Bible in 90 Days
Chapter 29
Judgment and Deliverance of Jerusalem
1 Ah! Ariel, Ariel,[a]
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,(A)
2 But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:(B)
3 I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.(C)
4 You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.(D)
5 The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.(E)
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you shall be visited by the Lord of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.(F)
7 [b]Then like a dream,
a vision of the night,
Shall be the horde of all the nations
who make war against Ariel:
All the outposts, the siege works against it,
all who distress it.
8 As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakens with an empty stomach,
Or when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakens faint, his throat parched,
So shall the horde of all the nations be,
who make war against Mount Zion.
Blindness and Perversity
9 [c]Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!(G)
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).[d](H)
11 For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12 When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
13 The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,(I)
14 Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.(J)
15 Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the Lord!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”(K)
16 Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”(L)
Redemption[e]
17 Surely, in a very little while,
Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be considered a forest!(M)
18 On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.(N)
19 The lowly shall again find joy in the Lord,
the poorest rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.(O)
20 For the tyrant shall be no more,
the scoffer shall cease to be;
All who are ready for evil shall be cut off,(P)
21 those who condemn with a mere word,
Who ensnare the defender at the gate,
and leave the just with an empty claim.(Q)
22 Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:[f]
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.(R)
23 For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.(S)
24 Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
Chapter 30
Oracle on the Futility of an Alliance with Egypt[g]
1 Ah! Rebellious children,
oracle of the Lord,
Who carry out a plan that is not mine,
who make an alliance[h] I did not inspire,
thus adding sin upon sin;(T)
2 They go down to Egypt,
without asking my counsel,[i]
To seek strength in Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.(U)
3 Pharaoh’s protection shall become your shame,
refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.(V)
4 When his princes are at Zoan
and his messengers reach Hanes,(W)
5 All shall be ashamed
of a people that gain them nothing,
Neither help nor benefit,
but only shame and reproach.(X)
6 Oracle on the Beasts of the Negeb.
Through the distressed and troubled land[j]
of the lioness and roaring lion,
of the viper and flying saraph,
They carry their riches on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels
To a people good for nothing,
7 to Egypt whose help is futile and vain.
Therefore I call her
“Rahab[k] Sit-still.”
8 [l]Now come, write it on a tablet they can keep,
inscribe it on a scroll;
That in time to come it may be
an eternal witness.(Y)
9 For this is a rebellious people,
deceitful children,
Children who refuse
to listen to the instruction of the Lord;(Z)
10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see”;
to the prophets,[m] “Do not prophesy truth for us;
speak smooth things to us, see visions that deceive!(AA)
11 Turn aside from the way! Get out of the path!
Let us hear no more
of the Holy One of Israel!”(AB)
12 Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word,
And put your trust in oppression and deceit,
and depend on them,(AC)
13 This iniquity of yours shall be
like a descending rift
Bulging out in a high wall
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant,(AD)
14 Crashing like a potter’s jar
smashed beyond rescue,
And among its fragments cannot be found
a sherd to scoop fire from the hearth
or dip water from the cistern.(AE)
15 For thus said the Lord God,
the Holy One of Israel:
By waiting and by calm you shall be saved,
in quiet and in trust shall be your strength.
But this you did not will.(AF)
16 “No,” you said,
“Upon horses we will flee.”
Very well, you shall flee!
“Upon swift steeds we will ride.”
Very well, swift shall be your pursuers!(AG)
17 A thousand shall tremble at the threat of one—
if five threaten, you shall flee.
You will then be left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a flag on a hill.(AH)
Zion’s Future Deliverance
18 Truly, the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you,
truly, he shall rise to show you mercy;
For the Lord is a God of justice:
happy are all who wait for him!(AI)
19 Yes, people of Zion, dwelling in Jerusalem,
you shall no longer weep;
He will be most gracious to you when you cry out;
as soon as he hears he will answer you.(AJ)
20 The Lord will give you bread in adversity
and water in affliction.
No longer will your Teacher[n] hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,(AK)
21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or the left.
22 You shall defile your silver-plated idols
and your gold-covered images;
You shall throw them away like filthy rags,
you shall say, “Get out!”(AL)
23 He will give rain for the seed
you sow in the ground,
And the bread that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your cattle will graze
in broad meadows;(AM)
24 The oxen and the donkeys that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
25 Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
26 The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater,
like the light of seven days,
On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people
and heals the bruises left by his blows.(AN)
Divine Judgment on Assyria[o]
27 See, the name of the Lord is coming from afar,
burning with anger, heavy with threat,
His lips filled with fury,
tongue like a consuming fire,(AO)
28 Breath like an overflowing torrent
that reaches up to the neck!
He will winnow the nations with a destructive winnowing
and bridle the jaws of the peoples to send them astray.(AP)
29 For you, there will be singing
as on a night when a feast is observed,
And joy of heart
as when one marches along with a flute
Going to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will make his glorious voice heard,
and reveal his arm coming down
In raging fury and flame of consuming fire,
in tempest, and rainstorm, and hail.(AQ)
31 For at the voice of the Lord, Assyria will be shattered,
as he strikes with the rod;
32 And every sweep of the rod of his punishment,
which the Lord will bring down on him,
Will be accompanied by timbrels and lyres,
while he wages war against him.(AR)
33 For his tophet[p] has long been ready,
truly it is prepared for the king;
His firepit made both deep and wide,
with fire and firewood in abundance,
And the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur,
setting it afire.(AS)
Chapter 31
Against the Egyptian Alliance
1 Ah! Those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses;
Who put their trust in chariots because of their number,
and in horsemen because of their combined power,
But look not to the Holy One of Israel
nor seek the Lord
2 Yet he too is wise and will bring disaster;
he will not turn from his threats.
He will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against those who help evildoers.(AU)
3 The Egyptians are human beings, not God,
their horses flesh, not spirit;
When the Lord stretches forth his hand,
the helper shall stumble, the one helped shall fall,
and both of them shall perish together.(AV)
4 For thus says the Lord to me:
As a lion or its young
growling over the prey,
With a band of shepherds
assembled against it,
Is neither dismayed by their shouts
nor cowed by their noise,
So shall the Lord of hosts come down
to wage war upon Mount Zion, upon its height.(AW)
5 Like hovering birds, so the Lord of hosts
shall shield Jerusalem,
To shield and deliver,
to spare and rescue.(AX)
6 Return, O Israelites, to him whom you have utterly deserted.(AY) 7 On that day each one of you shall reject his idols of silver and gold, which your hands have made.(AZ)
8 Assyria shall fall by a sword, not wielded by human being,
no mortal sword shall devour him;
He shall flee before the sword,
and his young men shall be impressed as laborers.(BA)
9 He shall rush past his crag[r] in panic,
and his princes desert the standard in terror,
Says the Lord who has a fire in Zion
and a furnace in Jerusalem.(BB)
Chapter 32
The Kingdom of Justice
1 See, a king will reign justly
and princes will rule rightly.(BC)
2 Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind,
a refuge from the rain.
They will be like streams of water in a dry country,
like the shade of a great rock in a parched land.(BD)
3 The eyes of those who see will not be closed;
the ears of those who hear will be attentive.(BE)
4 The hasty of heart shall take thought to know,
and tongues of stutterers shall speak readily and clearly.
5 No more will the fool be called noble,
nor the deceiver be considered honorable.(BF)
6 For the fool speaks folly,
his heart plans evil:
Godless actions,
perverse speech against the Lord,
Letting the hungry go empty
and the thirsty without drink.(BG)
7 The deceits of the deceiver are evil,
he plans devious schemes:
To ruin the poor with lies,
and the needy when they plead their case.(BH)
8 But the noble plan noble deeds,
and in noble deeds they persist.
The Women of Jerusalem
9 You women so complacent, rise up and hear my voice,
daughters so confident, give heed to my words.(BI)
10 In a little more than a year
your confidence will be shaken;
For the vintage will fail,
no fruit harvest will come in.(BJ)
11 Tremble, you who are so complacent!
Shudder, you who are so confident!
Strip yourselves bare,
with only a loincloth for cover.(BK)
12 Beat your breasts
for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine;(BL)
13 For the soil of my people,
overgrown with thorns and briers;
For all the joyful houses,
the exultant city.(BM)
14 The castle[s] will be forsaken,
the noisy city deserted;
Citadel and tower will become wasteland forever,
the joy of wild donkeys, the pasture of flocks;(BN)
15 [t]Until the spirit from on high
is poured out on us.
And the wilderness becomes a garden land
and the garden land seems as common as forest.(BO)
16 Then judgment will dwell in the wilderness
and justice abide in the garden land.
17 The work of justice will be peace;
the effect of justice, calm and security forever.(BP)
18 My people will live in peaceful country,
in secure dwellings and quiet resting places.(BQ)
19 And the forest will come down completely,
the city will be utterly laid low.[u](BR)
20 Happy are you who sow beside every stream,
and let the ox and the donkey go freely!(BS)
Chapter 33
Overthrow of Assyria[v]
1 Ah! You destroyer never destroyed,
betrayer never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you have stopped betraying, you will be betrayed.(BT)
2 Lord, be gracious to us; for you we wait.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of trouble!(BU)
3 At the roaring sound, peoples flee;
when you rise in your majesty, nations are scattered.(BV)
4 Spoil is gathered up as caterpillars gather,
an onrush like the rush of locusts.(BW)
5 The Lord is exalted, enthroned on high;
he fills Zion with right and justice.(BX)
6 That which makes her seasons certain,
her wealth, salvation, wisdom, and knowledge,
is the fear of the Lord, her treasure.(BY)
7 See, the men of Ariel cry out in the streets,
the messengers of Shalem[w] weep bitterly.
8 The highways are desolate,
travelers have quit the paths,
Covenants are broken, witnesses spurned;
yet no one gives it a thought.(BZ)
9 The country languishes in mourning,
Lebanon withers with shame;
Sharon[x] is like the Arabah,
Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.(CA)
10 Now I will rise up, says the Lord,
now exalt myself,
now lift myself up.(CB)
11 You conceive dry grass, bring forth stubble;
my spirit shall consume you like fire.
12 The peoples shall be burned to lime,
thorns cut down to burn in fire.(CC)
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 In Zion sinners are in dread,
trembling grips the impious:
“Who of us can live with consuming fire?
who of us can live with everlasting flames?”(CD)
15 Whoever walks righteously and speaks honestly,
who spurns what is gained by oppression,
Who waves off contact with a bribe,
who stops his ears so as not to hear of bloodshed,
who closes his eyes so as not to look on evil—(CE)
16 That one shall dwell on the heights,
with fortresses of rock for stronghold,
food and drink in steady supply.
17 Your eyes will see a king[y] in his splendor,
they will look upon a vast land.(CF)
18 Your mind will dwell on the terror:
“Where is the one who counted, where the one who weighed?
Where the one who counted the towers?”(CG)
19 You shall no longer see a defiant people,
a people of speech too obscure to comprehend,
stammering in a tongue not understood.(CH)
20 Look to Zion, the city of our festivals;
your eyes shall see Jerusalem
as a quiet abode, a tent not to be struck,
Whose pegs will never be pulled up,
nor any of its ropes severed.(CI)
21 Indeed the Lord in majesty will be there for us
a place of rivers and wide streams
on which no galley may go,
where no majestic ship[z] may pass.(CJ)
22 For the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
he it is who will save us.
23 The rigging hangs slack;
it cannot hold the mast in place,
nor keep the sail spread out.
Then the blind will divide great spoils
and the lame will carry off the loot.(CK)
24 No one who dwells there will say, “I am sick”;
the people who live there will be forgiven their guilt.(CL)
F. The Lord, Zion’s Avenger[aa]
Chapter 34
Judgment upon Edom
1 Come near, nations, and listen;
be attentive, you peoples!
Let the earth and what fills it listen,
the world and all it produces.(CM)
2 The Lord is angry with all the nations,
enraged against all their host;
He has placed them under the ban,
given them up to slaughter.(CN)
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
their corpses shall send up a stench;
the mountains shall run with their blood,(CO)
4 All the host of heaven shall rot;
the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll.
All their host shall wither away,
as the leaf wilts on the vine,
or as the fig withers on the tree.(CP)
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it shall come down upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people under my ban.(CQ)
6 The Lord has a sword sated with blood,
greasy with fat,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams’ kidneys;
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.(CR)
7 Wild oxen shall be struck down with fatlings,
and bullocks with bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their soil greasy with fat.
8 [ab]For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of requital for the cause of Zion.(CS)
9 Edom’s streams shall be changed into pitch,
its soil into sulfur,
and its land shall become burning pitch;
10 Night and day it shall not be quenched,
its smoke shall rise forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste,
never again shall anyone pass through it.(CT)
11 But the desert owl and hoot owl shall possess it,
the screech owl and raven shall dwell in it.
The Lord will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos,
the plumb line of confusion.[ac](CU)
12 Its nobles shall be no more,
nor shall kings be proclaimed there;
all its princes are gone.(CV)
13 Its castles shall be overgrown with thorns,
its fortresses with thistles and briers.
It shall become an abode for jackals,
a haunt for ostriches.(CW)
14 Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts,
satyrs[ad] shall call to one another;
There shall the lilith repose,
and find for herself a place to rest.
15 There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs,
hatch them out and gather them in her shadow;
There shall the kites assemble,
each with its mate.
16 Search through the book of the Lord[ae] and read:
not one of these shall be lacking,
For the mouth of the Lord has ordered it,
and his spirit gathers them there.
17 It is he who casts the lot for them;
his hand measures off[af] their portions;
They shall possess it forever,
and dwell in it from generation to generation.(CX)
Chapter 35
Israel’s Deliverance[ag]
1 The wilderness and the parched land will exult;
the Arabah will rejoice and bloom;(CY)
2 Like the crocus it shall bloom abundantly,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
They will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.(CZ)
3 Strengthen hands that are feeble,
make firm knees that are weak,(DA)
4 Say to the fearful of heart:
Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.(DB)
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall see,
and the ears of the deaf be opened;(DC)
6 Then the lame shall leap like a stag,
and the mute tongue sing for joy.
For waters will burst forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the Arabah.(DD)
7 The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water;
The abode where jackals crouch
will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.
8 A highway will be there,
called the holy way;
No one unclean may pass over it,
but it will be for his people;
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray on it.(DE)
9 No lion shall be there,
nor any beast of prey approach,
nor be found.
But there the redeemed shall walk,(DF)
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning flee away.(DG)
G. Historical Appendix[ah]
Chapter 36
Invasion of Sennacherib. 1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.[ai](DH) 2 From Lachish the king of Assyria sent his commander with a great army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When he stopped at the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field, 3 there came out to him the master of the palace, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and Shebna the scribe, and the chancellor, Joah, son of Asaph. 4 The commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you base this trust of yours? 5 Do you think mere words substitute for strategy and might in war? In whom, then, do you place your trust, that you rebel against me? 6 Do you trust in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it? That is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is to all who trust in him.(DI) 7 Or do you say to me: It is in the Lord, our God, we trust? Is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,[aj] commanding Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Worship before this altar’?(DJ)
8 “Now, make a wager with my lord, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put riders on them. 9 How then can you turn back even a captain, one of the least servants of my lord, trusting, as you do, in Egypt for chariots and horses? 10 Did I come up to destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself said to me, Go up and destroy that land!”(DK)
11 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic; we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”[ak]
12 But the commander replied, “Was it to your lord and to you that my lord sent me to speak these words? Was it not rather to those sitting on the wall, who, with you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?” 13 Then the commander stepped forward and cried out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, “Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot rescue you. 15 And do not let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria:
Make peace with me
and surrender to me!
Eat, each of you, from your vine,
each from your own fig tree.
Drink water, each from your own well,(DL)
17 until I arrive and take you
to a land like your own,
A land of grain and wine,
a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Do not let Hezekiah seduce you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’ Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?(DM) 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of Samaria? Have they saved Samaria from my power?(DN) 20 Who among all the gods of these lands ever rescued their land from my power, that the Lord should save Jerusalem from my power?” 21 But they remained silent and did not answer at all, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.”
22 Then the master of the palace, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, Shebna the scribe, and the chancellor Joah, son of Asaph, came to Hezekiah with their garments torn, and reported to him the words of the commander.
Chapter 37
1 [al]When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the master of the palace, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to tell the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz,
3 “Thus says Hezekiah:
A day of distress and rebuke,
a day of disgrace is this day!
Children are due to come forth,
but the strength to give birth is lacking.[am](DO)
4 Perhaps the Lord, your God, will hear the words of the commander, whom his lord, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke him for the words which the Lord, your God, has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that is here.”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah had come to Isaiah, 6 he said to them: “Tell this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be frightened by the words you have heard, by which the deputies of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.(DP)
7 I am putting in him such a spirit
that when he hears a report
he will return to his land.
I will make him fall by the sword in his land.”
8 When the commander, on his return, heard that the king of Assyria had withdrawn from Lachish, he found him besieging Libnah. 9 The king of Assyria heard a report: “Tirhakah,[an] king of Ethiopia, has come out to fight against you.” Again he sent messengers to Hezekiah to say: 10 “Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’(DQ) 11 You, certainly, have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands: they put them under the ban! And are you to be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed deliver them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, or a king of the cities Sepharvaim, Hena or Ivvah?”
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then he went up to the house of the Lord, and spreading it out before the Lord, 15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:
16 “Lord of hosts, God of Israel,
enthroned on the cherubim!
You alone are God
over all the kingdoms of the earth.
It is you who made
the heavens and the earth.[ao]
17 Incline your ear, Lord, and listen!
open your eyes, Lord, and see!
Hear all the words Sennacherib has sent
to taunt the living God.
18 Truly, O Lord,
the kings of Assyria have laid waste
the nations and their lands.
19 They gave their gods to the fire
—they were not gods at all,
but the work of human hands—
Wood and stone, they destroyed them.(DR)
20 Therefore, Lord, our God,
save us from this man’s power,
That all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you alone, Lord, are God.”
21 [ap]Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed concerning Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened! 22 This is the word the Lord has spoken concerning him:(DS)
She despises you, laughs you to scorn,
the virgin daughter Zion;
Behind you she wags her head,
daughter Jerusalem.
23 Whom have you insulted and blasphemed,
at whom have you raised your voice
And lifted up your eyes on high?
At the Holy One of Israel!(DT)
24 Through the mouths of your messengers
you have insulted the Lord when you said:
‘With my many chariots I went up
to the tops of the peaks,
to the recesses of Lebanon,
To cut down its lofty cedars,
its choice cypresses;
I reached the farthest shelter,
the forest ranges.
25 I myself dug wells
and drank foreign water;
Drying up all the rivers of Egypt
beneath the soles of my feet.’
26 Have you not heard?
A long time ago I prepared it,
from days of old I planned it,
Now I have brought it about:
You are here to reduce
fortified cities to heaps of ruins,(DU)
27 Their people powerless,
dismayed and distraught,
They are plants of the field,
green growth,
thatch on the rooftops,
Grain scorched by the east wind.
28 I know when you stand or sit,
when you come or go,
and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and your smugness has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
And make you leave by the way you came.(DV)
30 This shall be a sign[aq] for you:
This year you shall eat the aftergrowth,
next year, what grows of itself;
But in the third year, sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit!
31 The remaining survivors of the house of Judah
shall again strike root below
and bear fruit above.(DW)
32 For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
and from Mount Zion, survivors.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.(DX)
33 Therefore, thus says the Lord about the king of Assyria:
He shall not come as far as this city,
nor shoot there an arrow,
nor confront it with a shield,
Nor cast up a siege-work against it.
34 By the way he came he shall leave,
never coming as far as this city,
oracle of the Lord.
35 I will shield and save this city
for my own sake and the sake of David my servant.”(DY)
36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. Early the next morning, there they were, all those corpses, dead 37 So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, departed, returned home, and stayed in Nineveh.
38 When he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and fled into the land of Ararat.[as] His son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.
Chapter 38
Sickness and Recovery of Hezekiah. 1 [at]In those days,[au] when Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.”(EA) 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord:
3 “Ah, Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was good in your sight!” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.(EB)
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 Go, tell Hezekiah:[av] Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Now I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will be a shield to this city.(EC)
7 This will be the sign for you from the Lord that the Lord will carry out the word he has spoken: 8 See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz[aw] go back the ten steps it has advanced. So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.(ED)
Hezekiah’s Hymn of Thanksgiving. 9 The song of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10 In the noontime of life[ax] I said,
I must depart!
To the gates of Sheol I have been consigned
for the rest of my years.(EE)
11 I said, I shall see the Lord[ay] no more
in the land of the living.
Nor look on any mortals
among those who dwell in the world.
12 My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs me from the last thread.[az](EF)
From morning to night you make an end of me;
13 I cry out even until the dawn.
Like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from morning to night you make an end of me.(EG)
14 Like a swallow I chirp;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weary looking heavenward:
Lord, I am overwhelmed; go security for me!
15 [ba]What am I to say or tell him?
He is the one who has done it!
All my sleep has fled,
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Those live whom the Lord protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and restored my life!
17 Peace in place of bitterness!
You have preserved my life
from the pit of destruction;
Behind your back
you cast all my sins.[bb]
18 [bc]For it is not Sheol that gives you thanks,
nor death that praises you;
Neither do those who go down into the pit
await your kindness.(EH)
19 The living, the living give you thanks,
as I do today.
Parents declare to their children,
O God, your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is there to save us.
We shall play our music
In the house of the Lord
all the days of our life.
21 [bd]Then Isaiah said, “Bring a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil for his recovery.” 22 Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
Chapter 39
Embassy from Merodach-baladan. 1 At that time Merodach-baladan,[be] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah, when he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.(EI) 2 Hezekiah was pleased at their coming, and then showed the messengers his treasury, the silver and gold, the spices and perfumed oil, his whole armory, and everything in his storerooms; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(EJ)
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say to you? Where did they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant land, from Babylon.” 4 He asked, “What did they see in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They saw everything in my house. There is nothing in my storerooms that I did not show them.” 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 The time is coming when all that is in your house, everything that your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried off to Babylon;[bf] nothing shall be left, says the Lord.(EK) 7 Some of your own descendants, your progeny, shall be taken and made attendants in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(EL) 8 Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.”[bg] For he thought, “There will be peace and stability in my lifetime.”
II. Isaiah 40—55[bh]
A. The Lord’s Glory in Israel’s Liberation
Chapter 40
Promise of Salvation
1 [bi]Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service[bj] has ended,
that her guilt is expiated,
That she has received from the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
3 A voice proclaims:[bk]
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!(EM)
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
6 A voice says, “Proclaim!”
I answer, “What shall I proclaim?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their loyalty like the flower of the field.(EN)
7 The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.”
“Yes, the people is grass!
8 The grass withers, the flower wilts,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
9 Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of good news![bl]
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Cry out, do not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
10 Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
11 Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care.(EO)
Power of God and the Vanity of Idols
12 Who has measured with his palm the waters,
marked off the heavens with a span,
held in his fingers the dust of the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?[bm]
13 Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or instructed him as his counselor?(EP)
14 Whom did he consult to gain knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment,
or showed him the way of understanding?
15 See, the nations count as a drop in the bucket,
as a wisp of cloud on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than a speck.[bn]
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,[bo]
nor its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nought,
as nothing and void he counts them.
18 To whom can you liken God?(EQ)
With what likeness can you confront him?
19 An idol? An artisan casts it,
the smith plates it with gold,
fits it with silver chains.[bp](ER)
20 Is mulberry wood the offering?
A skilled artisan picks out
a wood that will not rot,
Seeks to set up for himself
an idol that will not totter.(ES)
21 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Was it not told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the founding of the earth?
22 The one who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,
its inhabitants like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,(ET)
23 Who brings princes to nought
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem rooted in the earth,
When he breathes upon them and they wither,
and the stormwind carries them away like straw.
25 To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high
and see who created[bq] these:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!(EU)
27 Why, O Jacob, do you say,[br]
and declare, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is God from of old,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
29 He gives power to the faint,
abundant strength to the weak.
30 Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
31 They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar on eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.
Chapter 41
The Liberator of Israel
1 Keep silence before me, O coastlands;[bs]
let the nations renew their strength.
Let them draw near and speak;
let us come together for judgment.
2 Who has stirred up from the East the champion of justice,
and summoned him to be his attendant?
To him he delivers nations
and subdues kings;
With his sword he reduces them to dust,
with his bow, to driven straw.
3 He pursues them, passing on without loss,
by a path his feet scarcely touch.
4 Who has performed these deeds?
Who has called forth the generations from the beginning?(EV)
I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the last[bt] I am he.
5 The coastlands see, and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble:
they approach, they come on.
6 Each one helps his neighbor,
one says to the other, “Courage!”
7 The woodworker encourages the goldsmith,
the one who beats with the hammer, him who strikes on the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good!”
then fastening it with nails so it will not totter.
8 But you, Israel, my servant,(EW)
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend—
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth
and summoned from its far-off places,
To whom I have said, You are my servant;
I chose you, I have not rejected you—
10 Do not fear: I am with you;
do not be anxious: I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
11 Yes, all shall be put to shame and disgrace
who vent their anger against you;
Those shall be as nothing and perish
who offer resistance.
12 You shall seek but not find
those who strive against you;
They shall be as nothing at all
who do battle with you.
13 For I am the Lord, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, Do not fear,
I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot Israel;
I will help you—oracle of the Lord;
the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.[bu]
15 I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, full of teeth,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
16 When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off,
the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17 The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the wilderness into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.