Bible in 90 Days
29 Hoy (woe, doom) to Ariel [i.e., Yerushalayim], to Ariel, the city where Dovid dwelt! Add ye shanah to shanah; let chaggim (feasts) cycle around.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be unto me as ariel (altar hearth) [see Ezekiel 43:15]).
3 And I will besiege thee all around, and will lay siege against thee with towers, and I will raise metzurot (siegeworks) against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought low, and shalt speak me’eretz (out of the ground), and thy speech shall whisper out of the aphar, and thy voice shall be, like an ov (medium’s that has a familiar spirit), out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the aphar.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as motz (chaff) that in passing bloweth away; indeed, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited [in punishment] by Hashem Tzva’os with ra’am (thunder), and with earthquake, and a kol gadol, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring eish.
7 And the multitude of kol HaGoyim that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her metzadah, and that besiege her, shall be as a chalom (dream) of a chazon lailah (night vision).
8 It shall even be as when a hungry man hath a chalom, and, hinei, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his nefesh is empty; or as when a thirsty man hath a chalom, and, hinei, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, hinei, he is faint, and his nefesh still thirsts; so shall the multitude of kol HaGoyim be, that fight against Har Tziyon.
9 Pause, and wonder? Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with yayin; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For Hashem hath poured out upon you the ruach tardemah (spirit of deep sleep), and hath closed your eynayim; namely, that of the nevi’im and your heads, you seers, hath He covered.
11 And the whole vision is become unto you as the devarim of a sefer that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, now; and he saith, I am not able; for it is sealed;
12 And the sefer is delivered to him that with the sefer has no da’as, saying, Read this, now; and he saith, I cannot read this. With sefer I have no da’as.
13 Therefore Adonoi says, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their peh, and with their sfatayim do honor Me, but have removed their lev far from Me, and their fear toward Me is mitzvat anashim melummadah (human commandments taught by rote);
14 Therefore, hineni, I will again do an astonishing work among this people, even a marvellous work and a peleh (wonder); for the chochmah of their chachamim shall perish, and the binah (understanding) of their sages shall vanish.
15 Hoy (woe, doom) unto them that go to great depths to hide their etzah (plan) from Hashem, and their ma’asim are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? And who knoweth us?
16 Surely you have things turned around. Shall the Yotzer be esteemed as equal with the khomer (clay); for shall the ma’aseh say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing formed say of Him that formed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Levanon shall be turned into a carmel, and the carmel shall be esteemed as a ya’ar (forest)?
18 And in that day shall the chereshim (deaf persons) hear the devarim of the sefer, and the eynayim of the ivrim shall see out of obscurity, and out of choshech.
19 The anaviyim also shall increase their simchah in Hashem, and the evyonei adam (needy of humankind) shall rejoice in the Kadosh Yisroel.
20 For the terrifying one is brought to naught, and the scoffer is consumed, and all that strive for avon are cut off;
21 That make an adam an offender with a devar, and lay a snare for the mokhiach (reprover, defender) in the sha’ar (gate, court), and turn aside the tzaddik from justice.
22 Therefore thus saith Hashem, who redeemed Avraham, concerning Bais Ya’akov, Ya’akov shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now grow fearfully pale.
23 But when he seeth his banim, the ma’aseh of Mine hands, in his midst, they shall set apart as kodesh Shmi (My Name), and set apart as kodesh the Kadosh Ya’akov, and shall fear the Elohei Yisroel.
24 They also that erred in ruach shall know binah (understanding), and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
30 Hoy (woe, doom) to the banim sorerim (obstinately rebellious children), saith Hashem, that take etzah, but not from Me; and in their plans weave a web, but not of My Ruach, that they may heap up chattat upon chattat;
2 That walk to go down into Mitzrayim, and have not inquired at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the tzel (shadow) of Mitzrayim!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the tzel of Mitzrayim your humiliation.
4 For his sarim were at Tzoan, and his malachim (envoys) came to Chanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an ezer (help) nor profit, but a shame, and also a cherpah.
6 The massa (burden) of the beasts of the Negev; into the eretz tzarah and anguish, from which come the lion and lioness, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their otzarot (treasures) upon the humps of gemalim (camels), to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Mitzrayim shall be hevel (vain) in help, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her concerning this, Rahab Sits Idle.
8 Now go, write it before them on a luach (tablet), and inscribe it on a sefer, that it may be for a yom acharon l’ad ad olam;
9 That this is a rebellious people, deceitful banim, banim that will not hear the torah of Hashem;
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us nekhochot (right things), speak unto us chalakot (smooth things), prophesy machatallot (deceits, illusions);
11 Get you off the derech, turn aside out of the orach (path), cause Kadosh Yisroel to cease from before us.
12 Therefore thus saith Kadosh Yisroel, Because ye despise this davar, and trust in oshek (oppression) and waywardness, and rely thereon;
13 Therefore this avon shall be to you as a cracking breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high chomah (wall), whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant.
14 And whose collapse is as the breaking of the clay jar of yotzerim (pottery makers) that is broken in pieces; it shall not be spared; so that there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take eish from the fire, or to take mayim therewith out of the cistern.
15 For thus saith Adonoi Hashem Kadosh Yisroel; In shuvah (returning) and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your gevurah (strength); but ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon sus; therefore shall ye flee; and, We will ride off upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 Elef echad shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee; until ye be left as a pole upon the top of the har, and as a nes (banner, flag) on a hill.
18 And therefore will Hashem wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have rachamim upon you; for Hashem is Elohei Mishpat; Ashrei are all they that wait for Him.
19 For a people shall dwell in Tziyon at Yerushalayim; thou shalt weep no more; He will be very gracious unto thee at the sound of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee.
20 And though Adonoi give you the lechem tzar (bread of trouble), and the mayim lachatz (waters of affliction), yet shall not thy morim (teachers) hide themselves any more, but thine eynayim shall see thy morim;
21 And thine oznayim shall hear a davar behind thee, saying, This is the derech (road), walk ye on it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy peselim of kesef, and the clothing of thy massekhot (cast idols) of zahav; thou shalt throw them away like a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee from here.
23 Then shall He send the matar of thy zera (seed), that thou shalt sow the adamah therewith; and lechem of the increase of the adamah, and it shall be rich and plenteous; in that day shall thy mikneh feed in broad pastures.
24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that work the adamah shall eat mash fodder, which hath been spread with the winnowing fork and with the winnowing fan.
25 And there shall be upon every high har, and upon every soaring hill, springs and streams of mayim in the day of the great slaughter, when the migdalim (towers) fall.
26 Moreover the ohr of the levanah (moon) shall be as the ohr of the chamah (sun), and the ohr of the chamah shall be sevenfold, as the ohr of shivat hayamim (seven days), in the day that Hashem bindeth up the hurt of His people, and healeth the stroke of His wound.
27 Hinei, the Shem of Hashem cometh from afar, burning is His anger, and heavy is His cloud; His safatayim (lips) are full of indignation, and His lashon is like a devouring eish;
28 And His Ruach, like an overflowing stream, shall reach half-way to the tzavar (neck), to sift the Goyim with the sieve of shav (vanity, futility); and there shall be a misleading bridle bit in the jaws of the people.
29 Ye shall have the shir (song), as in the night when the chag is set apart as kodesh; and simchat levav, as when one goeth with a chalil (flute) to come to the Har Hashem, to the Tzur Yisroel.
30 And Hashem shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall cause the lowering of His zero’a to be seen, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring eish, with smashing, and tempest, and even barad (stones of hail, hailstones).
31 For through the voice of Hashem shall the Assyrian be crushed, which struck with a shevet (rod).
32 And in every place where the matteh (rod) of punishment shall pass, which Hashem shall lay upon him [Ashur], it shall be with tambourines and kinnorot; and in milchamot (battles) of brandishing will He fight against them.
33 For Tophet [i.e., the place where humans are sacrificed to Molech in Gey Hinnom] is ordained of old; indeed, for Melech [Molech] it is prepared. He hath made it deep and wide; the fire pit thereof is eish and much wood; the nishmat Hashem (breath of Hashem), like a stream of gofrit (brimstone, burning sulfur), doth kindle it [see Isa 66:24].
31 Woe to them that go down to Mitzrayim for ezrah (help); and rely on susim, and trust in merkavot, because they are many; and in parashim, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Kadosh Yisroel, neither seek Hashem!
2 Yet He also is chacham (wise), and will bring rah (disaster), and will not call back His devarim; but will arise against the Bais Mere’im (house of evildoers), and against the ezrat po’alei aven (the help of them that work iniquity).
3 Now the Mitzrayim are adam, and not El (G-d); and their susim basar, and not ruach. When Hashem shall stretch out His yad, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is helped shall stumble, and they all shall come to an end together.
4 For thus saith Hashem unto me, Just as the aryeh (lion) and the young lion roars over his prey, when a multitude of ro’im (shepherds) is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their clamor, nor disturb himself because of the noise of them; so shall Hashem Tzva’os come down to fight for Mt Tziyon, and for the givah (hill) thereof.
5 As tzipporim (birds) flying, so will Hashem Tzva’os defend Yerushalayim; defending also He will deliver it; and paso’ach (passing over) He will preserve it.
6 Shuvu (turn ye, return) unto Him from Whom the Bnei Yisroel have deeply revolted.
7 For in that day every ish shall cast away his elilim of kesef, and his elilim of zahav, which your own hands have made unto you as a chet.
8 Then shall the Assyrian fall by a cherev, not of an ish (man); and a cherev not adam (of mortals) shall devour him; so he shall flee from before the cherev, and his bochrim shall become forced laborers.
9 And his rock shall pass away in magor (terror), and his sarim shall desert the nes (battle flag) in panic, saith Hashem, Whose fire is in Tziyon, and His furnace in Yerushalayim.
32 See, a Melech shall reign in tzedek, and sarim shall rule in mishpat (justice).
2 And an ish shall be as a sheltering hiding place from the ruach (wind), and a seter (refuge) from the tempest; as streams of mayim in a dry place, as the tzel (shadow) of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eynayim of them that see shall no longer be closed, and the oznayim of them that hear shall pay heed.
4 The levav also of the rash shall understand da’as, and the lashon of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The naval (foolish person) shall be no more called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
6 For the naval will speak foolishness, and his lev will work evil, to practise khonef (hypocrisy), and to utter to’ah (error, perversity) against Hashem, to leave unsatisfied the nefesh of the ra’av (hungry), and he will cause the drink of the tzameh (thirsty) to fail.
7 The schemes also of the schemer are ra’im (evil ones); he deviseth zimmot (wicked schemes) to destroy the poor with words of sheker, even when the evyon (needy) speaketh mishpat (justly).
8 But the noble maketh plans that are noble; and by noble things shall he stand.
9 Rise up, ye nashim that are complacently at ease; hear my voice, ye banot at ease; give ozen unto my speech.
10 Days and a shanah, then shall ye tremble, ye careless nashim; for the grape harvest shall fail, the harvest of fruit shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye nashim that are complacently at ease; shake, ye complacent ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall mournfully beat upon their breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful gefen (vine).
13 Upon the admat Ami (land of My People) shall come up kotz (thorns) and briers; indeed, upon all the batim (houses) of joy in the city of merriment;
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the Ir shall be abandoned; the citadel and stronghold shall be ruins ad olam, a delight of wild donkeys, a pasture of adarim (flocks);
15 Until the Ruach [Hakodesh] be poured upon us from on high, and the midbar become a carmel (fruitful field), and the carmel become a ya’ar (forest).
16 Then mishpat shall dwell in the midbar, and tzedakah live in the carmel.
17 And the ma’aseh (work) of tzedakah (righteousness) shall be shalom; and the effect of tzedakah quietness and assurance ad olam (forever).
18 And my people shall dwell in a naveh shalom (a habitation of peace) and in secure mishkenot (dwellings), and in quiet menuchot (resting places);
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the ya’ar (forest); and the Ir shall be utterly brought down in a low place [of humiliation].
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all mayim, that send forth there the regel of the shor (ox) and the chamor (donkey).
33 Hoy (woe, doom) to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously as a boged (traitor, treacherous person) with thee! When thou shalt cease to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously as a boged with thee.
2 Hashem, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee; be Thou their zero’a in the bekarim (mornings), our Yeshuah (salvation) also in the time of tzoros.
3 At the noise of the tumult the peoples fled; at the lifting up of Thyself the Goyim were scattered.
4 And your shalal (booty, plunder, gain) shall be gathered like the gathering of the locusts; as the swarm of grasshoppers shall men pounce upon them.
5 Hashem is exalted; for He dwelleth on high; He hath filled Tziyon with mishpat and tzedakah.
6 And He shall be the emunah (faithfulness, stability) of thy times, a rich store of Yeshuah (salvation), chochmah, and da’as; the yirat Hashem is his otzar (treasure).
7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry in the street; the malachei shalom shall weep bitterly.
8 The mesillot (highways) lie in ruins, the wayfaring man ceaseth; he hath annulled the brit (covenant), he hath despised the towns, he regardeth no enosh (humankind).
9 Ha’aretz mourneth and languisheth; Levanon is ashamed and shriveled; Sharon is like an aravah; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their foliage.
10 Now will I arise, saith Hashem; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up Myself.
11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth straw; your ruach (breath), as eish, shall devour you.
12 And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the eish.
13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge My gevurah (might).
14 The chatta’im (sinners) in Tziyon are terrified; trembling hath seized the khanafim (hypocrites). Who among us can dwell with the devouring eish? Who among us can dwell with mokedei olam (everlasting burnings, see Dan 12:2)?
15 He that walketh in tzedakot, and speaketh meisharim (right things), he that despiseth the gain of extortions, that guards his palms from accepting shochad (bribe[s]), that stoppeth his ozen from hearing of dahm, and shutteth his eynayim from seeing rah;
16 He shall dwell on high; his metzadot shall be the rocky fortress; his lechem shall be given him; his mayim shall be unfailing.
17 Thine eynayim shall see Melech in His yafeh (beauty); they shall behold eretz that is very far off.
18 Thine lev shall ponder terror. Where is the sofer (scribe)? Where is he who weighs [for Assyrian tax collection]? Where is he that counts the migdalim (towers)?
19 Thou shalt no longer see a fierce people, a people of unfathomable language that is incomprehensible, of a stammering lashon, that thou canst not understand.
20 Look upon Tziyon, the city of mo’adenu (our appointed times, festivals); thine eynayim shall see Yerushalayim a quiet naveh, an ohel that shall not be taken down; not one stake thereof shall ever be pulled up, neither shall any of the ropes thereof be broken.
21 But there Adir Hashem will be unto us a makom (place) of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall a mighty ship pass thereby.
22 For Hashem is our Shofet, Hashem is Mechokkeinu (our Lawgiver), Hashem is Malkeinu; Hu yoshieinu (He will save us).
23 Thy riggings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the nes (sail); then is the shalal (spoil, plunder) of a great plunder divided; the pisechim (lame ones) take the plunder.
24 And the inhabitant [of Yerushalayim] shall not say, I am ill; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their avon.
34 Come near, ye Goyim, to hear; and pay heed, ye peoples; let ha’aretz hear, and all that is therein; the tevel (world), and all things that come forth of it.
2 For the ketzef Hashem (wrath of Hashem) is upon kol HaGoyim, and His chemah (fury, wrath) upon all their tz’va; He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the tevach (slaughter).
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stench shall go up out of their pegarim (corpses), and the harim shall be drenched with their dahm.
4 And kol Tz’va HaShomayim (all the host of heaven) shall be dissolved, and the Shomayim shall be rolled up like a sefer; and all their tz’va shall fall, like the aleh (leaf) falleth from the gefen, like that falling from the te’enah (fig tree).
5 For My cherev shall be satiated in Shomayim; hinei, it shall come down upon Edom, and shall descend on the Am (people) of My Cherem (ban of destruction) in mishpat.
6 The Cherev Hashem (Sword of Hashem) is filled with dahm, it is gorged with chelev, and with the dahm of lambs and goats, with the chelev of the kidneys of rams; for Hashem hath a zevach in Botzrah, and a tevach gadol in Eretz Edom.
7 And the re’emim (wild oxen) shall fall with them, and the bull calves with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with dahm, and their aphar (dust) enriched with chelev.
8 For it is the Yom Nakam L’Hashem (Day of Vengeance unto Hashem), and the Shnat Shillumim (Year of Retributions) for the cause of Tziyon.
9 And the streams thereof [i.e., of Edom] shall be turned into zefet (pitch, tar), and the aphar (dust) thereof into gofrit (burning sulfur), and the land thereof shall become burning zefet (pitch, tar).
10 It shall not be quenched lailah v’yomam; the ashan (smoke) thereof shall go up l’olam (forever); from dor to dor it shall lie desolate; none shall pass through it l’netzach netzachim.
11 But the desert owl and the screech owl shall possess it; even the yanshuf (great owl) and the orev (raven) shall dwell in it; and He shall stretch out upon it the measuring line of tohu, and the plumbline of vohu [See Genesis 1:2].
12 For the nobles thereof there shall be nothing to call a maluchah (kingdom) and all her sarim shall come to naught.
13 And sirim (thorns) shall come up in her citadels, nettles and brambles in the strongholds thereof; and it shall become the habitation of jackals, and the abode for banot ya’anah (ostriches).
14 The tziyyim (martens) shall also encounter iyyim (wild cats), and a sa’ir (wild goat) calls to its companion, and lilit (night creature) dwells there and finds for itself a mano’ach (place of rest).
15 There shall the kipoz (bittern) nest, and lay eggs, and hatch and care for young under her tzel; there shall the dayyot (kites, vultures) also be gathered, every one with its mate.
16 Search ye out in the Sefer Hashem, and read; no one of these creatures shall fail, none shall lack her mate; for My mouth hath commanded, and His Ruach hath gathered them.
17 And He hath cast the goral (lot) for them, and His Yad hath made the land assignment unto them by measuring line; they shall possess it ad olam, from dor to dor shall they dwell therein.
35 The Midbar (desert) and the Tziyyah (dry land) shall be glad over them [the redeemed of Hashem, see 35:9]; and the Aravah shall rejoice, and blossom like the khavatzelet (lily).
2 It shall bloom abundantly, and rejoice even with gilat (rejoicing) and rannein (joyous singing); the kavod haLevanon (glory of Lebanon) shall be given unto her (the Aravah), the hadar (majesty) of Carmel and Sharon; they [i.e., the desert and dry land in v.1] shall see the Kavod Hashem (glory of Hashem), and the Hadar Eloheinu (majesty of our G-d).
3 Make ye the weak hands chazak (strong), and steady the birkayim (knees) koshlot (feeble ones [knees] that give way, i.e., of those of the Golus returning to G-d in Tziyon).
4 Say to them that are of a fearful lev, Be strong, fear not; hinei, Eloheichem (your G-d) will come with nakam (vengeance), even Elohim gemul (divine retribution); He will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the ivvrim (blind people) shall be opened, and the ears of the chereshim (deaf ones) shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the pisei’ach (lame) leap like the deer, and the leshon (tongue) of the illem (the mute, the people unable to utter speech) sing for joy; for in the midbar shall mayim break forth, and streams in the Aravah.
7 And the sharav (burning sand) shall become an agam (pool, lake, pond) and the thirsty land, springs of mayim; in the habitation of jackals, where each [jackal] lay, shall be khatzir (grassland) as well as reeds and gomeh (papyrus, bulrushes).
8 And a maslul (highway) shall be there, and a derech (road), and it shall be called The Derech HaKodesh (The Holy Road); the tameh (unclean, impure person [see Isa 26:7]) shall not pass along it, inasmuch as it shall be for them; that is, the Holech Derech (Walker of the Road, i.e., whoever is the [Redeemed] Wayfarer on the Derech HaKodesh), even evilim (morally bad foolish people) shall not go astray thereon.
9 No aryeh (lion) shall be there, nor any peritz chayyot (ravenous, dangerous, ferocious of [wild] beasts) shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the Ge’ulim (redeemed people) shall walk there;
10 And the Peduyei Hashem (ransomed ones of Hashem) shall return, and come to Tziyon with songs and simchat olam (everlasting joy) upon their heads; they shall obtain sasson (joy) and simchah (gladness), and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
36 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth shanah of Melech Chizkiyah, that Sancheriv Melech Ashur came up against all the fortified cities of Yehudah, and captured them.
2 And Melech Ashur sent Rav Shakeh from Lachish to Yerushalayim unto Melech Chizkiyah with a large army. And he stood by the te’alat haberekhah haelyonah (aqueduct of the Upper Pool) on the highway of the sadeh of the launderer.
3 Then came forth unto him Elyakim Ben Chilkiah, who was over the Bais (palace), and Shevna the Sofer, and Yoach Ben Asaph, the Mazkir (secretary).
4 And Rav Shakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Chizkiyah, Thus saith the HaMelech Hagadol, Melech Ashur, What bitachon (confidence) is this wherein thou trustest?
5 I say, Your etzah (counsel) and gevurah (strength) for milchamah (war) are only devar sefatayim [words of the lips, empty words]); now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
6 Hinei, thou trustest in the mishenet (staff) of this broken reed, on Mitzrayim; whereon if an ish lean, it will go into his palm, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh Melech Mitzrayim to all that trust in him.
7 But if thou say to me, We trust in Hashem Eloheinu; is it not He, whose high places and whose mizbechot Chizkiyah hath taken away, and said to Yehudah and to Yerushalayim, Ye shall worship before this Mizbe’ach?
8 Therefore give pledges, now, to adoni HaMelech Ashur, and I will give thee two thousand susim, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one officer of the least of the avadim of adoni, and put thy trust on Mitzrayim for chariots and for parashim?
10 And am I now come up without Hashem against this land to destroy it? Hashem said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11 Then said Elyakim and Shevna and Yoach unto Rav Shakeh, Speak now, thee, unto thy avadim in Aramit (Aramaic); for we understand it; and speak not to us in Yehudit (Hebrew), in the ears of the people that are on the chomah.
12 But Rav Shakeh said, Is it to adoneicha and to you that adoni has sent me to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the anashim that sit upon the chomah, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?
13 Then Rav Shakeh stood, and cried with a kol gadol in Yehudit, and said, Hear ye the words of HaMelech Hagadol, the Melech Ashur.
14 Thus saith HaMelech, Let not Chizkiyah deceive you; for he shall not be able to save you.
15 Neither let Chizkiyah make you trust in Hashem, saying, Hashem will surely save us; this city shall not be given into the Melech Ashur.
16 Pay heed not to Chizkiyah; for thus saith HaMelech Ashur, Make a brocha with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his gefen, and every one of his te’enah and drink ye every one the waters of his own bor;
17 Until I come and take you away to an eretz like your own eretz, an eretz dagan and tirosh, an eretz lechem and kramim (vineyards).
18 Beware lest Chizkiyah mislead you, saying, Hashem will save us. Hath any of the elohei HaGoyim delivered his land out of the yad Melech Ashur?
19 Where are the elohei Chamat and Arpad? Where are the elohei Sepharvayim? And have they saved Shomron out of my yad?
20 Who are they among all elohim of these lands, that have saved their land out of my yad, that Hashem should save Yerushalayim out of my yad?
21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a davar; for the mitzvat HaMelech was saying, Answer him not.
22 Then came Elyakim Ben Chilkiyah, that was over the Bais, and Shevna the Sofer, and Yoach Ben Asaph, the Mazkir, to Chizkiyah with their begadim torn, and told him the words of Rav Shakeh.
37 And it came to pass, when HaMelech Chizkiyah heard it, that he tore his begadim, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Beis Hashem.
2 And he sent Elyakim, who was over the Bais, and Shevna the Sofer, and the Ziknei HaKohanim covered with sackcloth, unto HaNavi Yeshayah Ben Amotz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Chizkiyah, This yom is a yom tzarah, and of tokhechah, and of ne’atzah; for the banim are come to the mashber, and there is not ko’ach to bring forth.
4 It may be Hashem Eloheicha will hear the words of Rav Shakeh, whom Melech Ashur adonav hath sent to ridicule the Elohim Chai, and will rebuke the devarim which Hashem Eloheicha hath heard; therefore lift up thy tefillah for the she’erit that are left surviving.
5 So the avadim of HaMelech Chizkiyah came to Yeshayah.
6 And Yeshayah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto adoneichem, Thus saith Hashem, Be not afraid before the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the na’arei Melech Ashur have made gidduf (blasphemy) against Me.
7 Hineni, I will put a ruach in him, when he shall hear a shemuah (report), and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the cherev in his own land.
8 So Rav Shakeh left [Yerushalayim], and found Melech Ashur warring against Livnah; for he had heard that he [Melech Ashur] was departed from Lachish.
9 And he heard concerning Tirhakah Melech Kush, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent malachim to Chizkiyah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Chizkiyah Melech Yehudah, saying, Let not Eloheicha, in Whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Yerushalayim shall not be given into the yad Melech Ashur.
11 Hinei, thou hast heard what the melachim of Ashur have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be saved?
12 Have the elohei HaGoyim delivered them which my avot have destroyed, as Gozan, and Charan, and Retzeph, and the Bnei Eden which were in Telassar?
13 Where is Melech Chamat, and Melech Arphad, and the Melech of the Ir of Sepharvayim, Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Chizkiyah received the sefarim (letters) from the yad hamalachim, and read it; and Chizkiyah went up unto the Beis Hashem, and spread it before Hashem.
15 And Chizkiyah davened unto Hashem, saying,
16 Hashem Tzva’os, Elohei Yisroel, that dwellest between the keruvim, Thou art HaElohim, even Thou alone, of kol mamlechot ha’aretz; Thou hast made Shomayim and HaAretz.
17 Incline Thine ear, Hashem, and hear; open Thine eyes, Hashem, and see; and hear all the words of Sanecheriv, which he sent to insult the Elohim Chai.
18 Truly, Hashem, the melachim of Ashur have laid waste all the countries and their lands,
19 And have cast eloheihem into the eish; for they were no elohim, but the ma’aseh yedei adam, etz and even (stone); therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, Hashem Eloheinu, save us from his yad, that kol mamlechot ha’aretz may know that Thou art Hashem, even Thou only.
21 Then Yeshayah Ben Amotz sent unto Chizkiyah, saying, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Whereas thou hast davened to Me against Sanecheriv Melech Ashur;
22 This is the davar which Hashem hath spoken concerning him; The Betulat Bat Tziyon, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the Bat Yerushalayim hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom hast thou insulted and made gidduf against? And against whom hast thou raised thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes marom? Even against Kadosh Yisroel.
24 By thy avadim hast thou insulted Adonoi, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up marom harim, to the heights of Levanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice pine trees thereof; and I will enter into its most remote height, and the ya’ar (forest) of its fruitful land.
25 I have dug, and drunk mayim; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of the besieged places.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of yemei kedem (days of old), that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were as the esev of the sadeh, and as the green herb, as the khatzir (grass) on the gagot (rooftops) is sun-scorched before it is grown up.
28 But I know thy sitting, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me.
29 Because thy rage against Me, and thy insolence, is come up into Mine ears, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, and My bit in thy sfatayim (lips), and I will turn thee back by the derech by which thou camest.
30 And this shall be HaOt unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth from the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant kramim (vineyards), and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the Bais Yehudah shall again take shoresh (root) downward, and bear pri upward;
32 For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth She’erit (remnant) and they that escape out of Mt Tziyon; the zeal of Hashem Tzva’os shall accomplish this.
33 Therefore thus saith Hashem concerning Melech Ashur, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot khetz (an arrow) there, nor come before it with mogen, nor cast a siege ramp against it.
34 By the derech that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith Hashem.
35 For I will defend this city to save it for Mine Own sake, and for the sake of Dovid Avdi.
36 Then the Malach Hashem went forth, and struck down in the Machaneh Ashur a hundred and fourscore and five elef; and when they arose early in the boker, hinei, they were all pegarim mesim (dead corpses).
37 So Sanecheriv Melech Ashur departed, and went and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh.
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the Bais Nisroch elohav, that Adramelech and Saretzer, his banim, cut him down with the cherev; they escaped into Eretz Ararat; Esar Chadon bno reigned in his place.
38 In those days was Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) sick unto death. And HaNavi Yeshayah Ben Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith Hashem, Set thine bais in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) turned his face toward the kir (wall), and davened unto Hashem,
3 And said, Remember now, Hashem, I beseech thee, how I have walked before Thee in emes and with lev shalem, and have done that which is tov in Thy sight. And Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) wept with bekhi gadol (great weeping).
4 Then came the Devar Hashem to Yeshayah, saying,
5 Go, and say to Chizkiyahu, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Dovid Avicha, I have heard thy tefillah, I have seen thy tears; hineni, I will add unto thy days chamesh esreh shanah (fifteen years).
6 And I will deliver thee and this Ir out of the hand of Melech Ashur (Assyria); and I will defend HaIr Hazot.
7 And this shall be HaOt (the Sign) unto thee from Hashem, that Hashem will do this thing that He hath spoken;
8 Hineni, I will bring again the tzel (shadow) of the hama’alot (the steps), which has gone down with the shemesh on the Ma’alot Achaz (sundial of Ahaz), so that it goes eser ma’alot (ten steps) backward. So the shemesh went back eser maalot (ten steps) on the ma’alot on which it had gone down.
9 The writing of Chizkiyahu Melech Yehudah, when he had been ill, and was recovered from his illness:
10 I said in the cutting short of my yamim, I shall go to the Sha’arei Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my shanot.
11 I said, I shall not see Hashem, even Hashem, in the Eretz HaChayyim; I shall behold adam no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine dwelling is pulled up, and is sent into the Golus from me like ohel ro’i; As an oreg (weaver) I rolled up my life; He would have cut me loose from the roll; from yom even to lailah wilt Thou make an end of me.
13 I waited until boker, that, like an ari (lion), so will He break all my atzmot; from yom even to lailah wilt Thou make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chirp; I did moan like a yonah; mine eyes grew weak from looking heavenward; Adonoi, I am oppressed; go surety for me.
15 What shall I say? He hath both promised me, and Himself hath done it; I shall walk quietly all my shanot in the mar (bitterness) of my nefesh.
16 Adonoi, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my ruach; so Thou recovered me to health, and made me to live.
17 Hinei, for shalom (benefit) did I have great bitterness; for Thou hast in love to my nefesh delivered it from the shachat (pit) of destruction; for Thou hast cast all my chatta’im behind Thy back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank Thee, mavet can not praise Thee; they that go down into the bor (pit) cannot hope for Thy emes.
19 The living, the living, he shall thank Thee, as I do today; av to banim shall make known Thy emes.
20 Hashem will save me; therefore we will sing with stringed instruments kol yemei chayyeinu (all the days of our life) in the Beis Hashem.
21 For Yeshayah had said, Let them take a cake of te’enim, and apply it upon the shechin (boil, inflamed spot), and he shall recover.
22 Chizkiyahu also had said, What is the Ot (Sign) that I shall go up to the Beis Hashem [See 2Kgs 20:8 which speaks about Yom HaShlishi and on Moshiach cf Isa 53:8 and Isa 38:10-11 and Ps 16 and Isa 38:17.]
39 At that time Merodach Baladan Ben Baladan Melech Bavel sent sefarim (letters) and a minchah (gift) to Chizkiyah; for he had heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.
2 And Chizkiyah was glad about them, and showed them the Bais Nekhotoh (Treasure House), the kesef, and the zahav, and the spices, and the shemen hatov, and all the Bais Keli of his, and all that was found in his otzerot; there was nothing in his Bais, nor in all his memshalet, that Chizkiyah did not show them.
3 Then Yeshayah HaNavi came unto HaMelech Chizkiyah, and said unto him, What said these anashim? And from where came they unto thee? And Chizkiyah said, They are come from eretz rechokah (a far country) unto me, even from Babylon.
4 Then he said, What have they seen in thine Bais? And Chizkiyah answered, All that is in mine Bais have they seen; there is nothing among my otzerot (treasures) that I have not showed them.
5 Then said Yeshayah to Chizkiyah, Hear the Devar Hashem Tzivos;
6 Hinei, the days are coming, that all that is in thine Bais, and that which Avoteicha have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith Hashem.
7 And of thy Banim that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt father, shall they take away; and they shall be sarisim (eunuchs) in the Heikhal Melech Bavel.
8 Then Chizkiyah said to Yeshayah, Tov is the Devar Hashem which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be shalom and emes in my days.
40 Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith Eloheichem.
2 Speak ye to the lev Yerushalayim, and preach unto her, that her tzeva’a (time of hard service, warfare) is ended, that her avon (iniquity) is nirtzah (punitively paid for, pardoned); for she hath received of the Yad Hashem kiflayim (double) in payment for all her chattot.
3 The voice of him that preacheth in the midbar, Prepare ye the Derech Hashem, make straight in the Aravah a highway for Eloheinu.
4 Every gey (valley) shall be raised up, and every har and givah (hill) shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places bikah (plain, valley);
5 And the kavod Hashem shall be revealed, and all basar shall see it together; for the mouth of Hashem hath spoken.
6 The voice said, Preach. And he said, What shall I preach? All basar is khatzir (grass), and all the chesed (constancy) thereof is as the tzitz (flower, blossom) of the sadeh;
7 The khatzir (grass) withereth, the tzitz (flower, blossom) falleth; because the Ruach of Hashem bloweth upon it; surely the people is khatzir (grass).
8 The khatzir withereth, the tzitz falleth; but the Devar Eloheinu shall stand forever.
9 O Mevaseret Tziyon (O Herald, Preacher of Besorah [Good News, Gospel] Tziyon, O Lady Evangelist Tziyon), get thee up into the har gavo’ah (high mountain); O Mevaseret Yerushalayim (O Herald, Preacher of Besorah [Good News, Gospel] Yerushalayim, O Lady Evangelist Yerushalayim), lift up thy voice with ko’ach; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the towns of Yehudah, Hinei Eloheichem!
10 Hinei, Adonoi Hashem will come with chazak, and His zero’a [Moshiach, see Isaiah 53:1] shall rule for Him; hinei, His sachar (reward) is with Him, and His pe’ullah (work, recompense, retribution, penal reward [for His enemies]) before Him.
11 He shall feed His Eder like a Ro’eh; He shall gather the tela’im (lambs) with His zero’a, and carry them in His kheyk, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who hath measured the mayim in the hollow of His Hand, and meted out Shomayim with a handbreadth, and enclosed the aphar ha’aretz in a measure, and weighed the harim (mountains) in scales, and the geva’ot (hills) in a balance? [See Prov 30:4.]
13 Who hath directed the Ruach of Hashem, or being His ish etzah (counselor) hath taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who gave Him binah, and taught Him in the orakh mishpat, and taught Him da’as, and showed Him the derech tevunot (way of understanding, intelligence)?
15 Surely the Goyim are like a drop in a bucket, and are accounted as dust of the scales; surely He taketh up the iyim (islands) like fine dust.
16 Levanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for an olah.
17 Kol HaGoyim before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and tohu.
18 To whom then will ye liken El? Or what demut (likeness) will ye compare unto Him?
19 The charash (workman, craftsman) melteth a pesel (idol, image), and the goldsmith overlayeth it with zahav, and casteth for it chains of kesef.
20 He that is so impoverished that He hath no terumah chooseth an etz that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a charash chacham (skilled craftsman) to prepare a pesel, that shall not topple.
21 Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the mosedot ha’aretz (foundations of the earth)?
22 It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are like chagavim (grasshoppers); that stretcheth out Shomayim like a curtain, and spreadeth them out like an ohel to dwell in;
23 That bringeth the roznim (rulers) to nothing; He maketh the Shoftei Eretz like tohu.
24 Indeed, they shall not be planted; indeed, they shall not be sown; indeed, their stem shall not take root ba’aretz (in the ground); and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the se’arah (storm wind) shall take them away like the kash (straw, stubble, chaff).
25 To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Kadosh.
26 Lift up your eyes marom (on high, i.e,. into the heavens), and behold. Who hath created [T.N. This chp needs to be seen also in light of Ac chp 2 and Jerusalem’s Besurah HaGeulah proclaimed there.] these things, that bringeth out their tzeva’a (host, legions) by mispar (number); He calleth them all b’shem (by name) because of the abundance of His power and the might of His ko’ach; not one [star] is missing.
27 Why sayest thou, O Ya’akov, and speakest, O Yisroel, My derech is hid from Hashem, and my mishpat is passed over and disregarded by Elohai?
28 Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the Elohei Olam, Hashem, Boreh Ketzot HaAretz (Creator of the ends of the earth), fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His tevunah (understanding, intelligence).
29 He giveth ko’ach to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth power.
30 Even the ne’arim (youths) shall faint and grow weary, and the bochurim shall utterly fall;
31 But they that wait upon Hashem shall renew their ko’ach; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not grow weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
41 Keep silence before Me, O iyim (islands); and let the people renew their ko’ach (strength); let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together for mishpat (judgment, i.e., G-d’s tribunal)
2 Who awakened the just one [Koresh, Cyrus 44:28] from the mizrach (east), called him to His raglayim, gave the Goyim before him, and made him rule over melachim? He gave them as the aphar to his [the conqueror’s] cherev, and as windblown kash (chaff, stubble) to his [the conqueror’s] keshet (bow).
3 He [the conqueror] pursued them, and passed on in shalom; even by the orach (path) that his feet do not even come.
4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling forth the dorot from the beginning? I Hashem, the Rishon (First), and with the Acharonim (Last ones); I am He.
5 The iyim (islands) saw it, and feared; the ketzot ha’aretz (ends of the earth) trembled; they approached and came near.
6 They helped everyone his re’a; and everyone said to his brother, chazak!
7 So the charash (craftsman) encouraged the tzoref (goldsmith), and he that smootheth with the patish (hammer) encouraged him that strikes the anvil, saying, of the soldering, tov hu; and he fastened it with nails, so that it should not topple.
8 But thou, Yisroel, art Avdi, Ya’akov whom I have chosen, the zera Avraham Ohavi (My friend).
9 Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ketzot ha’aretz, and called thee from the farthest borders thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art Avdi; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am Eloheicha; I will strengthen thee; indeed, I will help thee; indeed, I will uphold thee with My yamin tzedek.
11 Surely, all they that were raging against thee shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing; and the anshei rivecha (they that strive with thee) shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even the anshei matzutecha (them that contended with thee): the anshei matzutecha (they that war against thee) shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.
13 For I Hashem Eloheicha will take hold of thy yamin (right hand), saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14 Fear not, thou tola’at (worm) Ya’akov, and ye men of Yisroel; I will help thee, saith Hashem, and thy Go’el (Redeemer), the Kadosh Yisroel.
15 Hinei, I will make thee a new sharp threshing iron having pifiyyot (blades); thou shalt thresh the harim, and beat them small, and shalt make the geva’ot (hills) as motz (chaff).
16 Thou shalt winnow them, and the ru’ach shall carry them away, and the se’arah shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Hashem, and shalt glory in Kadosh Yisroel.
17 When the aniyim and evyonim seek mayim, and there is none, and their leshon faileth for tzama (thirst), I Hashem will hear them, I the Elohei Yisroel will not forsake them.
18 I will open neharot on the hilltops, and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the midbar a pool of mayim, and the dry land sources of mayim.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International