Isaiah 37:21-29

EasyEnglish Bible

“The holy people of Zion laugh at you!
    They think that you are useless.
Yes, the people of Jerusalem shake their heads
    as you run away.
²³ Who do you think it is that you have insulted?
    Who have you shouted at?
    Who have you looked at so proudly?
The answer is the Holy God of Israel!
²⁴ You have sent your servants
    to insult the Lord God.
You have said, ‘I have taken all my chariots
    and I have gone up high mountains,
    the highest mountains in Lebanon.
I have cut down its tall cedar trees,
    and I have cut down its best pine trees.
I went up to its highest places,
    and I went far into its forests.
²⁵ I dug wells and they gave me water to drink.
My army marched through all the rivers in Egypt,
    and the rivers became dry.’

²⁶ You said that, but now listen to this!^[a]
    You must surely have heard it already.
I decided what to do a long time ago!
    Now I am causing it to happen.
I decided that you would destroy strong cities
    so that they became heaps of stones.
²⁷ The people of those cities have no power.
    They are afraid and they are confused.
They are like plants in a field,
    that cannot live for a long time.
They are like fresh green grass,
    or grass that grows on the roof of a house.
When a hot wind blows on them,
    it burns them and they die.
²⁸ I know everything about you.
    I know where you live.
I know when you go out.
    And I know when you return home.
I know how much you shout against me,
    when you are angry.
²⁹ Yes, you do shout at me!
    And I have heard all your proud noise.
So I will put my hook in your nose.
    I will tie a rope to your mouth.
Then I will pull you back home
    by the same way that you came.”