Isaiah 1-20

International Standard Version

“I reared children
    and brought them to adulthood,
        but then they rebelled against me.
³ The ox knows its owner,
    and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
but^[e] Israel doesn’t know,
    and^[f] my people don’t understand.

⁴ “Oh, you sinful nation!
    You people burdened down by iniquity!
You offspring of those who keep practicing what is evil!
    You corrupt children!

“They’ve abandoned the Lord;
    they’ve despised the Holy One of Israel;
        in their estrangement, they’ve walked away from me.^[g]

⁵ “Why will you still be struck down?
    Why will you continue to rebel?
Your whole head is sick,
    and your whole heart is faint.
⁶ From the sole of your foot to the top of your head,
    there’s no soundness evident^[h]—
only bruises, sores,
    and festering wounds
that haven’t been cleaned out,
    bandaged, or treated^[i] with oil.”

⁸ “The daughter of Zion is left abandoned,
    like a booth in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
    or like a city under siege.
⁹ If the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
    hadn’t left us a few survivors,
we would be like Sodom;
    we would be like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ “Listen to what the Lord says,
    you rulers of Sodom,
and^[l] pay attention to the teaching of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹ “How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?”
    the Lord is asking.
“I’ve had enough of burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of well-fed beasts.
I don’t enjoy the blood of bulls,
    lambs, or goats.

¹² “When you come to present yourselves in my presence,^[m]
    who has required you
        to trample on my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing useless offerings!
    Incense is detestable to me,
as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations.
    I cannot stand iniquity within^[n] a solemn assembly.
¹⁴ As for your New Moons and your appointed festivals,
    I abhor^[o] them.
They’ve become a burden to me;
    I’ve grown weary of carrying that burden.^[p]
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,^[q]
    I’ll hide my eyes from you.
Even though you pray repeatedly,
    I won’t listen.
Your hands are full of blood,
    your fingers drenched^[r] with iniquity.”^[s]

¹⁸ “Please come,
    and let’s reason together,” implores the Lord.
“Even though your^[x] sins are like scarlet,
    they’ll be white like snow.
Though they’re like crimson,^[y]
    they’ll become like wool.
¹⁹ If you’re willing and obedient,
    you’ll eat the best that the land produces;
²⁰ but^[z] if you refuse and rebel,
    you’ll be devoured by the sword,^[aa]
        because the Lord^[ab] has spoken.”

“Now I’ll get relief from his^[ah] enemies
    and avenge myself on his^[ai] foes.
²⁵ When I turn^[aj] my attention to you,^[ak]
    I’ll refine your dross as in a furnace.^[al]
        I’ll remove^[am] all your alloy.
²⁶ Let me restore^[an] your judges as at the first,
    and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you’ll be called ‘The Righteous City’
    and ‘The Faithful City of Zion’.^[ao]

²⁷ “Zion^[ap] will be redeemed by justice,
    and her repentant ones^[aq] by righteousness.
²⁸ Rebels and sinners will be broken together,
    and those who forsake the Lord will be consumed.
²⁹ They’ll be ashamed of the oak trees
    that you desired;
and you’ll blush because of the gardens
    that you have chosen.
³⁰ You’ll be like an oak
    whose leaf is withering,
        like an unwatered garden.
³¹ Your^[ar] strong one^[as] will be like tinder,
    and your work^[at] a spark;
both of them will burn together,
    with no one to quench the flames that burn^[au] them.”

² “It will come about in the last days
    that the mountain that is the Lord’s Temple will be established
        as the highest of mountains,^[aw]
and will be raised above the hills;
    all the nations will stream to^[ax] it.
³ Many groups of people^[ay] will come, commenting,
    “Come! Let’s go up to^[az] the Temple of the God of Jacob,
that they^[ba] may teach us his ways.
    Then let’s walk in his paths.”

“They will beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nations will not raise swords against nations,
    and they will not learn warfare anymore.

⁵ “You house of Jacob!

⁶ For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are filled with practices learned^[bf] from the East
and they are fortune-tellers like the Philistines.
They cut deals^[bg] with foreigners.^[bh]
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
⁸ Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
        to what their own fingers have made.

⁹ “So mankind is humbled,
    each human being is brought low,
        and^[bi] you won’t forgive.”^[bj]

¹² “For the Lord of the Heavenly Armies has reserved^[br] a time^[bs]
    to oppose^[bt] all who are proud and haughty,
and the^[bu] self-exalting—
    they will be humbled.
¹³ He will take his stand^[bv] against all the cedars^[bw] of Lebanon,
    against the proud and self-exalting;
        and against all the oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴ against all the high mountains,
    and against all the lofty hills;
¹⁵ against every high tower,
    and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶ against all the ships from Tarshish,
    and against all their impressive watercraft.

¹⁷ “Humanity’s haughtiness will be humbled,
    male arrogance will be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
¹⁸ Their^[bx] idols will utterly vanish.^[by]

¹⁹ “They will enter caverns in the rocks
    and holes in the ground
to escape^[bz] the presence of the terror of the Lord,
    to escape^[ca] the splendor of his majesty
        when he arises to terrify the earth.
²⁰ At that time,^[cb] mankind will throw
    their silver and gold idols^[cc]
that their fingers have made^[cd] as objects of worship
    to the moles and to the bats.
²¹ They will enter caverns in the rocks
    and clefts in the cliffs,
to escape^[ce] the terror of the Lord
    and to escape^[cf] the splendor of his majesty,
        when he arises to terrorize the earth.

²² “Stop trusting in human beings,
    whose life breath is in their nostrils,
        for what are they^[cg] really worth?”^[ch]

⁴ “I will make youths their princes,
    and infants will rule over them.
⁵ People will oppress one another—
    It will be man against man
        and neighbor against neighbor.
The young will be disrespectful to the old,
    and the worthless to the honorable.

⁶ “For a man will grab his brother
    in his own father’s house,
and say, ‘You have a cloak,
    so you be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
    will be under your rule!’

⁷ “But^[cj] at that time,^[ck] he’ll protest!^[cl]
    He’ll say, ‘I won’t be your healer.
I have neither food nor clothing in my house!
    You’re not going to make me a leader of the people!’

⁸ “For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen,
because what they say and do opposes^[cm] the Lord;
    they keep defying him.^[cn]

⁹ “The expressions on their faces give them away.^[co]
    They parade their sin around like Sodom;
        they don’t even try to^[cp] hide it.
How horrible it will be for them,
    because they have brought disaster on themselves!”

¹² “As for my people, children^[cu] are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
My people, your leaders are misleading you—
    they’re giving you confusing directions.”^[cv]

“You’re the ones who have been devouring the vineyard,
    the plunder of the poor is in your own houses!
¹⁵ How dare you crush^[cy] my people
    as you grind down the face of the poor?”
        declares the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.^[cz]

“Because Zion’s women are so haughty,
    and walk with outstretched necks,
flirting with their eyes,
    prancing^[da] along as they walk,
        and making tinkling noises with their ankle bracelets,^[db]
17 therefore the Lord^[dc] will afflict sores
    on the heads of Zion’s women,
        and the Lord^[dd] will expose their private parts.

²⁴ “And it will come about that instead of fragrance
    there will be^[dh] a stench;
instead of a belt, a rope;
    instead of well-set hair, baldness;
instead of a fine robe, sackcloth;
    and instead of beauty, shame.^[di]
25 Your men will die violently,^[dj]
    while your forces^[dk] fall^[dl] in battle
²⁶ and her gates lament and mourn.
    Ravaged, she will sit on the ground.”

“The one I love had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
² He plowed its land^[dz] and cleared it of stones.
    Then he planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
    and dug a wine vat in it;
He expected^[ea] it to produce good^[eb] grapes,
    but it produced only wild ones.”^[ec]

³ “So now, you inhabitants^[ed] of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge, won’t you please,
    between me and my vineyard.
⁴ What more could I do in^[ee] my vineyard,
    that I haven’t already done?
When I expected it to produce good^[ef] grapes,
    why did it yield^[eg] wild ones?^[eh]

⁵ “Now, let me tell you, won’t you please,
    what I’m going to do to my vineyard.

“I’m going to take away its protective hedge,
    and it will be devoured;^[ei]
I’ll break down its wall,
    and it will be trampled.
⁶ I’ll make it a wasteland,
    and it won’t be pruned or cultivated.
Instead, briers and thorns will grow up.
    I’ll also issue commands to the clouds,
        that they drop no rain upon it.”

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are the garden in which he delights.^[ej]
He looked for justice,
    but saw only bloodshed;
he searched^[ek] for righteousness,
    but heard only an outcry!

⁹ The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it:

“Surely many houses will become desolate,
    great and beautiful houses,
        without occupants.
¹⁰ For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath,^[em]
    and one omer^[en] of seed^[eo] will produce only one ephah.”^[ep]

¹⁶ But the Lord of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice,
    and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy.
¹⁷ Then the lambs will graze in their pasture;
    fatlings and foreigners will eat
        among the waste places of the rich.”

²² “How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and champions in mixing strong drink,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of justice!”

Throughout all of this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hands are^[fc] still stretched out to attack.^[fd]

²⁶ The Lord^[fe] will signal^[ff] for nations far away,
    whistling for them to come^[fg]
        from the ends of the earth.
Look how quickly
    and how swiftly they come!
²⁷ No one is weary, no one stumbles,^[fh]
    and no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt around their waists will come undone,
    nor will their sandal straps be broken.
²⁸ Their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows ready for action.^[fi]
Their horses’ hooves seem like flint,
    and their chariot wheels spin^[fj] like a whirlwind.
²⁹ With a roar like a lion, they snarl,
    and like young lions, they growl;^[fk]
they seize their prey
    and then carry it off,
        with no one to rescue.
³⁰ They will roar over it^[fl] at that time,^[fm]
    like the sea waves roar.
If one surveys the land, watch out!
    There’s darkness and distress;
        even the daylight is darkened by its clouds.

“Holy, holy, holy^[fq] is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies!
    The whole earth is full of his glory!”

“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
    keep^[fu] on seeing, but do not perceive.’
¹⁰ Dull the mind^[fv] of this people,
    deafen their ears,
        and blind their eyes.
By doing so, they won’t see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
    turn back,
        and be healed.”

“Until cities lie waste,
    without inhabitants,
and houses without people;
    and the land becomes utterly desolate.
¹² Until^[fx] the Lord removes people far away,
    and there are many empty places
        in the middle of the land.
¹³ Even though a tenth of its people remain^[fy] in it,
    it will once again be burned,^[fz]
like a terebinth^[ga] or an oak tree,^[gb]
    the stump of which, though the tree has been^[gc] felled,
        still contains holy seed.”^[gd]

“‘It won’t take place.
    It won’t ever happen.
⁸ Because Aram’s head is Damascus,
    and Rezin is its king,^[gj]
within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered as a people.
⁹ Furthermore, Ephraim’s head is Samaria,
    and Remaliah’s son is its king.^[gk]
If all of you don’t keep on believing,
    you’ll never remain loyal.’”^[gl]

⁹ “Band together,^[hz] you peoples,
    but be shattered!
        Listen, all you distant countries!
Strap on your armor,
        but be shattered.^[ia]
10 Take counsel together,
    but it will all be for nothing;
go ahead and talk,
    but^[ib] it will all be for nothing,^[ic]
        for God is with us.”^[id]

¹² “Don’t call conspiracy everything
    that this people calls conspiracy,
and don’t fear what they fear,
    or live in terror.
¹³ The Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
    he’s the one you are to regard as holy.
Let him be the one whom you fear,
    and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror!
¹⁴ Then he will be a sanctuary,
    but for both houses of Israel
he’ll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself,
    a rock one stumbles over,
        a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem.
¹⁵ Many will stumble on them;
    They’ll fall and be broken;
        They’ll be snared and captured.

¹⁶ “Bind up the testimony,
    and seal up the teaching among my disciples.
¹⁷ I’ll wait for the Lord,
    who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob,
        and I’ll put my trust in him.
¹⁸ Watch out! I and the children
    whom the Lord has given me
are a sign and a wonder^[ig] in Israel
    from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
        who resides on Mount Zion.”

‘Ask the mediums your questions,
    and quiz the spiritists who chirp and mutter,’
shouldn’t a people instead be consulting their God—^[ih]
    and not the dead—
on behalf of those who are living
²⁰ for instruction and for testimony?
    Surely they are speaking like this
        because the truth^[ii] hasn’t dawned on them.

²¹ “They’ll pass through the land,^[ij]
    while^[ik] greatly distressed and hungry.
When they are hungry,
    they’ll become enraged,
and they’ll curse their king and their god.^[il]
    They’ll turn their faces upwards,
²² or they’ll look toward the^[im] earth,
    but they’ll see only distress and darkness,
the gloom that comes from anguish,
    and then they’ll be thrown into total darkness.”

^2 [ir]The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
for those living in a land of deep darkness,
    a light has shined upon them.
³ You have increased the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice in your presence
    as they rejoice at the harvest,
as they are glad
    when they’re dividing the spoils of war.^[is]
4 Now as to the yoke that has been^[it] his burden,
    and the bar laid^[iu] on his shoulder—
the rod of his oppressor—
    you have broken it^[iv] as on the day of Midiam.^[iw]
5 For every boot of the tramping soldier in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
        will be used for burning as fuel for a fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
    and his name is^[ix] called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the growth of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will rule^[iy] over his kingdom,
    sitting on the throne of David,
to establish it and to uphold it^[iz]
    with justice and righteousness
        from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.

“Yet^[ji] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”^[jj]

“Yet^[jp] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.^[jq]

¹⁸ “For wickedness has burned like a blaze
    that consumes briers and thorns;
it sets thickets of the forest on fire,
    and skyward^[jr] they swirl
        in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ From^[js] the wrath of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
    the land has been scorched,
and the people have become like fuel for the fire;
        no one will spare his neighbor.
²⁰ They cut meat on the right,
    but they’re still hungry,
and they devour also^[jt] on the left,
    but they’re not satisfied;
        each devours the flesh of his own children.^[ju]
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim,
    and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.

“Yet^[jv] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”^[jw]

“Yet^[kc] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”^[kd]

⁸ “Because this is what he is saying:
    ‘My commanders are all kings, are they not?
⁹ Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
    Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
        Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the idolatrous kingdoms^[kh]
    whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹ will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols
    as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?’”

‘I’ve done it by the strength of my hand,
    and by my wisdom,
        because I’m so clever.^[kl]
I removed the boundaries of peoples,
    and plundered their treasures;
like a bull I brought down
    those who sat on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found, as if in a nest,
    the wealth of the people;
and as one gathers eggs that have been abandoned,
    so I have gathered all the inhabitants of the^[km] earth.
Nothing moved a wing,
    opened its mouth,
        or chirped.’

¹⁵ “Does the ax exalt itself
    over the one who swings it?
Or does the saw magnify itself
    in opposition to the one who wields it?
As if a rod were to wield those who lift^[kn] it,
    or as if a club were to brandish the one who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore, the Lord God^[ko] of the Heavenly Armies will send a wasting disease
    among Assyria’s^[kp] sturdy warriors,
and under its glory a conflagration will be kindled,
    like a blazing bonfire.

¹⁷ “The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and its Holy One a flame,
and it will burn
    and consume Assyria’s^[kq] thorns and briers
        in a single day.
¹⁸ The splendor of its forest and its fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy—
        both soul and body—
and Assyria^[kr] will be
    as when a dying man wastes away.
¹⁹ What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few
    that a child can count them.”^[ks]

¹² He will raise a banner for the nations
    and will assemble the dispersed of Israel;
he will gather the scattered people of Judah
    from the corners^[me] of the earth.

⁴ “Give thanks to the Lord;
    call on his name.
Make known his actions
    among the nations.
        Proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵ “Sing praises to the Lord,^[ms]
    because he has acted gloriously,
        being made^[mt] known in all the world.
⁶ Shout aloud, and sing for joy,
    you who live in Zion,
because great in your midst
    is the Holy One of Israel.”

² “Raise a banner on a bare hilltop!
    Cry out loud to them!
Give a wave of the hand,
    signaling^[mw] for them to enter^[mx]
        the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones;
    I have also summoned my warriors,
those who rejoice in my triumph,
    to carry out my angry judgments.^[my]

⁴ “Listen! There’s a noise on the mountains
    like that of a great multitude!
Listen! There’s an uproar among the kingdoms,
    like that of nations massing together!
The Lord of the Heavenly Armies is mustering
    an army for battle.
⁵ They’re coming from a faraway land,
    from the distant horizon—^[mz]
the Lord and the weapons of his anger—
    to destroy the entire land.”^[na]

“How the oppressor has come to an end!
    How the attacker^[oj] has ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
    the scepter of rulers,
⁶ that struck down peoples in anger
    with unceasing blows,
that oppressed nations in fury
    with relentless persecution.
⁷ The entire earth is at rest and peace;
    its inhabitants^[ok] break into song.
⁸ Even the cypresses rejoice over you,
    as do^[ol] the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Now that you’ve been laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’^[om]

⁹ “The afterlife^[on] below is all astir
    to meet you when you arrive;^[oo]
it rouses up the spirits of the dead to greet you—
    everyone who used to be world leaders.
It has raised up from their thrones
    all who used to be kings of the nations.
¹⁰ In answer, all of them^[op] will tell you,
    ‘You’ve also become as weak as we are!
You have become just like us!’
¹¹ Your^[oq] pomp has been brought down to Sheol,^[or]
    along with the noise of your harps.
Maggots are spread out beneath you,
    and worms are your covering.”^[os]

¹⁶ “Those who see you will stare at you.
    They will wonder about you:
‘Is this the man who^[pa] made the earth tremble,
    who made kingdoms quake,
¹⁷ who made the world like a desert,
    who^[pb] destroyed its cities,
        who would not open the jails for his prisoners?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie^[pc] in state,
    each in his own tomb.
¹⁹ But you are cast away from your grave,
    like a repulsive branch,
your clothing is the slain,
    those pierced by the sword;
        those who go down to the Pit.^[pd]
Like a dead body trampled underfoot,
²⁰ you will not be united^[pe] with them^[pf] in burial,
for you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.
People will never mention
    the descendants of those who practice evil again!^[pg]
21 Prepare a massacre for his sons
    because of the guilt of their forefathers!
They are not to rise and inherit the earth,
    and cover^[ph] the surface of the world with cities.”

²⁴ The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has sworn:

“Surely as I have planned,
    that’s what she^[pm] will become;^[pn]
and just as I have determined,
    so will it remain—
²⁵ to crush the Assyrian in my land,
    and on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke^[po] will turn away from you,^[pp]
    and his burden from your^[pq] shoulders.”

²⁶ “This is what I’ve planned
    for the whole earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
²⁷ For the Lord of the Heavenly Armies has planned,
    and who can thwart him?
His hand is stretched out,
    and who can turn it back?”

²⁹ “Don’t rejoice, all of you Philistines,
    that the rod that struck you is broken,
because from the snake’s root a viper will spring up,
    and its offspring^[ps] will be a darting, poisonous serpent.
³⁰ The firstborn of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy will lie down in safety;
but I’ll kill your root^[pt] by famine,
    and I’ll^[pu] execute your survivors.
³¹ Wail, you gate!
    Cry out, you city!
        Melt away,^[pv] all you Philistines!
For smoke comes from the north,
    and there’s no one to take measure^[pw] in its festivals.^[px]
32 How will they^[py] answer the messengers of the nation?
    “The Lord has founded Zion,
        and in it^[pz] the afflicted among his people will find refuge.”

“For Ir^[qb] in Moab is destroyed in a night,
    and Moab^[qc] is ruined!
Because Ir^[qd] in Moab is destroyed in a single night,
    Moab is ruined!
² He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,
    to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
    Moab wails.
His head is completely^[qe] bald,
    and^[qf] every beard is shaved off.
³ In its streets they wear sackcloth;
    on its rooftops and in its squares
        everyone wails and falls down^[qg] weeping.
⁴ Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
    their voices are heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the loins^[qh] of Moab cry aloud;
    its heart quakes for itself.
⁵ My heart cries out over Moab;
    her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
        as far as Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent to Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction.
⁶ The Nimrim waters are desolate;
    the grass is withered,
its vegetation gone;
        there is^[qi] no foliage left.
⁷ Therefore the wealth they have acquired
    and what they have stored up—
they carry them away
    over the Arab^[qj] Wadi.^[qk]
8 For the cry has gone out
    along the border of Moab;
her wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    her wailing reaches as far as Beer-elim.
⁹ The Dibon^[ql] streams are full of blood;
    but I will bring upon Dibon^[qm] even more—
a lion will pounce^[qn] upon those of Moab who escape,
upon^[qo] those who remain in the land.”

³ “Give us advice;
    reach a decision!
Cast your shadow as if night had come
    at high noon.
Shelter the fugitives,
    And don’t betray a single refugee.
⁴ Let the fugitives^[qs] from Moab
    settle among you;
be a shelter to them
    from the destroyer.

When the oppressor comes to an end,
    and destruction has^[qt] ceased,
        and the marauder^[qu] has^[qv] vanished from the land,
⁵ then a throne will be established in gracious love,
    and there will sit in faithfulness—
        in the Tent of David—
one who judges, seeks justice,
    and is swift to do what is right.”

⁶ “We’ve heard about Moab’s pride—
    so very proud he became!—^[qw]
his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    therefore he is alone.^[qx]
7 Therefore, let Moab not^[qy] wail,
    let everyone wail for Moab.
Lament and grieve deeply
    for the ruined remains^[qz] of Kir-hareseth.
⁸ For the fields of Heshbon wither,
    as well as the vines of Sibmah.^[ra]
The rulers of the nations
have struck down its choicest vines,
which once reached Jazer
and pushed to the desert.
Its shoots spread out
and passed over the sea.”

“Look! Damascus^[rl] will cease to be a city.
    Instead, it will become a pile of ruins.
² The cities of Oraru^[rm] will be deserted—
    they will be devoted to herds that will lay at rest,
        and terrorism will be no more.^[rn]
3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal authority from Damascus;^[ro]
the survivors^[rp] from Aram^[rq] will be like the glory of the Israelis,”
    declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.

¹² “How terrible it will be for many peoples,
    who rage like the roaring sea!
Oh, how the uproar of nations
    is like the sound of rushing, mighty water—
    How they roar!
¹³ The nations roar like the rushing of many waters,^[sj]
    but the Lord^[sk] will rebuke them,
and they will run far away,
    chased like chaff blown down from the mountains
or like thick dust^[sl] that rolls along,
    blown along by a wind storm.
¹⁴ When the evening arrives, watch out—sudden terror!
    By morning they will be there no longer!
So it will be for those who plunder us
    and what will happen to those who rob us.”

³ All you inhabitants of the world,
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
    you’ll see it.
When a trumpet sounds,
    you’ll hear it!

⁴ For this is what the Lord told me:
“I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place
    like dazzling heat in sunshine,
        like a cloud of dew in the heat^[sq] of harvest.”

⁵ For before the harvest, when the season of^[sr] budding is over,
    and sour grapes ripen into mature grapes,^[ss]
he cuts off the shoots with pruning knives,
    clearing away the spreading branches
        as he lops them off.
⁶ And^[st] they will all be left
    for birds of prey that live on the mountains^[su]
        and for wild animals.^[sv]
Birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them,
    and all the wild animals^[sw] will pass the winter feeding^[sx] on them.

⁷ At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
    from^[sy] a tall and smooth-skinned people,
from a people feared far and wide,
    a nation that metes out^[sz] punishment^[ta] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide,
    to Mount Zion,
        the place that bears^[tb] the name of the Lord.^[tc]

“Watch out! The Lord rides on a swift cloud,
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
² I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
    and everyone will fight against his brother,
everyone against his neighbor,
    city^[te] against city,
        kingdom against kingdom.
³ The spirits of the Egyptians within them will be drained of courage,^[tf]
    and I will bring their plans to nothing.
They will consult idols^[tg] and spirits of the dead,
    and mediums and spiritists.
⁴ I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
        and a fierce king will rule over them,”

declares the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.