Isaiah 20–22

No Help from Cush or Egypt

20In the year that the chief commander, ^xsent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod ^yand attacked and captured it— ²during that time the Lord had spoken through Isaiah ^zson of Amoz, saying, “Go, take off your sackcloth ^aand remove the sandals from your feet,” and he did so, going naked and barefoot ^b— ³the Lord said, “As My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, ^c4so the king of Assyria will lead the captives of Egypt ^dand the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame. ⁵Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. ^e6And 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

21An oracle ^fagainst the desert by the sea: ^g

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, ^h

and the destroyer destroys.

Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all her groaning.”

³Therefore I am ⁱfilled with anguish.

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

I am too perplexed to hear,

too dismayed to see.

⁴My heart staggers;

horror terrifies me.

He has turned my last glimmer of hope ^k

into sheer terror. ^l

⁵Prepare a table, ^mand 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 ⁿreported,

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

and I stay at my post all night.

⁹Look, riders come—

horsemen in pairs.”

And he answered, saying,

“Babylon has fallen, ^phas fallen.

All the images of her gods

have been shattered on the ground.” ^q

¹⁰My people who have been crushed

on the threshing floor, ^r

I have declared to you

what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,

the God of Israel.

An Oracle against Dumah

¹¹An oracle ^sagainst Dumah: ^tu

One calls to me from Seir, ^v

“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.”

An Oracle against Arabia

¹³An oracle against Arabia: ^w

In the desert ^xbrush

you will camp for the night,

you caravans of Dedanites. ^y

¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty.

The inhabitants of the land of Tema ^z

meet ^athe 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, ^bas a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar ^cwill be gone. ¹⁷The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

An Oracle against Jerusalem

22An oracle ^dagainst the Valley of Vision: ^e

What’s the matter with you?

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

²The noisy city, the jubilant town, ^g

is filled with revelry.

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! ^h

Do not try to comfort me

about the destruction of my dear ⁱpeople.”

⁵For the Lord God of Hosts

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

in the Valley of Vision—

people shouting ^kand crying to the mountains;

⁶Elam took up a quiver

with chariots and horsemen, ^l

and Kir ^muncovered the shield.

⁷Your best valleys were full of chariots,

and horsemen were positioned at the gates.

⁸He removed the defenses of Judah.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. ⁿ⁹You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. ^oYou collected water from the lower pool. ^p10You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. ¹¹You made a reservoir between the walls ^qfor the waters of the ancient pool, ^rbut 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 Hosts

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

and for the wearing of sackcloth.

¹³But look: joy and gladness,

butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep,

eating of meat, and drinking of wine—

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ^t

¹⁴The Lord of Hosts has directly revealed to me: ^u

“This sin of yours will never ^vbe wiped out.” ^w

The Lord God of Hosts has spoken.

An Oracle against Shebna

¹⁵The Lord God of Hosts said: “Go to Shebna, ^xthat 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 crypt for yourself out of rock? ^y17Look, 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. ^zThere 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. ^a21I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority into his hand, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. ^b22I will place the key ^cof the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. ^d23I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s house. ²⁴They will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: 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 Hosts—“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.