Isaiah 17:1–21:17

God Will Punish Syria and Israel

17 * The Lord said, “Damascus will not be a city any longer; it will be only a pile of ruins. 2*The cities of Syria will be deserted for ever.c They will be a pasture for sheep and cattle, and no one will drive them away. 3*Israel will be defenceless, and Damascus will lose its independence. Those Syrians who survive will be in disgrace like the people of Israel. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”

4 The Lord said, “A day is coming when Israel’s greatness will come to an end, and its wealth will be replaced by poverty. 5Israel will be like a field where the corn has been cut and harvested, as desolate as a field in the valley of Rephaim when it has been picked bare. 6Only a few people will survive, and Israel will be like an olive tree from which all the olives have been picked except two or three at the very top, or a few that are left on the lower branches. I, the Lord God of Israel, have spoken.”

7 When that day comes, people will turn for help to their Creator, the holy God of Israel. 8They will no longer rely on the altars they made with their own hands, or trust in their own handiwork—symbols of the goddess Asherah and altars for burning incense.

9 When that day comes, well-defended cities will be deserted and left in ruins like the cities that the Hivites and the Amoritesd abandoned as they fled from the people of Israel.

10 Israel, you have forgotten the God who rescues you and who protects you like a mighty rock. Instead, you plant sacred gardense in order to worship a foreign god. 11But even if they sprouted and blossomed the very morning you planted them, there would still be no harvest. There would be only trouble and incurable pain.

Enemy Nations Are Defeated

12 Powerful nations are in commotion with a sound like the roar of the sea, like the crashing of huge waves. 13The nations advance like rushing waves, but God reprimands them and they retreat, driven away like dust on a hillside, like straw in a whirlwind. 14In the evening they cause terror, but by morning they are gone. That is the fate of everyone who plunders our land.f

God Will Punish Sudan

18 * Beyond the rivers of Ethiopiag there is a land where the sound of wings is heard. 2*From that land ambassadors come down the Nile in boats made of reeds. Go back home, swift messengers! Take a message back to your land divided by rivers, to your strong and powerful nation, to your tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world.

3 *Listen, everyone who lives on earth! Look for a signal flag to be raised on the tops of the mountains! Listen for the blowing of the bugle! 4*The Lord said to me, “I will look down from heaven as quietly as the dew forms in the warm nights of harvest time, as serenely as the sun shines in the heat of the day. 5*Before the grapes are gathered, when the blossoms have all fallen and the grapes are ripening, the enemy will destroy the Ethiopiansh as easily as a knife cuts branches from a vine. 6*The corpses of their soldiers will be left exposed to the birds and the wild animals. In summer the birds will feed on them, and in winter, the animals.”

7 *A time is coming when the Lord Almighty will receive offerings from this land divided by rivers, this strong and powerful nation, this tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world. They will come to Mount Zion, where the Lord Almighty is worshipped.

God Will Punish Egypt

19 * This is a message about Egypt. The Lord is coming to Egypt, riding swiftly on a cloud. The Egyptian idols tremble before him, and the people of Egypt lose their courage. 2*The Lord says, “I will stir up civil war in Egypt and turn brother against brother and neighbour against neighbour. Rival cities will fight each other, and rival kings will struggle for power. 3*I am going to frustrate the plans of the Egyptians and destroy their morale. They will ask their idols to help them, and they will go and consult mediums and ask the spirits of the dead for advice. 4*I will hand the Egyptians over to a tyrant, to a cruel king who will rule them. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”

5 *The water will be low in the Nile, and the river will gradually dry up. 6*The channels of the river will stink as they slowly go dry. Reeds and rushes will wither, 7*and all the crops sown along the banks of the Nile will dry up and be blown away. 8*Everyone who earns his living by fishing in the Nile will groan and cry; their hooks and their nets will be useless. 9*Those who make linen cloth will be in despair; 10*weavers and skilled workers will be broken and depressed.

11 *The leaders of the city of Zoan are fools! Egypt’s wisest people give stupid advice! How dare they tell the king that they are successors to the ancient scholars and kings? 12*King of Egypt, where are those clever advisers of yours? Perhaps they can tell you what plans the Lord Almighty has for Egypt. 13*The leaders of Zoan and Memphis are fools. They were supposed to lead the nation, but they have misled it. 14*The Lord has made them give confusing advice. As a result, Egypt does everything wrong and staggers like a drunken man slipping on his own vomit. 15*No one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unknown, can offer help.

Egypt Will Worship the Lord

16 *A time is coming when the people of Egypt will be as timid as women. They will tremble in terror when they see that the Lord Almighty has stretched out his hand to punish them. 17*The people of Egypt will be terrified of Judah every time they are reminded of the fate that the Lord Almighty has prepared for them.

18 *When that time comes, the Hebrew language will be spoken in five Egyptian cities. The people there will take their oaths in the name of the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will be called, “City of the Sun”.

19 *When that time comes, there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt and a stone pillar dedicated to him at the Egyptian border. 20*They will be symbols of the Lord Almighty’s presence in Egypt. When the people there are oppressed and call out to the Lord for help, he will send someone to rescue them. 21*The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptian people, and then they will acknowledge and worship him, and bring him sacrifices and offerings. They will make solemn promises to him and do what they promise. 22*The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.

23 *When that time comes, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. The people of those two countries will travel to and fro between them, and the two nations will worship together. 24*When that time comes, Israel will rank with Egypt and Assyria, and these three nations will be a blessing to all the world. 25*The Lord Almighty will bless them and say, “I will bless you, Egypt, my people; you, Assyria, whom I created; and you, Israel, my chosen people.”

The Sign of the Naked Prophet

20 Under the orders of Sargon, emperor of Assyria, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army attacked the Philistine city of Ashdod. 2Three years earlier the Lord had told Isaiah son of Amoz to take off his sandals and the sackcloth he was wearing. He obeyed and went about naked and barefoot. 3When Ashdod was captured, the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been going about naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia.i 4The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt. 5Those who have put their trust in Ethiopiaj and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered. 6When that time comes, the people who live along the coast of Philistia will say, ‘Look at what has happened to the people we relied on to protect us from the emperor of Assyria! How will we ever survive?’ ”

A Vision of the Fall of Babylon

21 This is a message about Babylonia. Like a whirlwind sweeping across the desert, disaster will come from a terrifying land. 2I have seen a vision of cruel events, a vision of betrayal and destruction.

Army of Elam, attack! Army of Media, lay siege to the cities! God will put an end to the suffering which Babylon has caused.

3 What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labour. 4My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.

5 In the vision a banquet is ready; rugs are spread for the guests to sit on. They are eating and drinking. Suddenly the command rings out: “Officers! Prepare your shields!”

6 Then the Lord said to me, “Go and post a sentry, and tell him to report what he sees. 7If he sees men coming on horseback, two by two, and men riding on donkeys and camels, he is to observe them carefully.”

8 The sentry calls out, “Sir, I have been standing guard at my post day and night.”

9 *Suddenly, here they come! Men on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, “Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshipped lie shattered on the ground.”

10 My people Israel, you have been threshed like wheat, but now I have announced to you the good news that I have heard from the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel.

A Message about Edom

11 This is a message about Edom.

Someone calls to me from Edom, “Sentry, how soon will the night be over? Tell me how soon it will end.”

12 I answer, “Morning is coming, but night will come again. If you want to ask again, come back and ask.”

A Message about Arabia

13 This is a message about Arabia.

You people of Dedan, whose caravans camp in the barren country of Arabia, 14give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugees. 15People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot, from all the dangers of war.

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