Bible in 90 Days
God’s Message in Troubled Times
1 This is the vision Isaiah son of Amoz saw. God showed Isaiah what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah saw these things while Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
God Finds Fault with His People
2 Heaven and earth, listen,
because the Lord is speaking:
“I raised my children and helped them grow.
But they have turned against me.
3 An ox knows its master.
And a donkey knows where its owner feeds it.
But the people of Israel do not know me.
My people do not understand.”
4 Terrible times are coming for Israel, a nation of sin.
The people are loaded down with guilt.
They are like a group of children doing evil.
They are full of evil.
They have left the Lord.
They hate God, the Holy One of Israel.
They have turned away from him.
5 Why should you continue to be punished?
Why do you continue to turn against him?
Your whole head is hurt.
And your whole heart is sick.
6 There is no healthy spot
from the bottom of your foot to the top of your head.
You are covered with wounds, hurts and open sores.
Your wounds are not cleaned and covered.
No medicine takes away the pain.
7 Your land is ruined.
Your cities have been burned with fire.
While you watch,
your enemies are stealing everything from your land.
Your land is ruined like a country destroyed by enemies.
8 Jerusalem is left alone
like an empty shelter in a vineyard.
It is like a hut left in a field of melons.
It is like a city surrounded by enemies.
9 The Lord of heaven’s armies
allowed a few of our people to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 Jerusalem, your rulers are like those of Sodom.
Your people are like those of Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the Lord.
Listen to the teachings of our God!
11 The Lord says,
“I do not want all these sacrifices you give me.
I have had enough of your sacrifices
of male sheep and fat from fine animals.
I am not pleased
by the blood of bulls, sheep and goats.
12 You come to meet with me.
But who asked you to do
all this running in and out?
13 Don’t continue bringing me worthless sacrifices!
I hate the incense you burn.
I can’t stand your New Moons, Sabbaths and other feast days.
I can’t stand the evil you do in holding your holy meetings.
14 I hate your New Moon feasts
and your other yearly feasts.
They have become like heavy weights on me.
I am tired of carrying them.
15 You will raise your arms in prayer to me.
But I will refuse to look at you.
Even if you say many prayers,
I will not listen to you.
It’s because your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean.
Stop doing the evil things I see you do.
Stop doing wrong!
17 Learn to do good.
Be fair to other people.
Punish those who hurt others.
Help the orphans.
Stand up for the rights of widows.”
18 The Lord says,
“Come, we will talk these things over.
Your sins are red like deep red cloth.
But they can be as white as snow.
Your sins are bright red.
But you can be white like wool.
19 If you will obey me,
you will eat good crops from the land.
20 But if you refuse to obey and if you turn against me,
you will be destroyed by your enemies’ swords.”
The Lord himself said these things.
Jerusalem Is Not Loyal to God
21 The city of Jerusalem once followed the Lord.
But she is no longer loyal to the Lord.
She used to be filled with fairness.
People there lived the way God wanted.
But now, murderers live there.
22 Jerusalem, you have become like the scum left when silver is purified.
You are like wine mixed with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels.
They are friends of thieves.
They all accept money for doing wrong things.
They are paid to cheat people.
They don’t try to help the orphans.
And they don’t listen to the widows’ needs.
24 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, says:
“You, my enemies, will not cause me any more trouble.
I will pay you back for what you did.
25 I will turn against you.
I will clean away all your wrongs as if with soap.
I will take all the worthless things out of you.
26 I will bring back judges as you had long ago.
Your counselors will be like the ones you had in the beginning.
Then you will be called the City That Is Right with God.
You will be called the Loyal City.”
27 Because the Lord does what is fair,
he will rescue Jerusalem.
Because the Lord does what is right,
he will save her people who come back to him.
28 But sinners and those who turn against him will be destroyed.
Those who have left the Lord will die.
29 “You will be ashamed
because you have worshiped false gods under the oak trees.
You will be disgraced
because you have worshiped idols in your gardens.
30 You will be like an oak whose leaves are dying.
You will be like a garden without water.
31 Powerful people will be like small, dry pieces of wood.
And what they do will be like sparks.
The people and what they do will burn together.
And no one will be able to stop that fire.”
The Message About Jerusalem
2 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this message about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands
will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills.
And people from all nations will come streaming to it.
3 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.
Let us go to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his ways.
And we will obey his teachings.”
The Lord’s teachings will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord’s message will go out from Jerusalem.
4 Then the Lord will settle arguments among many nations.
He will make decisions for strong nations that are far away.
Then the nations will make their swords into plows.
They will make their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer fight other nations.
They will not even train for war anymore.
5 Come, family of Jacob.
We should follow the way of the Lord.
A Terrible Day Is Coming
6 Lord, you have left your people,
the family of Jacob.
They have become filled with wrong ideas from people in the East.
Your people try to tell the future like the Philistines.
They have completely accepted those foreign ideas.
7 Their land has been filled with silver and gold.
There are a great many treasures there.
Their land has been filled with horses.
There are many chariots there.
8 Their land is full of idols.
The people worship these idols that they made with their own hands.
They worship statues shaped by their fingers.
9 People will not be proud any longer.
They will bow low with shame.
God, do not forgive them.
10 Go into the caves of the cliffs.
Dig holes and hide in the ground.
Hide from the anger of the Lord
and from his great power!
11 Proud people will stop being proud.
They will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will still be praised.
12 The Lord of heaven’s armies has a certain day planned.
On that day he will punish the proud and those who brag.
They will no longer be important.
13 He will bring down the tall cedar trees from Lebanon.
He will destroy the great oak trees of Bashan.
14 He will destroy all the tall mountains
and the high hills.
15 He will knock down every tall tower
and every high, strong wall.
16 He will sink all the trading ships.
And he will destroy the beautiful ships.
17 At that time proud people will stop being proud.
They will bow low with shame.
And at that time only the Lord will be praised.
18 But all the idols will be gone.
19 People will run to caves in the rocky cliffs.
They will dig holes and hide in the ground.
They will hide from the anger of the Lord
and his great power.
They will do this when the Lord stands to shake the earth.
20 At that time people will throw away
their gold and silver idols.
They made these idols for themselves to worship.
But they will throw them away to the bats and moles.
21 Then the people will hide in caves
and cracks in the rocks.
They will hide from the anger of the Lord
and his great power.
They will do this when the Lord stands to shake the earth.
22 You should stop trusting in people to save you.
People are only human.
They aren’t able to help you.
God Will Punish Judah and Jerusalem
3 Understand what I am telling you.
The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will take away everything Judah and Jerusalem need.
He will take away all the food and water.
2 He will take away all the heroes and great soldiers.
He will take away all the judges, prophets,
people who do magic and elders.
3 He will take away the military leaders and government leaders.
He will take away the counselors, the skilled craftsmen and those who try to tell the future.
4 The Lord says, “I will cause young boys to be your leaders.
Foolish children will rule over you.
5 Everyone will be against everyone else.
Young people will not respect older people.
Common people will not respect important people.”
6 At that time a man will grab one of his brothers
from his own family and say,
“You have a coat. So you will be our leader.
You will be the leader over all these ruins.”
7 But that brother will stand up and say,
“I cannot help you.
I do not have food or clothes in my house.
You will not make me your leader.”
8 This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen.
The things they say and do are against the Lord.
They sin openly against the Lord.
9 The look on their faces shows they are guilty of doing wrong.
Like the people of Sodom, they are proud of their sin.
They don’t care who sees it.
How terrible it will be for them!
They have brought much trouble to themselves.
10 Tell the good people that good things will happen to them.
They will receive a reward for the good they do.
11 But how terrible it will be for wicked people!
They will be punished for all the wrong they have done.
12 Children treat my people cruelly.
Women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you in the wrong way.
They turn you away from what is right.
13 The Lord takes his place in court.
He stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord presents his case
against the elders and other leaders of his people.
He says, “You have burned my vineyard.
Your houses are full of what you took from the poor.
15 What gives you the right to crush my people?
How can you grind the faces of the poor into the dirt?”
The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, said this.
A Warning to Women of Jerusalem
16 The Lord says,
“The women of Jerusalem are proud.
They walk around with their heads held high.
They flirt with their eyes.
They take quick, short steps,
making noise with their ankle bracelets.”
17 So the Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Jerusalem.
He will make them lose all their hair.
18 At that time the Lord will take away everything that makes them proud. He will take away their beautiful ankle bracelets, their headbands and their necklaces shaped like the moon. 19 He will take away their earrings, bracelets and veils. 20 He will take away their scarves, ankle chains, the cloth belts worn around their waists, their bottles of perfume and charms. 21 He will take away their signet rings, nose rings, 22 their fine robes, capes, shawls and purses. 23 And he will take away their mirrors, linen dresses, turbans and long shawls.
24 Instead of having sweet-smelling perfume, they will stink.
Instead of fine cloth belts, they will have ropes of captives to wear.
Instead of having their hair fixed in fancy ways, they will be bald.
Instead of fine clothes, they will have rough clothes of sadness.
Instead of having beauty, they will have the brand of a captive.
25 At that time your men will be killed with swords.
Your heroes will die in war.
26 There will be crying and sadness in the meeting places near the city gates.
Jerusalem will be like a woman who has lost everything and sits on the ground.
4 At that time seven women
will grab one man.
They will say, “We will make our own bread.
And we will make our own clothes.
But please marry us!
Please, take away our shame.”
The Branch of the Lord
2 At that time the Lord’s branch will be very beautiful and great. The people still living in Israel will be proud of what the land grows. 3 All the people who are still living in Jerusalem will be called holy. This will be all the people whose names are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the filth from the women of Jerusalem. He will wash the bloodstains out of Jerusalem. He will clean Jerusalem with the spirit of fairness and the spirit of fire. 5 As he did when Israel left Egypt, the Lord will cover them with a cloud of smoke during the day. And he will cover them with a bright, flaming fire at night. These proofs will be over Mount Zion. They will be over every meeting of the people there. There will be a covering over every person. 6 This covering will be a place of safety. It will protect the people from the heat of the sun. It will be a safe place to hide from the storm and rain.
Israel, God’s Special Field
5 Now I will sing a song to my friend. This song is about his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a hill with very rich soil.
2 He dug and cleared the field of stones.
He planted the best grapevines there.
And he built a tower in the middle of it.
He cut out a winepress as well.
He hoped good grapes would grow there.
But only bad grapes grew.
3 My friend says, “You people living in Jerusalem,
and you men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard?
I did everything I could.
I hoped for good grapes to grow.
But why were there only bad grapes?
5 Now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove the hedge,
and it will be burned.
I will break down the stone wall,
and it will be walked on.
6 I will ruin my field.
It will not be trimmed or hoed.
Weeds and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard belonging to the Lord of heaven’s armies
is the nation of Israel.
The garden that the Lord loves
is the men of Judah.
The Lord looked for justice, but there was only killing.
The Lord hoped for right living, but there were only cries of pain.
8 How terrible it will be for you who add more houses to your houses
and more fields to your fields.
Finally there is no room left for other people.
Then you are left alone in the land.
9 The Lord of heaven’s armies said this to me:
“The fine houses will be destroyed.
The large and beautiful houses will be left empty.
10 At that time a ten-acre vineyard will make only six gallons of wine.
And ten bushels of seed will grow only half a bushel of grain.”
11 How terrible it will be for people who rise early in the morning
to look for strong drink.
They stay awake late at night,
becoming drunk with wine.
12 At their parties they have lyres, harps,
tambourines, flutes and wine.
They don’t see what the Lord has done.
They don’t notice the work of his hands.
13 So my people will be captured and taken away
because they don’t really know me.
All the great men will die of hunger.
The common people will die of thirst.
14 So the place where the dead are wants more and more people.
It opens its mouth wide.
Jerusalem’s important men will go down into it.
And the common people will go down into it.
15 So the common people and the great people will be humbled.
Those who are proud will be humbled.
16 The Lord of heaven’s armies will receive glory by judging fairly.
The holy God will show himself holy by doing what is right.
17 Then the sheep will go anywhere they want.
Lambs will feed on the land that rich people once owned.
18 How terrible it will be for those people!
They pull their guilt and sins behind them
as people pull wagons with ropes.
19 They say, “Let’s see God hurry.
Let’s see him do his work soon.
We want to see it.
Let’s see the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen soon.
Then we would know what it really is.”
20 How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad
and bad things good.
They think darkness is light
and light is darkness.
They think sour is sweet
and sweet is sour.
21 How terrible it will be for people who think they are wise.
They think they are clever.
22 How terrible it will be for people who are famous for drinking wine.
They are champions at mixing drinks.
23 They take money to set the guilty free.
But they don’t allow good people to be judged fairly.
24 They will be destroyed
just as fire burns straw or dry grass.
They will be destroyed
like a plant whose roots rot
and whose flower dies and blows away like dust.
They have refused to obey the teachings of the Lord of heaven’s armies.
They hated the message from the Holy God of Israel.
25 So the Lord has become very angry with his people.
And he has raised his hand to punish them.
Even the mountains are frightened.
Dead bodies lie in the streets like garbage.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
26 God raises a banner for the nations far away.
He is whistling to call those people.
The enemy comes quickly!
27 Not one of them becomes tired or falls down.
Not one of them gets sleepy and falls asleep.
Their weapons are close at hand.
Their sandal straps are not broken.
28 Their arrows are sharp.
All of their bows are ready to shoot.
The horses’ hooves are hard as rock.
Their chariot wheels move like a whirlwind.
29 Their shout is like the roar of a lion.
It is loud like a young lion.
The enemy growls as they grab their captives.
There is no one to stop them from taking their captives away.
30 On that day they will roar
like the waves of the sea.
And when people look at the land,
they will see only darkness and pain.
All light will become dark in this thick cloud.
Isaiah Becomes a Prophet
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a very high throne. His long robe filled the Temple. 2 Burning heavenly creatures stood above him. Each creature had six wings. They used two wings to cover their faces. They used two wings to cover their feet. And they used two wings for flying. 3 Each creature was calling to the others:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
His glory fills the whole earth.”
4 Their voices caused the frame around the door to shake. The Temple filled with smoke.
5 I said, “Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure. And I live among people who are not pure. But I have seen the King, the Lord of heaven’s armies.”
6 On the altar there was a fire. One of the burning heavenly creatures used a pair of tongs to take a hot coal from the fire. Then he flew to me with the hot coal in his hand. 7 The creature touched my mouth with the hot coal. Then he said, “Look. Your guilt is taken away because this hot coal has touched your lips. Your sin is taken away.”
8 Then I heard the Lord’s voice. He said, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?”
So I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
9 Then the Lord said, “Go and tell this to the people:
‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand.
You will look and look, but you will not learn.’
10 Make these people stubborn.
Make them not able to understand what they hear and see.
Otherwise, they might really understand
what they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears.
They might really understand in their minds.
If they did this, they would come back to me and be forgiven.”
11 Then I asked, “Lord, how long should I do this?”
He answered,
“Do this until the cities are destroyed
and the people are gone.
Do this until there are no people left living in the houses.
Do this until the land is destroyed and left empty.
12 I will send the people far away.
And the land will be left empty.
13 One-tenth of the people will be left in the land.
But the land will be destroyed again.
These people will be like an oak tree.
When the tree is chopped down, a stump is left.
The people who remain will be like a stump that will sprout again.”
Trouble with Aram
7 Now Ahaz was the son of Jotham, who was the son of Uzziah. When Ahaz was king of Judah, Rezin and Pekah went up to Jerusalem to fight against it. Rezin was king of Aram. And Pekah son of Remaliah was king of Israel. But they were not able to defeat the city.
2 A message was told to Ahaz king of Judah. It said, “The armies of Aram and Israel[a] have joined together.”
When Ahaz heard this, he and the people became very frightened. They shook with fear like trees of the forest blown by the wind.
3 Then the Lord told Isaiah, “You and your son Shear-Jashub should go out and talk to Ahaz. Go to the place where the water flows into the upper pool. This is on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 4 Tell Ahaz, ‘Be careful. Be calm, and don’t be afraid. Don’t let those two men, Rezin and Remaliah’s son Pekah, scare you. Don’t be afraid of their anger and Aram’s anger. Those two men are as weak as two barely burning sticks that are ready to go out. 5 They have made plans against you. They said, 6 “Let’s fight against Judah and tear it apart. We will divide Judah for ourselves. We will make the son of Tabeel the new king of Judah.” 7 But I, the Lord God, say,
Their plan will not succeed.
It will not happen.
8 That is because Aram is led by the city of Damascus.
And Damascus is led by its weak king, Rezin.
Within 65 years Israel will no longer be a nation.
9 Israel is led by the city of Samaria,
and Samaria is led by its weak king, the son of Remaliah.
If your faith is not strong,
then you will not have strength to last.’”
Immanuel—God Is with Us
10 Then the Lord spoke to Ahaz again. 11 The Lord said, “Ask for a sign to prove to yourself that these things are true. It may be a sign from as deep as the place where the dead are or as high as the heavens.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask for a sign. I will not test the Lord.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Ahaz, descendant of David, listen very carefully! Isn’t it bad enough that you wear out the patience of people? Do you have to wear out the patience of my God also? 14 But the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin[b] will be pregnant. She will have a son, and she will name him Immanuel.[c] 15 He will be eating milk curds and honey when he learns to reject what is evil and to choose what is good. 16 You are afraid of the kings of Israel and Aram now. But before the child learns what is good and what is evil, the lands of Israel and Aram will be empty. 17 The Lord will bring some troubled times to you. Those troubles will come to your people and to the people of your father’s family. The Lord will bring the king of Assyria to fight against you.
18 “At that time the Lord will whistle to call for the Egyptians. And they will come like flies from the streams of Egypt. The Lord will call for the Assyrians. And they will come like bees from the land of Assyria. 19 These enemies will camp in the deep ravines and in the cliffs. They will camp by the thornbushes and watering holes. 20 The Lord will use Assyria to punish Judah. Assyria will be hired and used like a razor. It will be as if the Lord is shaving the hair from Judah’s head and legs and is shaving off Judah’s beard.
21 “At that time a person will be able to keep only one young cow and two sheep alive. 22 There will be only enough milk for that person to eat milk curds. All who remain in the land will go back to eating only milk curds and honey. 23 In this land there are now vineyards that have 1,000 grapevines. These grapevines are worth about 25 pounds of silver. But these fields will become full of weeds and thorns. 24 The land will become wild and useful only as a hunting ground. 25 People once worked and grew food on these hills. But at that time people will not go there. The land will be filled with weeds and thorns. Only sheep and cattle will go to those places.”
Assyria Will Come Soon
8 The Lord told me, “Take a large scroll on which to write. Use a pen to write these words: ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’[d] 2 I will gather some men to be reliable witnesses. They will be Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”
3 Then I went to the prophetess. She became pregnant and had a son. Then the Lord told me, “Name the boy Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 The king of Assyria will take away all the wealth and possessions of Damascus and Samaria. This will happen before the boy learns to say ‘my father’ or ‘my mother.’”
5 Again the Lord spoke to me. 6 He said,
“These people refuse to accept
the slow-moving waters of the pool of Shiloah.
These people are terrified of Rezin
and Remaliah’s son Pekah.
7 So I, the Lord, will bring
the king of Assyria and all his power against them.
They will come like a powerful flood of water from the Euphrates River.
The Assyrians will be like water rising over the banks of the river,
flowing over the land.
8 That water will flow into Judah and pass through it.
It will rise to Judah’s throat.
Immanuel, this army will spread its wings like a bird
until it covers your whole country.”
9 Be broken, all you nations.
Be smashed to pieces.
Listen, all you faraway countries.
Prepare for battle and be smashed to pieces!
Prepare for battle and be smashed to pieces!
10 Make your plans for the fight.
But your plans will be defeated.
Give orders to your armies.
But your orders will be useless.
This is because God is with us.
Warnings to Isaiah
11 The Lord spoke to me with his great power. He warned me not to follow the lead of the rest of the people. The Lord said,
12 “People are saying that others make plans against them.
You should not believe those things.
Don’t be afraid of the things they fear.
Do not dread those things.
13 But remember that the Lord of heaven’s armies is holy.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one you should dread.
14 Then he would be a place of safety for you.
But for the two families of Israel,
he will be like a stone that causes people to stumble.
He will be like a rock that makes them fall.
He will be like a trap for the people of Jerusalem.
He will catch them in his trap.
15 Many people will fall over this rock.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and caught.”
16 Make an agreement.
Seal up the teaching while my followers are watching.
17 I will wait for the Lord to help us.
The Lord is ashamed of the family of Israel.
I will trust the Lord.
18 I am here. And with me are the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and proofs for the people of Israel. We have been sent by the Lord of heaven’s armies. He lives on Mount Zion.
19 Some people say, “Ask the mediums and fortune-tellers what to do. They whisper and mutter and ask dead people what to do.” But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead? 20 You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the Lord. The mediums and fortune-tellers do not speak the word of the Lord. Their words are worth nothing.
21 People will wander through the land troubled and hungry. When they become hungry, they will become angry. Then they will look up and curse their king and their God. 22 They will look around them at their land. And they will see only trouble and darkness and awful gloom. And they will be forced into the darkness.
A New Day Is Coming
9 But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame. But in the future that land will be made great. That land stretches from the way along the Mediterranean Sea to the land along the Jordan River. And it goes north to Galilee where the people who are not Israelites live.
2 Now those people live in darkness.
But they will see a great light.
They live in a place that is very dark.
But a light will shine on them.
3 God, you will cause the nation to grow.
You will make the people happy.
And they will show their happiness to you.
It will be like the joy during harvest time.
It will be like the joy of people
taking what they have won in war.
4 Like the time you defeated Midian,
you will take away their heavy load.
You will take away the heavy pole from their backs.
You will take away the rod the enemy uses to punish your people.
5 Every boot that marched in battle will be destroyed.
Every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into the fire.
6 A child will be born to us.
God will give a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
7 Power and peace will be in his kingdom.
It will continue to grow.
He will rule as king on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom.
He will make it strong,
by ruling with goodness and fair judgment.
He will rule it forever and ever.
The Lord of heaven’s armies will do this
because of his strong love for his people.
God Will Punish Israel
8 The Lord sent a message against the people of Jacob.
That message says that God will judge Israel.
9 Then everyone in Israel, even the leaders in Samaria,
will know that God punished them.
Those people, who are proud and who brag now, say this:
10 “These bricks have fallen,
but we will build again with cut stones.
These small trees have been chopped down.
But we will put great cedars there.”
11 But the Lord will make the enemies of Rezin strong against them.
He will stir up their enemies against them.
12 The Arameans come from the east
and the Philistines from the west.
They will eat up Israel with their armies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to punish the people.
13 But the people do not return to the one who struck them.
They do not follow the Lord of heaven’s armies.
14 So the Lord will cut off Israel’s head and tail.
He will take away both the branch and stalk in one day.
15 The elders and important men are the head.
The prophets who speak lies are the tail.
16 Those who lead the people lead them in the wrong direction.
And those who follow them will be destroyed.
17 So the Lord is not happy with the young men.
He will not show mercy to the widows and orphans.
All the people are separated from God and are very evil.
They all speak lies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
18 Evil is like a small fire.
First, it burns weeds and thorns.
Next, it burns the larger bushes in the forest.
They all go up in a column of smoke.
19 The Lord of heaven’s armies is angry.
So the land will be burned.
All the people will be burned in that fire.
No one will try to save his brother.
20 People will grab something on the right,
but they will still be hungry.
They will eat something on the left,
but they will not be filled.
Then each person will turn and eat his own children.
21 The people of Manasseh will fight against the people of Ephraim.
And Ephraim will fight against Manasseh.
Then both of them will turn against Judah.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
10 How terrible it will be for the lawmakers who write evil laws.
They write laws that make life hard for people.
2 They are not fair to the poor.
They rob my people of their rights.
They allow people to steal from widows
and to take from orphans what they should get.
3 Lawmakers, how will you explain the things you have done?
What will you do when your destruction comes from far away?
Where will you run for help?
Where will you hide your money and your riches then?
4 You will have to bow down among the captives.
You will fall down among the dead bodies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
God Will Punish Assyria
5 God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria.
I use him like a stick.
In anger I use Assyria like a club.
6 I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God.
I am angry with those people.
So I command Assyria to fight against them.
Assyria will take their wealth from them.
Judah will become like dirt for them to walk on in the streets.
7 But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him.
He doesn’t know he is a tool for me.
He only wants to destroy other people.
He plans to destroy many nations.
8 The king of Assyria says to himself,
‘All of my commanders are like kings.
9 The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.
And the city Hamath is like the city Arpad.
The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.
10 I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols.
And those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.
11 I defeated Samaria and her idols.
So I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’”
12 The Lord will finish doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud. His pride made him do these bad things. So God will punish him. 13 The king of Assyria says this:
“By my own power I have done these things.
By my wisdom I have defeated many nations.
I have taken their wealth.
And like a mighty one, I have taken their people.
14 I have taken the riches of all these people,
like one who reaches into a bird’s nest.
I have taken these nations,
like a person taking eggs.
No one raised a hand against me.
No one opened his mouth to stop me.”
15 An ax is not better than the person who swings it.
A saw is not better than the person who uses it.
A stick cannot control the person who picks it up.
A club cannot pick up the person!
16 So the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will send a terrible disease against Assyria’s soldiers.
The strength of Assyria will be burned up.
It will be like a fire burning until everything is gone.
17 God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire.
The Holy One will be like a flame.
He will be like a fire
that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns.
18 The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands.
It will destroy everything.
Things will be like a sick man who wastes away.
19 Only a few trees will be left standing.
There will be so few even a child will be able to count them.
20 At that time some people will be left alive in Israel
from the family of Jacob.
They will not continue to depend
on the person who defeated them.
They will learn truly to depend on the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
21 The people who are left alive in Jacob’s family
will again follow the powerful God.
22 Israel, your people are very many.
They are like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be left alive to return to the Lord.
God has announced that he will destroy the land
completely and fairly.
23 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, will certainly destroy this land.
He will destroy it as he has announced.
24 This is what the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, says:
“My people living in Jerusalem,
don’t be afraid of the Assyrians.
They beat you with a rod.
They raise a stick to hurt you, as Egypt did.
25 But after a short time my anger will stop.
Then I will turn my anger to destroying them.”
26 Then the Lord of heaven’s armies will beat the Assyrians with a whip.
He will defeat them as he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise his stick over the waters
as he did in Egypt.
27 Then the troubles that Assyria puts on you
will be removed.
The load they make you carry
will be taken away.
Assyria Invades Israel
28 The army of Assyria will enter near Aiath.
They will walk through Migron.
They will store their food in Micmash.
29 The army will go over the pass.
They will sleep at Geba.
The people of Ramah will be afraid.
The people at Gibeah of Saul will run away.
30 Cry out, Bath Gallim!
Laishah, listen!
Poor Anathoth!
31 The people of Madmenah are running away.
The people of Gebim are hiding.
32 This day the army will stop at Nob.
And the army will shake their fist at Mount Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Watch! The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will chop them down like a great tree.
He will do this with his great power.
Those who are great will be cut down.
Those who are important will fall to the ground.
34 The Lord will cut them down
as a forest is cut down with an ax.
And the great trees of Lebanon
will fall by the power of the Mighty One.
The King of Peace Is Coming
11 A branch will grow
from a stump of a tree that was cut down.
So a new king will come
from the family of Jesse.[e]
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon that king.
The Spirit gives him wisdom, understanding, guidance and power.
And the Spirit teaches him to know and respect the Lord.
3 This king will be glad to obey the Lord.
He will not judge by the way things look.
He will not judge by what people say.
4 He will judge the poor honestly.
He will be fair in his decisions for the poor people of the land.
At his command evil people will be punished.
By his words the wicked will be put to death.
5 Goodness and fairness will give him strength.
They will be like a belt around his waist.
6 Then wolves will live in peace with lambs.
And leopards will lie down to rest with goats.
Calves, lions and young bulls will eat together.
And a little child will lead them.
7 Cows and bears will eat together in peace.
Their young will lie down together.
Lions will eat hay as oxen do.
8 A baby will be able to play near a cobra’s hole.
A child will be able to put his hand into the nest of a poisonous snake.
9 They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain.
The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the sea is full of water.
10 At that time the new king from the family of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people. The nations will come together around him. And the place where he lives will be filled with glory. 11 At that time the Lord will again reach out and take his people who are left alive. These are God’s people who are left alive in Assyria, North Egypt, South Egypt, Cush, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath and all the islands of the sea.
12 God will raise a banner as a sign for all people.
He will gather the people of Israel who were forced from their country.
He will gather the scattered people of Judah
from all parts of the earth.
13 At that time Israel will not be jealous anymore.
Judah will have no enemies left.
Israel will not be jealous of Judah.
And Judah will not hate Israel.
14 But Israel and Judah will attack the Philistines on the west.
Together they will take the riches from the people of the east.
They will conquer Edom and Moab.
And the people of Ammon will be under their control.
15 The Lord will dry up
the Red Sea of Egypt.
He will wave his arm over the Euphrates River.
He will dry it up with a scorching wind.
He will divide it into seven small rivers.
And people will be able to walk across them with their sandals on.
16 So God’s people who are left alive
will have a way to leave Assyria.
It will be like the time the Israelites
went out of Egypt.
A Song of Praise to God
12 At that time you will say:
“I praise you, Lord!
You were angry with me.
But you are not angry with me now!
You have comforted me.
2 God is the one who saves me.
I trust him. I am not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, gives me strength and makes me sing.
He has saved me.”
3 You will receive your salvation with joy.
You will take it as you would draw water from a well.
4 At that time you will say,
“Praise the Lord, and worship him.
Tell everyone what he has done.
Tell them how great he is.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, because he has done great things.
Let all the world know what he has done.
6 Shout and sing for joy, you people of Jerusalem.
The Holy One of Israel does great things before your eyes.”
13 God showed Isaiah son of Amoz this message about Babylon:
God’s Message to Babylon
2 Raise a flag on the bare mountain.
Call out to the men.
Raise your hand to signal them.
Tell them to enter through the gates for important people.
3 I myself have commanded those people
whom I have separated as mine.
I have called those warriors to carry out my anger.
They rejoice and are glad to do my will.
4 Listen to the loud noise in the mountains.
It sounds like many people.
Listen to the noise among the kingdoms.
Nations are gathering together.
The Lord of heaven’s armies is calling
his army together for battle.
5 This army is coming from a faraway land.
It is coming from the edge of the horizon.
In anger the Lord is using this army like a weapon.
And it will destroy the whole country.
6 Cry, because the Lord’s day of judging is near.
God All-Powerful is sending destruction.
7 People will be weak with fear.
Their courage will melt away.
8 Everyone will be afraid.
Pain and hurt will grab them.
They will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby.
They will look at each other in fear.
Their faces will become red like fire.
9 Look, the Lord’s day of judging is coming.
It will be a terrible day. God will be very angry,
and he will destroy the country.
God will destroy the sinners who live in the land.
10 The stars will not show their light.
The skies will be dark.
The sun will grow dark as it rises.
And the moon will not give its light.
11 The Lord says, “I will punish the world for its evil.
I will punish wicked people for their sins.
I will cause the proud people to lose their pride.
I will destroy the pride of those who are cruel to others.
12 People will be harder to find than pure gold.
There will be fewer people than there is fine gold in Ophir.
13 I will make the sky shake.
And the earth will be moved from its place.
The Lord of heaven’s armies will be very angry.
His anger will burn at that time.
14 “Then the people from Babylon will run away like hunted deer.
They will run like sheep who have no shepherd.
Everyone will turn back to his own people.
Each will run back to his own land.
15 Anyone who is captured will be killed.
Everyone who is caught will be killed with a sword.
16 Their little children will be beaten to death as their parents watch.
Everything in their houses will be stolen.
And their wives will be raped.
17 Look, I will cause the armies of Media to attack Babylon.
They do not care about silver.
They do not delight in gold.
18 Their soldiers will shoot the young men with arrows.
The soldiers will show no mercy on the children.
They will not feel sorry for the little boys.
19 Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms.
The Babylonians are very proud of it.
But God will destroy it
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 No one will ever live there.
No one will settle there again.
No Arab will put his tent there.
No shepherd will bring his sheep there.
21 Only animals from the desert will live there.
The houses of Babylon will be full of wild dogs.
Owls will live there.
Wild goats will leap about in the houses.
22 Wolves will howl within the strong walls.
Wild dogs will bark in the beautiful buildings.
The end of Babylon is near.
Its time is almost over.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.