Isaiah 17–23

17TH CHAPTER

Damascus and Israel Will Be Punished

¹This is the divine revelation about Damascus. 

“Damascus will no longer be a city. 

It will become a pile of rubble. 

²The cities of Aroer will be deserted. 

These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them. 

There will be no one to disturb those sheep. 

³Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, 

and the kingdom will disappear from Damascus. 

The remaining few from Aram will share Israel’s honor,” 

declares the Lord of Armies. 

⁴“When that day comes, the honor of Jacob’s people will fade away, 

and they will become skin and bones. 

⁵That time will be like harvesting bundles of grain by the armful. 

It will be like gathering grain in the Rephaim Valley. 

⁶Only a few people will survive. 

They will be like an olive tree that has been beaten. 

Only two or three olives are left 

at the top of the highest branch, 

four or five olives on the rest of the branches,” 

declares the Lord God of Israel. 

⁷When that day comes, they will look to their maker, 

and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. 

⁸They won’t look to the altars made by their hands 

or to the Asherah poles or incense altars 

which their fingers molded. 

⁹When that day comes, the fortified cities 

which other people abandoned because of the Israelites 

will be like abandoned woods and undergrowth. 

So it will become a wasteland. 

¹⁰You have forgotten the God of your salvation. 

You haven’t remembered the rock, your stronghold. 

Instead, you have planted the best plants 

and have set out the imported grapevines. 

¹¹On the day you plant, you will make it grow. 

On the morning you set out the seedling, you will make it sprout. 

But the harvest will become a ⸤rotting⸥ pile^b

on a day of grief and incurable pain. 

¹²How horrible it will be for many people! 

They will roar like the roaring sea. 

The noise that the people make 

will be like the noise from rushing water. 

¹³The people will make noise like raging water. 

But the Lord will yell at them, and they will run far away. 

They will be chased away 

like husks on the mountains being blown by the wind, 

like whirling dust being blown by a storm. 

¹⁴In the evening there will be sudden terror. 

Before morning they will be gone. 

This will be the fate of those who looted us, 

the destiny of those who robbed us. 

18TH CHAPTER

Sudan Will Be Punished

¹How horrible it will be for the land of whirring wings 

which lies beyond the rivers of Sudan. 

²It sends messengers by sea 

in boats made of reeds 

⸤skimming⸥ over the surface of the water. 

Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned people, 

a people ⸤who are⸥ feared far and near, 

a strong and aggressive nation, 

whose land is divided by rivers. 

³Look when someone raises a flag on the mountains. 

Listen when someone blows a ram’s horn, 

all you inhabitants of the world who live on the earth. 

⁴This is what the Lord says to me: 

I will keep quiet and watch from my dwelling place. 

My presence will be like scorching heat in the sunshine, 

like heavy dew in the heat of the harvest. 

⁵Before the harvest, when blossoms are gone 

and grapes are ripening from blossoms, 

he will cut off the shoots with pruning shears 

and chop off the spreading branches. 

⁶They will be left for the birds of prey on the mountains 

and the wild animals. 

The birds of prey will feed on them in the summer, 

and all the wild animals on earth 

will feed on them in the winter. 

⁷At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of Armies 

from a tall and smooth-skinned people, 

a people ⸤who are⸥ feared far and near, 

a strong and aggressive nation, 

whose land is divided by rivers. 

They will be brought to Mount Zion, 

the place where the name of the Lord of Armies is. 

19TH CHAPTER

Egypt Will Be Punished

¹This is the divine revelation about Egypt. 

The Lord is riding on a fast-moving cloud and is coming to Egypt. 

Egypt’s idols will tremble in his presence. 

Egypt’s courage will fail. 

²“I will turn one Egyptian against another. 

They will fight— 

brother against brother, 

neighbor against neighbor, 

city against city, 

kingdom against kingdom. 

³The Egyptians will lose courage. 

I will unravel their plans. 

They will turn to idols, ghosts, 

mediums, and fortunetellers. 

⁴I will hand over the Egyptians to a harsh master. 

A strong king will rule them,” 

declares the Almighty Lord of Armies. 

⁵The water in the Nile River will be dried up,^a

and the river will be dry and empty. 

⁶The canals will stink. 

Egypt’s streams will be emptied and dried up. 

The reeds and cattails will wither. 

⁷The rushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile, 

and all the fields planted beside the Nile 

will dry up, be blown away, and disappear. 

⁸Fishermen will cry. 

All who cast their lines into the Nile will mourn. 

Those who spread their nets on the water will sigh. 

⁹Linenworkers and weavers will be ashamed. 

¹⁰Egypt’s weavers will be crushed. 

Those who work for money will be distressed. 

¹¹The leaders of Zoan are nothing but fools. 

The wisest of Pharaoh’s counselors gives stupid advice. 

How can you tell Pharaoh, 

“I’m a descendant of wise men, 

a descendant of ancient kings”? 

¹²Where are your wise men now? 

Let them tell you. 

Let them explain what the Lord of Armies 

is planning against Egypt. 

¹³The leaders of Zoan are acting foolishly. 

The leaders of Memphis are led astray. 

The leaders who are the cornerstones of its tribes mislead the Egyptians. 

¹⁴The Lord mixes up their minds. 

So they lead the Egyptians astray 

like a drunk who staggers in his vomit. 

¹⁵No one—leaders or followers, important or unimportant— 

can do anything for Egypt. 

¹⁶At that time Egyptians will act like women. They will tremble and be terrified because the Lord of Armies will shake his fist at them. ¹⁷The land of Judah will terrify the Egyptians. Whenever they are reminded of Judah, they will be terrified of it because of what the Lord of Armies is planning against it. 

¹⁸When that day comes, five cities in Egypt will have people that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Armies. One of the cities will be called Heliopolis.^b

¹⁹When that day comes, an altar for the Lord will be in the middle of Egypt, and a stone marker for the Lord will be near its border. ²⁰These objects will be a sign and a witness that the Lord of Armies is in Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord because of those who oppress them, he will send a savior and defender to rescue them. ²¹So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. The Egyptians will know the Lord when that day comes. They will worship with sacrifices and food offerings. They will make vows to the Lord and carry them out. ²²The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague. When he strikes them, he will also heal them. Then they will come back to the Lord. And he will respond to their prayers and heal them. 

²³When that day comes, a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. ²⁴When that day comes, Israel will be one-third ⸤of God’s people⸥, along with Egypt and Assyria. They will be a blessing on the earth. ²⁵The Lord of Armies will bless them, saying, “My people Egypt, the work of my hands Assyria, and my possession Israel are blessed.” 

20TH CHAPTER

Those Who Were Allied with Egypt Will Be Ashamed

¹In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief to fight against Ashdod, he captured it. ²At that time the Lord told Isaiah, son of Amoz, “Take off the sackcloth that you are wearing, and take off your sandals!” Isaiah did this and walked around barefoot and naked. 

³Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has gone barefoot and naked for three years as a sign and as an omen to Egypt and Sudan. ⁴The king of Assyria will lead away both the young and the old—captives from Egypt and exiles from Sudan. They will be barefoot and naked. Their buttocks will be exposed in order to disgrace Egypt. ⁵Then the people will be shattered and ashamed because Sudan was their hope and Egypt was their beauty. ⁶When that day comes, those who live on this coastland will say, ‘Look at what has happened to our hope. We ran ⸤to Egypt⸥ for help to be rescued from the king of Assyria. How can we escape?’ ” 

21ST CHAPTER

Babylon Has Fallen

¹This is the divine revelation about the desert by the sea. 

Like a storm sweeping through the Negev, 

an invader will come from the desert, 

from a terrifying land. 

²I was shown a harsh vision. 

The traitor betrays. 

The destroyer destroys. 

Go to war, Elam! 

Surround them, Media! 

I will put an end to all the groaning. 

³That is why my body is full of trembling. 

Pain grips me like the pain of childbirth. 

I’m disturbed by what I hear. 

I’m terrified by what I see. 

⁴I’m confused. 

I’m shaking with terror. 

The twilight hours I longed for make me tremble. 

⁵Set the table. 

Spread the rugs ⸤by the table⸥. 

Eat. Drink. 

Get up, you leaders! 

Prepare your shields for battle! 

⁶This is what the Lord says to me: 

Post a watchman. 

Have him report whatever he sees. 

⁷He will see chariots, pairs of horsemen, 

riders on donkeys, and riders on camels. 

Let him watch carefully, very carefully. 

⁸The watchman^acalled, 

“Sir, I stand on the watchtower every day. 

Every night, I stand guard at my post. 

⁹Look! Here come chariots and horsemen in pairs.” 

Then he said, 

“Babylon has fallen! It has fallen! 

All the idols they worship lie shattered on the ground.” 

¹⁰You, my people, have been threshed and winnowed.^b

I make known to you what I heard from the Lord of Armies, 

the God of Israel. 

Someone Calling from Seir

¹¹This is the divine revelation about Dumah.^c

Someone is calling to me from Seir, 

“Watchman, how much of the night is left? 

Watchman, how much of the night is left?” 

¹²The watchman answers, 

“Morning is coming, and night will come again. 

If you need to ask, come back and ask.” 

Arabia Will Be Punished

¹³This is the divine revelation about Arabia. 

You caravan of travelers from the people of Dedan 

will spend the night in the forest of Arabia. 

¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty, 

you…