house.
19And I will thrust thee from thy post, And from thy station shalt thou be pulled down.
20And it shall come to pass in that day, That I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;
21And I will clothe him with thy robe, And bind him with thy girdle, And I will commit thy government into his hand; And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; And he shall open, and none shall shut; And he shall shut, and none shall open.
23And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place; And he shall be for a throne of honour to his father’s house.
24And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons.
25In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the peg that was fastened in a sure place give way; and it shall be hewn down, and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for the LORD hath spoken it. The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,
Chapter 23
1For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in; From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
2Be still, ye inhabitants of the coast-land; Thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
3And on great waters the seed of Shihor, The harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; And she was the mart of nations.
4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea hath spoken, The stronghold of the sea, saying: ‘I have not travailed, nor brought forth, Neither have I reared young men, nor brought up virgins.’
5When the report cometh to Egypt, They shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.
6Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast-land.
7Is this your joyous city, Whose feet in antiquity, In ancient days, Carried her afar off to sojourn?
8Who hath devised this against Tyre, the crowning city, Whose merchants are princes, Whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?
9The LORD of hosts hath devised it, To pollute the pride of all glory, To bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
10Overflow thy land as the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish! there is no girdle any more.
11He hath stretched out His hand over the sea, He hath shaken the kingdoms; The LORD hath given commandment concerning Canaan, To destroy the strongholds thereof;
12And He said: ‘Thou shalt no more rejoice.’ O thou oppressed virgin daughter of Zidon, Arise, pass over to Kittim; Even there shalt thou have no rest.
13Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that was not, when Asshur founded it for shipmen—they set up their towers, they overthrew the palaces thereof; it is made a ruin.
14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold is laid waste.
15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king; after the end of seventy years it shall fare with Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
16Take a harp, Go about the city, Thou harlot long forgotten; Make sweet melody, Sing many songs, That thou mayest be remembered.
17And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will remember Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall have commerce with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
18And her gain and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD; it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her gain shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat their fill, and for stately clothing.
Chapter 24
1Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste, And turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3The earth shall be utterly emptied, and clean despoiled; For the LORD hath spoken this word.
4The earth fainteth and fadeth away, The world faileth and fadeth away, The lofty people of the earth do fail.
5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; Because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statute, Broken the everlasting covenant.
6Therefore hath a curse devoured the earth, And they that dwell therein are found guilty; Therefore the inhabitants of the earth waste away, And men are left few.
7The new wine faileth, the vine fadeth; All the merry-hearted do sigh.
8The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, The noise of them that rejoice endeth, The joy of the harp ceaseth.
9They drink not wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.
10Broken down is the city of wasteness; Every house is shut up, that none may come in.
11There is a crying in the streets amidst the wine; All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone.
12In the city is left desolation, And the gate is smitten unto ruin.
13For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth, among the peoples, As at the beating of an olive-tree, As at the gleanings when the vintage is done.
14Those yonder lift up their voice, they sing for joy; For the majesty of the LORD they shout from the sea:
15’Therefore glorify ye the LORD in the regions of light, Even the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.’
16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: ‘Glory to the righteous.’ But I say: I waste away, I waste away, woe is me! The treacherous deal treacherously; Yea, the treacherous deal very treacherously.
17Terror, and the pit, and the trap, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the terror shall fall into the pit; And he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the trap; For the windows on high are opened, And the foundations of the earth do shake;
19The earth is broken, broken down, The earth is crumbled in pieces, The earth trembleth and tottereth;
20The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunken man, And swayeth to and fro as a lodge; And the transgression thereof is heavy upon it, And it shall fall, and not rise again.
21And it shall come to pass in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of the high heaven on high, And the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the dungeon, And shall be shut up in the prison, And after many days shall they be punished.
23Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign in mount Zion, And in Jerusalem, and before His elders shall be Glory.
Chapter 25
1O LORD, Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name, For Thou hast done wonderful things; Even counsels of old, in faithfulness and truth.
2For Thou hast made of a city a heap, Of a fortified city a ruin; A castle of strangers to be no city, It shall never be built.
3Therefore shall the strong people glorify Thee, The city of the terrible nations shall fear Thee.
4For Thou hast been a stronghold to the poor, A stronghold to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones was as a storm against the wall.
5As the heat in a dry place, Thou didst subdue the noise of strangers; As the heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones was brought low.
6And in this mountain will the LORD of hosts make unto all peoples A feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7And He will destroy in this mountain The face of the covering that is cast over all peoples, And the veil that is spread over all nations.
8He will swallow up death for ever; And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; And the reproach of His people will He take away from off all the earth; For the LORD hath spoken it.
9And it shall be said in that day: ‘Lo, this is our God, For whom we waited, that He might save us; This is the LORD, for whom we waited, We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’
10For in this mountain will the hand of the LORD rest, And Moab shall be trodden down in his place, Even as straw is trodden down in the dunghill.
11And when he shall spread forth his hands in the midst thereof, As he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, His pride shall be brought down together with the cunning of his hands.
12And the high fortress of thy walls will He bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, even to the dust.
Chapter 26
1In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; Walls and bulwarks doth He appoint for salvation.
2Open ye the gates, That the righteous nation that keepeth faithfulness may enter in.
3The mind stayed on Thee Thou keepest in perfect peace; Because it trusteth in Thee.
4Trust ye in the LORD for ever, For the LORD is GOD, an everlasting Rock.
5For He hath brought down them that dwell on high, The lofty city, laying it low, laying it low even to the ground, Bringing it even to the dust.
6The foot shall tread it down, Even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
7The way of the just is straight; Thou, Most Upright, makest plain the path of the just.
8Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for Thee; To Thy name and to Thy memorial is the desire of our soul.
9With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; Yea, with my spirit within me have I sought Thee earnestly; For when Thy judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, And will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11LORD, Thy hand was lifted up, yet they see not; They shall see with shame Thy zeal for the people; Yea, fire shall devour Thine adversaries.
12LORD, Thou wilt establish peace for us; For Thou hast indeed wrought all our works for us.
13O LORD our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us; But by Thee only do we make mention of Thy name.
14The dead live not, the shades rise not; To that end hast Thou punished and destroyed them, And made all their memory to perish.
15Thou hast gotten Thee honour with the nations, O LORD, Yea, exceeding great honour with the nations; Thou art honoured unto the farthest ends of the earth.
16LORD, in trouble have they sought Thee, Silently they poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them.
17Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, Is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; So have we been at Thy presence, O LORD.
18We have been with child, we have been in pain, We have as it were brought forth wind; We have not wrought any deliverance in the land; Neither are the inhabitants of the world come to life.
19Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise— Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust— For Thy dew is as the dew of light, And the earth shall bring to life the shades.
20Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, And shut thy doors about thee; Hide thyself for a little moment, Until the indignation be overpast.
21For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place To visit upon the inhabitants of the earth their iniquity; The earth also shall disclose her blood, And shall no more cover her slain.
Chapter 27
1In that day the LORD with His sore and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the slant serpent, and leviathan the tortuous serpent; and He will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
2In that day sing ye of her: ‘A vineyard of foaming wine! ’
3I the LORD do guard it, I water it every moment; Lest Mine anger visit it, I guard it night and day.
4Fury is not in Me; Would that I were as the briers and thorns in flame! I would with one step burn it altogether.
5Or else let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me; yea, let him make peace with Me.
6In days to come shall Jacob take root, Israel shall blossom and bud; And the face of the world shall be filled with fruitage.
7Hath He smitten him as He smote those that smote him? Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that were slain by Him?
8In full measure, when Thou sendest her away, Thou dost contend with her; He hath removed her with His rough blast in the day of the east wind.
9Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be expiated, And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: When he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in pieces, So that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
10For the fortified city is solitary, A habitation abandoned and forsaken, like the wilderness; There shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, And consume the branches thereof
11When the boughs thereof are withered, They shall be broken off; The women shall come, and set them on fire; For it is a people of no understanding; Therefore He that made them will not have compassion upon them, And He that formed them will not be gracious unto them.
12And it shall come to pass in that day, That the LORD will beat off [His fruit] From the flood of the River unto the Brook of Egypt, And ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
13And it shall come to pass in that day, That a great horn shall be blown; And they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria, And they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; And they shall worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Chapter 28
1Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, And to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, Which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are smitten down with wine!
2Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, As a storm of mighty waters overflowing, That casteth down to the earth with violence.
3The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim Shall be trodden under foot;
4And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, Which is on the head of the fat valley, Shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, Which when one looketh upon it, While it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
5In that day shall the LORD of hosts be For a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, Unto the residue of His people;
6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, And for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate.
7But these also reel through wine, And stagger through strong drink; The priest and the prophet reel through strong drink, They are confused because of wine, They stagger because of strong drink; They reel in vision, they totter in judgment.
8For all tables are full of filthy vomit, and no place is clean.
9Whom shall one teach knowledge? And whom shall one make to understand the message? Them that are weaned from the milk, Them that are drawn from the breasts?
10For it is precept by precept, precept by precept, Line by line, line by line; Here a little, there a little.
11For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue Shall it be spoken to this people;
12To whom it was said: ‘This is the rest, Give ye rest to the weary; And this is the refreshing’; Yet they would not hear.
13And so the word of the LORD is unto them Precept by precept, precept by precept, Line by line, line by line; Here a little, there a little; That they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, And snared, and taken.
14Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scoffers, The ballad-mongers of this people which is in Jerusalem:
15Because ye have said: ‘We have made a covenant with death, And with the nether-world are we at agreement; When the scouring scourge shall pass through, It shall not come unto us; For we have made lies our refuge, And in falsehood have we hid ourselves’;
16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a costly corner-stone of sure foundation; He that believeth shall not make haste.
17And I will make justice the line, And righteousness the plummet; And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled And your agreement with the nether-world shall not stand; When the scouring scourge shall pass through, Then ye shall be trodden down by it,
19As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; For morning by morning shall it pass through, By day and by night; And it shall be sheer terror to understand the message.
20For the bed is too short for a man to stretch himself; And the covering too narrow when he gathereth himself up.
21For the LORD will rise up as in mount Perazim, He will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; That He may do His work, strange is His work, And bring to pass His act, strange is His act.
22Now therefore be ye not scoffers, Lest your bands be made strong; For an extermination wholly determined have I heard from the Lord, the GOD of hosts, Upon the whole land.
23Give ye ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my speech.
24Is the plowman never done with plowing to sow, With the opening and harrowing of his ground?
25When he hath made plain the face thereof, Doth he not cast abroad the black cummin, and scatter the cummin, And put in the wheat in rows and the barley in the appointed place And the spelt in the border thereof?
26For He doth instruct him aright; His God doth teach him.
27For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing-sledge, Neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; But the black cummin is beaten out with a staff, And the cummin with a rod.
28Is bread corn crushed? Nay, he will not ever be threshing it; And though the roller of his wagon and its sharp edges move noisily, He doth not crush it.
29This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts: Wonderful is His counsel, and great His wisdom.
Chapter 29
1Ah, a.Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add ye year to year, Let the feasts come round!
a. That is, The hearth of God.
2Then will I distress Ariel, And there shall be mourning and moaning; and she shall be unto Me as a hearth of God.
3And I will encamp against thee round about, And will lay siege against thee with a mound, And I will raise siege works against thee.
4And brought down thou shalt speak out of the ground, And thy speech shall be low out of the dust; And thy voice shall be as of a ghost out of the ground, And thy speech shall chirp out of the dust.
5But the multitude of thy foes shall be like small dust, And the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away; Yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly—
6There shall be a visitation from the LORD of hosts With thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, With whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7And the multitude of all the nations that war against Ariel, Even all that war against her, and the bulwarks about her, and they that distress her, Shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.
8And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth, But he awaketh, and his soul is empty; Or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh, But he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite— So shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9Stupefy yourselves, and be stupid! Blind yourselves, and be blind! Ye that are drunken, but not with wine, That stagger, but not with strong drink.
10For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, And hath closed your eyes; The prophets, and your heads, the seers, hath He covered.
11And the vision of all this is become unto you as the words of a writing that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying:
‘Read this, I pray thee’; and he saith: ‘I cannot, for it is sealed’;
12and the writing is delivered to him that is not learned, saying: ‘Read this, I pray thee’; and he saith: ‘I am not learned.’
13And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near, And with their mouth and with their lips do honour Me, But have removed their heart far from Me, And their fear of Me is a command-ment of men learned by rote;
14Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvellous work among this people, Even a marvellous work and a wonder; And the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the prudence of their prudent men shall be hid.
15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, And their works are in the dark, And they say: ‘Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?’
16O your perversity! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; That the thing made should say of him that made it: ‘He made me not’; Or the thing framed say of him that framed it: ‘He hath no understanding?’
17Is it not yet a very little while, And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, And the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of a book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the neediest among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the terrible one is brought to nought, And the scorner ceaseth, And all they that watch for iniquity are cut off;
21That make a man an offender by words, And lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, And turn aside the just with a thing of nought.
22Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Neither shall his face now wax pale;
23When he seeth his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, That they sanctify My name; Yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, And shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24They also that err in spirit shall come to understanding, And they that murmur shall learn instruction.
Chapter 30
1Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, That take counsel, but not of Me; And that form projects, but not of My spirit, That they may add sin to sin;
2That walk to go down into Egypt, And have not asked at My mouth; To take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh, And to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3Therefore shall the stronghold of Pharaoh turn to your shame, And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your confusion.
4For his princes are at Zoan, And his ambassadors are come to Hanes.
5They shall all be ashamed of a people that cannot profit them, That are not a help nor profit, But a shame, and also a reproach.
6The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, From whence come the lioness and the lion, The viper and flying serpent, They carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, And their treasures upon the humps of camels, To a people that shall not profit them.
7For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose; Therefore have I called her arrogancy that sitteth still.
8Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And inscribe it in a book, That it may be for the time to come For ever and ever.
9For it is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children that refuse to hear the teaching of the LORD;
10That say to the seers: ‘See not’, And to the prophets: ‘Prophesy not unto us right things, Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy delusions;
11Get you out of the way, Turn aside out of the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.’
12Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because ye despise this word, And trust in oppression and perverseness, And stay thereon;
13Therefore this iniquity shall be to you As a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, Whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14And He shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, Breaking it in pieces without sparing; So that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd To take fire from the hearth, Or to take water out of the cistern.
15For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: In sitting still and rest shall ye be saved, In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; And ye would not.
16But ye said: ‘No, for we will flee upon horses’; Therefore shall ye flee; And: ‘We will ride upon the swift’; Therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one, At the rebuke of five shall ye flee; Till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, And as an ensign on a hill.
18And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, And therefore will He be exalted, that He may have compassion upon you; For the LORD is a God of justice, Happy are all they that wait for Him.
19For, O people that dwellest in Zion at Jerusalem, Thou shalt weep no more; He will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry, When He shall hear, He will answer thee.
20And though the Lord give you sparing bread and scant water, Yet shall not thy Teacher hide Himself any more, But thine eyes shall see thy Teacher;
21And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying: ‘This is the way, walk ye in it, When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.’
22And ye shall defile thy graven images overlaid with silver, And thy molten images covered with gold; Thou shalt put them far away as one unclean; Thou shalt say unto it: ‘Get thee hence.’
23And He will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou sowest the ground, And bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous; In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
24The oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground Shall eat savoury provender, Wwhich hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
25And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill Streams and watercourses, In the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days, In the day that the LORD bindeth up the bruise of His people, And healeth the stroke of their wound.
27Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, With His anger burning, and in thick uplifting of smoke; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue is as a devouring fire;
28And His breath is as an overflowing stream, That divideth even unto the neck, To sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; And a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples.
29Ye shall have a song As in the night when a feast is hallowed; And gladness of heart, as when one goeth with the pipe To come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
30And the LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, And will show the lighting down of His arm, With furious anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, With a bursting of clouds, and a storm of rain, and hailstones.
31For through the voice of the LORD shall Asshur be dismayed, The rod with which He smote.
32And in every place where the appointed staff shall pass, Which the LORD shall lay upon him, It shall be with tabrets and harps; And in battles of wielding will He fight with them.
33For a hearth is ordered of old; Yea, for the king it is prepared, Deep and large; The pile thereof is fire and much wood; The breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Chapter 31
1Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, And trust in chariots, because they are many, And in horsemen, because they are exceeding mighty; But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, Neither seek the LORD!
2Yet He also is wise, And bringeth evil, And doth not call back His words; But will arise against the house of the evil-doers, And against the help of them that work iniquity.
3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, And their horses flesh, and not spirit; So when the LORD shall stretch out His hand, Both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, And they all shall perish together.
4For thus saith the LORD unto me: Like as the lion, or the young lion, growling over his prey, Though a multitude of shepherds be called forth against him, Will not be dismayed at their voice, Nor abase himself for the noise of them; So will the LORD of hosts come down To fight upon mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof.
5As birds hovering, So will the LORD of hosts protect Jerusalem; He will deliver it as He protecteth it, He will rescue it as He passeth over.
6Turn ye unto Him Against whom ye have deeply rebelled, O children of Israel.
7For in that day they shall cast away every man his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, Which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
8Then shall Asshur fall with the sword, not of man, And the sword, not of men, shall devour him; And he shall flee from the sword, And his young men shall become tributary.
9And his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, And his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, Saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, And His furnace in Jerusalem.
Chapter 32
1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, And as for princes, they shall rule in justice.
2And a man shall be as in a hiding-place from the wind, And a covert from the tempest; As by the watercourses in a dry place, As in the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3And the eyes of them that see shall not be closed, And the ears of them that hear shall attend.
4The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, And the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5The vile person shall be no more called liberal, Nor the churl said to be noble.
6For the vile person will speak villainy, And his heart will work iniquity, To practise ungodliness, and to utter wickedness against the LORD, To make empty the soul of the hungry, And to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7The instruments also of the churl are evil; He deviseth wicked devices To destroy the poor with lying words, And the needy when he speaketh right.
8But the liberal deviseth liberal things; And by liberal things shall he stand.
9Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear my voice; Ye confident daughters, give ear unto my speech.
10After a year and days shall ye be troubled, ye confident women; For the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come.
11Tremble, ye women that are at ease; Be troubled, ye confident ones; Strip you, and make you bare, And gird sackcloth upon your loins,
12Smiting upon the breasts For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine;
13For the land of my people Whereon thorns and briers come up; Yea, for all the houses of joy And the joyous city.
14For the palace shall be forsaken; The city with its stir shall be deserted; The mound and the tower shall be for dens for ever, A joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, And the wilderness become a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field.
17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; And the effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever.
18And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, And in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.
19And it shall hail, in the downfall of the forest; But the city shall descend into the valley.
20Happy are ye that sow beside all waters, That send forth freely the feet of the ox and the ass. Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; And dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee!
Chapter 33
1When thou hast ceased to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; And when thou art weary with dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
2O LORD, be gracious unto us; We have waited for Thee; Be Thou their arm every morning, Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; At the lifting up of Thyself the nations are scattered.
4And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathereth; As locusts leap do they leap upon it.
5The LORD is exalted, for He dwelleth on high; He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6And the stability of thy times shall be A hoard of salvation—wisdom and knowledge, And the fear of the LORD which is His treasure.
7Behold, their valiant ones cry without; The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8The highways lie waste, The wayfaring man ceaseth; He hath broken the covenant, He hath despised the cities, He regardeth not man.
9The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, it withereth; Sharon is like a wilderness; And Bashan and Carmel are clean bare.
10Now will I arise, saith the LORD; Now will I be exalted; Now will I lift Myself up.
11Ye conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; Your breath is a fire that shall devour you.
12And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime; As thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.
13Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; And, ye that are near, acknowledge My might.
14The sinners in Zion are afraid; Trembling hath seized the ungodly: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’
15He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; He that despiseth the gain of oppressions, That shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, And shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil;
16He shall dwell on high; His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; His bread shall be given, his waters shall be sure.
17Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty; They shall behold a land stretching afar.
18Thy heart shall muse on the terror: ‘Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed? Where is he that counted the towers?’
19Thou shalt not see the fierce people; A people of a deep speech that thou canst not perceive, Of a stammering tongue that thou canst not understand.
20Look upon Zion, the city of our solemn gatherings; Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a peaceful habitation, A tent that shall not be removed, The stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, Neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21But there the LORD will be with us in majesty, In a place of broad rivers and streams; Wherein shall go no galley with oars, Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us.
23Thy tacklings are loosed; They do not hold the stand of their mast, They do not spread the sail; Then is the prey of a great spoil divided; The lame take the prey.
24And the inhabitant shall not say: ‘I am sick’; The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
Chapter 34
1Come near, ye nations, to hear, And attend, ye peoples; Let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof, The world, and all things that come forth of it.
2For the LORD hath indignation against all the nations, And fury against all their host; He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3Their slain also shall be cast out, And the stench of their carcasses shall come up, And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4And all the host of heaven shall moulder away, And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; And all their host shall fall down, As the leaf falleth off from the vine, And as a falling fig from the fig-tree.
5For My sword hath drunk its fill in heaven; Behold, it shall come down upon Edom, And upon the people of My ban, to judgment.
6The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, It is made fat with fatness, With the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams; For the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, And the bullocks with the bulls; And their land shall be drunken with blood, And their dust made fat with fatness.
8For the LORD hath a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the controversy of Zion.
9And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, And the dust thereof into brimstone, And the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10It shall not be quenched night nor day, The smoke thereof shall go up for ever; From generation to generation it shall lie waste: None shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11But the pelican and the bittern shall possess it, And the owl and the raven shall dwell therein; And He shall stretch over it The line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.
12As for her nobles, none shall be there to be called to the kingdom; And all her princes shall be nothing.
13And thorns shall come up in her palaces, Nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; And it shall be a habitation of wild-dogs, An enclosure for ostriches.
14And the wild-cats shall meet with the jackals, And the satyr shall cry to his fellow; Yea, the night-monster shall repose there, And shall find her a place of rest.
15There shall the arrowsnake make her nest, and lay, And hatch, and brood under her shadow; Yea, there shall the kites be gathered, Every one with her mate.
16Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read; No one of these shall be missing, None shall want her mate; For My mouth it hath commanded, And the breath thereof it hath gathered them.
17And He hath cast the lot for them, And His hand hath divided it unto them by line; They shall possess it for ever, From generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
Chapter 35
1The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad; And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice, Even with joy and singing; The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, The excellency of Carmel and Sharon; They shall see the glory of the LORD, The excellency of our God.
3Strengthen ye the weak hands, And make firm the tottering knees.
4Say to them that are of a fearful heart: ‘Be strong, fear not’; Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God He will come and save you.
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, And the tongue of the dumb shall sing; For in the wilderness shall waters break out, And streams in the desert.
7And the parched land shall become a pool, And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the habitation of jackals herds shall lie down, It shall be an enclosure for reeds and rushes.
8And a highway shall be there, and a way, And it shall be called The way of holiness; The unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; The wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein.
9No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon, They shall not be found there; But the redeemed shall walk there;
10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come with singing unto Zion, And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; They shall obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Chapter 36
1Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
2And the king of Assyria sent Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fullers’field.
3Then came forth unto him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
4And Rab-shakeh said unto them: ‘Say ye now to Hezekiah: Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
5I said: It is but vain words; for counsel and strength are for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?
6Behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him.
7But if thou say unto me: We trust in the LORD our God; is not that He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem: Ye shall worship before this altar?
8Now therefore, I pray thee, make a wager with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain, even of the least of my master’s servants? yet thou puttest thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen!
10And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said unto me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.’
11Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rab-shakeh: ‘Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Aramean language, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jews’language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.’
12But Rab-shakeh said: ‘Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?’
13Then Rab-shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’language, and said: ‘Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah beguile you, for he will not be able to deliver you;
15neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying: The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying: The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’
21But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, saying:
‘Answer him not.’
22Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
Chapter 37
1And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3And they said unto him: ‘Thus saith Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD thy God hath heard; wherefore make prayer for the remnant that is left.’
5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6And Isaiah said unto them: ‘Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith the LORD: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’
8So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia: ‘He is come out to fight against thee.’ And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:
10’Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Let not thy God in whom thou trustest beguile thee, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar?
13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’
14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying:16’O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth.
17Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to taunt the living God.
18Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land,
19and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
20Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the LORD, even Thou only.’
21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22this is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion Hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Hath shaken her head at thee.
23Whom hast thou taunted and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice? Yea, thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high, Even against the Holy One of Israel!
24By thy servants hast thou taunted the Lord, And hast said: With the multitude of my chariots Am I come up to the height of the mountains, To the innermost parts of Lebanon; And I have cut down the tall cedars thereof, And the choice cypress-trees thereof; And I have entered into his farthest height, The forest of his fruitful field.
25I have digged and drunk water, And with the sole of my feet have I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.
26Hast thou not heard? Long ago I made it, In ancient times I fashioned it; Now have I brought it to pass, Yea, it is done; that fortified cities Should be laid waste into ruinous heaps.
27Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field, And as the green herb, As the grass on the housetops, And as a field of corn before it is grown up.
28But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy raging against Me.
29Because of thy raging against Me, And for that thine uproar is come up into Mine ears, Therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And I will turn thee back by the way By which thou camest.
30And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape; the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall perform this.
33Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mound against it.
34By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith the LORD.
35For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’
36And the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went, and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 38
1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him: ‘Thus saith the LORD: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.’
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
3and said: ‘Remember now, O LORD, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight.’ And Hezekiah wept sore.
4Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying:5’Go, and say to Hezekiah: Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.
7And this shall be the sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He hath spoken:
8behold, I will cause the shadow of the dial, which is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, to return backward ten degrees.’ So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10I said: In the noontide of my days I shall go, Even to the gates of the nether-world; I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11I said: I shall not see the LORD, Even the LORD in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12My habitation is plucked up and carried away from me As a shepherd’s tent; I have rolled up like a weaver my life; He will cut me off from the thrum; From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
13The more I make myself like unto a lion until morning, The more it breaketh all my bones; From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
14Like a swallow or a crane, so do I chatter, I do moan as a dove; Mine eyes fail with looking upward. O LORD, I am oppressed, be Thou my surety.
15What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, And Himself hath done it; I shall go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, by these things men live, And altogether therein is the life of my spirit; Wherefore recover Thou me, and make me to live.
17Behold, for my peace I had great bitterness; But Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it From the pit of corruption; For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.
18For the nether-world cannot praise Thee, Death cannot celebrate Thee; They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, As I do this day; The father to the children shall make known Thy truth.
20The LORD is ready to save me; Therefore we will sing songs to the stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
21And Isaiah said: ‘Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.’
22And Hezekiah said.’ What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?’
Chapter 39
1At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
2And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.
3Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him: ‘What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?’ And Hezekiah said: ‘They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.’
4Then said he: ‘What have they seen in thy house?’ And Hezekiah answered:
‘All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.’
5Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah: ‘Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
6Behold, the days come, that all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
7And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.’
8Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah: ‘Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken.’ He said moreover: ‘If but there shall be peace and truth in my days.’
Chapter 40
1Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, Saith your God.
2Bid Jerusalem take heart, And proclaim unto her, That her time of service is accomplished, That her guilt is paid off; That she hath received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.
3Hark! one calleth: ‘Clear ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD, Make plain in the desert A highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be lifted up, And every mountain and hill shall be made low; And the rugged shall be made level, And the rough places a plain;
5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.’
6Hark! one saith: ‘Proclaim! ’ And he saith: ‘What shall I proclaim?’ ’All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field;
7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; Because the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it— Surely the people is grass.
8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; But the word of our God shall stand for ever.’
9O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, Get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, Lift up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah: ‘Behold your God! ’
10Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a Mighty One, And His arm will rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His recompense before Him.
11Even as a shepherd that feedeth his flock, That gathereth the lambs in his arm, And carrieth them in his bosom, And gently leadeth those that give suck.
12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, And meted out heaven with the span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, And weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance?
13Who hath meted out the spirit of the LORD? Or who was His counsellor that he might instruct Him?
14With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of right, And taught Him knowledge, And made Him to know the way of discernment?
15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, And are counted as the small dust of the balance; Behold the isles are as a mote in weight.
16And Lebanon is not sufficient fuel, Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for burnt-offerings.
17All the nations are as nothing before Him; They are accounted by Him as things of nought, and vanity.
18To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?
19The image perchance, which the craftsman hath melted, And the goldsmith spread over with gold, The silversmith casting silver chains?
20A holm-oak is set apart, He chooseth a tree that will not rot; He seeketh unto him a cunning craftsman To set up an image, that shall not be moved.
21Know ye not? hear ye not? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood the foundations of the earth?
22It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
23That bringeth princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as a thing of nought.
24Scarce are they planted, Scarce are they sown, Scarce hath their stock taken root in the earth; When He bloweth upon them, they wither, And the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.
25To whom then will ye liken Me, that I should be equal? Saith the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high, And see: who hath created these? He that bringeth out their host by number, He calleth them all by name; By the greatness of His might, and for that He is strong in power, Not one faileth.
27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, And speakest, O Israel: ‘My way is hid from the LORD, And my right is passed over from my God’?
28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard That the everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary? His discernment is past searching out.
29He giveth power to the faint; And to him that hath no might He increaseth strength.
30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall;
31But they that wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; They shall walk, and not faint.
Chapter 41
1Keep silence before Me, O islands, And let the peoples renew their strength; Let them draw near, then let them speak; Let us come near together to judgment.
2Who hath raised up one from the east, At whose steps victory attendeth? He giveth nations before him, And maketh him rule over kings; His sword maketh them as the dust, His bow as the driven stubble.
3He pursueth them, and passeth on safely; The way with his feet he treadeth not.
4Who hath wrought and done it? He that called the generations from the beginning. I, the LORD, who am the first, And with the last am the same.
5The isles saw, and feared; The ends of the earth trembled; They drew near, and came.
6They helped every one his neighbour; And every one said to his brother: ‘Be of good courage.’
7So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, And he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, Saying of the soldering: ‘It is good’; And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The seed of Abraham My friend;
9Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, And called thee from the uttermost parts thereof, And said unto thee: ‘Thou art My servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away’;
10Fear thou not, for I am with thee, Be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee; Yea, I uphold thee with My victorious right hand.
11Behold, all they that were incensed against thee Shall be ashamed and confounded; They that strove with thee Shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, Even them that contended with thee; They that warred against thee Shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13For I the LORD thy God Hold thy right hand, Who say unto thee: ‘Fear not, I help thee.’
14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, And ye men of Israel; I help thee, saith the LORD, And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I make thee a new threshing-sledge Having sharp teeth; Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, And shalt make the hills as chaff.
16Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; And thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, Thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and needy seek water and there is none, And their tongue faileth for thirst; I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers on the high hills, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water.
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, And the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together;
20That they may see, and know, And consider, and understand together, That the hand of the LORD hath done this, And the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21Produce your cause, saith the LORD; Bring forth your reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
22Let them bring them forth, and declare unto us The things that shall happen; The former things, what are they? Declare ye, that we may consider, And know the end of them; Or announce to us things to come.
23Declare the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that ye are gods; Yea, do good, or do evil, That we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24Behold, ye are nothing, And your work a thing of nought; An abomination is he that chooseth you.
25I have roused up one from the north, and he is come, From the rising of the sun one that calleth upon My name; And he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, And as the potter treadeth clay.
26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And beforetime, that we may say that he is right? Yea, there is none that declareth, Yea, there is none that announceth, Yea, there is none that heareth your utterances.
27A harbinger unto Zion will I give:
‘Behold, behold them’, And to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings.
28And I look, but there is no man; Even among them, but there is no counsellor, That, when I ask of them, can give an answer.
29Behold, all of them, Their works are vanity and nought; Their molten images are wind and confusion.
Chapter 42
1Behold My servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My spirit upon him, He shall make the right to go forth to the nations.
2He shall not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3A bruised reed shall he not break, And the dimly burning wick shall he not quench; He shall make the right to go forth according to the truth.
4He shall not fail nor be crushed, Till he have set the right in the earth; And the isles shall wait for his teaching.
5Thus saith God the LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them forth, He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, And spirit to them that walk therein:
6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, And have taken hold of thy hand, And kept thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, For a light of the nations;
7To open the blind eyes, To bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, And them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
8I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory will I not give to another, Neither My praise to graven images.
9Behold, the former things are come to pass, And new things do I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
10Sing unto the LORD a new song, And His praise from the end of the earth; Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, The isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
11Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar doth inhabit; Let the inhabitants of Sela exult, Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12Let them give glory unto the LORD, And declare His praise in the islands.
13The LORD will go forth as a mighty man, He will stir up jealousy like a man of war; He will cry, yea, He will shout aloud, He will prove Himself mighty against His enemies.
14I have long time held My peace, I have been still, and refrained Myself; Now will I cry like a travailing woman, Gasping and panting at once.
15I will make waste mountains and hills, And dry up all their herbs; And I will make the rivers islands, And will dry up the pools.
16And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, In paths that they knew not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and rugged places plain. These things will I do, And I will not leave them undone.
17They shall be turned back, greatly ashamed, That trust in graven images, That say unto molten images: ‘Ye are our gods.’
18Hear, ye deaf, And look, ye blind, that ye may see.
19Who is blind, but My servant? Or deaf, as My messenger that I send? Who is blind as he that is wholehearted, And blind as the LORD’S servant?
20Seeing many things, thou observest not; Opening the ears, he heareth not.
21The LORD was pleased, for His righteousness’sake, To make the teaching great and glorious.
22But this is a people robbed and spoiled, They are all of them snared in holes, And they are hid in prison-houses; They are for a prey, and none delivereth, For a spoil, and none saith:
‘Restore.’
23Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
24Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the LORD? He against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they would not walk, Neither were they obedient unto His law.
25Therefore He poured upon him the fury of His anger, And the strength of battle; And it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, And it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
Chapter 43
1But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, And He that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine.
2When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3For I am the LORD thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4Since thou art precious in My sight, and honourable, And I have loved thee; Therefore will I give men for thee, And peoples for thy life.
5Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, And gather thee from the west;
6I will say to the north: ‘Give up’, And to the south: ‘Keep not back, Bring My sons from far, And My daughters from the end of the earth;
7Every one that is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him.’
8The blind people that have eyes shall be brought forth, And the deaf that have ears.
9All the nations are gathered together, And the peoples are assembled; Who among them can declare this, And announce to us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; And let them hear, and say: ‘It is truth.’
10Ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, And My servant whom I have chosen; That ye may know and believe Me, and understand That I am He; Before Me there was no God formed, Neither shall any be after Me.
11I, even I, am the LORD; And beside Me there is no saviour.
12I have declared, and I have saved, And I have announced, And there was no strange god among you; Therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, and I am God.
13Yea, since the day was I am He, And there is none that can deliver out of My hand; I will work, and who can reverse it?
14Thus saith the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And I will bring down all of them as fugitives, Even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their shouting.
15I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.
16Thus saith the LORD, who maketh a way in the sea, And a path in the mighty waters;
17Who bringeth forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power— They lie down together, they shall not rise, They are extinct, they are quenched as a wick:
18Remember ye not the former things, Neither consider the things of old.
19Behold, I will do a new thing; Now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.
20The beasts of the field shall honour Me, The jackals and the ostriches; Because I give waters in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, Mine elect;
21The people which I formed for Myself, That they might tell of My praise.
22Yet thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob, Neither hast thou wearied thyself about Me, O Israel.
23Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle of thy burnt-offerings; Neither hast thou honoured Me with thy sacrifices. I have not burdened thee with a meal-offering, Nor wearied thee with frankincense.
24Thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money, Neither hast thou satisfied Me with the fat of thy sacrifices; But thou hast burdened Me with thy sins, Thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities.
25I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake; And thy sins I will not remember.
26Put Me in remembrance, let us plead together; Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
27Thy first father sinned, And thine intercessors have transgressed against Me.
28Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, And I have given Jacob to condemnation, And Israel to reviling.
Chapter 44
1Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen;
2Thus saith the LORD that made thee, And formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob My servant, And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3For I will pour water upon the thirsty land, And streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, And My blessing upon thine offspring;
4And they shall spring up among the grass, As willows by the watercourses.
5One shall say: ‘I am the LORD’S’; And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; And another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, And surname himself by the name of Israel.
6Thus saith the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer the LORD of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, And beside Me there is no God.
7And who, as I, can proclaim— Let him declare it, and set it in order for Me— Since I appointed the ancient people? And the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them declare.
8Fear ye not, neither be afraid; Have I not announced unto thee of old, and declared it? And ye are My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? Yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.
9They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity, And their delectable things shall not profit; And their own witnesses see not, nor know; That they may be ashamed.
10Who hath fashioned a god, or molten an image That is profitable for nothing?
11Behold, all the fellows thereof shall be ashamed; And the craftsmen skilled above men; Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; They shall fear, they shall be ashamed together.
12The smith maketh an axe, And worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, And worketh it with his strong arm; Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; He drinketh no water, and is faint.
13The carpenter stretcheth out a line; He marketh it out with a pencil; He fitteth it with planes, And he marketh it out with the compasses, And maketh it after the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house.
14He heweth him down cedars, And taketh the ilex and the oak, And strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest; He planteth a bay-tree, and the rain doth nourish it.
15Then a man useth it for fuel; And he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; Yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; He maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16He burneth the half thereof in the fire; With the half thereof he eateth flesh; He roasteth roast, and is satisfied; Yea, he warmeth himself, and saith:
‘Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire’;
17And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; He falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, And saith: ‘Deliver me, for thou art my god.’
18They know not, neither do they understand; For their eyes are bedaubed, that they cannot see, And their hearts, that they cannot understand.
19And none considereth in his heart, Neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say: ‘I have burned the half of it in the fire; Yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it; And shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?’
20He striveth after ashes, A deceived heart hath turned him aside, That he cannot deliver his soul, nor say: ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’
21Remember these things, O Jacob, And Israel, for thou art My servant; I have formed thee, thou art Mine own servant; O Israel, thou shouldest not forget Me.
22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, And, as a cloud, thy sins; Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.
23Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath done it; Shout, ye lowest parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, And doth glorify Himself in Israel.
24Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, And He that formed thee from the womb: I am the LORD, that maketh all things; That stretched forth the heavens alone; That spread abroad the earth by Myself;
25That frustrateth the tokens of the imposters, And maketh diviners mad; That turneth wise men backward, And maketh their knowledge foolish;
26That confirmeth the word of His servant, And performeth the counsel of His messengers; That saith of Jerusalem: ‘She shall be inhabited’; And of the cities of Judah: ‘They shall be built, And I will raise up the waste places thereof’;
27That saith to the deep: ‘Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers’;
28That saith of Cyrus: ‘He is My shepherd, And shall perform all My pleasure’; Even saying of Jerusalem: ‘She shall be built’; And to the temple: ‘My foundation shall be laid.’
Chapter 45
1Thus saith the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, To subdue nations before him, And to loose the loins of kings; To open the doors before him, And that the gates may not be shut:
2I will go before thee, And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, And cut in sunder the bars of iron;
3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, And hidden riches of secret places, That thou mayest know that I am the LORD, Who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.
4For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel Mine elect, I have called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me.
5I am the LORD, and there is none else, Beside Me there is no God; I have girded thee, though thou hast not known Me;
6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, That there is none beside Me; I am the LORD; and there is none else;
7I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things.
8Drop down, ye heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation, And let her cause righteousness to spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, As a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it: ‘What makest thou?’ Or: ‘Thy work, it hath no hands’?
10Woe unto him that saith unto his father.’ Wherefore begettest thou?’ Or to a woman: ‘Wherefore travailest thou?’
11Thus saith the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me of the things that are to come; Concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me.
12I, even I, have made the earth, And created man upon it; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, And all their host have I commanded.
13I have roused him up in victory, And I make level all his ways; He shall build My city, And he shall let Mine exiles go free, Not for price nor reward, Saith the LORD of hosts.
14Thus saith the LORD: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine; They shall go after thee, in chains they shall come over; And they shall fall down unto thee, They shall make supplication unto thee: Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, There is no other God.
15Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
16They shall be ashamed, yea, confounded, all of them; They shall go in confusion together that are makers of idols.
17O Israel, that art saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
18For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens, He is God; That formed the earth and made it, He established it, He created it not a waste, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD, and there is none else.
19I have not spoken in secret, In a place of the land of darkness; I said not unto the seed of Jacob: ‘Seek ye Me in vain’; I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, Ye that are escaped of the nations; They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, And pray unto a god that cannot save.
21Declare ye, and bring them near, Yea, let them take counsel together: Who hath announced this from ancient time, And declared it of old? Have not I the LORD? And there is no God else beside Me, A just God and a Saviour; There is none beside Me.
22Look unto Me, and be ye saved, All the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is none else.
23By Myself have I sworn, The word is gone forth from My mouth in righteousness, And shall not come back, That unto Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall swear.
24Only in the LORD, shall one say of Me, is victory and strength; Even to Him shall men come in confusion, All they that were incensed against Him.
25In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel Be justified, and shall glory.
Chapter 46
1Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; Their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle; The things that ye carried about are made a load, A burden to the weary beast.