Isaiah 20–22

NO HELP FROM CUSH OR EGYPT

20In the year that the chief commander,^j sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod^k and attacked and captured it—²during that time the Lord had spoken through Isaiah^l son of Amoz, saying, “Go, take off your sackcloth and remove the sandals from your feet,” and he did that, going stripped and barefoot^m—³the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,^{n 4}so the king of Assyria will lead the captives of Egypt^o and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, stripped and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame. ⁵Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.^{p 6}And the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Look, this is what has happened to those we relied on and fled to for help to rescue us from the king of Assyria! Now, how will we escape?’ ”

A JUDGMENT ON BABYLON

21A pronouncement^q concerning the desert by the sea:^r

Like storms that pass over the Negev,

it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.

²A troubling vision is declared to me:

“The treacherous one acts treacherously,^s

and the destroyer destroys.

Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning.”

³Therefore I am^A filled with anguish.

Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.^t

I am too perplexed to hear,

too dismayed to see.

⁴My heart staggers;

horror terrifies me.

He has turned my last glimmer of hope^B

into sheer terror.^u

⁵Prepare a table,^v and spread out a carpet!

Eat and drink!

Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!

⁶For the Lord has said to me,

“Go, post a lookout;

let him report what he sees.

⁷When he sees riders—

pairs of horsemen,

riders on donkeys,

riders on camels—

he must pay close attention.”

⁸Then the lookout^C reported,

“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,^a

and I stay at my post all night.

⁹Look, riders come—

horsemen in pairs.”

And he answered, saying,

“Babylon has fallen,^b has fallen.

All the images of her gods

have been shattered on the ground.”^c

¹⁰My people who have been crushed

on the threshing floor,^d

I have declared to you

what I have heard from the Lord of Armies,

the God of Israel.

A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST DUMAH

¹¹A pronouncement^e concerning Dumah:^Af

One calls to me from Seir,^g

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?”

¹²The watchman said,

“Morning has come, and also night.

If you want to ask, ask!

Come back again.”

A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST ARABIA

¹³A pronouncement concerning Arabia:^h

In the desert^B brush

you will camp for the night,

you caravans of Dedanites.ⁱ

¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty.

The inhabitants of the land of Tema^j

meet^C the refugees with food.

¹⁵For they have fled from swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bow that is strung,

and from the stress of battle.

¹⁶For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year,^k as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar^l will be gone. ¹⁷The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST JERUSALEM

22A pronouncement^m concerning the Valley of Vision:ⁿ

What’s the matter with you?

Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?^o

²The noisy city, the jubilant town,^p

is filled with celebration.

Your dead did not die by the sword;

they were not killed in battle.

³All your rulers have fled together,

captured without a bow.

All your fugitives were captured together;

they had fled far away.

⁴Therefore I said,

“Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly!^q

Do not try to comfort me

about the destruction of my dear^D people.”

⁵For the Lord God of Armies

had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion^r

in the Valley of Vision—

people shouting^E and crying to the mountains;

⁶Elam took up a quiver

with chariots and horsemen,^F

and Kir^s uncovered the shield.

⁷Your best valleys were full of chariots,

and horsemen were positioned at the city gates.

⁸He removed the defenses of Judah.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.^{t 9}You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David.^u You collected water from the lower pool.^{v 10}You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. ¹¹You made a reservoir between the walls^w for the water of the ancient pool,^x but you did not look to the one who made it, or consider the one who created it long ago.

¹²On that day the Lord God of Armies

called for weeping,^y for wailing, for shaven heads,

and for the wearing of sackcloth.

¹³But look: joy and gladness,

butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep and goats,

eating of meat, and drinking of wine—

“Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”^a

¹⁴The Lord of Armies has directly revealed to me:^b

“This iniquity will not be wiped out for you people as long as you live.”^Ac

The Lord God of Armies has spoken.

A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST SHEBNA

¹⁵The Lord God of Armies said, “Go to Shebna,^d that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: ¹⁶What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a resting place for yourself out of rock?^{e 17}Look, you strong man! The Lord is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, ¹⁸wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land.^B There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be—a disgrace to the house of your lord. ¹⁹I will remove you from your office; you will be ousted from your position.

²⁰“On that day I will call for my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.^{f 21}I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.^{g 22}I will place the key^h of the house of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open.^{i 23}I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s family. ²⁴They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s family: the descendants and the offshoots—all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. ²⁵On that day”—the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.” Indeed, the Lord has spoken.