Category: Isaiah

[19:16] A time is coming when the people of Egypt will be as timid as women. They will tremble in terror when they see that the Lord Almighty has stretched out his hand to punish them.

[19:17] The people of Egypt will be terrified of Judah every time they are reminded of the fate that the Lord Almighty has prepared for them.

[19:18] When that time comes, the Hebrew language will be spoken in five Egyptian cities. The people there will take their oaths in the name of the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will be called, “City of the Sun.”

[19:19] When that time comes, there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt and a stone pillar dedicated to him at the Egyptian border.

[19:20] They will be symbols of the Lord Almighty's presence in Egypt. When the people there are oppressed and call out to the Lord for help, he will send someone to rescue them.

[19:21] The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptian people, and then they will acknowledge and worship him, and bring him sacrifices and offerings. They will make solemn promises to him and do what they promise.

[19:22] The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.

[19:23] When that time comes, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. The people of these two countries will travel back and forth between them, and the two nations will worship together.

[19:24] When that time comes, Israel will rank with Egypt and Assyria, and these three nations will be a blessing to all the world.

[19:25] The Lord Almighty will bless them and say, “I will bless you, Egypt, my people; you, Assyria, whom I created; and you, Israel, my chosen people.”

[20:1] Under the orders of Emperor Sargon of Assyria, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army attacked the Philistine city of Ashdod.

[20:2] Three years earlier the Lord had told Isaiah son of Amoz to take off his sandals and the sackcloth he was wearing. He obeyed and went around naked and barefoot.

[20:3] When Ashdod was captured, the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been going around naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia.

[20:4] The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt.

[20:5] Those who have put their trust in Ethiopia and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered.

[20:6] When that time comes, the people who live along the coast of Philistia will say, ‘Look at what has happened to the people we relied on to protect us from the emperor of Assyria! How will we ever survive?’”

[21:1] This is a message about Babylonia. Like a whirlwind sweeping across the desert, disaster will come from a terrifying land.

[21:2] I have seen a vision of cruel events, a vision of betrayal and destruction. Army of Elam, attack! Army of Media, lay siege to the cities! God will put an end to the suffering which Babylon has caused.

[21:3] What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labor.

[21:4] My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.

[21:5] In the vision a banquet is ready; rugs are spread for the guests to sit on. They are eating and drinking. Suddenly the command rings out: “Officers! Prepare your shields!”

[21:6] Then the Lord said to me, “Go and post a sentry, and tell him to report what he sees.

[21:7] If he sees riders coming on horseback, two by two, and riders on donkeys and camels, he is to observe them carefully.”

[21:8] The sentry calls out, “Sir, I have been standing guard at my post day and night.”

[21:9] Suddenly, here they come! Riders on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, “Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshiped lie shattered on the ground.”

[21:10] My people Israel, you have been threshed like wheat, but now I have announced to you the good news that I have heard from the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel.

[21:11] This is a message about Edom. Someone calls to me from Edom, “Sentry, how soon will the night be over? Tell me how soon it will end.”

[21:12] I answer, “Morning is coming, but night will come again. If you want to ask again, come back and ask.”

[21:13] This is a message about Arabia. People of Dedan, you whose caravans camp in the barren country of Arabia,

[21:14] give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugees.

[21:15] People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot, from all the dangers of war.

[21:16] Then the Lord said to me, “In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end.

[21:17] The archers are the bravest warriors of Kedar, but few of them will be left. I, the Lord God of Israel, have spoken.”

[22:1] This is a message about the Valley of Vision. What is happening? Why are all the people of the city celebrating on the roofs of the houses?

[22:2] The whole city is in an uproar, filled with noise and excitement. Your people who died in this war did not die fighting.

[22:3] All your leaders ran away and were captured before they shot a single arrow.

[22:4] Now leave me alone to weep bitterly over all those of my people who have died. Don't try to comfort me.

[22:5] This is a time of panic, defeat, and confusion in the Valley of Vision, and the Sovereign Lord Almighty has sent it on us. The walls of our city have been battered down, and cries for help have echoed among the hills.

[22:6] The soldiers from the land of Elam came riding on horseback, armed with bows and arrows. Soldiers from the land of Kir had their shields ready.

[22:7] The fertile valleys of Judah were filled with chariots; soldiers on horseback stood in front of Jerusalem's gates.

[22:8] All of Judah's defenses crumbled. When that happened, you brought weapons out of the arsenal.

[22:11] you built a reservoir inside the city to hold the water flowing down from the old pool. But you paid no attention to God, who planned all this long ago and who caused it to happen.

[22:12] The Sovereign Lord Almighty was calling you then to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth.

[22:13] Instead, you laughed and celebrated. You killed sheep and cattle to eat, and you drank wine. You said, “We might as well eat and drink! Tomorrow we'll be dead.”

[22:14] The Sovereign Lord Almighty himself spoke to me and said, “This evil will never be forgiven them as long as they live. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken.”

[22:15] The Sovereign Lord Almighty told me to go to Shebna, the manager of the royal household, and say to him,

[22:16] “Who do you think you are? What right do you have to carve a tomb for yourself out of the rocky hillside?

[22:17] You may be important, but the Lord will pick you up and throw you away.

[22:18] He will pick you up like a ball and throw you into a much larger country. You will die there beside the chariots you were so proud of. You are a disgrace to your master's household.

[22:19] The Lord will remove you from office and bring you down from your high position.”

[22:20] The Lord said to Shebna, “When that happens, I will send for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

[22:21] I will put your official robe and belt on him and give him all the authority you have had. He will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.

[22:22] I will give him complete authority under the king, the descendant of David. He will have the keys of office; what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open.

[22:23] I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, and he will be a source of honor to his whole family.

[22:24] “But all his relatives and dependents will become a burden to him. They will hang on him like pots and bowls hanging from a peg!

[22:25] When that happens, the peg that was firmly fastened will pull loose and fall. And that will be the end of everything that was hanging on it.” The Lord has spoken.

[23:1] This is a message about Tyre. Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! Your home port of Tyre has been destroyed; its houses and its harbor are in ruins. As your ships return from Cyprus, you learn the news.

[23:2] Wail, you merchants of Sidon! You sent agents

[23:3] across the sea to buy and sell the grain that grew in Egypt and to do business with all the nations.

[23:4] City of Sidon, you are disgraced! The sea and the great ocean depths disown you and say, “I never had any children. I never raised sons or daughters.”

[23:5] Even the Egyptians will be shocked and dismayed when they learn that Tyre has been destroyed.

[23:6] Howl with grief, you people of Phoenicia! Try to escape to Spain!

[23:7] Can this be the joyful city of Tyre, founded so long ago? Is this the city that sent settlers across the sea to establish colonies?

[23:8] Who was it that planned to bring all this on Tyre, that imperial city, whose merchant princes were the most honored men on earth?

[23:9] The Lord Almighty planned it. He planned it in order to put an end to their pride in what they had done and to humiliate their honored ones.

[23:10] Go and farm the land, you people in the colonies in Spain! There is no one to protect you any more.

[23:11] The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea and overthrown kingdoms. He has commanded that the Phoenician centers of commerce be destroyed.

[23:12] City of Sidon, your happiness has ended, and your people are oppressed. Even if they escape to Cyprus, they will still not be safe.

[23:13] (It was the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, who let the wild animals overrun Tyre. It was the Babylonians who put up siege towers, tore down the fortifications of Tyre, and left the city in ruins.)

[23:14] Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! The city you relied on has been destroyed.

[23:15] A time is coming when Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of a king. When those years are over, Tyre will be like the prostitute in the song:

[23:16] Take your harp, go round the town, you poor forgotten whore! Play and sing your songs again to bring men back once more.

[23:17] When the seventy years are over, the Lord will let Tyre go back to her old trade, and she will hire herself out to all the kingdoms of the world.

[23:18] The money she earns by commerce will be dedicated to the Lord. She will not store it away, but those who worship the Lord will use her money to buy the food and the clothing they need.

[24:1] The Lord is going to devastate the earth and leave it desolate. He will twist the earth's surface and scatter its people.

[24:2] Everyone will meet the same fate—the priests and the people, slaves and masters, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, rich and poor.

[24:3] The earth will lie shattered and ruined. The Lord has spoken and it will be done.

[24:4] The earth dries up and withers; the whole world grows weak; both earth and sky decay.

[24:5] The people have defiled the earth by breaking God's laws and by violating the covenant he made to last forever.

[24:6] So God has pronounced a curse on the earth. Its people are paying for what they have done. Fewer and fewer remain alive.

[24:7] The grapevines wither, and wine is becoming scarce. Everyone who was once happy is now sad,

[24:8] and the joyful music of their harps and drums has ceased.

[24:9] There is no more happy singing over wine; no one enjoys its taste any more.

[24:10] In the city everything is in chaos, and people lock themselves in their houses for safety.

[24:11] People shout in the streets because there is no more wine. Happiness is gone forever; it has been banished from the land.

[24:12] The city is in ruins, and its gates have been broken down.

[24:13] This is what will happen in every nation all over the world. It will be like the end of harvest, when the olives have been beaten off every tree and the last grapes picked from the vines.

[24:14] Those who survive will sing for joy. Those in the West will tell how great the Lord is,

[24:15] and those in the East will praise him. The people who live along the sea will praise the Lord, the God of Israel.

[24:16] From the most distant parts of the world we will hear songs in praise of Israel, the righteous nation. But there is no hope for me! I am wasting away! Traitors continue to betray, and their treachery grows worse and worse.

[24:17] Listen to me, everyone! There are terrors, pits, and traps waiting for you.

[24:18] Anyone who tries to escape from the terror will fall in a pit, and anyone who escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. Torrents of rain will pour from the sky, and earth's foundations will shake.

[24:19] The earth will crack and shatter and split open.

[24:20] The earth itself will stagger like a drunk, sway like a hut in a storm. The world is weighed down by its sins; it will collapse and never rise again.

[24:21] A time is coming when the Lord will punish the powers above and the rulers of the earth.

[24:22] God will crowd kings together like prisoners in a pit. He will shut them in prison until the time of their punishment comes.

[24:23] The moon will grow dark, and the sun will no longer shine, for the Lord Almighty will be king. He will rule in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and the leaders of the people will see his glory.

[25:1] Lord, you are my God; I will honor you and praise your name. You have done amazing things; you have faithfully carried out the plans you made long ago.

[25:2] You have turned cities into ruins and destroyed their fortifications. The palaces which our enemies built are gone forever.

[25:3] The people of powerful nations will praise you; you will be feared in the cities of cruel nations.

[25:4] The poor and the helpless have fled to you and have been safe in times of trouble. You give them shelter from storms and shade from the burning heat. Cruel enemies attack like a winter storm,

[25:5] like drought in a dry land. But you, Lord, have silenced our enemies; you silence the shouts of cruel people, as a cloud cools a hot day.