The Babylonian Envoys

39 At athat time 1Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 bAnd Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a cfar country, from Babylon.”

4 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming dwhen all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And they shall take away some of your esons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

8 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, f“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”

Woe to Jerusalem

29 “Woe ato 1Ariel, to Ariel, the city bwhere David dwelt!

Add year to year;

Let feasts come around.

2 Yet I will distress Ariel;

There shall be heaviness and sorrow,

And it shall be to Me as Ariel.

3 I will encamp against you all around,

I will lay siege against you with a mound,

And I will raise siegeworks against you.

4 You shall be brought down,

You shall speak out of the ground;

Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;

Your voice shall be like a medium’s, cout of the ground;

And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

5 “Moreover the multitude of your dfoes

Shall be like fine dust,

And the multitude of the terrible ones

Like echaff that passes away;

Yes, it shall be fin an instant, suddenly.

6 gYou will be punished by the Lord of hosts

With thunder and hearthquake and great noise,

With storm and tempest

And the flame of devouring fire.

7 iThe multitude of all the nations who fight against 2Ariel,

Even all who fight against her and her fortress,

And distress her,

Shall be jas a dream of a night vision.

8 kIt shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,

And look—he eats;

But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;

Or as when a thirsty man dreams,

And look—he drinks;

But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,

And his soul still craves:

So the multitude of all the nations shall be,

Who fight against Mount Zion.”

The Blindness of Disobedience

9 Pause and wonder!

Blind yourselves and be blind!

lThey are drunk, mbut not with wine;

They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

10 For nthe Lord has poured out on you

The spirit of deep sleep,

And has oclosed your eyes, namely, the prophets;

And He has covered your heads, namely, pthe seers.

11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a 3book qthat is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”

rAnd he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

12 Then the book is delivered to one who 4is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”

And he says, “I am not literate.”

13 Therefore the Lord said:

s“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths

And honor Me twith their lips,

But have removed their hearts far from Me,

And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

14 uTherefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work

Among this people,

A marvelous work and a wonder;

vFor the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

15 wWoe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,

And their works are in the dark;

xThey say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

16 Surely you have things turned around!

Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;

For shall the ything made say of him who made it,

“He did not make me”?

Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

Future Recovery of Wisdom

17 Is it not yet a very little while

Till zLebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,

And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?

18 aIn that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,

And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

19 bThe humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,

And cthe poor among men shall rejoice

In the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the 5terrible one is brought to nothing,

dThe scornful one is consumed,

And all who ewatch for iniquity are cut off—

21 Who make a man an offender by a word,

And flay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,

And turn aside the just gby empty words.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, hwho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be iashamed,

Nor shall his face now grow pale;

23 But when he sees his children,

jThe work of My hands, in his midst,

They will hallow My name,

And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,

And fear the God of Israel.

24 These also kwho erred in spirit will come to understanding,

And those who complained will learn doctrine.”

Futile Confidence in Egypt

30 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,

a“Who take counsel, but not of Me,

And who 1devise plans, but not of My Spirit,

bThat they may add sin to sin;

2 cWho walk to go down to Egypt,

And dhave not asked My advice,

To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,

And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

3 eTherefore the strength of Pharaoh

Shall be your shame,

And trust in the shadow of Egypt

Shall be your humiliation.

4 For his princes were at fZoan,

And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

5 gThey were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,

Or be help or benefit,

But a shame and also a reproach.”

6 hThe 2burden against the beasts of the South.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,

From which came the lioness and lion,

iThe viper and fiery flying serpent,

They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,

And their treasures on the humps of camels,

To a people who shall not profit;

7 jFor the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.

Therefore I have called her

3Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

A Rebellious People

8 Now go, kwrite it before them on a tablet,

And note it on a scroll,

That it may be for time to come,

Forever and ever:

9 That lthis is a rebellious people,

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