Isaiah 31–33

31Woe to them ^athat go down to Egypt for help;

And ^bcstay on horses,

And ^btrust in chariots, because they are many;

And in horsemen, because they are very strong;

But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel,

^cNeither seek the Lord!

²Yet he ^dalso is wise, and will bring evil,

And ^ewill not ^†call back his words:

But will arise against the house of the evildoers,

And against the help of ^fthem that work iniquity.

³Now the Egyptians are men, and ^gnot God;

And their horses ^gflesh, and not spirit.

When the Lord shall stretch out his hand,

Both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is ^hholpen shall fall down,

And ⁱthey all shall fail together.

⁴For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me,

^kLike as the lion and ^lthe young lion roaring on his prey,

When ^ma multitude of shepherds is called forth against him,

He will not ⁿbe afraid of their voice,

Nor abase himself for the ^||noise of them:

^oSo shall the Lord of hosts come down

To fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

^5pAs birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem;

^qDefending also he will deliver it;

And ^rpassing over he will preserve it.

⁶Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel ^shave deeply revolted.

⁷For in that day ^tevery man shall cast away

His ^uidols of silver, and ^†his idols of gold,

Which your own hands have made unto you ^vfor a sin.

⁸Then shall ^wthe Assyrian fall with the sword, not of ^xa mighty man;

And the sword, not of ^xa mean man, shall devour him:

But ^yhe shall flee ^||from the sword,

And his young men shall be ^||†discomfited.

⁹And ^a†he shall pass over to ^||his strong hold for fear,

And his princes shall be afraid of ^bthe ensign,

Saith the Lord, ^cwhose fire is in Zion,

And his ^dfurnace in Jerusalem.

32Behold, ^aa king shall reign in righteousness,

And princes shall rule in judgment.

²And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,

And ^ba covert from the tempest;

As rivers of water ^cin a dry place,

As ^bthe shadow of a ^†great rock ^din a weary land.

³And ^ethe eyes of them that see shall not be dim,

And ^ethe ears of them that hear shall hearken.

⁴The heart also of the ^†rash shall understand knowledge,

And the tongue of ^fthe stammerers shall be ready to speak ^||plainly.

⁵The vile person shall be no more called liberal,

Nor the churl said to be bountiful.

⁶For the vile person will speak villany,

And his heart will work iniquity,

To practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord,

To make empty the soul of the hungry,

And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

⁷The instruments also of the churl are evil:

He deviseth wicked devices

^gTo destroy the poor with lying words,

Even ^||when the needy speaketh right.

⁸But ^hthe liberal deviseth liberal things;

And by liberal things shall he ^||stand.

⁹Rise up, ye women ⁱthat are at ease; hear my voice,

Ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

^10†Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women:

For the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

¹¹Tremble, ye women ⁱthat are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones:

^kStrip you, and make you bare, and ^lgird sackcloth upon your loins.

¹²They shall lament for the teats,

For ^†the pleasant fields, for ⁿthe fruitful vine.

^13oUpon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers;

^||Yea, upon all the houses of joy in ^qthe joyous city:

^14rBecause the palaces shall be forsaken;

The multitude of the city shall be left;

The ^||sforts and towers shall be for dens for ever,

^rA joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

¹⁵Until ^tthe spirit be poured upon us from on high,

And ^uthe wilderness be a fruitful field,

^vAnd the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

¹⁶Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness,

And righteousness remain ^vin the fruitful field.

¹⁷And ^wthe work of righteousness shall be ^xpeace;

And the effect of ^qrighteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

¹⁸And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation,

And in sure dwellings,

And in ⁱquiet resting places;

¹⁹When ^yit shall hail, ^zcoming down on ^athe forest;

^||And the city shall be low in a low place.

²⁰Blessed are ^bye that sow beside all waters,

That ^csend forth thither the feet of ^dthe ox and the ass.

33Woe to thee ^athat spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled;

And ^bdealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee!

^cWhen thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled;

And when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

²O Lord, be gracious unto us; ^dwe have waited for thee:

^eBe thou their arm ^fevery morning,

Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

³At the noise of the tumult the people fled;

^gAt the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

⁴And ^ayour spoil shall be ^hgathered like the gathering of ⁱthe caterpiller:

As the running to and fro of locusts shall he ^krun upon them.

^5lThe Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high:

He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

⁶And wisdom and knowledge shall be

^mThe stability of thy times, and ⁿstrength of ^†salvation:

The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

⁷Behold, their ^||valiant ones shall cry without:

^oThe ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

^8pThe highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth:

He ^qhath broken the covenant,

^rHe hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

^9sThe earth mourneth and ^tlanguisheth:

^uLebanon is ashamed and ^||hewn down:

^uSharon is like a wilderness;

And ^vBashan and ^uCarmel ^wshake off their fruits.

^10xNow will I rise, saith the Lord;

Now will I be exalted;

Now will I lift up myself.

^11yYe shall conceive ^zchaff, ^yye shall bring forth ^zstubble:

Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

¹²And the people shall be as the burnings of lime:

^aAs thorns ^bcut up shall they be burned in the fire.

¹³Hear, ^cye that are far off, what I have done;

And, ^cye that are near, acknowledge my might.

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid;

^dFearfulness hath surprised ^ethe hypocrites.

^fWho among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?

Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

^15gHe that walketh ^†righteously, and speaketh ^†uprightly;

He that despiseth the gain of ^||hoppressions,

That shaketh his hands from holding of ⁱbribes,

That stoppeth his ears from hearing of ^†blood,

And ^jshutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

^16kHe shall dwell on ^†high:

His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks:

Bread shall be given him; ^lhis waters shall be sure.

¹⁷Thine eyes shall see ^mthe king in his beauty:

They shall behold ^†the land that is very far off.

¹⁸Thine heart shall meditate terror.

ⁿWhere is the scribe? where is the ^†receiver?

Where is he that counted the towers?

^19oThou shalt not see ^pa fierce people,

^qA people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive;

Of a ^||rstammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our ^ssolemnities:

^tThine eyes shall see Jerusalem a ^uquiet habitation,

A tabernacle that shall not be taken down;

^vNot one of ^wthe stakes thereof shall ever be removed,

Neither shall any of ^xthe cords thereof be broken.

²¹But there the glorious Lord will be unto us

A place ^†of broad ^yrivers and ^ystreams;

Wherein shall go no galley with oars,

Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

²²For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ^z†lawgiver,

^aThe Lord is our king; he will save us.

^23||Thy ^btacklings ^care loosed;

They could not well strengthen their ^dmast, they could not spread ^ethe sail:

Then is ^fthe prey of a great ^fspoil divided;

^gThe lame take the prey.

²⁴And ^hthe inhabitant shall not say, I am sick:

ⁱThe people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.