Isaiah 21–23

Chapter 21

¹The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. ²A grievous vision is declared unto me: the treacherous dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, Elam! besiege, Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. ³Therefore are my loins filled with pain; anguish hath taken hold upon me, as the anguish of a woman in travail: I am bowed down so as not to hear, I am dismayed so as not to see. ⁴My heart panteth, horror affrighteth me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into trembling unto me. ⁵Prepare the table, appoint the watch; eat, drink: arise, ye princes, anoint the shield. ⁶For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. ⁷And he saw chariots, horsemen by pairs, a chariot with asses, a chariot with camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed. ⁸And he cried as a lion, Lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights. ⁹—And behold, there cometh a chariot of men; horsemen by pairs. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. ¹⁰O my threshing, and the corn of my floor! What I have heard of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

¹¹The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? ¹²The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come.

¹³The burden against Arabia. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, ye caravans of Dedanites. ¹⁴Bring ye water to meet the thirsty! The inhabitants of the land of Tema come forth with their bread for him that fleeth. ¹⁵For they flee from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. ¹⁶For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Within a year, according to the years of a hired servant, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; ¹⁷and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished: for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken.

Chapter 22

¹The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? ²Thou that wast full of stir, a town of tumult, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. ³All thy rulers have fled together, they are taken prisoners without the bow: all that are found of thee are made prisoners together; they were fleeing far off. ⁴Therefore said I, Look away from me; let me weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. ⁵For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision; a day of breaking down the wall, and of crying to the mountain: ⁶—Elam beareth the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovereth the shield. ⁷And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

⁸And he uncovereth the covering of Judah: and thou didst look in that day to the armour in the house of the forest; ⁹and ye have seen the breaches of the city of David, that they are many; and ye have gathered together the waters of the lower pool; ¹⁰and ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and have broken down the houses to fortify the wall; ¹¹and ye have made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not had regard unto the maker thereof, neither have ye looked unto him that fashioned it long ago. ¹²And in that day did the Lord Jehovah of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; ¹³and behold joy and rejoicing, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: —Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. ¹⁴And it was revealed in mine ears by Jehovah of hosts: Assuredly this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

¹⁵Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts: Go, get thee in unto this steward, unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say, ¹⁶What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth out his sepulchre on high, cutting out in the rock a habitation for himself? ¹⁷Behold, Jehovah will hurl thee with the force of a mighty man, and will cover thee entirely. ¹⁸Rolling thee up completely, he will roll thee as a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, O shame of thy lord’s house! ¹⁹And I will drive thee from thine office, and from thy station will I pull thee down. ²⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkijah; ²¹and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. ²²And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. ²³And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father’s house: ²⁴and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all the small vessels, as well the vessels of cups as all the vessels of flagons. ²⁵In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for Jehovah hath spoken.

Chapter 23

¹The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, none entering in. From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. ²Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle! The merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished thee. ³And on great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of the nations. ⁴Be thou ashamed, Sidon, for the sea hath spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, I have not travailed nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men nor brought up virgins. ⁵—When the report came into Egypt, they were sorely pained at the news of Tyre. ⁶Pass over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast! ⁷Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. ⁸Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the distributor of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose dealers were the honourable of the earth? ⁹Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to profane the pride of all glory, to bring to nought all the honourable of the earth. ¹⁰Overflow thy land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish: there is no more restraint. ¹¹He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he shaketh the kingdoms. Jehovah hath given a commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strongholds thereof, ¹²and hath said, Thou shalt no more exult, thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Sidon: get thee up, pass over to Chittim; even there shalt thou have no rest. ¹³Behold the land of the Chaldeans: this people did not exist; the Assyrian founded it for the dwellers in the desert: they set up their towers, they destroyed the palaces thereof; he brought it to ruin. ¹⁴Howl, ships of Tarshish! for your fortress is laid waste.

¹⁵And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it shall be for Tyre as the harlot’s song. ¹⁶Take a harp, go about the city, thou forgotten harlot! Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. ¹⁷And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre; and she will return to her hire, and will commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the ground. ¹⁸And her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat and be sufficed, and for excellent clothing.