A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that lthe commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to mAshdod and fought against it and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking nnaked and barefoot.

3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years oas a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,1 4 so shall the pking of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 qThen they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of rthis coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and sto whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’ ”

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

21 The toracle concerning the wilderness of uthe sea.

vAs whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

it comes from the wilderness,

from a terrible land.

2  A stern vision is told to me;

wthe traitor betrays,

and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, O xElam;

lay siege, O yMedia;

all the zsighing she has caused

I bring to an end.

3  Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

apangs have seized me,

like the pangs of a woman in labor;

I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;

I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

4  My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;

bthe twilight I longed for

has been turned for me into trembling.

5  cThey prepare the table,

they spread the rugs,1

they eat, they drink.

Arise, O princes;

doil the shield!

6  For thus the Lord said to me:

“Go, set a watchman;

let him announce what he sees.

7  When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

let him listen diligently,

very diligently.”

8  Then he who saw cried out:2

e“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

continually by day,

and at my post I am stationed

whole nights.

9  And behold, here come riders,

horsemen in pairs!”

fAnd he answered,

g“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

hand all the carved images of her gods

he has shattered to the ground.”

10  O imy threshed and winnowed one,

what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel, I announce to you.

11 The joracle concerning kDumah.

One is calling to me from lSeir,

“Watchman, what time of the night?

Watchman, what time of the night?”

12  The watchman says:

“Morning comes, and also mthe night.

If you will inquire, ninquire;

come back again.”

13 The ooracle concerning pArabia.

In the thickets in pArabia you will lodge,

O qcaravans of pDedanites.

14  To the thirsty bring water;

meet the fugitive with bread,

O inhabitants of the land of rTema.

15  For they have fled from the swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow,

and from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, saccording to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of tKedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of tKedar will be few, ufor the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

23 The ioracle concerning jTyre.

Wail, O kships of Tarshish,

for Tyre is laid waste, lwithout house or harbor!

From mthe land of Cyprus1

it is revealed to them.

2  Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

the merchants of nSidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.

3  And on many waters

your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

the harvest of the Nile;

you were othe merchant of the nations.

4  Be ashamed, O nSidon, for the sea has spoken,

the stronghold of the sea, saying:

“I have neither labored nor given birth,

I have neither reared young men

nor brought up young women.”

5  When the report comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish2 over the report about Tyre.

6  pCross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

7  Is this your exultant city

qwhose origin is from days of old,

whose feet carried her

to settle far away?

8  Who has purposed this

against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants were princes,

whose traders were the honored of the earth?

9  The Lord of hosts has purposed it,

rto defile the pompous pride of all glory,3

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.

10  Cross over your land like the Nile,

O daughter of Tarshish;

there is no restraint anymore.

11  sHe has stretched out his hand over the sea;

he has shaken the kingdoms;

the Lord has given command concerning Canaan

to destroy its strongholds.

12  And he said:

“You will no more exult,

O oppressed virgin daughter of tSidon;

arise, ucross over to vCyprus,

even there you will have no rest.”

13 Behold the land of wthe Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected xtheir siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

14  yWail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your stronghold is laid waste.

15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for zseventy years, like the days5 of one king. At the end of zseventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16  “Take a harp;

go about the city,

O forgotten prostitute!

Make sweet melody;

sing many songs,

that you may be remembered.”

17 At the end of aseventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and bwill prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.