Category: Isaiah

Righteous Reign of the Branch

1 Then a Shoot (the Messiah) will spring from the stock of Jesse [David’s father],

And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

2 And the Spirit of the Lordwill rest on Him—

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and strength,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the [reverential and obedient] fear of the Lord—

3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,

And He will not judge by what His eyes see,

Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;

4 But with righteousnessandjustice He will judge the poor,

And decide with fairness for the downtrodden of the earth;

And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness will be the belt around His loins,

And faithfulness the belt around His waist.

6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,

And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,

And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together;

And a little child will lead them.

7 And the cow and the bear will graze [together],

Their young will lie down together,

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 And the nursing child will [safely] play over the hole of the cobra,

And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den [and not be hurt].

9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

As the waters cover the sea.

10 Then in that day

The nations will make supplications to the Root of Jesse

Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;

And His resting place will be glorious.

The Restored Remnant

11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord

Will again acquire with His hand a second time

The remnant of His people, who will remain,

From Assyria, from [Lower] Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Aram],

And from the coastlandsborderingthe [Mediterranean] Sea.

12 And He will lift up a signal for the nations

And assemble theoutcasts of Israel,

And will gather the dispersed of Judah

From the four corners of the earth.

13 Then the jealousy ofEphraim will depart,

And those who harassJudah will be cut off;

Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,

And Judah will not harass Ephraim.

14 Ephraim and Judah will [unite and] swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines toward the west;

Together they will plunder the sons (Arabs) of the east.

They will possess Edom and Moab,

And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.

15 And the Lordwill utterly destroy

The tongue of theSea of Egypt;

And with His scorching wind

He will wave His hand over the River;

He will strikeanddivide it into seven channels

And make [it possible for] people [to] walk over in sandals.

16 And there will be a highway from Assyria

For the remnant of His people who will be left,

Just as there was for Israel

In the day when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

Thanksgiving Expressed

1 And on that day you will say,

“I will give thanks to You, O Lord;

For though You were angry with me,

Your anger has turned away,

And You comfort me.

2 Behold, God, my salvation!

I will trust and not be afraid,

For the LordGodis my strength and song;

Yes, He has become my salvation.”

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water

From the springs of salvation.

4 And in that day you will say,

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name [in prayer].

Make His deeds known among the peoples [of the earth];

Proclaim [to them] that His name is exalted!”

5 Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellentandglorious things;

Let this be known throughout the earth.

6 Rejoice and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Prophecies about Babylon

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw [in a prophetic vision]:

2 Lift up a signal banner on the bare mountain,

Summon them [the Medes and Persians] with a loud voice,

Wave the [beckoning] hand so that they may enter the doorways of the [Babylonian] nobles.

3 I [the Lord] have commanded My consecrated ones,

I have even called My great warriors,

My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]—

ToexecuteMy anger.

4 A sound of tumult on the mountains,

Like that of many people!

A sound of the uproar of the kingdoms,

Of nations gathered together!

The Lordof hosts is mustering an army for battle.

5 They are coming from a distant country,

From the end of heaven [the farthest horizon]—

The Lordand the weapons of His indignation—

To destroy the whole land.

Judgment on the Day of the Lord

6 Wail, for the day of the Lordis at hand!

It will come asdestruction from theAlmighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)!

7 Thereforeall hands will fall limp,

And every man’s heart will melt.

8 They [of Babylon] will be shockedandterrified,

Pains and anguish will grip them;

They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.

They will stare aghastandhorrified at one another,

Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].

9 Listen carefully, the day of the Lordis coming,

Cruel, with wrath and raging anger,

To make the land a horror [of devastation];

And He shall exterminate its sinners from it.

10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not flash with their light;

The sun will be dark when it rises,

And the moon will not shed its light.

11 In this way I will punish the world for its evil

And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];

I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud

And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.

12 I will make mortal man more rare than fine gold,

And mankind [scarcer] than the pure gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

And the earth will be shaken from its place

At the wrath of the Lordof hosts

In the day of His burning anger.

14 And like the hunted gazelle,

Or like sheep that no man gathers,

Each [foreign resident] will turn [and go back] to his own people,

And each one flee to his own land.

15 Anyone who is found will be pierced through,

And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

16 Their children also will be smashed to pieces

Before their eyes;

Their houses will be looted

And their wives ravished.

Babylon Will Fall to the Medes

17 Listen carefully, I will put the Medes [in motion] against them,

Who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold [and therefore cannot be bribed].

18 Their bows will cut down the young men [of Babylon];

They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb,

Their eyes will not look with compassion on the children.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of theChaldeans’ pride,

Will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

20 Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;

Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,

Nor will the shepherds lettheir sheeplie down there.

21 But desert creatures will lie down there,

And their houses will be full of owls;

Ostriches also will live there, andwild goats will dance there.

22 Hyenas will howl in their castles,

And jackals in their luxurious palaces.

Babylon’s time has nearly come,

And her days will not be prolonged.

Israel’s Taunt

1 For the Lordwill have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel).

2 The peoples will take them along and bring them to their own place (Judea), and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lordas male and female servants; and they will take captive those whose captives they have been, and they will rule over their [former] oppressors.

3 And it will be in the day when the Lordgives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved,

4 that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,

“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],

And howthe fury has ceased!

5 The Lordhas broken the staff of the wicked,

The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers

6 Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,

Which subduedandruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.

7 The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;

They break into shouts of joy.

8 Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon,saying,

‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’

9 Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];

It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;

It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].

10 All of them will respond [tauntingly] and say to you,

‘You have become as weak as we are.

You have become like us.

11 Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,

Along with the music of your harps;

The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]

And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’

12 How you have fallen from heaven,

Ostar of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the ground,

You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!

13 But you said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the remote parts of the north.

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

15 But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,

To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

16 Those who see you will gaze at you,

They will consider you,saying,

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17 Who made the world like a wilderness

And overthrew its cities,

Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’

18 All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,

Each one in his own sepulcher.

19 But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)

Like a rejected branch,

Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,

Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],

Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].

20 You will not be united with them in burial,

Because you have destroyed your land,

You have slain your people.

May the descendants of evildoers never be named!

21 Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons

Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.

They must not rise and take possession of the earth,

And fill the face of the world with cities.”

22 “I will rise up against them,” says the Lordof hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, and son and grandson,” declares the Lord.

23 “I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and ofswamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lordof hosts.

Judgment on Assyria

24 The Lordof hosts has sworn [an oath], saying, “Just as I have intended, so it has certainly happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand—

25 to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’syoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder.

26 This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.

27 For the Lordof hosts has decidedandplanned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

Judgment on Philistia

28 In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died this [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) came:

29 “Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,

Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;

For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],

And its offspring will be a flying serpent.

30 The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],

And the needy will lie down in safety;

But I will kill your root with famine,

And your survivors will be put to death.

31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city!

Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;

For smoke comes out of the north,

And there is no straggler in his ranksandno one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions].

32 Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?

That the Lordhas founded Zion,

And the afflicted of His people will seekandfind refuge in it.”

Judgment on Moab

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Moab:

Because in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;

Because in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.

2 They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep.

Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba;

Everyone’s head is shaved, and every beard is cut off [in mourning].

3 In their streets they have wrapped themselves with sackcloth;

On their [flat] housetops and in their open squares

Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh [cities claimed by Moab] cry out;

Their voice is heard as far as Jahaz.

Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out;

Moab’s soul trembles within him.

5 My heart cries out for Moab;

His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah.

For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;

For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.

6 For the waters of Nimrim are desolate.

Indeed the grass is withered, the new growth dies;

There is no green thing.

7 Therefore the abundancewhichthey have acquired and stored away

They carry off over the Brook of the Willows.

8 For the cry of distress has echoed around the territory of Moab;

The wailinggoesas far as Eglaim and the mournful cry to Beer-elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;

Yet I will bring even morewoeson Dimon—

A lion upon those of Moab who escape and upon the remnant of the land.

Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

1 Send lambs to the ruler of the land [you Moabites],

From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

2 For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings,

The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.

3 [Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];

Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;

Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

4 Let our outcasts of Moab live among you;

Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer.”

For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,

Oppressors [who trample men] have completelydisappearedfrom the land,

5 A throne will be established in lovingkindness,

And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David;

Judgingandseeking justice

And being prompt to do righteousness.

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride—

Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage,

His untruthful boasting.

7 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail.

You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,

As those who are utterly strickenanddiscouraged.

8 For the fields of Heshbon have languishedandwithered, and the vines of Sibmahas well;

The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,

Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;

Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

9 Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah.

I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;

For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.

10 Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;

In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound;

No treader treads out wine in the presses,

For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.

11 Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab,

And my inner beingmournsfor Kir-hareseth.

12 So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself,

When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry]

And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray,

That he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the Lordspoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known].

14 But now the Lordspeaks, saying, “Withinthree years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with allthe great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”

Prophecy about Damascus

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel’s defense against Assyria].

“Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city

And will become a fallen ruin.

2 The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are deserted;

They will be [only a refuge] for flocks to lie down in,

And there will be no one to make them afraid.

3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,

And the kingdom from Damascus

And the remnant of Aram (Syria);

They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel,”

Declares the Lordof hosts.

4 “Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel—his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade,

And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

5 And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain,

As his arm harvests the ears of grain;

Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grain

In the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree,

Two or three olives on the topmost branch,

Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree,”

Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 In that day man will have regard for his Maker,

And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

8 And he will not have regard for the [idolatrous] altars, the work of his hands,

Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,

Neither the Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) nor the incense altars.

9 In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be likedeserted places in the forest,

Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel;

And the land will be a desolation.

10 Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvation

And have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold—

Therefore you plantlovely plants

And set the grounds with vine slips of a strangegod,

11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,

And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;

Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away]

In the day of sickness and incurable pain.

12 Oh, the uproar of many peoples

Who roar like the roaring of the seas,

And the noise of nations

Who roar like the rumbling of mighty waters!

13 The nations roar on like the roaring of many waters,

But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,

And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind,

Or like whirling dust before the storm.

14 At evening time, now look, sudden terror!

Beforemorning the Assyrians are no more.

This is the portion (fate) of those who plunder us,

And the lot of those who pillage us.

Message to Ethiopia

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to the land ofwhirring wings

Which is beyond the rivers ofCush (Ethiopia),

2 Which sends ambassadors by the sea,

Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters.

Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven),

To a people feared far and wide,

A powerful and oppressive nation

Whose land the rivers divide.

3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth,

When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it!

When a trumpet is blown, you will hear it!

4 For this is what the Lordhas said to me,

“I will be quiet and I will look on from My dwelling place,

Like shimmering heat above the sunshine,

Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over

And the flower becomes a ripening grape,

He will cut off the sprigs [without buds] with pruning knives,

And [He will] remove and cut away the spreading branches.

6 They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey,

And for the beasts of the earth;

And the birds of prey will [spend the] summerfeedingon them,

And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lordof hosts

From a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),

From a people feared far and wide,

A powerful and oppressive nation,

Whose land the rivers divide—

To the place [of worship] of thename of the Lordof hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

Message to Egypt

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt:

Listen carefully, the Lordis riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;

The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,

And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 “So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;

And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,

City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within themandemptied out;

And I will confuse their strategy,

So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,

And mediums and soothsayers.

4 And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hardandcruel master,

And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord Godof hosts.

5 The waters from the sea will dry up,

And the river will be parched and dry.

6 The canals will become foul-smelling,

The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up,

The reeds and the rushes will rot away.

7 The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile,

And all the sown fields of the Nile

Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.

8 The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief),

And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn,

And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.

9 Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax

And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.

10 [Those who are] the pillarsandfoundationsof Egyptwill be crushed;

And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

11 The princes ofZoan are complete fools;

The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”

12 Where then are your wise men?

Please let them tell you,

And let them understand what the Lordof hosts

Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].

13 The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,

The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];

Those who arethe cornerstone of her tribes

Have led Egypt astray.

14 The Lordhas mixed a spirit of distortion within her;

Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does,

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 There will be no work for Egypt

Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.

16 In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the Lordof hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

17 The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lordof hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swearallegianceto the Lordof hosts. One [of them] will be called the City ofDestruction.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lordin the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the Lordnear its border.

20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lordof hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lordbecause of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.

21 And so the Lordwill make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the Lordin that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the Lordand fulfill it.

22 The Lordwill strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worshipandserve [the Lord] with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be the thirdpartywith Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,

25 whom the Lordof hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”

Prophecy about Egypt and Cush (Ancient Ethiopia)

1 In the year that the Tartan [the Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod [in Philistia], when Sargon king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

2 at that time the Lordspoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, untie thesackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking aroundstripped [to his loincloth] and barefoot.

3 And the Lordsaid, “Even as My servant Isaiah has walkedstripped and barefoot for three years as a sign and forewarning concerning Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia),

4 in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered—to theshame of Egypt.

5 Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.

6 So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, ‘Look what has happened to those in whom we hopedandtrusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?’ ”